Category Archives: Music Video

Narrative outlines and ideas

Now that you are aware of the elements that help contribute towards a narrative in terms of structure, characters and key themes, you will need to outline your own ideas.

The more detail you can add at this stage the better as then you will be able to complete a storyboard much more easily.

Take a copy of this document and complete it as a group.

You will have developed a simple narrative structure to your video in three parts:

  1. The Beginning – How do you establish the story / theme in the video/ characters?
  2. The Middle – What is the development of the story or the conflict within the theme?
  3. The End – How does the theme/story resolve or does it? What end message do you wish to communicate?

Remember

Shaping the narrative in your music video.

Even if your video is thematically based (images and ideas about jealousy for example or entrapment or starting over)  you should consider it as a narrative. This means, however abstract and thematic your video might be, you should show narrative development and characters progression.

NARRATIVE AND BLOG POSTS THIS WEEK – 10 – 15 JUNE – URGENT

It will be a busy week for you, especially if you are out for Photography/Art Exams so some lunchtimes, after school sessions will be necessary.

The state of your blog is also  being taken into consideration for your progression criteria so make sure it is up to date and complete by the end of the week.

Outstanding posts for most of you:

To complete by Friday 14 June

  • Performance Shoot evaluation – including photos of the shoot, what went well, what didn’t go well, what you would do differently next time. Individual.
  • Performance Rough Cut – lip synced but no filters, colour correction needed – have you got coverage – do you need to do another shoot for pick ups? Have you got those close ups?
  • Genre Analysis – the Chef cookery programme – needs to be edited and as many exciting jpegs to illustrate the genre like a moving moodboard should be inserted to evidence the conventions of the genre. Completed as a group.
  • Stop Motion film – with comments and reflection on narrative structure, characters and themes. Completed as a group.
  • Narrative PMA for Thursday 20 June – collect those costumes, props, essential MES over the weekend. Don’t leave it until the last minute.
  • Narrative outline – completed as a group.

To be complete by Thursday 20 June

  • Narrative Storyboard – at least 40 post it notes with drawing and details of shots.
  • Narrative RA for Thursday 20 June

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ALL GROUP TASKS SHOULD HAVE EVERYONE CONTRIBUTING – ALSO EDITING HAS TO BE DONE BY ALL OF YOU. IF YOU DO NOT EVIDENCE YOU HAVE CONTRIBUTED TOWARDS THE EDITING, THE PLANNING, THE FILMING, THEN YOUR GRADES WILL HAVE TO BE ALTERED ACCORDINGLY.

Narrative Arc Stop Motion

Now that you know a little more about Narrative Structure, narrative themes and narrative character types you will be set a task of producing a 30 second stop motion story that may, or may not follow a traditional narrative arc – beginning, middle and an end.

Here are some links to last year’s efforts:

Use the following app:

You will be provided with:

  • 2 lego characters
  • 2 lego items of MES
  • 1 binary opposition

Task:

Film a 30 second story.

Embed in your blog.

Bullet point some reflection based around these questions.

  • Does it fulfill the traditional narrative structure?
  • Do the characters fulfill conventional character types?
  • Are there binary oppositions?
  • Explain how Music Video narratives can differ from these conventional ideas i.e. are able to play with time and space, are episodic, are anachronic, are thematic and don’t always have an ending so that they are repeatable etc.

Narrative Concepts

You need to get to know these theorist’s and start using their terms – they could come up in the exam as Narrative is one of the Concepts, like Representation, that you could be asked about.


Narrative Theory

Narrative definition:  The contents (events, action) and the way these are structured together form the basis of any narrative. A story can be relayed using any combination of communication i.e. visuals, words, drama etc.

Narrative is the ‘study of stories’. It includes the following:

  1. The order in which the story is told (structure)
  2. How the audience is positioned in relation to the narrative.
  3. The character’s journey. What epiphany do they have?
  4. The conflict & themes explored and how they are resolved.
  5. The codes in the text which help the audience understand the story and its messages.

Here is a Slideshow which runs through narrative with specific reference to music videos. You should be able to use some of the ideas in the video below, although you will find that because music videos don’t tend to follow conventional narrative structures and you should take account of that.

The same presentation with professional examples

Theorists – The Formalists (Propp & Todorov)

A lot of the ideas were are going to explore can be described as ‘formalist’. That means they explore the form, shape & order of a story, it’s structure, both Todorov and Propp are formalists. Here is a formalist description of a common narrative ‘The Hero’s Journey’:

Theorists –  Cultural Anthropologist (Levi-Strauss)

Levi Strauss is an anthropologist. He is more interested in cultural ideas beneath the story (its themes).  He was interested in how a cultures messages and values are communicated in the conflict within a narrative.

