This will work really well for any narrative sequences you have. Not so simple for lip syncing but how about this for a short cut to editing to the beat?
But does this work for lip syncing? Might take a bit to set up but then should make your editing so much easier for the performance? Give it a go!
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 skills you used at AS – 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.
Happy planning!
Then you need to go to the Big Think!
There will be a presentation by Adie de Putron from The Big Think this Thursday 5th October at lunch time. She will be in room 73 at 1.00 pm to introduce the event and show you how to apply, places are limited, so hurry and get your application in.
Remember, that you should only move the camera with intent. Shaky, out of focus and unnecessary camera movement will not get you good marks. Experiment with your camera and try some of these shots to add variety to your video.
Why not experiment with the new Premiere Pro CC and what is can offer you in terms of colour correction and effects? Of course, you can do your own or import filters if you want to but the new software makes it very easy to give your video a very professional feel. This is just a small range of different presets available.
As part of section 1a of the exam, you will be required to outline and reflect on how your technical skills have improved over the 2 years of your Media Studies course.
So, why not reflect and record as you go? You have already started some skills stories on the skills template so this is another chance to use some evidence that is fresh in your mind.
This post is a chance for you to reflect on how your skills are improving. At this stage focus mostly on research and planning and any digital technology skills that are improving, moving along at this stage.
Always put your learning in context – how is it likely to impact on your future products and media making? What lightbulb moments can you celebrate and how are they now changing the way you are working. In particular, how are the skills specifically impacting on your progress and media journey – specific moments, events, scenes and how the genre, narrative, audience, representation are specifically affected by that improved skill.
You should also include screen shots of those skills in use to make the post less text based and essay like (like you did at AS).
This should be Draft 1 – all (or a large chunk of it) your performance footage just top and tailed together – could be a long sequence but that will be OK as at least it is safe and can be used to make a performance video, in case the narrative footage goes completely wrong or you break your leg and can’t do any more filming! Pessimistic or what?
There is no need to lip sync it to the music.
Add in several targets for next performance shoot.
Include photos from the shoot.
It is vital you are prepared, organised and ready to film your performance.
Remember to complete a Production Meeting Agenda and consider the following:
Make sure you tweet, email, ring or talk to the artist whose music you are using.
This is a blog post so needs to be completed. Even if they don’t respond, it means you have made the professional judgement to ask their permission to use their music.
In order to understand audience you should understand what makes them tick, especially what reasons they have for consuming media at all. A couple of theorists who considered this were Blumler & Katz, who suggested that there were four reasons collectively known as Uses and Gratification. Their theory describes the active audience and suggested that four reasons for people to actively seek out and consume media:
| Information | Self education to suit personal needs; advice on practical matters; information on events or issues of personal interest; curiosity or general interest |
| Personal Identity | Media reinforces personal values; models of behavior; content explored to challenge, adjust or affirm sense of self |
| Social Interaction | Identify with others to gain a sense of belonging; find basis for real life interactions; substitute for real life relationships |
| Entertainment | Escape; diversion; emotional release; filling time; aesthetic enjoyment |
Here is a powerpoint on Stuart Hall and his ‘Reception Theory’. Consider what he says about audience. He argues that an audience decodes what the producer encodes in a text. However, how they read the text will depend on their demographics and psychographics and general cultural competence. Here is the Theory Booklet with all of Hall’s ideas on Pages 11 and 12.
So…?
In order to pitch, produce and promote a music video successfully, you need to know your ‘target audience’ and why they are going to buy into your product, the artist. After all
, if you don’t understand your target audience and their preferences your music video will not be a commercial success.
As a group consider what broad groups they fall into (Gender, Age, Occupation, Marital status, cultural background) as well as: other bands/artists they would be into, other media they would consume, fashion tastes, musical genre preferences, and then finally some of the attitudes and beliefs they hold about the world including politics. Think also of which ‘communities’ you are hoping to attract. Where do they live, work and play? Consider their DEMOGRAPHICS AND PYSCHOGRAPHICS.
