Production+portfolio

Internal assessment details—SL This component consists of a student’s completed film project and its accompanying documentation. Students submit a single production piece. Each project may be the work of an individual or of a group of students. **Group size must not exceed four.** However, this restriction applies only to the number of students who will be assessed on their work in the project. There may be any number of performers or assistants involved in a project.
 * Production portfolio **
 * Weighting: 50% **
 * Completed film project **

The roles to be undertaken for assessment purposes **must** be one of the following: Although other functions (such as musical composition, costume design and acting) are integral to many kinds of film-making, they are more appropriately assessed in other Diploma Programme courses and therefore will **not** be considered suitable for film. A student may undertake more than one role in a production, and some roles may be carried out by more than one student. Nonetheless, for the purposes of assessment each student must identify their principal role to the examiner on the coversheet provided and this is the role on which they will be assessed. **Two students from the same group cannot choose** **to be assessed in the same principal role.** It is essential that teachers assess each student’s individual contribution to the finished products. //**At HL, film projects must be no longer than seven minutes and no shorter than six minutes, including titles. The associated trailer must be 40–60 seconds in length. It is important to note that each HL student must produce their own trailer, working alone and not in collaboration with others, even if they have worked with others in the production of the film.**// Material can be created and edited using any available technology, but **must** be submitted in DVD format. Viewing copies for submission to moderators need to be in one of the approved standard formats notified to schools. Each school must choose only one such format and will be required to identify this when registering students for examinations. Every film should be preceded by a production slate (a black screen with white lettering) stating the student’s name and candidate session number, the school name and school code, the title of the film, and the student’s designated role.
 * director
 * writer
 * cinematographer
 * sound designer, recordist or mixer
 * editor.

The content of students’ project work **must** be guided by the following considerations:
 * ** Content and treatment: ** The content and treatment of the films made must be appropriate for a young person no older than 15 years of age. Mature themes are acceptable but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers. The use of strong language must be rare and fully justified by the context. Violence must not dwell on detail and there should be no emphasis on specific injuries or blood. Sexual violence may only be implied and indicated without physical detail. Dangerous techniques of combat should include no imitable detail, and realistic and contemporary weapons should not be glamourized. In horror films, sustained threat and menace is permitted, but only occasional gory moments. If drug use is referred to, only brief and occasional references are permitted, and must be justified by the context and demonstrate the dangers of such behaviour. There must be no indication, in any instructional form, as to how the drugs are taken.
 * ** Assistance and support: ** Teachers must use sound judgment as to how much assistance or support can be provided, remembering at all times that this is a student-oriented task. In general, teacher assistance in work intended for assessment should be confined to asking questions and making suggestions. The situation is comparable to a teacher commenting on a draft of an essay, offering pointers for ways to improve the work but refraining completely from doing any of that work for the student. Any specialist technical support must be acknowledged in the individual commentary: students must not pass off others’ work as their own.

Each film project must be accompanied by: The rationales are required so that the moderator will know the intentions of the project.
 * Documentation **
 * an individual rationale of **no more than 100 words** for the film and an individual rationale for the trailer of **no more than 100 words**
 * an individual written commentary of **no more than 1,750 words**; the written commentary should be based on the student’s personal production journal
 * the student declaration form which **must** be signed and attached to the student’s work; the appropriate form can be found in the //Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme//.

The **individual written commentary** should be the student’s own unaided work. It should give a concise, reflective account of all stages of the production process, and should also include an evaluation of the completed project as a whole. Any special circumstances surrounding the production process should be mentioned, and any outside help received (for example, technical support) must be acknowledged. Where appropriate, students must incorporate sample production materials (for example, frames from storyboards, schedules, floor plans) into their commentary. However, such materials should not stand apart from the commentary or form an appendix. The portfolio as a whole must reflect a clear understanding of how meaning is constructed through the appropriate use of film language. Teachers will be asked to authenticate the production portfolios and give brief comments on each production to assist moderation. The coversheet for the portfolio must include details of the principal production role-played by the student in each project.