Record Labels Research anyone?

Please catch up. Maybe focus on specific labels looking at the kind of artists they represent. Contrast two or more. Finally, link that to your own track - who is likely to sign your act etc.?

The Media Conference - AS and A2

Please see post on main Gateway blog and copy of letter. Bring payment and EV7 as soon as possible.

Due in on 5.10.10

- Pitch (see post below)
- Music industry research started last week
- Bring your favourite CD cover(s)!

Transforming Komal...

Remember that you have been assigned an area to research in order to launch our very own Komal straight to fame; have this ready for next Thursday!

H/L: Extending the work done on star-text and star evolution - Fans and Marketing

You have been studying the changing image of the band/artist as it has developed over time. Now investigate the following questions (keep the same artist). It will help you follow the same process for your own artist / band.

1. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of the artist / band been linked to target audience?
2. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of strategies can you list?(any unexpected promo stunts?). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with the band/artist.
You could compare and contrast these strategies to those used to market a different artist.
3. Add any relevant links to your blog, especially Myspace page/ music video channels/artists' official websites etc.

Preparing the Pitch

Next Tuesday you will pitch your ideas to the class for feedback.

You need to have done several things before then. Firstly, agree and post the following as soon as possible if not already done:
1 who the band/ artist are, their name, their image/ identity
2 an outline treatment for your early visual ideas
3 Detail on the target audience – see last week's task and use some of the audience reseach methods mentioned in class (use Web 2.0 for instance)

Next week, you will need to present the following:

1. The track itself
2. What you know about the track, and the original band/artist
3. The genre of the music and the signifiers of this (within the music and/or linked to the artist)
4. The target audience you intend to appeal to
5. Your treatment for the video which should include visual references (stills and video)
6. Your treatment should give a strong sense of the overall style, mise-en-scene, mood and theme of your idea.
7. You should be able to discuss your treatment in terms of Goodwin's points (and
if you can, try to reference Vernallis' ideas)

Aim for 6-10 minutes. Use your blog for your visual aids, BUT your treatment should be printed in colour as a handout. Be prepared to answer questions, discuss feedback, note it down and adapt your treatment for Thursday's lesson.

Project Stages - Are you on the right track for a level 4?

Use the list below to help you see whereabouts you are on your way to a successful Advanced Portfolio.

Stage 1: Individual research tasks, including
- research for potential tracks and comments ... Final choice +reasons
- research into similar products (artists and record labels, album covers, artists websites, music videos)
- exploration and analysis of the forms and conventions of similar products
- target audience research

Stage 2: Group or Individual research and planning - the focus by this stage should be specifically on the choices you are making with your track including:
- the style of artist you are intending to work with
- the type of music video and other materials you are planning to produce
- the genre of music you are intending to work with
- the audience you are planning to target (demographics, tastes and habits, pleasures, other music/media consumption etc). Think about all the ways to conduct Audience Research discussed in class (and remember it is usually an area of weakness for many students)
- the actual track you have selected - genre, tempo etc...
- your ideas for branding your artist or band
- your ideas for mise-en-scene, location, special fx, costume, actors etc

Stage 3: Group or Individual Pre-production - your plans and ideas must be firmed up. - - Pitch
- Treatment, storyboards, photographs, shot list, a shoot schedule, emails sent / received etc.
- Search for locations and recce shots
- Test shots and comments
- ideas dor costumes, props etc and pictures of all this.
- list of (who? what? where?)
And anything else to lead to a smooth shoot. Take pictures along the way (kind of behind the scene...)

Stage 4: Group Production/post-production:
- shoot and edit music video,
- shoot publicity stills, (make sure you do a photo shoot of the artist / band on the day of the shoot; you might need it for the album cover or the website)
- design album cover,
- designadvert/website

Stage 5: Individual Follow-up work.
- Audience feedback at several stages, including after pitch
- Evaluation activities.

Note that some of your evaluation answers can be posted at any time during the project. You can add to your responses as you go along (alonside other stages) which could be a much more effective way of tackling your evaluation than leaving it until the end of the project. Particularly look at Audience Research and Audience Feedback.

Your Assessment booklet contains all the evaluation tasks as well as examples.

Music Industry Research on Tuesday

First an interesting post from Pete Fraser's blog about the music industry / media in the online age to get you thinking about the ways we buy / consume music.

Next, for your research tasks on music channels and the music companies, use the useful links on the right. You'll find all the answers there. Also use the suggested links on the worksheet and answer all the questions.

