Checklist for Media

Failure to meet these criteria may jeopardise your final mark and be the critical difference between a high grade and a low one.

Checklist for good grades in research and planning
You have to have:
	Accomplished?
Shown that you have researched into similar products and research into potential target audiences (what do they want?!).
Shown that you can consider and organise actors, locations, costumes or props (this is not just “Bob does costume” – tell us where, when and why you have those costumes.
Show ALL you evidence of your shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
Shown that you can manage your time effectively and have planned out your production accordingly.
Shown that you can present your research effectively so that the reader of your blog can understand every single step of progress you have made.
Shown that you have excellent ICT skills and digital technology and have exhibited this in the blog (technology used)
Shown that you can communicate your research and planning effectively with relevant detail and clear ideas and plan

Announcement

DUE TO UNSATISFACTORY LEVELS OF WORK THE FOLLOWING MEDIA GROUPS WILL BE IN LUNCHTIME SESSIONS FOR CATCH UP WORK IN E3 THIS WEEK. ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY AND WILL LAST ALL LUNCH, YOU ARE WELCOME TO BRING YOUR LUNCH WITH YOU.

Group - Day - Why
Animal House and Clayden - Monday - Individual Entries
Beyond Victoria - Tuesday - Production Meeting and Planning
Clayden - Wednesday - Individual Entries and Planning
Hurricanes - Thursday - Group Meeting and Planning
Three O Sevens - Friday - Individual Entries and Planning

Where the main elements of the song dictate the video – where we associate what we hear with what we see.

The dominant musical arrangement that dictates the overall mood. This could be a key guitar sound (the seven notes in ‘Smoke on the Water’ Deep Purple) or a particular beat (‘Weapon of Choice’ Fatboy Slim).

Once the director has identified what is the key vocal or musical element then this maybe used for intertextuality.
e.g. A xylophone sound being used in a nursery

Three Types of Video

(c) Craig Davis

Three Types of Music Video

Illustration – either a straightforward performance video or a simple narrative video (or mixture of the two) that illustrates the meaning of the lyrics and visualizes the music in a straightforward way. It could be called music video ‘denotation’.
Amplification – the conventions demonstrated by the music video creative director. They may use both performance and narrative, however, rather than simply illustrate the lyrics or sounds this director will ‘amplify’ both with creative interpretation, unusual ideas and surrealistic approaches. There is still a direct link to the song, whether it be the beat, sound or ‘connotative’ link to part of the lyrics or song title.
Disjuncture – also created by directors these videos are completely abstract and have no obvious link to the music, lyrics, song title or artist. In this sense they are a point of ‘disjuncture’ from the song.

Audio-Visual Technical Codes

Copyright: Craig Davis

Audio-Visual Technical Codes

Speed is the Essence:
Camera Shots: jumping directly between long shots, close ups and extreme close ups. Primarily the close up on the singer’s face is the main generic convention for music videos. Also the extreme close up on the lips for lip synching.

Camera Movement: whip pans, fast dolly track shots and fast overhead crane shots to follow the running, walking or dancing of performers. Also fast vertical tilts and horizontal pans.

Editing: various terms: jump cutting, MTV style editing or montage editing. Creating the visually de-centred experience of ‘jumping’ from location to person to instrument without any normal narrative continuity. It is often the beat or the rhythm of the track which provides the organisng principle for editing movement. The editing moves so fast it creates the need for viewing ‘repeatedly’.

Post-production digital effects: ‘split screens’ ‘colourisation’ ‘slow motion’ etc These are now conventional for music videos. Please look out for other innovative effects.

Lighting: Expressive lighting a key feature of music videos. Extreme artificial light to create the ‘bleaching’ effect on pop stars faces (making them seem ageless). Also the use of switching from colour to black & white or sepia to indicate a shift from chorus to verse. Also lighting effects such as strobes or flashing needs to be identified. This obviously links into the use of CGI in dance music videos to enhance the atmosphere.

Mise-en-scene: look for the overall artistic concept in a video. Is there a theme such as the historical period e.g. the sixties (Madonna’s ‘Beautiful Stranger’ with its intertextual link to the Austin Powers film) or the seventies (The Beastie Boys ‘Sabotage). Consider also the need for authenticity in performance videos by using the concert hall or rehearsal studio setting.

Making Blogger Cuts

The following instructions on this page will tell you how to make a "read more" link in your blog to avoid long posts which take up the whole length of a page

http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html

media player in blog

http://yahoomediaplayer.wikia.com/wiki/Template_for_using_the_player_in_Blogger

This website will enable you to play mp3s in your blog and have a playlist