1) State the song and genre you have chosen for your music video.
Rap/Electronica, Social Realism 2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your song or concept and watch them several times. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.
-close ups to domesticity
-cuts from face to face
-bright, fun, colours, irony
-concept of them playing a game because they play mental games in the relationship
-black and white
-dancing
-simple back and forth editing of close up to mid shot
-spliced in with a movie narrative
-contrast between film and cher dancing because of colours, I want to use black and white
-whole video is made of close ups and extreme close ups
-destruction, matches tone of song, I could have a cut away shot of something getting destroyed
-instead of being edited to the beat, the shoe is moved to the beat
-the timeline of shots is not chronological
3) Write or edit your treatment just to include the 30-60 seconds you will make for this preliminary exercise.
scene 1:
woman waking up in her bed, husband sleeps facing away, gets out of bed gently to not wake him, puts bathrobe on, goes to make a sandwich, takes plate into living room to watch news (aim to match lyrics TV to shot of TV), turns news on, sleeve moves slightly to show bruise/red marks while changing channel, different shots of her in the same place? to keep movement while showing she's static, passage of time
4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here.
-medium shot of woman sleeping in bed 1
-extreme close up of eye opening 2
-zoom out to her turning in bed gently 3
-shot from the side of her getting up 4
-close up of her sliding feet into slippers 5
-match on action of her turning 6
-shot of empty beer cans by bed and empty crisp packets 7
-long shot of her walking to door 8
-close up of her taking her bathrobe off the door 9
-match on action medium shot + putting it on 10
-close up on door handle being opened gently 11
-long shot of her leaving door 12
-pan to her walking down stairs 13
-bottom of stairs 14
-walk to kitchen 15
-close up of kitchen handle up close 16
-match on action of walking in 17
-camera in the fridge as she opens it 18
-match on action of her bringing pate out 19
-camera in bread bin shot 20
-extreme close up of butter being spread 21
-extreme close up of pate being spread 22
-walking to cupboard 23
-getting plate out of cupboard shot in cupboard 24
-bringing plate back to sandwich POV 25
-close up of putting sandwich on plate 26
-close up of chair being pulled out 27
-zoom out of hand to sitting down 28
-opening laptop POV 29
-close up of typing in BBC news 30
5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre or narrative? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. For this preliminary task, use just one location to keep it simple.
cast:
Mum and Stepdad
Costume:
Stepdad- Bed sheet
mum-Primark Pyjamas and a bath robe
Make up:
Bruising and red marks (eye shadow could be used)
Props:
Sandwich stuff (Polish ingredients, contrasting with BBC news), laptop
lighting:
in the dark, so yellow domestic lighting
setting:
In my house, Bedroom, stairs, kitchen, living room (?)
You need to write a 200-word close-textual analysis of five (or more!) music videos in your chosen genre. For each music video, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog: Music Video 1: Narrative How is narrative used in the music video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the music video?
The music video follows a simple narrative of two people who have known each other since childhood. The video starts with one of the three time zones in which we see the characters interact. Using a bracelet as a macguffin, the narrative guides us through time skips to navigate their relationship with each other. Another way the bracelet is used is as a way of linking the 'present' with the far past and establishing that this is a time skip instead of entirely fresh characters. Every segment from the past is played in reverse as a way to symbolize the characters retracing their time together. The order of the narrative is cyclical as we end with the start of the first scene. In terms of Todorov's theory of equilibrium, the equilibrium is the pair being in a relationship, the disequilibrium is them being broken up, and the new equilibrium is hinted at by their meeting at the park.
Music Video 2:Mise-en-scene What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music.
The music video inspires uncanny valley. The setting of the world is hyper realistic yet the characters we see are isolated in their framing. The way they move isn't natural yet they're all dressed conventionally walking around in their conventional world. The decision to have the skin be shiny relates the characters to dolls more so than people, which is where the uncanny valley feeling is derived from. The setting is a nondescript personality-less city which the characters that are hinted to have depression interact with. The use of such a background makes it so that it speaks for a generation of people all over the world, which wouldn't have the same message if it was set in Paris or somewhere immediately recognizable.
Music Video 3:Camerawork Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. Remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and camerawork can contribute to this.
The close ups in this video are particularly interesting because they match with the music to give the vampire a narrative. Similarly, when close up into the eyes, the filter over the video changes as an homage to old horror movies that it's emulating. When the vampire goes on his rampage, the camera movement goes from stable to handheld and gives urgency to what's happening on screen.
Music Video 4:Editing Analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the music video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?
