Category: Year 13 Coursework

LEARNING INTENTION;  To compile and narrow down a narrative and performance idea for a chosen song.
KEY TERMS: narrative, performance, amplified, illustrative, disjunctive, star image, edit to the beat, lip sync, MES, locations, anachronic, linear, montage.

Using a 4 page slideshare and having listened to several songs, and taken on board the advice about choosing a song, find one that you have a  ‘doable vision’ for.

• • • • • Slide 1: Embed the MP3/or Embed the lyric video – but not the actual video with the star performing
        • Slide 2: Complete a word cloud with @ 20 descriptive words, adjectives, adverbs, nouns that come to mind when you listen to the song (use the synesthetic approach)
        • Slide 3: Complete a brief slide description of the narrative and what will happen – be inventive and yet make it ‘doable’ – revisit tag lines
          • • MES – costumes, locations, make up etc ? including images
            • Narrative type – amplified, illustrative, disjunctive,
            • Narrative structure – anachronic, linear, montage
            • Slide 4: Complete a brief slide description of the performance and where this might take place
              • MES – costumes, location, make up etc including images

Once this is complete you will find out who is in your group and you will pitch your own idea to each other and then choose one to carry on and complete a really full, detailed pitch that you will present to your teacher.

Choosing a Song.

• • Start with thinking, ‘Who will perform this?’ and work from there. Perhaps opt for a solo performer to make organisation easier.
  • If possible choose people from within your class who could perform/act.
  • Don’t choose something that is well known THERE WILL BE TOO MANY EXPECTATIONS AND PRE CONCEIVED IDEAS ABOUT IT.
  • Don’t choose something too long, 3.5 minutes is plenty.
  • Album tracks or cover versions are useful options Beware of Warner Music Group and its associated record labels as these will just be taken down/blocked.

TIPS AND ADVICE

• Avoid showing or referencing overtly sex, smoking, drinking, drugs as the majority of you are under 18 and, probably, so are your target audience.
• Best to avoid mimed dialogue as it looks odd and people tend to laugh.
• Avoid ‘dancing’ unless you can show us it will be ‘theatrical/performance’ based.  Synchronised swimming out of water is not useful to any narrative.
• Choreographed street dance etc for relevant genres is good – as long as you have skilled practitioners who don’t mind doing it, again and again and again.
• Think about your performers:  are they available, will they be happy to film possibly on several occasions?  Do they have stage and film presence?
• Do you have access to instruments, transport, locations and if not – focus on a single performer with no instruments.
• Risk: We need to risk assess everything so unless you have access to firemen and adult lifeguards – fire and water are out of the equation.
• Think: doable, can I film this in two shoots? Studio shoots are not good quality light wise. Some of the best videos are the simplest but well shot and well dressed and well edited.

Please listen to music on these site for inspiration:

• Glastonbury (BBC Introducing Stage)
• Balcony TV
• Unsigned.com
• Soundcloud

LEARNING INTENTION:  To explore how narratives can be inspired by a song.

KEY TERMS:  disjunctive, amplified, illustrative, episodic, linear, thematic, anachronic, synesthesia.

Now you know more about filming to edit and filming/editing for narrative sense, you will need to learn a little more about narratives in music videos.

Boy meets girl is acceptable but a little worn and cliched. We want you to try and plan and film some more cutting edge, intriguing narratives.

Play some of the narrative games – bingo and go fish.

Then complete the following and reflect in your post.

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Choose 3 videos with narratives.   Embed them all separately in your blog.

• Overview of the narrative content: amplified, disjunctive, illustrative.
• Overview of the structure:  Episodic? Linear? Thematic? Anachronic?
• What is the story – in a nutshell? – 4 to 5 sentences.
• Is there an ending and if not, how does it end and how does it make you feel?

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Then come up with 3 of your own quirky narratives that you could summarise in a snappy headline. Use some ideas you have seen and also discovered in the games.

LIFE IS A GOLDFISH BOWL – a man is a spectator in life, trapped in a cycle of tedious routine, until he breaks the glass goldfish bowl that he looks at every night and  breaks out and finally finds his freedom.

NEVER PRESUME – a child is playing pooh sticks and without fail the stick appears. However, as an adult when he plays it, the stick does not appear. Never presume that what has gone before will happen as a given.

ALONE AND BAKED OFF – a person is making a cake – we follow its construction from buying the ingredients to decorating it…..and in the end they sit waiting for someone to join them to eat it and noone arrives.

THE MONSTER WITHIN – a mad scientist struggles but eventually succeeds to wake up his beautiful robot assistant.

LIFE FLASHES BY – a man in a coma, relives all his experiences through his senses – everything he has tasted, smelt, seen, heard and touched. In doing so, he is revived.

GET ME OUT OF HERE – a young girl is suffocated by domestic restrictions of her old fashioned parents. A silent, uninspiring tea time, leads her to break free and at the same time destroy the dolls house she has lived in.

20TH CENTURY CAVE MAN – a group of neanderthal men dance and worship a god in anticipation of a tribal war. This is cross cut to man now, still tribal, still a warrior as we see a group of men brandishing weapons, burning books – they are the same men in the cave.

 

 

Synaesthesia…

…is a way of generating ideas from music – effectively ‘seeing sounds in your head’.

It is a really helpful technique to use when listening to music in order to come up with visual ideas. When listening to a piece of music you should concentrate on each of the following features in turn:

• Sense of subject matter
• Grain of voice
• Arrangement
• Suggested Stories
• Cultural references

Here is a Prezi which explains and illustrates these ideas:

Task 1

• You will listen to two songs and write down the images, ideas, colours, adjectives, themes, subjects that come to mind when listening to the lyrics, beat, grain of voice, tempo etc.
• Then we will watch the videos and see how close you were to how the music was interpreted in visuals.