You can work in pairs or share the task as long as you share your findings; you'll get a lesson to research and feedback.

Home Learning set 21st September due in week beginning 27th September

1. Complete the required reading. We will be discussing key points over the next two weeks.

2. Complete the research task on Audience (sheet distributed in class) - TO BE COMPLETED FOR TUESDAY LESSON

3. Complete a couple more detailed video analyses using Goodwin's ideas and post on blog. Look into 'similar products' or at least distinct music genres, preferably the one you've chosen. Alternatively, you might want to deconstruct a video which contains visual ideas you'd like to replicate...

REMEMBER THAT AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR DETAILED ANALYSES MUST BE COMPLETED AND POSTED BY NEXT TUESDAY.

4. PLANNING: Update your group blog (individual if you're working on your own) about decisions made, spidergram of initial ideas, stills from other videos which are inspiring your group, etc...

General progress

I thought the presentations on music directors this morning were very interesting and hopefully they will prompt you to look at the work of these key directors and to ask yourselves why they are successful - is it just that the videos are clever and well-shot or are there other factors, including music genre, artists, and socio-economic factors?

Your blogs are coming along well. We are really pleased that the majority of you seem so focused.

Aim high and keep working hard.

Home Learning set 14.9 due in week beginning 20th September

- Read the chapter from Vernallis’ book (required reading pack) for next week

- Update individual blog about choices made. Start Group Blog and send url to HO – make sure that everyone in the group is linked properly.
First post should be about the selected track and the reasons behind the choice as well as initial ideas emerging from group discussion.

- Design a mood board from the music genre you’ve selected, including images from videos you are particularly inspired by.

NOTE: 1. Books can be borrowed: Goodwin, Auzterlitz, Vernallis
2. Your presentation on a music director of your choice should also be on your blog and presented in class next Tuesday.

Your detailed music video analysis using Goodwin's ideas is to be ready for Tuesday 28th September. This is to be an analysis of a video of your choice / similar product to the song your group ends up picking – Doesn’t have to be a PPT but might be easier to present it that way; it must contain annotated screengrabs.

Home Learning set 7.9.10

INDIVIDUAL BLOG:
1. Complete your reflective post on the practical tasks so far. Use screengrabs to illustrate. Use the points below for guidance.
a/ Sum up the practical tasks you've completed in Final Cut so far for the Music Video project and why they were useful. What editing skills have you learnt? Why are they important?
b/ What did you do successfully during the planning / shoot / editing respectively? (focus on karaoke task and Britney task). What mistakes did you make / problems did you have at any point and what would you do differently next time?

2. Prepare a pitch for your chosen track (your final choice). You'll have to pitch it to your group. Chart your decision-making on your blog; consider good points and bad points for each of your short-listed tracks (should be 2-4) and how and why you made your final choice. Bring lyrics and track to next Tuesday's lesson to play it to your group / teacher.

Required Reading: Introduction to the book 'Money For Nothing'

Get stuck in now! You will get a printed copy of this Introduction and you will be able to borrow the book from us. This is part of your required reading. You will get a few extracts from key books to help you with the theory side of things, in order to stretch your understanding of the genre, analytical skills and to improve the quality of your evaluation.
Money for Nothing Intro

Below is a short extract from the book focusing on some of Britney Spears's videos, since we started by looking at "Baby One More Time". It's a good example of what can be said about a video clip.

And finally, watch the video for Toxic here or here.

Remember to use the links on the right side to help with your research and analysis. The analysis from the BFI of Eminem's Stan should really give you some ideas in terms of what can be said about a video.

AS Results!

Well done, everyone!

We are really pleased with so many good results and wanted to say congratulations!!! 100% pass rate.

H.O'Shea and A. Lyall

POSTING

Dear all,

Do remember to select your background before adding your gadgets otherwise you will have to start all over again.
You need to add a link back to the main video blog to allow examiners / moderators to navigate our sites easily.
Other gadgets will include relevant links or articles, particularly sites that you need to go back to frequently. For instance, you might want to link up the Park High YouTube Channel to look up recommended videos or explore the work of a specific director.
Finally, you need to use labels, once again to facilitate navigation; for instance, you could use Research or Track Selection... Later posts will be about Planning and the last ones will be for the Evaluation. Do start using labels! You can add them to existing posts and you can add more than one label.
Finally, remember to document your search for suitable tracks on your blogs, and to come back in September with your top 2-4 possible tracks. Email if you have any questions about that.