MUSIC VIDEO

BLOG/PRODUCTION GUIDE
This is meant as a complement to the musividz blog. I’ll set out here a
range of key steps and suggested factors to research and blog on, but
keep checking the blog for updates, links and further info.

THE BRIEF:
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo
video, together with two of the following options:
1. a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

2. a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

You’re producing a promotional package. All three texts are interlinked. The brief requires you to showcase
skills in both print and video production; photography and cinematography.
Therefore, as you undertake filming you should also be gathering still images; your photography for the ad and
digipak could be entirely distinct from the digipak/ad – look at examples; do the design for digipaks tend to
reference the video? Note any examples you find that do/don’t.

BASIC MARKS BREAKDOWN:

RESEARCH & PLANNING 20%
PRODUCTION 60%
MUSIC VIDEO 40%
DIGIPAK 10%
DIGIPAK MAG AD 10%
EVALUATION 20%
I’ll add detail on the specific markscheme later.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS:
If you remember your AS experience, many of you left this very late, and didn’t really score as highly as you
should have done – planning for this from an early stage is vital. A separate sheet of paper for each question is
one way of doing this. The four questions are:

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 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?

As you work through this you should also be continuously taking notes on the TEN
distinct aspects of the exam Q1a & Q1b … remember these?!
1a asks you to analyse your productions with 1b ‘requires candidates to select one
reference to one or two specific production production and evaluate it in relation to
practices, from: a media concept.’ ONE from:
 Digital Technology  Genre
 Creativity  Narrative
 Research and planning  Representation
 Post-production  Audience
 Using conventions from real media  Media language
texts

MARKSCHEME:
All three aspects are assessed as one of:
Mark out of: 40 20 10
 MINIMAL 0-14 0-7 0-3
 BASIC 15-23 8-11 4-6
 PROFICIENT 24-31 12-15 7-8
 EXCELLENT 32-40 16-20 9-10

RESEARCH & PLANNING

To hit ‘excellent’ (16-20 marks) requires meeting the following:

There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
Time management is excellent.
There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.

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 There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation.
There are excellent communication skills.
EVALUATION
To hit ‘excellent’ (16-20 marks) requires meeting the following:

There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.

There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the
production.

There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.

There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.

There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.

There is excellent ability to communicate.

There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

PRODUCTION
Three separate marks are given (out of 40/10/10). To be marked as Excellent (32-40 or 9-10) requires:
The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following
technical skills:

holding a shot steady, where appropriate;

framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
shooting material appropriate to the task set;
selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and
appropriately;
using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task.

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.

That’s for the music video, marked /40. The two ancillary tasks, marked /10, require:
The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following
technical skills:

using IT appropriately for the task set;

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 showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design;
showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size;
accurate use of language and register;
appropriately integrating illustration and text;
framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
shooting material appropriate to the task set;
selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including
within text, within particular IT programmes, cropping and resizing.

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Your blog is a record of the steps you’ve taken, and when you’ve taken these – it reflects how consistently
you’ve applied yourself to the research and the planning. You want to show you’ve thoroughly researched the
genre you’re working in; the act you’ve chosen; the track itself; the industry in general. You then want to make
clear links between your proposal and existing practice – ie highlight links from your production to existing
texts. As your idea changes and evolves keep updating your blog – it’d be a good idea to copy any such update
posts into a single post summarizing the evolution of your idea.
Research which is entirely web-based is essentially limited – make use of, and make clear reference to, the
various books provided (nothing to stop you buying your own of course!). Its also worth checking the various
periodicals, such as Media Magazine, for relevant articles. As a final-year student its vital you start gearing up
for higher education – if you present work with an entirely web-based bibliography (list of resources used) you
will not create a great impression!
After some general pointers I’ll provide a list of suggested blog posts/steps to take.

