Arcade Fire The Suburbs by Spike Jonze

Living Sisters How Are You Doing? By Michel Gondry

“Produce a music promo project for a local band or a copy right free track”.

Research and Planning (20 marks)ConstructionDVD Digipak (10 marks)Print Advert for the DVD Digipak (10 marks)Music Video (40 marks)Evaluation (20 marks)

Total (100marks)

The Advanced Portfolio in Media coursework is worth 50% of your overall grade

A2 G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media (50% of A2 media mark)

Brief: Students must produce a promotion package for the release of an album to include:

1. A music promo video2. A music DVD digipak3. A magazine advertisement for the Digipak/DVD.

G324 is marked out of a total of 100 marks:

Planning: (20 marks)Construction: Digipak (10 marks), Advert (10 marks), Music Video (40 marks)Evaluation: (20 marks)

Just like in AS Media Studies, all A2 project work (planning, construction & evaluation) is uploaded to your blog.

Rules for the Music Promo Project:

1. The track must be for an unsigned artist OR be a copyright free track;2. The track must be a good quality MP3;3. Do not film in a car;4. No simulated drug use;5. No weapons – fake or real;6. No recreation of illegal activities;7. No bedroom shots;8. No sexually explicit activity;9. Don’t rely on the editing software to sort out your filming;10. You are responsible for your footage – you transfer and save your footage to the

D:Drive folder on the PCs or on the User folder on the Macs.

Top tips for the Music Promo Project:

1. Think carefully about the styling, art direction and mise-en-scene for your DVD Digipak, print advert and music video. All three elements must combine to give a ‘brand identity’. They must promote the band in an effective way;

2. If you work with a local band you need to trust them; your A Level mark is dependent on them being reliable;

3. Working with a copy-right free track is simpler and potentially less stressful than working with a band – best sites for copy-right free tracks are www.jamendo.com www.creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos

4. Give thought to your shot composition – treat each shot like a photograph;5. Use a tripod, Fig-Rig or Stedicam for a professional look;6. Don’t use the zoom;7. Green screen / blue screen is possible in the TV studio however it has proved very

time consuming. Please shoot test footage before embarking on a green screen project.

8. Use your research to help shape your production ideas. It is fine to stylistically reference professional people’s work (music videos, films, TV, photography, art)

The deadlines below have been agreed by the academic staff. They have been set in stages so that you can monitor your own performance during your Advanced Production Portfolio. After submitting work on time you will receive detailed feedback on your progress during the project and you will be given an individual action plan on ways to improve your work. The deadline dates are final, however please feel free to submit work before the deadline dates and move onto your next task.

Wednesday 12th October 2011Finish Music Video Research / upload Induction Projects to your blog (Tasks 1 – 5)

Wednesday 2nd November 2011Finish Music Video Research (Tasks 6 -10)

Wednesday 16th November 2011Complete Digipak and Advert (Tasks 12 – 19)

Wednesday 30th November 2011Complete Pre-production Paperwork and film test footage (Tasks 20 – 21)

Wednesday 14th December 2011Complete filming; upload rushes to D:Drive folder (Tasks 22 – 24)

Wednesday 1st February 2012Complete final edit and upload to blog (Task 25)

Wednesday 7th March 2012Complete evaluation and upload to blog (Task 23)

1) Set up your new A2 Media blog.

2) Embed a range of music videos that you like onto your blog; say a bit about what you like about each video (camera, editing, styling and mise-en-scene etc.)

3) Upload your Induction Projects to your blog; write a little bit about what you learnt for each task; include screen grabs from your production timeline to illustrate how you achieve certain post-production effects

4) Analyse three music videos using technical terminology and Key Concepts. You must reference Andrew Goodwin’s book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ – especially what Goodwin identified as the key characteristics of a music video (see the back of this booklet). You must also reference E. Ann Kaplan’s book ‘Rocking Around the Clock: Music Television, Postmodernism & Consumer Culture’ – especially her five types of music video (chapter 4). You finally need to reference Diane Railton & Paul Watson’s book ‘Music Video and the Politics of Representation’ – especially chapter 2. You should also discuss ‘Sexed, Race and Gendered Identity’ within your chosen music videos as appropriate (‘Music Video and the Politics of Representation’ chapters 4-6)

5) Upload your analysis to your blog - include screen grabs from the videos to help illustrate your points.

COMPLETE TASKS 1-5 AND UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG BY WEDNESDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2011-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Research a music video director of your choice; you should include examples of their work (screen grabs) and comment on their visual style, the artists or bands they have worked with; the genre of music they specialise in; whether they produce mainstream or underground work; their stylistic influences; their use of live performance; their use of narrative elements; their editing style; why you like their work.

7) Research into youth subcultures and current fashions for ideas about the look and styling of your own video and the band. Upload research to your blog.

8) Research your chosen band. Who are they; what genre of music do they play; where do they play out; where do they rehearse; have they got a Myspace / Facebook; have they got a studio recording of the track; are they reliable.

