Praise, again

Absolutely awesome planning from you all! Very exciting- keep it up!

Cameras will be available for take-home borrowing from next week, so will produce the borrowing chart in the next few days.

You're all amazing! :-)

Planning the final practical elements for shooting/photography

Hi Year 13,

Some additional things to do towards your planning! Then it's all done. Start filming and photography as soon as possible- give yourself time to re-shoot if necessary!

Planning to add- one blog post for each of the following:

1) Locations: identify the locations you will use, your reasons for choosing, and any practical info (do you need to inform someone, or get permissio? Any access restrictions to bear in mind? etc).

Take photographs of each location from several angles.

2) Actors: include a photo of each of your actors/models, describe why you chose them, and consider how they add to the representation in your video.

3) Costumes and props: use images where possible, but define the costume and make-up you want your actors to wear, and list props required. Comment on how you're going to get hold of them if it's something you need to borrow/hire/buy.

Any questions, ask me obviously!

Miss B

Images on a blog

'Original size' photo: Be aware you can change the size of the images you insert into your blog posts, and add captions. Useful if you wanted to create a collage or mood board... Keep the presentation of your planning imaginative! Show, don't tell; images and videos usually preferrable to paragraph after paragraph of text...



'Large' size

 

 

 

Hitting the ground running

Hi all,

I've just been writing a plan for Mr Wilson and myself for this term, and there's a lot to fit in- with that in mind, I thought I'd list the absolute minimum you need to have done to secure a level 3 or 4 (C or above) for research and planning. If there's anything missing from this list, your research and planning list I cannot give you above a level 2 'basic'. None of this is new work, I just thought you could use a checklist to make sure you're on top of everything...

- Researched conventions of the music video genre
- Functions of promo videos
- Conventions of a particular music genre's videos
- Exploration, ideas and inspiration
- Target audience research and reflection (absolutely vital, but very few of you have done this yet!)
- Make a song choice- reflect on reasons, initial ideas etc.
- Lyrics analysis

Looking forward to seeing you all later this week!

Miss B

 

Superstars :)

CONGRATULATIONS to you all on your fantastic Media results! I'm so proud of each and every one of you. The marks you achieved in your exam blew my mind- I cried when I saw them! Because I'm cool...

Seriously though- you have all worked so hard and it paid off. You're all superstars!

I hope you were happy with your other results yesterday too!

See you soon :)

Miss B


OH...

I remember saying I would post about where you should be up to by the new term! I'll add it to this sentimental post.

Some of you have continued exploring your genres on your blog which is top stuff- keep thinking!

By the new term, you need to have decided on your music track, and have a head full of ideas... Mr Wilson is a dab-hand at writing 'treatments', so you will form your ideas, write a treatment and script everything as soon as the new term starts. Have all your research and exploration done in the next couple of weeks, so that we can do focussed planning from September. Just remember when forming ideas that you'll be filming in autumn... Might have impact on light, weather, clothing, etc. Just bear in mind.

I hope you're all having a lovely summer!

Miss B

Work for Monday 24th June

Morning!

I want you to think a bit more about using lyrics as a stimulus for video ideas today...

At the front of the room you'll see the lyrics to a song called 'Positives' which you've probably never heard!- it's a song by a young up-and-coming indie-folk band from Oxford. I chose them in the hope you don't know them so you can come at this with complete objectivity!

1) Look at the lyrics in pairs, and discuss what the song is about, and any themes or issues it deals with.

2) What lines of the song could you use as a springboard for a whole music video idea?

3) Listen to the song here- https://soundcloud.com/#emptywhitecircles . Do your ideas fit now that you've heard the music? Think about the tone of the song...

4) Formulate an initial plan for a music video for this song. The American members help to give it an Americana feel and they're slightly pretentious (!) which makes them quite marketable... Their 'look' could be marketable too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kxrG5XPlLw

See what you come up with and I'll see you period 2 to hear your ideas! :-)

Miss B

A treat for the eyes...