LEARNING INTENTION:  To appreciate the importance of a storyboard in planning a shoot. Filming to edit.

KEY TERMS:  Match on action, storyboard, plan, variety of shots, edit for narrative sense, continuity, convey the narrative, cut to close up, atmosphere

This week you will be working in groups of 3.  You will not be assessed on how good, bad or ugly the montage is, rather how you reflect and evaluate the process and the results.

You will have chosen a brief that will consists of a sequence/action/event that you have to film and edit – lasting no more than 30 seconds.

Using your allocated scene,  you will create a storyboard.  However, you decide to do this, you will have at least 15  shots for 30 seconds of film.  Include:

• an image – stick people will do
• type of shot – LS, CU, Tilt, Pan etc
• description of facial expressions/action/object
• remember that  transitions
• POST IT NOTES – allow you to move shots around without re-drawing everything.

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LEARNING INTENTION:  To learn how to film and edit for narrative sense. 

KEY TERMS:  Continuity editing, match on action, cut to close up, variety of shots, use of tripod.

In these next two sessions you are going to complete a short production task, which is design to advance your filming and editing skills ahead of your music video shoot.

To complete these tasks effectively you’re going to have to think carefully about how the edit is going to look at the end and ensure that you film all the shots you need.

BRIEF A

Create a video which explains visually how to complete an everyday task:  Your teacher will allocate pairs and also topics. 

1. Making and launching a paper plane
2. Making  a Sandwich
3. Opening a locker and retrieving something from a locker
4. Buying something from a vending machine
5. Giving someone a present that they unwrap
6. Painting your nails
7. Making a cup of tea
8. Getting dressed
9. Getting in a car (Mrs C’s)
10. Scoring a basket or similar

Additional Information:

• Shoot for continuity 
• Use at least 5 different shot distances/angles
• Show reactions / expression of the person completing the task
• Shoot to edit at least one eye line match/reaction shot
• Edit in at least one match on action
• Have one deliberate camera movement (not a zoom!)

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

It’s also a good opportunity to look at the assessment criteria relating to filming and ensure that you take those into account during your planning and filming. They are:

1. Holding a shot steady 
2. Framing a shot 
3. (Shooting a) variety of shot distances
4. Film and edit for narrative sense.

FILMING TIPS

Also here are some top tips about filming technique

• Use a Tripod.
• Film everything at least twice.
• Start the camera before the actors perform and don’t stop before they finish.
• Ensure the actors do not break continuity
• Avoid zooms and following the action with the camera (pans/tilts).
  • Move the Camera and reframe
• Think about depth of field, rule of thirds and lead space (in front of where the actor is looking / walking).
• Remember the 180o rule.
• Don’t forget your close-ups – reactions, important objects and significant events

Filming	Editing
Rule of thirds Lead Space Framing Depth of field Pull focus	180o rule Eye-line match Continuity Action / Reaction Shots Montage

LEARNING INTENTIONS:  TO UNDERSTAND KEY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR MUSIC VIDEOS IN THIS EXAM.

KEY TERMS: Deconstruct, decode, analyse, success criteria, mise en scene, editing, camera, editing to the beat, lip syncing, star image, representation.

What works and what doesn’t?

This is your opportunity to get a sense of what can be achieved by students and also understand the high standards you should be aiming for in your music video.

Task

What’s your favourite student video from previous years?

Why?

Task 1:

Refer to all the areas you now understand help to make a good music video:

• Technical conventions like lip syncing, editing to the beat, composition & framing
• Narrative and performance ratio and the type of narrative has been created?
• How the star has been represented (values, attitudes & beliefs)?
• How has the video been styled, designed, filmed and edited – what have they done to convey that star image and promote the artist?

Task 2:

Then complete the assessment form attached and give a brief overview of why you think the video deserved your peer assessment of 3 of the areas.

Do not write an essay but instead create some sub headings with some reflection and make a range of points about why it is your favourite video.

LEARNING INTENTION: TO UNDERSTAND KEY NARRATIVE, PERFORMANCE AND TECHNICAL CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS. 

KEY TERMS FOR INTRODUCTONS IN BLOG:  Conventions/Blueprint, Narrative, performance, genre, star image, deconstruct/decode, illustrative, disjunctive, amplified, anachronic, lip sync. 

What is a music video anyway? Moreover, how can I understand them better so I can make my own? Some thoughts for your brain…

First Task: (Music Video Form & Conventions Blog Post)

This week we’re going to be watching some of the videos from this playlist. They were carefully chosen because as they illustrate many of the conventions typical of this media form.

You need to study these videos carefully so that you understand the following:

• The media form - there to sell the star?

• Technical conventions - commonalities in all music videos?

• Features conventional to the genre of music - MES/themes?

• Narrative conventions and structures - disjunctive/illustrative/amplified?

You must be understand these things in order to be able the develop and devise videos of your own video and knowingly use, challenge or subvert conventional features.

Here are some other suggestions but try and get a range of genres and different narrative/performance ratios.

Performance

Performance/Narrative

Narrative Only

Narrative and Performance

Narrative

Performance and Narrative (disjunctive)

TASK

Complete this form and make a copy yourself and then save as a PDF and upload to your blog.

BLOG POST:

• Make a copy, complete with notes / ideas then save as a PDF and upload to your blog. 
• Use all the key terms in your introduction.
• Always focus forward – how will this influence, shape your own ideas. What might you now do?

This is your first piece of research for your own music video, so do it well!