IB Film Program- Overview

The intent of this class is to examine attitudes and assumptions about film. Since film is so familiar to us, it is often labeled "entertainment." We often assume that it is easier to understand than literature (which is often regarded as "serious" or as "art"). In fact, film really is entertaining, and it really is complex. It employs two channels--sound and image--and it is culturally ambiguous, blurring distinctions between art, entertainment, and mass communication. It poses major problems for--but it offers new possibilities to--traditional categories of cultural criticism.

IB Film is an introduction to the "reading" and the comprehension of film as a language and to cinema as an institution. We will look at film as a medium: both what is specific to it (e.g., editing/montage) and what it shares with other media (such as theater and photography). We will direct our attention to the ways people organize filmic materials into formal systems (e.g., into arguments, explanations, and stories). We will pay particular attention to story or narrative form. We will also seek to understand how cinema functions as an institution: how it reinforces and, occasionally, resists cultural values. We will also use the tools of the medium and train our artistic sensibilities to communicate our visions through sound and sight.

For many students new to film, their awareness of films far exceeds your vocabulary for describing them. Hence, I hope that you will regard this course as (1) an opportunity to experience a broader range of movies than you are, perhaps, used to seeing, and (2) as an occasion to learn and practice a more analytical--precise and elaborated--language for talking and writing about film. Lastly you will have the opportunity to experience first hand the tools and techniques needed to create your own projects in this medium.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The film course at HL and SL aims to develop in students the skills necessary to achieve creative and critical independence in their knowledge, experience and enjoyment of film. The aims are to promote:
• an appreciation and understanding of film as a complex art form
• an ability to formulate stories and ideas in film terms
• the practical and technical skills of production
• critical evaluation of film productions by the student and by others
• a knowledge of film-making traditions in more than one country.

Objectives
Having followed the film course at HL or SL, students will be expected to demonstrate:
• an understanding of the variety of ways in which film creates meaning
• an understanding and effective use of appropriate film language
• originality and creativity in developing an idea through the various stages from conception to finished production
• technical skills and an appropriate use of available technology
• the ability to draw together their knowledge, skills, research and experience, and apply them analytically to evaluate film texts *
• a critical understanding of the historical, theoretical, sociocultural, economic and institutional contexts of film in more than one country.
( The term “film texts” includes films and television or video programmes.)

SYLLABUS for Higher Level and Standard Level
The film course syllabus at HL and SL consists of three compulsory parts.
Part 1: Textual analysis - The detailed study of film sequences.

It is essential that students are able to understand how meanings are constructed within and through film texts, and to view the production of these texts in a broader framework. Students should be able to identify how film uses a range of devices to represent experiences and stories, as well as to convey meanings and values. They should be able to acquire and use the appropriate tools for analysing films from various countries and place these within wider sociocultural perspectives. Students should be enabled to develop both their own enjoyment of film and lifelong habits of critical inquiry.

Content
Students will be expected to move between close textual analysis of specific scenes and analysis of films as a whole, contextualizing meanings within a larger framework.

Students should use the key concepts of film language, genre, audience, institution, narrative and representation to generate initial questions about the texts they are analysing.

Textual analysis will involve commenting upon the following elements, and on relationships between them.
• Construction according to narrative or other formal organizing principles
• Representation of characters and issues
• Camera angles, shots and movement
• Editing and sequencing
• Lighting, shade and colour
• Sound
• Location and set design
• Features determining genre
• Target audience
• Historical, economic, sociocultural and institutional factors

Part 2: Film theory and history - The study of films and film-making traditions from more than one country.
Film is influenced by and is in part a product of its own history and tradition, as well as of the social, economic and institutional forces that surround it. Similarly, film is influenced by the observations and research of practitioners and scholars.

Content
Students will be expected to learn about films from more than one country to enhance their understanding of films familiar to them and also of films from other countries that may be less familiar to them.

Teachers should lead students into the habit of examining film texts to find answers to questions such as the following.
• Who made this?
• Why?
• What can we tell about the film-maker(s)?
• For whom was it made? How does it address its audience? What is the nature of our engagement with film?
• What outside influences can we perceive in terms of finance, ownership, institution, sociocultural context?
• What tradition is it in (for example, US gangster film, Bollywood musical)?
• To what other works might it be connected?