Here is a handout we gave you last year which describes different audience groups / communities which might be helpful in reaching some conclusions.
Task – Design your perfect audience member
Use the blank Facebook template to describe the ideal audience. Give them an image, name, gender, relationship status, groups, status, likes, dislikes…all of this should be through the filter of music and should help describe your audience profile. Make it as detailed as possible – why not consider someone you know (do not actually use them) who likes the music, is a fan of that music/band and use them as inspiration.
Facebook template – word – take a copy and annotate accordingly
Each group member should complete their own ideal fan .
YOU SHOULD ALSO USE THIS WEBSITE: yougov.co.uk and mention it in your introduction or even better, take a snipping tool screen shot of the profile target audience for your performer. Scroll down to yougovprofiles when you can put the name of your artist or a similar one to find out lots of data about your target audience. For example this link gives information about fans of Beyonce. https://yougov.co.uk/profileslite#/Beyonce/demographics
REMEMBER TO USE TERMINOLOGY IN YOUR BLOG POSTS AND TASKS! – preferred reading, encode, decode, oppositional reading, demographics, psychographics, cultural experience, uses and gratification, target audience, producer, target audience, entertainment, education, social interaction and personal identity etc.
How the star/band/performer is represented in your video and on the digipak and poster is really important.
Music videos are made primarily to promote the star, in order to sell their music, in order to make money…simples!
Star image is crucial in terms of raising a star’s profile in the media. They should be studied as ‘products’ to be advertised, publicised and be ‘sold’ to the fans. They have to remain constantly interesting to keep the fans intrigued – the star evolves! It could be seen as its own special kind of ‘species’.
Richard Dyer Handout
Richard Dyer is a theorist you need to learn about. He came up with some concepts about how ‘star image’ works in the media. Here is a Theory Booklet about his ideas – go to page 7:
PINTEREST/GOMOODBOARD.COM TASK – STAR IMAGE (you can use any other collage app of your choice but you must be able to annotate it)
Your task is to take the ‘star’ (performer, duet, band, group) you analysed with the music video and digipak and create a ‘pinterest page’ on how they are ‘represented‘. Find examples of news stories, incidents, events, digipak covers, music videos, articles, blogs, tweets that all contribute to their ‘star image’. The way they are represented is called their ‘metanarrative‘ (over arching story about them).
And remember, just as you did in your TV drama representation – you must add ADJECTIVES to how they appear through that particular event, story, picture etc. You can do this task as a group but must all equally contribute to the page.
This is a link to an excellent example. You should have at least 15 – 20 images and comments.
I took a walk around Perelle and came across some intriguing and interesting locations/backdrops/settings. You need to do that too this week and weekend to make sure your ideas are ‘doable’ and you need to prove it to your teacher.
Take some tests shots too of tricky concepts that you have i.e. underwater? Sounds great but in reality is very hard to do so make sure you can do it and you understand the complexities of it (remember to risk assess this in advance with your teacher and make sure there is a qualified lifeguard on hand).
Do you want certain special FX – can you use After FX to help you? You must be able to prove it to the teacher before you embark any further on your idea. This will all save you a lot of time further down the line if your ideas then don’t come up as practical.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This year our students are making music videos. Last academic year the Media Studies department organised a filming day, this year the students are responsible for planning and coordinating their own video shoots.
As part of any out of school activity students need to be aware of the risks and put in measures to mitigate those. As parents and guardians it is essential that you are aware of their planned shoots, so that you can be involved in the risk assessment process and are aware of our departmental policy regarding risk assessment. That policy is laid out in this letter:
Risk Assess Health and Safety Letter
Our generic risk assessment form is below. This is provided, so as to make you aware about the ground rules, our expectations and any sanctions we may put in place if the rules aren’t followed.