• DON’T SET UP EMPTY POSTS: Your blog is a log of the work you do day-by-day, week-by-
week, month-by-month, so please don’t start by setting up empty posts with nothing but a title.
Don’t post until you have something to post!!!
• DON’T WAREHOUSE DRAFT POSTS: If you’re not quite finished working on a post,
publish it and add [DRAFT] to the post title; don’t hold them all back. If you do, you’re simply
creating the impression that you’re not doing any work, and risk being marked down on the
Research & Planning.
• COPY/PASTING PARAGRAPHS DOES NOT = RESEARCH!!!: Finding useful material on
your genre, format, industry etc is only the starting point (always try to briefly explain how you
went about finding info, eg search terms/engine used). If you simply copy/paste in large
paragraphs of material you find on the web – or type in chunks of a book you’ve read – you’re
not actually demonstrating any understanding of the content itself. You absolutely must quote
sparingly, using quote marks when you are quoting and giving full details of the source
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 (including a hyperlink or page numbers where relevant), but in general be summarising what you
find into your own words.
• HIGHLIGHT YOUR RESEARCH: You should be engaging in reading round music video,
audiences, genres etc as you go. Yes, you can summarise this in specific posts, but whenever you
come across a useful new resource you could blog on this separately, maybe adding a bullet
point to your earlier post on this area of research too.
• RELEVANCE?: Make the relevance of any research; how this applies to your production (even
if its an example of how you won’t be doing something, perhaps because its technically
unachievable on a micro-budget) explicit and clear.
• AVOID LONG PARAGRAPHS: The visual presentation of your blog is important: avoid
having over-long continuous text. Make sure you leave a blank line between paragraphs. Use the
quotation tool in blogger to indent any quotes longer than a line or two, and use a different font
for quotes to help highlight them. Other than screenplays, there is almost never a good reason to
use Courier font!!!
• PROVIDE A SUMMARY WITH LONG POSTS: Where you’ve got long posts, it is generally
a good idea to summarise the key findings or points (probably best at the start of the post, not the
end). Remember…
• IT’S OK TO USE BULLET POINTS: You don’t always have to write in paragraphs. Indeed,
brevity is generally preferable: always ask yourself if you can make the same point with fewer
words!
• MAKE IT MULTIMEDIA: You are partly assessed on the
presentation of your blog, so take every opportunity to make
it visually attractive – and easy to navigate. If you’re making
a point about a movie or mag, include an illustrative image,
and maybe links to further resources. Remember: a video
and/or podcast is absolutely fine as an alternative, or
complement, to a written post, and you do need to include as
much multimedia as possible.
• EMBED DOCUMENTS/CLIPS: Don’t just include links to
Scribd docs, mp3 podcasts etc, but whenever possible embed
the document. This point was highlighted in the report on
the June 2009 AS coursework: examiners want to be able to access everything directly in
the blog, not have to click through to other sites. Any time you’re doing this, put in some text,
hit return 3 times, add more text and only then paste in your embed code in between your text.
Otherwise it can be very difficult to position text once you’ve embedded an object.
• DON’T BE A DRAFT DODGER: Very simple, but fundamental point: if you’ve managed your
time well and managed the project well you will end up with a slew of posts for drafts of
animatics, print work, rough cuts, specific scenes, etc. One quick way to make an initial
judgement as to your Research & Planning mark is to look for evidence of this on your list of
posts. You could also add notes here on specific software tools used in the drafting process.

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 • PROOF READING: It doesn’t create a great impression when your blog is riddled with spelling
errors; if you’re not so hot on spelling
try asking your parents or a friend to
proof-read your blog looking for typos,
but also sections that don’t seem to make
sense. Checking that the language is set
to UK, not US, English, you can always
copy/paste into Word and use the spell
checker, though you will find that its
dictionary is very limited and doesn’t
include many terms used in Media
Studies.
• ATTRACT A FOLLOWING: Try to
sign up ‘followers’ to your blog. Start
commenting on others’ posts and
encourage them to reciprocate.
• USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!: I’ve provided you with a list of likely post topics, and noted
that the headings given are not official. Don’t ask about post titles, just stick to two basic
principles: (i) ensure it describes the contents/topic (ii) keep it pithy (otherwise when you look at
your blog archive you’ll see a few words and ‘…’, not the full post title).
• TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WORK! Make it a lively, informative, multimedia text that you can
use to impress someone – perhaps a university or future employer!