The most important question to ask after discussing each of these questions is: “How did you know?” This leads students to expect that they must carefully justify all their arguments and be able to explain their own thought processes.

Part 3: Creative process—techniques and organization of production Students will develop creative, analytic and production skills within film-making.

Students will have the opportunity to develop skills in film production. This is a complex process that requires creative and analytical skills as well as meticulous organization, and almost always involves close collaboration with others. Teachers need to guide students through initial creative exercises, gradually leading them towards more substantial projects.

Students should learn the overall structure of film-making, the nature of the relationships in a production team, and the need for discipline and protocol on set or location. Students should be encouraged to work in a variety of roles to enable them to explore their skills and aptitude in different fields.

According to the nature of their project, students may work alone or in production groups containing a maximum of four people.

Content
Students should gain experience in the following stages of production.
Initial planning
• Finding the idea
• Research
• Treatment and script development
Pitch and approval
• Developing the proposal
• Negotiating the proposal with the teacher
• Receiving approval to proceed
Technical planning
• Conceptualization—interpretation of the script in terms of theme, genre, purpose, style, mood and overall structure
• Visualization—definition of shot selection, camera position and movement, lighting, colour, set design, costume and make-up, supported, where appropriate, by the creation of a storyboard containing key images of relevant scenes
• Production scheduling—definition of responsibilities, task lists and matters relating to organization, time frames and deadlines
• Editing and sound strategies—outlining the preliminary concepts of editing and sound as dictated by the chosen genre and by the individual project
Physical production
• Pre-production—selection of crew members, scouting for and determining locations, acquiring costumes and props, casting of actors (if applicable), definition of technical needs, finalizing script, storyboard and production schedule.
• Production—principal photography and sound recording, execution of storyboard, continuous overview of production planning
• Post-production—various phases of editing (assembly, rough and fine cuts), sound editing, selection of music, titles and visuals and final mix

Production journal
Each student, whether working alone or in a group, should maintain an individual journal recording key information throughout the entire production process. The journal should note decisions made, issues raised and solutions reached. Students should include reflections and lessons learned, as well as objective evaluations of their own and others’ performance and the finished productions. The processes of production [construction] and in deconstructing and evaluating the finished production must be informed by an understanding of how meaning is constructed through film language.

ASSESSMENT OUTLINE
Higher Level for first examinations
External assessment 50%
Independent study 25%
Rationale, script and list of sources for a short documentary production of 12–15 minutes on an aspect of film theory and/or film history, based on a study of a minimum of four films. The chosen films must originate from more than one country.
Length of the rationale: no more than 100 words. Length of the script: between 12–15 pages.
Presentation 25%
An oral presentation of a detailed critical analysis of an extract from a prescribed film. Maximum length: 15 minutes.

Internal assessment 50%
This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IBO at the end of the course.
Production portfolio 50%
One completed film project, with an associated trailer and written documentation encompassing and connecting both. Length of the film project: between 6-7 minutes. Length of the trailer: between 40–60 seconds.

While the film project may be undertaken as a group project, the associated trailer and all accompanying documentation for both film and trailer must be individually produced.

Please note: While students at HL and SL may work together in a production group, they cannot present the same edit of their film projects for internal assessment due to the fact that both require different editing to satisfy the requisites of their respective levels.

Standard Level For first examinations
External assessment 50%
Independent study 25%
Rationale, script and list of sources for a short documentary production of 8–10 minutes on an aspect of film theory and/or film history, based on a study of a minimum of two films. The chosen films must originate from more than one country. Length of the rationale: no more than 100 words. Length of the script: between 8–10 pages.
Presentation 25%
An oral presentation of a critical analysis of an extract from a prescribed film. Maximum length: 10 minutes.
Internal assessment 50%
This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IBO at the end of the course.
Production portfolio 50%
One completed film project, with accompanying written documentation. Length of the film project: between 4-5 minutes.

While the film project may be undertaken as a group project, all accompanying documentation must be individually produced.

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Review the IB Support Site for details and samples of student work.