Research & Planning

Star Image – Representation

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IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STAR IMAGE!

How the star/band/performer is represented in your video and on the digipak and website is crucial in constructing the values, attitudes and beliefs of the artist in the mind of the target audience.

REPRESENTATION, AUDIENCE AND OWNERSHIP ARE COMPLETELY INTERTWINED CONCEPTS!

WHAT IS THE INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF A MUSIC VIDEO?

Music videos are made primarily to promote the star, in order to sell their music, in order to make money…well mostly!

They are also constructed to construct a set of desires in the target audience to be like them, think like them, love what they love, be involved in their lives & buy what they suggest.

There are huge synergies between marketing and star image! We don’t just buy a product we also buy into the values of the star image and in purchasing their product emulate them. Media representations of the star image is crucial in terms of raising an audience awareness.

STARS SHOULD BE STUDIED AND ANALYSED LIKE ANY OTHER TEXT!

They are essentially walking talking brands, who use their branding to advertise, publicise and sell to fans. Stars have to remain constantly interesting to keep the fans intrigued – the star image evolves and is constantly reinvented by media companies! In fact Stars could be seen as its own special kind of ‘species’.

RICHARD DYER

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. The link to the concepts booklet is in the menu at the top of the blog. Find it, add it to your drive, print it, LEARN IT!

TASK

CREATE A ONLINE CONCEPT BOARD IN PINTEREST/GOMOODBOARD STAR IMAGE (you can use any other collage app of your choice but you must be able to annotate the images you upload to it).

Your task is to take the ‘star’ (performer, duet, band, group…) you analysed when you did the genre analysis and create a ‘concept board’ 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).

Image result for pinterest

And remember, just as you do in your TV drama analysis – 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.

Performance Production Meeting Agenda

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It is vital you are prepared, organised and ready to film your performance.

Remember to complete a Production Meeting Agenda and consider the following:

  • Carry out and complete risk assessments and get relevant permissions
  • Do your performer’s know their lines (have you printed them out in large print?)
  • Do you have your planning documents?
  • Do you have cameras, tripods, shoulder mounts, quick release shoes, batteries, SD cards (take at least 2 cameras and check they are charged etc)?
  • Do you have costumes, make up, accessories, shoes?
  • Do you have musical instruments?
  • Do you have microphones?
  • Do you have everyone’s contact numbers?
  • Do you have food and drink?
  • Will you set up in advance of your actors, performers arriving to cut down on hanging around time.

Genre analysis

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

Victoria Sponge! One way of remember what ‘genre’ is all about.

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 voice over. You can then embed it in your blog. You could  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, 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 among the analysis.

Use this document to structure your slideshow

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 from last year

Music Video – Performance Shot List

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Instead of a written list of shots we want you to create a visual shotlist of the kind of shots you want to include in your performance shoot.  Now that you have filmed a very short performance sequence, you know how many shots you need just to get coverage.  This is a group effort so share a slideshare amongst you.

However, certain genres rely specifically on certain shots as part of the repertoire of elements.  For example heavy rock might be canted, hand held camera shots with whip pans a plenty. Indie acoustic might be much smoother, longer, pull focus shots.

You should study other bands of a similar genre and collate @ 10 screen shots of conventional shots, frames, angles they use in their performances. You should look at at least 3 – 4 other music videos and use shots from these. You will then title the shots with an explanation of the shot i.e. close up of guitarist’s instrumental mastery; whip pans between band members looking at each other; master long shot of band performing as a unit; mid shot pan of band members; extreme close up of lead singer’s expressive face and vocals etc. Always add in some textual analysis….how does that shot help represent, connote, convey, portray the star?  YOU NEED 9 DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHOT; distance, angle, framing, movement, special.

Clearly a lot of the energy and dynamics will come from the edit in post-production but you will need a variety of shots of the performer from different angles with different movement to give yourself adequate footage.

Remember:  take at least 2 cameras for your performance shoot and get the band to sing the song several times through and take complete footage of the song being performed from different angles, distances and with different movement.

Also think about shots where movement happens through the frame…i.e. feet or people walking across the screen? What about POVs, hand held, canted, whip pans, pulling focus?

Take a printed version of the screen shots out with you to remind you of what you need to shoot in order to create the right vibe, look and energy. Also take a list of specific shots you need to help create energy and star image.

Music Video – Your Pitch

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MOST IMPORTANT – LIMITATION IS STIMULATION

There are 2 filming days we have set up to make the production easier for you. Teachers and Year 13’s will be on hand to advise and support.

  • Candie Gardens/Town
  • Lancresse Common and Beach

You should endeavour to choose your performers/actors from within the Year 12 Media Students.  You can only perform in one.