You will need to refer to theorists and use their terminology in a narrative essay, please use the concepts booklet:

  • Propp – Page 8
  • Todorov – Page 9
  • Levi-Strauss – Page 10
  • Barthes – Page 2

 

Performance Evaluation and Rough Cut – to be completed asap – why not come in during Study Week if you have finished your exams?

Evaluation:  includes photos, reflection on the day (bullet pointed), what went well, what didn’t go well and @ 6 targets.  Do you have ample coverage?

Rough Cut: Create a rough cut that is lip synced and edited to the beat. It does not have to be perfect though and don’t worry about FX or filters or transitions. You are merely trying to ascertain if you have enough coverage i.e. enough variety of shots. The chances are you are missing some close ups or some movement so the sooner you complete the rough cut, the sooner you can get out and film some fillers.  The Rough Cut is also a back up, just in case you break your arms and cannot complete the filming – at least you will have a performance video that you can submit.

Narrative Storyboard – essential planning

STORYBOARDS

You need at least 40 post it note on A2 paper so that you can really sort out how you are going to shoot your narrative.  Think of all those elements you need to apply  – match on action, shot reverse shot, framing, 180 degree rule, pull focus, DOF, framing, angles and distances to help tell your story.

Here is some background reading to help you understand the purpose of storyboards and how they are designed. How to Use a Story Board

Here is a template for you to create your storyboard. You may use drawings or take photos to complete these. BFI Storyboard Template or you can use the post it style so that you can move your images around.

They need to be as detailed as possible and you should take a photo of them out on your shoot so you don’t miss a shot.

Remember to take inspiration from professional videos. Narratives tend to be more thematic and an amplification of the lyrics. Rather than an illustrative full story.

Stick men are fine but add in the detail of the type of shot i.e MS, LA ECS, Tracking, Pull focus etc….

Happy planning! 

Genre Analysis – Cooking Show

TASK (this is collaborative so you can submit the same document/film but you all have to equally contribute).

Create a presentation/film/screencastify/voicethread/Slideshow  focusing on the Repertoire of Elements necessary for your particular band /artist to be generically conventional. You can probably already use a lot of your ideas from your song pitch but be careful not to just copy this but instead use it as a foundation for exploring the genre of your song and how this will impact on the video, web pages and  digipak.

Some of the suggested areas of music videos to cover are on this sheet but you should consider:

  • Website of similar artists
  • Album art from similar artists
  • Videos of similar artists

Find generically similar artists.

  • Discuss who they are, what do they wear, how do they style themselves, where do they perform, who are their fans, how are their digipaks / videos similar, what common features are there in their music videos (fast paced editing, hand held camera, filters, locations, authentic/live performances, produced performances etc). Use your performer too in amongst the analysis.

Use this document to structure your presentation

Ensure you get the following terms in to your presentation and also your introduction and reflect on the value of the task in the blog:  

  • Repertoire of elements
  • Conventions
  • Blueprint
  • Predictable pleasure
  • Contract
  • Label
  • Target audience

Consider ‘genre’ as you produce your video and it will be so much easier to talk about if it comes up in the exam in Section 1b. 

Here is an example voicethread from last year

PMA and RA for Performance Shoot

These are 2 documents that you must complete and upload to your blog.

As you will be remotely supervised that day, you will need to consider the risks of being on location and discuss them with your teacher and your peers to ensure your own and others’ safety.

Check: is the location you have opted for the right one for your performance. Think carefully.

This is vital so that everyone knows what they are expected to bring for the shoot – costumes, make up, props etc.

You must include photos for costumes and props. Order on amazon, ebay now. Don’t wait until next week. Visit charity shops. Ask Mrs Cobb as Media have a good collection of costumes and props and so does she.  The devil is in the detail – no wrong socks, hairbands on wrists, irrelevant necklaces or earrings!  Make every detail count.

Check the background too – is there a random car, rubbish  bags, your own camera bags?  Remind yourselves of these essential checks on the PMA.

 

Test Performance Shoot

Link to a short video on how to shoot a music video – particularly the performance section.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zrpgkqt

You will need to work in your group to begin to understand how to get ‘coverage’ of your performer.  The worst thing that can happen and frequently does, is that the group return from filming to learn that they just don’t have enough shots, enough coverage of their star from various angles, distances and movement to make the edit interesting and dynamic.

You will choose a short 20″ clip of a chorus from your chosen song and elect one member of the group to be the ‘performer’.

Follow the directions for filming on the sheet attached.

You have two lessons to film this. Help each other out if you want to use performers from other groups.  Learn the lyrics overnight and if you want to try and get some generic MES, then great. The whole point though is to understand just how much footage you will need for one short sequence.

Here are a couple of examples from last year: