Initial themes and ideas

Now having resources at my disposal to use within the creation of my EPQ, I will not look at developing ideas. As writing plays an active role as a hobby, some initial ideas have already been thought during the 

Now that I have covered the resources that I am able to use at my disposal in the creation of my extended project, I will now look at developing the idea on what my screenplay will be about. As this is focused on something that I enjoy and a hobby, I have already begun to think about the initial ideas whilst collecting the rest of my resources.

Initial themes and ideas:

The initial things I will try to develop are:

• Genre
• Length
• Location
• Themes

Development of resources

In the study and development of the resources I have found, an analysis of each web resource, book and article will give me the greatest benefit for using them in the production of my project.

Record of the Extended Project: Initial Resources

Web resources:

Within web resources there is a tool that is beneficial to use which is www.alexa.com which will give a brief ranking of each site chosen, giving information such as the amount of people who visit, the ranking, hyperlinks attached to it. All of this will help in developing my resources and understanding which are the better ones to use. I will use this site for all the the web resources i find and evaluate them in order to get the best resources possible.

• Script writing:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/write-a-script
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/writing-a-script
3. http://www.writersstore.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-a-guide-to-scriptwriting/
4. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-online-resources-aspiring-scriptwriter/

• Articles

1. http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_resource.html
2.  

Books:

Teachers:

Software:

• http://www.rawscripts.com

Comedian:

A resource that would be most beneficial to me would be a female comedian, it would help me gain a first hand account into the comedy genre, develop one of my key themes and possibly help me with my script with ideas.

I will e-mail, multiple female comedians and hope to gain a response. (Written 24.04.14 - after most research has been done and the themes and genre of my screen play have already been developed)

Upon realizing that many comedians are hard to contact through an email, and often only take fan letters which would take far too long to gain a response for. However, in this modern age we are gifted with many social networking sites that could produce the desired response.

Record of Extended Project Qualifaction: Supervisor discussions

Don Hiscock (15/10/2013):

Having completed the extended project before, I have gone through the process of choosing a topic already. I discussed with my supervisor if I will be able to use my previous notes to show that I have already chosen topics and how I knew which topic I do, in starting the EPQ again.
Don said that this was fine, and so now I have shortened the amount of work I will have to complete in order to find a topic I wish to base my EPQ on.

Becki Nash (22/10/2013):

A university student who helped discuss some of the work that she has begun and completed as well as discussing some of the class ideas as she went around to talk individually. While talking to me we discussed the next stage of my EPQ, what to base my script on.
We discussed certain genres, directors and styles to help me in deciding were to take my project next and to help me create a title for my project.

Mark Rose (5/10/2013)

Had a talk today in class discussing the importance of using multiple resources. In using more resources we are getting a better understanding of our topic and therefore a better outcome. As well as using multiple types of resources, using the correct resources is even more so important. In evaluating sources we are able to see what are the best ones to use, why they are good to use and how to evaluate them.
Keeping a record of all the sources we have used, the evaluation of our sources and a a final list of the best resources, will add to our research phase of our project and also the evaluation part.

Don Hiscock (14.01.14)

Coming back from the Christmas holidays, I have has time to reflect upon my ideas and discuss them with Don. In the discussion it was suggested that i begin moving onto primary research e.g. Books, articles and documentaries. This should support the current research that I am doing, and further my knowledge.
I should also begin to look at concepts for my screenplay itself, and begin research once again but into ideas and themes on what it will be about, and develop any current ideas. With this i could use biographies and maybe even try and contact working screen rights for information.  

Extended Project for ACE Students: Record of Initial Planning Cont.

During the time between last lesson (15/10/2013) I have attended the creative writing course at lunch time, for both personal interest as well as helping me with my extended project. By attending this, I was hoping that it would give me clarification on which topic I wanted to for my extended project: script writing and a short story. Although most of the work that has taken place so far has been short stories and personal work, I still feel that any work that I may do for scripts will be acceptable to take in and work on.

Within the club the questions that I asked myself were:

• What topic do I want to base my EPQ on?
• Will it be a viable resource for my chosen EPQ?
• What benefits will participating in the club give me?

What topic will my extended project be based on?