The fast pace editing with the closeups at the beginning add to a sense of urgency to his situation before the video goes psychedelic with the layering and skeleton after effects. You really get a sense of being trapped through the constant closeups that restrict the amount of negative space in the shot and the fast cutting between faces to establish a connection with the characters.
washed out colours, tons of close ups on movement to highlight the tiny detail changes between the cycles
BLACK SCREEN WITH NUMBERS FOR HELP HOTLINES BEGINNING/END
scene 1:
woman waking up in her bed, husband sleeps facing away, gets out of bed gently to not wake him, puts bathrobe on, goes to make a sandwich, takes plate into living room to watch news (aim to match lyrics TV to shot of TV), turns news on, sleeve moves slightly to show bruise/red marks while changing channel, different shots of her in the same place? to keep movement while showing she's static, passage of time
scene 2:
Cut to her getting up again at the chorus, husband still sleeping facing away, going to get breakfast, breakfast is a pot of yogurt, taking spoon out of drawer, opening the family laptop to turn the news on with headphones on
scene 3:
Getting up again on 3rd chorus, this time waking the husband up, close up of him grabbing her night dress violently, cuts to eating sandwich in the living room, red eyes, red marks on neck from hand, shaking a little and watching the news.
3) Statement of Intent Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.
Although the video will go over the suggested length by a minute, I intend to promote the band through a touching music video intended to sympathise with people living with abusers during lock down. This social consciousness would be an excellent marketing move to make the band appear as if they care about current issues. I will use a wide variety of camera angles and shots in order to highlight how trapped the main character feels within the walls of her house, such as lots of close ups to remove negative space and make everything feel cramped together. Additionally, I will feature the band's sponsor with Sony Headphones in the video in a subtle way to not take away from the intended message. My music video will bring the subject of abuse to the foreground, subverting the media's tendency to create panic about issues instead of aiding in the fight to prevent them. I will be using a stereotypical Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to read this). 4) Ignite presentation Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:
Your music video concept: artist, song, genre, narrative/performance/effects etc.
Media language: how you will use music video conventions, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience. Remember the key word: connotations.
Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your music video; applications of representation theory.
Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures - why they would enjoy your video; audience theory.
Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would sign and promote your band or artist; how fans could watch the video; other ways you could promote your artist (e.g. the headphone sponsorship in the brief).
Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September. Your Ignite presentation will be marked out of 30 on the following criteria (each worth a possible 5 marks): 1) Research (through the presentation AND your blog) 2) Music video concept 3) Language: terminology and theory 4) Representations 5) Audience and Industry 6) Delivery
Introduction to radio: blog tasks Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Radio' on your Media 2 Coursework blog and complete the following tasks: BBC Sounds Read this Guardian feature on the launch of BBC Sounds and answer the following questions: 1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’?
"It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week and for all the criticism of the Today programme (“editorially I think it’s in brilliant shape,” says Purnell), one in nine Britons still tune in to hear John Humphrys and his co-presenters harangue politicians every week." 2) What percentage of under-35s use the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app?
"just 3% of under-35s use the iPlayer catch-up radio app" 3) What is BBC Sounds?
"a new app and website that formally launches on Tuesday with a glitzy event at Tate Modern. It will bring radio livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts together under one roof." 4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?
"Convincing people to break their existing habits and put their trust in a BBC-only app will not be easy. Spotify has started to include a large number of podcasts – including BBC material – directly in its app and a growing number of people listen to the radio via voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa. Although there is the prospect of commercial radio being added later, industry voices have raised concerns that the app is a solution in search of a non-existent problem."
5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences?
"He says there is a need to reconsider the entire tone of how the BBC tells stories, shifting away from rigid formality if it wants to attract the precious under-35 audience: “It has to be a warmer, more story-led journey. You need to report the very personal experience of it.
BBC Sounds listeners will get personalised recommendations.Photograph: BBC
“The very best stories are fundamentally anchored around the personal experience. You’re trying to find the human in the machine. Journalists have a process but younger audiences can find that very cold and want to access the actual response of human beings. They really want to understand the heart of the story.”"
6) Why does the BBC need to stay relevant?
“You have to win the case for free speech over and over again,” he says. “For the last few generations people have taken it for granted. It’s absolutely core to us to present everyone with that wide range of views. That doesn’t mean you have to suspend your judgment.” Now read this review of the BBC Sounds app. 7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?
"The big idea is that you download the app and then go to BBC Sounds for anything audio (apart from long-form audio books). Music, news, drama, documentaries, true crime, comedy – if you want it in your ears, you start with the orange button."
8) How does it link to BBC Radio?
Lets you listen to live BBC radio 9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?
"The BBC has thousands of amazing audio programmes! If you browse podcasts via, say, the Apple Podcasts app, you have 16 categories to choose from, and within each, at least 20 series to try. Sounds needs to feel as packed as Netflix in order to properly work." 10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?
2) What podcasts are offered by the ShoutOut Network?
They have seen continual growth to their roster of conversational shows adding pop-culture literature podcast Mostly Lit, carefree comedy duo Two Fools Talking, theatre and music aficionados Artistic State of Mind and brand new football show Top 4mation.
3) What audience do they reach?
20,000 listeners per month, of which 92% are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities
4) What are the 2015 statistics on podcast listening in the UK?
from autumn 2015, 3.7 million adults listen to podcasts which equate to around 6.5% of the adult population.