Generic Risk Assessment for Parents
Furthermore will be require students to complete a site specific risk assessment, which must be discussed with teacher prior to any agreement to shoot being given. We would also like an email confirmation from you to inform us that you are aware and that your consent is given. This site specific form is below:
We have sent paper copies of the first two documents home with each of the students, we require a parental signature before we can permit shooting during school hours.
Thanks for you continued support,
Ed Gregson & Jess Cobb
Genre is simultaneously an act of similarity and difference.
Two of the theorists you should understand and be able to quote, apply and analyse for the Concepts 1b section of the exam are Lacey and Altman (Page 13/14 of the Theory Booklet). You may get a question on genre and how one of the products was ‘generic’ i.e. it followed set patterns, conventions and ideas to fit the genre of music in order to appease its fans.
Lacey’s ‘Repertoire of Elements’ (recipe of ingredients) contribute towards the following ideas of how genre is classified according to Altman.
TASK (this is collaborative so you can submit the same document but you all have to equally contribute).
Create a Slideshow with a voice-over or a Voicethread focusing on the Repertoire of Elements necessary for your particular band /artist to be generically conventional. You could also use Screencastify to record your narration. You can then embed it in your blog. You should also mention print design. 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 and the digipak design.
Some of the suggested areas to cover are on the sheet provided but you should consider too: iconography, camera and editing, sound, narrative, star image, performance and Digipak designs.
Find generically similar artists.
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:
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.
This is an exemplar from last year: look for Genre Analysis in the Music Video category
Victoria Sponge! One way of remember what ‘genre’ is all about.
Now that you have chosen your song to produce as a group, you will need to pitch your ideas to your media teachers and film the presentation. After receiving feedback, you will formulate some specific targets.
The pitch needs to be energetic, detailed and you need to sell your idea.
Use this slideshow template to prepare your pitch. Share it amongst your group so that you can all contribute.
You will be pitching to your teacher(s) by the end of the week and over the weekend will have to upload the final pitch slide show, the video of the feedback and the targets.
Next week we will be starting to plan the video and I would like to aim for the first shoots to take place during the week beginning 25th September (if not the weekend prior).
Now you have a final choice of song and narrative/performance idea, you must ensure that the presentation is as strong as it can be to get some feedback from your teacher.
Take the original presentation and edit in any new ideas put forward by the whole group. Perhaps, you can incorporate some of the ideas from the other person in your group?
You then need to practise your delivery to your teacher – ensure you know who is going to explain, sell which parts of the idea and have everything ready.
You will film the pitch and feedback and then upload that with the final idea.
Pitch to your group your ideas using your presentation.
Upload everyone’s pitches, a brief outline including the the genre and main idea outlined in your blog post.
You then need to decide on whose idea you are going to take forward. The factors that should help you make this decision should be: practicality, effectiveness, simplicity, creative vision…
Whether or not you like the song does not enter into the discussion!
After this point the idea belongs to the group and no one person can assert sole ownership. All amendments, additions, alterations are expected and should be negotiated.
This is a really great article about how to be successful in A level production projects. The advice comes straight from the chief examiner and so it is well worth spending time on.
Please spend time this lesson working on your Production Group Agreement. Think about the general (transferable) skills your team will need: diplomacy, organisation, compromise, creativity… as well as the technical skills like choreography editing, costume design & lighting…
Think back to the dummy mash up and your thriller production group: What technical and personal qualities did your group possess that helped you deliver the product and on reflection, where were the problems and what did you lack as a group?
Upload it to you blog and remember to use a thumbnail to attach the link to. Also, please include a brief commentary on:
Remember to use pdfs and jpegs – NOT LINKS to GOOGLE FILES!
We have invested a lot of time, effort and money in production equipment for students to use in their Media and Film productions. This equipment is available to any Media or Film Student who want to borrow it and take it off site for a creative project, whether that be for Media & Film, another subject or a personal project.
Here is a link to the Care of Equipment Agreement that you signed.