9) *Band discussions and conversations; video the meetings with the band; scan and upload notes taken during the meetings; complete a diary of when and where you met the band – what was discussed and agreed; keep copies of emails/texts sent to the band.

10) *Upload all notes, pictures, sketches, drawings, copies of emails, video footage of meetings etc to your blog (the more you have; the more marks we can give you for Planning)

11) *Decide whether your band is reliable and want to be involved in the project. If in doubt use a copyright-free track instead. You haven’t got time to mess around with bands that are not into the project. You will not lose marks by using a copy-right free track.

*Tasks 9 – 11 do not need to be completed if you are working on a copy-right free track.

COMPLETE TASKS 6-10 AND UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG BY WEDNESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER 2011------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Research what digipaks are; upload examples of digipaks to your blog; state some of the key elements of a digipak.

13) Develop ideas, sketches and designs for your original music DVD digipak; upload designs onto your blog.

14) Take original images for your DVD Digipak.

15) Produce the final music DVD digipak and upload onto your blog.

DVD Digipak for Joe Potter Enough is EnoughBy Oliver Saunders

16) Research existing magazine adverts that promote the launch of a new music DVD digipak; what are the key features of the advertisement; upload your notes to your blog.

17) Develop ideas, sketches and designs for your magazine advert; upload designs onto your blog.

18) Produce a magazine advert that promotes the launch of the music DVD digipak; upload your final advert to your blog.

19) State the ways in which the DVD Digipak and Print Advert promote the brand identity of the band in a way that will be appealing to the target audience

COMPLETE TASKS 12-19 AND UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG BY WEDNESDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DVD Digipak Advert for ArkaicBy Kelly Cartwright

20) Pre-production paperwork:

Proposal

Song lyrics with timings and annotations

Mood board(s) mood boards are selected images from magazine shoots; music videos; TV; film; advertising that have inspired you. They are used when pitching your ideas to the band so they can visual the style and look of your video.

Animatic storyboard

Production schedule

Cast and crew list

Risk Assessment – see Guy for paperwork

21) Film test footage

COMPLETE TASKS 20 – 21 BY WEDNESDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2011

22) Film the music video

23) Upload and save the rushes onto the your D:Drive folder

24) Complete first cut of the music video

COMPLETE TASKS 22 – 24 BY WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER 2011-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25) Complete final cut.

COMPLETE FINAL CUT AND UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG BY WEDNESDAY 1ST FEBRUARY 2012-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

26) Individually evaluate your final music video using the key OCR evaluation questions.

COMPLETE THE EVALUATION AND UPLOAD TO YOUR BLOG BY WEDNESDAY 7TH MARCH 2011

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Still from The Crookes Chorus of Fools byAmy Colk, Abbi Finney and Loren Aldridge

A successful music video has to work at two levels – it must sell the song to the audience, and it must reflect the mood, story, tone and musicality of the song. A music video is essentially a selling tool. Its job is to shift shed loads of CDs or downloads – that is the bottom line.

Most artists like to devise dynamic, creative and artistically exciting and adventurous videos, which add energy and a creative visual dimension to their songs. You can too.

Definitions

The song is the name the music business gives to any single named piece of popular music – or track - however long it is.

The artist(s) is the performer of the song, and it may be a band or a solo performer.

The album is a compilation of songs – even if some of them are just instrumental music without words.

The lyrics are the words of a song.

The composer writes the music of a song.

The producer works with the artist and engineers to make and edit the recording.

The arranger adapts the song for particular instruments or for an orchestra or band.

The publisher publishes the words and music of a song – sometimes as ‘sheet music’- and pays the writers of the music and lyrics for doing so.

The recording company (such as Virgin or EMI) makes the recording of the song and issues a CD or download.

The royalties are the payments that all the above receive when a song is bought by you or me, or broadcast on radio or television.

The advance is money paid to an artist for a certain number of albums, by a recording company on signing to a label. It is an advance loan on the royalties the artist will earn by selling the albums and includes all the expenses – such as making a music video - incurred in making and selling the albums. The artist receives no more money until theses expenses are paid

Andrew Goodwin identifies the following characteristics of the music video:

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics);

2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music;

3. Particular music genres have their own music video style and iconography (such as live performance in heavy rock or choreographed dance routines in RnB);

4. There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist;

5. The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which, over time, becomes part of their star image;

6. There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens, binoculars, film and movie cameras etc;

7. There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts (this may or may not feature actors from the original film or TV programmes).

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction Remix:Goodwin Topic: Representation of women; voyeuristic and highly sexualised portrayal of women which is a signature feature of his music videos – see his ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ and ‘Every Single Day’ videos.

Nas – Street DreamsGoodwin Topic: Intertextuality – the video recreates a number of famous scenes from the Martin Scorcese film Casino.

Lady Gaga – Poker FaceGoodwin Topic: The record label demand lots of close-ups; Lady Gaga has used her music videos to exaggerate her star persona and image.