5) The article suggests podcasts are ‘picking up more steam’. Do you think podcasts the future of radio?
I really do believe podcasts are the natural evolution of Radio as they can be consumed on demand and do not require the listener to sit and watch. Quite a lot of people are making a U-turn back to audio based media because of the convenience.
"Realism is a vital component of television drama”. To what extent does an analysis of your television close-study products support this view? [25 marks]
Realism in a television drama can enhance the experience or dampen the mystery. For example, Deutschland 83's attention to detail and fact checking the past greatly benefit the show's world building, allowing audiences to get invested in the hyper-realism. Jean Baudrillard suggested audiences view a copy of reality in the media as being more real than the original, meaning Deutschland also serves an educational purpose for its audience as well as the traditional entertainment most TV dramas provide. This is apparent with the use of archive footage of ex-president Ronald Reagan reciting a controversial speech, mixing reality with fiction to create a mesh of both. The realism used in Deutschland 83 is absolutely vital to the success of the story. However, the realism in Capital isn't believable enough to create interest. What was a clean cut concept (property increasing in value) became clouded through creating leftist fanfiction characters that vehicle biased viewpoints into a show that was originally meant to be a whodunnit. The very childish stereotypes used for some characters such as Roger and his wife (middle class is selfish) and Petunia (old so is conservative) are only highlighted by the shallow attempts at subverting the stereotypes for the minority characters.
This week's work requires Media Factsheet #69: Music Video. You'll need to log in to Google using your Greenford Google account to access this. Read the factsheet and answer the following 10 questions: 1) What is the purpose of a music video?
"The purpose of a music video is to sell products, the most obvious
of which is the song featured in the video. However, other connected
products are also marketed by a music video."
2) How has the digital age changed the production and distribution of music videos?
"the development of new media technologies meant that music
videos, and the songs along with them, were more widely available
at any time."
3) Which three major record labels are behind VEVO? What is VEVO and why was it created?
"three major record companies, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group
and Abu Dhabi Media (along with content licensed by EMI), have also launched Vevo,
a video hosting site specifically for music videos."
4) What are the key conventions of a music video?
"Movement is essential to music video and usually complements the
rhythm of the song."
5) How can narrative be used in music video? Give an example of a music video that uses a narrative.
Narrative can be used as an audience pleasure. It gives a personal identity and builds an emotional relationship with the song. Perfect by Pink uses narrative in this exact way.
6) What examples are provided in the factsheet for intertextuality in music videos?
"Such references may be very obvious, such as the
way that the Blink 182 video for All the Small Things makes
references to videos by pop artists such as Back Street Boys (I
Want it That Way) and Christina Aguilera (Genie in a Bottle) by
directly copying scenes."
"However, references can also be more esoteric and obscure, allowing
the audience to feel pleasure when they recognize the reference.
For example, the video for My Chemical Romance’s Teenagers
features ‘alternative’ cheerleaders, which is reminiscent of the
cheerleaders in the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.
Most fans of My Chemical Romance are likely to be familiar with
Nirvana and this iconic video."
7) Why do audiences enjoy intertextual references in media products?
It gives a sense of reward to the audience for knowing the reference. 8) Read the music video example analysis on page 3 of the factsheet. Select a music video of your own choice and write your own analysis using the following headings:
SUM 41- FAKE MY OWN DEATH
Conventions (movement/narrative/artist)- even though the camera does not move much to begin with, people are always moving in some way in the shot. As the video progresses, there are more glitches and meme bombs (mombs). The narrative is a suggested meteorite shower/ apocalypse. The artists are present.
Intertextuality- The many references to popular images in 2016. They themselves are a reference to 2000s punk.
Representation- The Band are all men in punky outfits. Connotes to alternative music.
Audience- The target audience would be their past fans, as this was a comeback video, as well as people who enjoy pop punk.
Institution- Released by Hopeless Records, Directed by: Marc Klasfeld
8) Read the music video example analysis on page 3 of the factsheet. Select a music video of your own choice and write your own analysis using the following headings:
PINK- STUPID GIRLS
Conventions (movement/narrative/artist)- Lots of narrative movement for each of the vignettes, each one has a different method to impress a man. Pink plays most of the women. Not a lot of camera movement.
Intertextuality- References Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie
Representation- Tells the audience that women shouldn't make themselves appear dumber than they are as the "attractive" women are exaggerated stereotypes of what was found attractive at the time
Audience- since it's a on the edgier side of pop, it's aimed more for teen girls
Institution- LaFace Records
9) Watch the video for Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day (1993). How did this video set the conventions for later hip-hop music videos?
The allusion to violence and sex.
Final question - your own opinion 10) How important do you think music videos are in the marketing and promotion of music artists in 2018? Are music videos essential to a band or artist's success?
I don't think music videos are essential to success in 2018. However, they're another layer of art and meaning that can really compliment the song. They're an expected convention of music so people often expect them.