Hi Year 12,

I made this treat to accompany the next task I was going to get you to do, but the video has been leaked so there's no point keeping the surprise now! The perils of Twitter...! :-)

Here's the video:

Robin Thicke (ish) spoof

I just wanted to show that you can make a moderately convincing piece in limited time- we shot for an hour and I speed-edited for two hours.

I'll also show you the shot breakdown I made; only about the first 30 seconds of our re-make was true to shot because I didn't have a bed... or a Pharell or a T.I.... And the Hubble corridors weren't wide enough to get proper long shots... so we went a little 'off piste'.

It's a treat for the eyes I think you'll agree. We had the vacant model look nailed!

Enjoy

Miss B

Work for Monday 17th June...

Hi Year 12,

Sorry for my absence today. I've seen the work you've done over the weekend on your blogs- you're all stars!

In today's lesson, I was going to talk through Andrew Goodwin's theory of music video with you, but here's the sheet copy + pasted:

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Theories of Music Video

Andrew Goodwin: ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ (Routledge 1992)

Goodwin wrote that:

1.   Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage in rock video, dance routine in pop etc).

2.   There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

3.   There is a relationship between music and visuals.

4.   The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist, and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5.   There is frequent reference to the notion of ‘looking’ (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6.   There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Key terms:

Motif: a repeated theme or pattern- costume, colours, dance moves etc.

Voyeurism: the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature.

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(I'll give you copies on Thursday and check you're happy with it all)

In today's lesson, I'd like you to conduct a very detailed analysis of a music video of your choice for any genre. Use the guide framework below- some of it is using Goodwin's theory for you to analyse and prove/disprove. You'll also need to look at media language- the prompts aren't exhaustive, you can add extra angles to your analysis too! 

This analysis should be added to your wonderful blogs :-) 

Prompts worksheet:

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Prompts for analysing music videos

·         Which video are you analysing, who is it by and, if you know, who directed it?

·         What genre does the music belong to and what broad characteristics of that genre does the video have?

GOODWIN’S THEORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS:

What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?

·         Find the song lyrics.

·         Work through the song and identify ways in which the lyrics are illustrated or amplified or even contradicted by the visuals.

·         Pick out some specific examples to back up your argument.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?

·         Does the video cut to the beat?

·         Are solo instrumental bits illustrated by the video?

·         Does the video change pace with the music?

·         Give examples to support your points.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

·         How is the record company looking to sell this track?

·         What image of the artist/band is being offered?

·         How does this video relate to previous videos by the artist?

·         Are there motifs which have been used previously? Or does this video represent a change of image? Is there a ‘message’ is being communicated in this video?

Is there reference to the notion of looking?

·         Do you get the sense that the artist is on sexual display or that other people in the video are used in this way?

·         Does the camerawork, costume, dance or something else imply sexualised display?

·         Are there references to 'looking' such as screens within screens or binoculars, cameras etc?

·         Give examples and consider why these features have been chosen

Are there intertextual references?

·         Do these relate to other music videos, to aspects of the star's image or to completely separate texts such as programmes or films?

·         How are they used?

Is the music video perfomance-based, narrative-based or concept-based

·         How much of each?

MEDIA LANGUAGE ANALYSIS OBSERVATIONS:

- MISE-EN-SCENE: what do you notice about the design decisions made and their effect on the video: costume, hair, make-up, casting, lighting, set and location, props, choreography/body language, framing and positioning etc…

- CAMERAWORK: noticeable camerawork and effect? Shot types, shot distances and movement?

- EDITING: noticeable editing for effect? Including effects added in post-production

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Good luck! 

Miss B

June 2013: first instruction!

This is really a test to see if any of you are checking your blog and subscribed to me or not... but there are some instructions too!

1. Design your blog- pick a background image, font, colour scheme etc that works for you. Don't worry too much about how it links with your music video- you can always change it later!

2. Write your first post this week. Introduce yourself, your task, how you're feeling about the prospect of making a music video, and what the short term plan is (to investigate music promotion, starting with music video...). Enjoy!