You should describe and analyse your three products with reference to specific examples and use terminology to describe how those conventional features have been used, developed, challenged (designed) by you to construct/represent a specific set of ideas, which is: your brand or mission statement!
You must then go on to say how your representation (ideology) of your star and issues raised in video were shaped by you.
The conventional design features in your video, include examples such as lighting, framing & composition, camera movement mise-en-scene, editing styles, filters, effects and rhythmic editing…
Conventional print design in your digipack: images, filters, adjustments, graphics, colour palette, typeface, stroke, fill, gradients, arrangement (Bring Forward, Back)…
Conventional web design: call to action, hero shot, social media tours, interactivity, merch links…
To ensure you are addressing the question – bold or highlight or underline every time you use:
the terms use, develop, challenge, copy, emulate, follow etc
the terms represent, portray, convey, infer, imply etc
every time you have an adjective in the analysis of how the groups/issues are represented
So what is the convention in a real media example….did you use, challenge etc and then what was the resulting representation of either the star, a character in the narrative or a theme/issue?
Do not reinvent the wheel…you already have several screen shots and examples from real media texts to use as your examples – revisit your conventions analysis of DP, Website and MV. Don’t make work for yourself.
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
Task:
Video directors commentary on all three products with particular reference to star image & brand values.
You are working in your production group to prepare the video for this but you must contribute equally to the voice over and introduce yourselfwhen speaking. You make some bullet point prompts together, but you must be able to verbalise and explain these concepts & how they apply yourself!
Preparing the video for the commentary.
Create a new Premiere project and import the .mp4 file you exported as your final draft for your music video.
Drop the video into ‘sequence one’ timeline, ‘Unlink’ the sound (A1) from the video (V1)
You will either delete the sound channel completely or…
…fade the music in and out over the commentary.
Record a commentary explaining the brand image you have communicated in your video, digipack and website.
The emphasis in this voiceover should be how the three products are…visually, thematically, aesthetically, generically, institutionally & ideologically linked into your BRAND or STAR IMAGE!
You must use media terminology to describe production techniques and you used and should also use some terms relevant theory / concepts that you have learnt during the course; e.g:
Theory of the Active Audience: preferred / negotiated / oppositional reading (Hall)
Drop in a jpeg of each pane of your digipack and screen grabs from your web site in place of, (or over) the existing footage.
This means you might have a full screen image or you might layer up the images over the video in V2. This is will be where you are discussing those the specific links between the products and what you were trying to achieve.
Guidance
Please answer the following questions in your voice-over:
How do the products reflect the star image & ideology of the artist?
Theorist – Dyer
Terms: Star image, Brand, Meta-narrative.
How are the products designed to create a coherent brand identity?
Theorist – Blumler & Katz
Terms: Social Interaction, Information, Personal Identity & Entertainment
Theorist – Hall
Terms: Active audience, preferred reading, ideology
How does design of the digipack and website fit with the video?
What are the institutional/business purposes behind the 3 products?
Theorist – Altman
Terms: Predictable pleasure, contract. Similar different. Marketing. Fans. Call to Action.
You may, of course, discuss other links and relationships; you should however try to show how there is a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship between the three products and how this is achieved.
Whilst your DP and WEBSITE will not be directly linked to the actual song in the music video, you must focus on the links between them regarding visual style, genre, star image, representation, ideology and brand packaging of the performer, which will be the same.
Unfortunately, Miss Hales and Mrs Cobb will not be here on the first Monday back.
Use the lesson usefully to ensure that:
The products are completed and done – music video, digipak and website.
The blog posts are complete and up to date.
If you have done all of this – redraft your narrative essay.
We will be marching on to the CCR’s this week which require a lot of preparation and research as well as production – so get the decks swept, the desk cleared and your mind free of the products so that you can crack on with the final section of your coursework.
As you did with the Digipak – you must review your own Website Draft 1 in relation to the assessment criteria. Take a couple of screen shots of it and see if you can describe it, in relation to the levels described in the presentation and use some of the key terms to assess it – is it exceptional, proficient, adequate etc.
See the previous blog post too, to check if you have completed the listed essentials before you do this assessment.
The deadline for the coursework is next Friday, the day before we go on half term break.
We will be setting a Skills essay for over half term and it goes without saying that the blog has to be up to date as immediately on our return, you will be focusing on the CCRs. You may remember these are complicated and detailed, so you want to have a clear desk to deal with them and they are worth a fair amount of marks.
Ensure all the posts and production that needs to be done at school is complete and that you have transferred any documents, photos etc that you might need for reflection and completion of the blog onto an available drive to finish off at home.
You can do this. Don’t waste the chance to maximise your grades before we start on the countdown to the exams.
Tony Sweeney, the Programme Leader of Film and Television studies at South Essex College is coming over to give a presentation and workshop to A Level & Level 3 Year 2 students on Friday 18 October at 1.30 at the CoFE – Delancey Campus.
Here is one of their promo videos:
Andy is also keen on implementing a mentor system for students entering into film and television which may be a great opportunity.
If you would like to go to this workshop & get more information email Mr Gregson asap!
With your updated panes, print them out and cut them out and place them in a CD case.
Photograph it from different angles and upload it.
Then take it around the Ref or the class and with a short survey of about 15 people ask them to pick out the genre of the DP – give them 5 choices.
Then ask them to pick/circle the most appropriate adjective that comes across from reading the DP – is it aggresive, rebellious, anarchic, dreamy, romantic, challenging etc. Pick a range of adjectives.
Then analyse the results and see if your DP hits the target audience – do they get it and do they decode it correctly?
Final Draft with any tweaks should go on your home page underneath the final video in Component 3 – all jpegs, clearly labelled (front, back etc) and with pdf’s attached.