You need to short list some songs (see below the guidance on choosing songs) and, using synesthesia, develop some tangible ideas for one of them. You should present your ideas as a inspiration board of found images / videos. You will need to consider the following: [box] The genre of music & repertoire of elements associated. The look of the band / lead singer. Locations for performance / narrative. Style of Performance. Costume / Make Up / Hair. Instruments. Colour Palettes. Narrative Events. [/box] Use this slideshare as a basic template (make a copy)  – individualise it and add extra information as and when you see fit: [box] 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. 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[/box]

TIPS AND ADVICE

  • Avoid showing or referencing overtly 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.

[box] Please listen to music on these site for inspiration: Glastonbury (BBC Introducing Stage) Balcony TV Unsigned.com Soundcloud goes here[/box]

THIS IS A LINK TO A PREVIOUS PITCH

Music Video – Synesthesia

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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 turm:

  • 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.

 

Every Picture tells a story – Location Shoot ideas

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Location Shoot – inspiration and ideas.  Don’t waste the opportunity to use some surroundings to inspire a picture.  Remember, each picture can help support a headline, caption or double paged spread article.  Have some fun!

Here is a presentation with some photos of celebrities and how they could be interpreted and used for articles/features/headlines:

Risk Assessment and Production Meeting Agenda for Performance Shoot

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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.

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

 

Contents Page – Draft 1

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Before we go out on our location shoot, you should have a mock-up, draft of the Contents Page.

You will have your ‘lick n stick’ to refer to but make sure you do some extra research to find out what is conventional for a Contents Page.

It is an INDEX, MENU for what appears in the rest of the magazine with page numbers for REGULAR AND SPECIAL FEATURES.

It will also contain some photos that relate to the featured articles.

 

  • Title:   The main text on the page will be the title saying ‘contents’ to indicate that this is what will be on the page.
  • Main image:  There will always be a main image on the page that stands out the most and will usually be much bigger than the others that feature the page.
  • Sub-headings:  Magazine contents pages will be set into different categories depending on what type of articles are inside the magazine. The sub-headings on the contents page are usually in a bolder font that grabs the person’s attention more. The biggest font usually for the headings will be 14pt.
  • Ordering and structure:  The articles are set in a chronological order so this makes it easier for the reader to find what they want to read. Also there will be a few words for a few articles within the magazine, this will then give the reader an insight on to what will be inside.
  • Colour scheme:  The colour scheme used on magazine contents pages will usually relate to the theme of the magazine. It will also be simple and not contain too many colours so that it is easy for the eye to read and they don’t distract the reader.
  • Layout and other contents : The contents page will sometimes include the title of the magazine,the issue date, a picture of the front cover, contact details and the credits for the front cover
  • Editorial: there is often a short piece from the Editor, celebrating and signposting the contents of that particular issue.

Finding Inspiration – Communicating my Brand

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In Search of Design Ideas

All designers are constantly on the search for ideas they can appropriate (borrow) and incorporate (blend) into their own work.

You need to do the same for your magazine.

A Design Inspiration Process (My Example)

I have decided to make a magazine similar to Kerrang.

Of course I had to understand my audience and what media they consume and use this information to give me ideas for my inspiration search.

I looked at a number of back issues of Kerrang and used YouGov Profiles Lite for artists that appeared on those front pages. I took snips of their audience’s demographics and their media consumption, particularly the other musicians/ artists / bands which cropped up. Here is my research on my audience and what media they’re into.

Pinterest

I then went in search of picture, words, designs as well Photoshop & Indesign techniques I thought might suit my Kerrang styled magazine.

To gather my images together I used Pinterest, which allowed me to pin my ideas to a board I called ‘Magazine Moodboard’. You’ll need to install the Pinterest tool bar button in Chrome in your profile. This will give the ability to ‘Pin’ images you see in a Google search.

I used the following search terms in Google after the band names or artists listed in my YouGov research.

  • ‘Lyrics’
  • ‘Album Art’
  • ‘Logos’
  • ‘Tweets’

I also searched for ‘Design’, ‘Graphics’ and ‘Typefaces’ along with with the following #adjectives, which I associate with Kerrang and the bands / artists which appear on it…

  • ‘Grungy’
  • ‘Urban’
  • ‘Raw’

This is a link to my Pinterest board

TASK – Get Inspired & Do some Research…

You should follow the same process as above.

  1. Do your audience research on a magazine similar to the one you want to make.
  2. Sign up to Pinterest, install the button in Chrome and create a new inspiration board.
  3. Search the media your audience is into, as well as designs, logos, colours, lyrics, tweets.
    1. After you have pinned about 50 images, go back to your Pinterest board and delete about 10-20% of the pins so you’ve got a board of around 40-45 pins, which seem to have some design coherence.
  4. Explain your pins
    1. It is important that you explain why you have chosen the images and what design features are attracting you. If you look at my board, I have edited the pins to explain what feature I like about them and how I might use them in my magazine.
  5. Link your Pinterest board in a blog post called ‘Developing the Brand’ and reflect on how useful you found this as a way to gather ideas for your own design, which starts next week…