Although most of the work that has taken place within the club so far has been short stories and creative writing, any work will be able to taken in to work on - scripts etc. I went to the club partly out of personal interest for creative writing and so it may be easier to choose this for my extended project.
However I feel that writing a script will broaden any writing skills I have already, allow me to explore and write in another format and may be more interesting due to this. Script writing applies to two of my course, Film studies and English Literature, will help my build a portfolio for university and can also be worked on during the creative writing lunch time course.
After my ACE academy lesson last week, the creative writing club and a weeks worth of thinking, I have firmly decided on basing my EPQ on writing a script.


Will it be a useful resource in completing my extended project?

The work done within the club so far has been short stories and personal work. I could work on my extended project within the club, while gaining help from the teacher. This will be great as an extra resource for my EPQ, as well as extra time to work on it during college time.

What are the benefits of the club?

I will be able to use the club as extra time within the week to work on my EPQ. I can gain help and feedback from the teacher as well as the other students who are in the club.

Extended Project Qualification For ACE Students: Record of initial planning

Initial ideas:

When choosing the option of ACE academy as one of my courses to study, I knew that this would give me the option to do an extended project. Coming from a previous college, I had already have already worked on and completed one. Due to my previous experience with the course, I have already gone through the process of initial planning to choose ideas.

The previous extended project that I worked on was Transhumanism, which I found out through my interest in technology through research about future technologies. Along side Technology there was two other topics that also interested me: writing and the RAF.

My interest in writing has grown even more, writing in my free time as a hobby, studying courses at college (English Literature & Film studies) and also becoming a topic that I wish to pursue as a career, as a script writer and to write my own novels. Due to all of these reasons and my previous experience in the Extended Project course, I am going to base my extended project on writing.

Writing:

Writing give me the ability to go down many paths, however the options which stand out most to me would be:

 - A short story
 - Script
 - The process of working on a novel (Characters, scene, story, plot, etc)

As I want writing to become part of my career, any of these ideas would benefit me. They would help me build up a portfolio for university and work, the artefacts even more so. Both the short story and the script would have be a artefact as the finished piece, however the last option would help me develop a method a technique.

Currently I feel that working on the process of a novel with have too much content, and may be hard for me to cover everything within my extended project. Also this will be something that I can work on at university, in my free time and over the course of my education.

A short story would be a good idea, as it builds upon any work I have done so far, gives me an insight into writing for a subject, not for a hobby. It will also produce something that I can use within university applications as well as in my career for a portfolio. I am also aware of a college lunch time class for  creative writing that I have been meaning to join and this will further help as a resource as well as in my project if I was to choose this.

The script is something that I am leaning more towards, as in combines aspects from two of my courses that I am currently taking. It is also the area that I currently wish to work in, the film industry. A script will give me the same benefits of writing a short story as well as using it to potentially go into a film academy. I will also be able to use the creative writing course to help, combing the best of the short story into the script.

So far I feel that the script is the strongest choice and the one that I want to do the most. For these reason I will being some initial research into scripts, script writing, famous writers, ideas and concepts as well as the process of writing a script and the different ways they are created.

Celebrity Culture

Is celebrity culture having a damaging effect of society?

Weather celebrity culture is or is not damaging to our culture is dependant on the views of what a celebrity is, or what it takes to be a celebrity. The one theme that is consistent is that a celebrity is a person who is sought after by many people.

The most popular and noticable 'celebrities' are in the media frequently, commonly in film, music and sport. As there is such a focus on this aspect of the celebrity culture there can often be a negative view. This may be because we can see all of their actions, right or wrong. If a celebrity can do it, then why can't we? Celebrity culture also takes us away from our normal lives, a destraction to work and other important aspects of lives.

However, there are other celebrities that are a credit to society, athletes, scientists and artist which improve on the basic human need to work harder and achieve better; the opposite of the generic celebrities. Although, even film and TV stars do have good points, being important in media and bringing money into society through expenditure. They can also bring a culture together, uniting people of all ages, races and cultures to talk about one thing.

There may be many bad examples of celebrities doing bad things and influencing other people to do the same, but I feel that there are just as many good. They may not be as popular or as well know, but they do influence many people and I feel that this alone outweighs all the bad that can come from celebrity culture.


Sources used:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_culture
celebritycultureseffectonsociety.weebly.com/blog.html
www.celebrityculture.net