SUGGESTIONS FOR BLOG

POSTS/TOPICS
The following list is not exhaustive.
At the same time, it is not necessarily expected that you will blog on each aspect. Nor is the order prescriptive.

HOW TO USE THIS LIST

As a production group, you need to set aside some time to read through this document, and mark out those posts
you think you both should and could do.
At this point you can consider dividing up some or all of the tasks, assigning them amongst yourselves. You can
add initials beside each post (for 1 or more person) you hope to tackle.
Next, think about a schedule and add some indicative dates to complete these.
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Once you’ve done this, talk me through your plans as a group, and ask any questions on topics you’re unclear
on.

SHARING POSTS AS A GROUP

There’s no problem with copying/pasting each other’s posts into your individual blogs; just denote at the top of
each post who wrote it (initials or 1st names would be fine: eg POST RESEARCHED + WRITTEN BY DB).

JOINT, ALL-GROUP POSTS

Particularly when it comes to discussing the genre; conventions observed from videos you’ve looked at; the act
chosen; the evolution of the idea, it’d be useful to post as a group. Podcasts/vodcasts/videos would be
particularly ideal. Try and avoid single-take videos though – either have a 2-camera set-up or have additional
visual material to intercut; who really wants to stare at your talking heads for several minutes?!?
Suggested posts follow.
Before listing these possible posts, remember that you have access to complete blogs from other centres for
further ideas and inspirations. I also remind you again to keep checking the blog for more info/ideas + general
inspiration!!!
It’d be nice if you passed on info on useful resources you found, or perhaps simply ideas/suggestions for next
year’s students facing the same task and challenges as yourselves, either as comments on the blog or as emails.
I’ve copied in below the post on othe4r centres’ blogs:
I've got links with several centres across the UK whose students are following the same briefs as
yourselves. You'll recall how vital audience feedback is for coursework; this is your chance to
give some considered, constructive feedback on these students' productions, with the
knowledge that this will enhance your own prospects of getting reciprocal feedback.
Give some due thought to this, and phrase any critique you may have in a manner you'd be
happy for someone to comment on your own work. Discussing aspects you think could be
improved/developed is fine, tho' don't forget to note anything you like too!!!
Some students include specific questions on their blogs; have a read before viewing or
commenting.

There's a lot you can pick up from others' blogs. This is a good example, a
bit of ingenious innovation from some students at a school in Kent (watch
the YouTube vid): http://twgsbmedia10a2group5.blogspot.com/2010/11/rb-digipak-so-far.html
(Feel free to add comments to posts other than the final cuts)

CENTRE 1: KENT
You can access a range (8) of group blogs at http://twgsbmusicvideo.blogspot.com/ - each group has
included specific questions they'd like addressed in their posts.

CENTRE 2: CHADWELL ACADEMY, ESSEX

6 more music video productions:
http://divyayear13.blogspot.com/
http://amanveeryear13.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-08T04%3A19%3A00-
08%3A00&max-results=7
http://a2shaninaikmedia.blogspot.com/
http://a2sashglucksmedia.blogspot.com/
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 http://jmfsmikle.blogspot.com/
http://shiimasharifyear13a2.blogspot.com/

CENTRE 3: CASTLE SCHOOL, SOMERSET

http://a2joetully.edublogs.org/
http://a2davidwaldron.edublogs.org/
http://a2harryedmondson.edublogs.org/

Some very interesting work amongst these - should give you a clear sense of the standards you've got to
meet ... and beat!!!

Suggested blog posts/steps follow…

THE TASK
Type/copy in the specific task brief

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
For your own reference, how are you assessed? Keep returning to this to remind yourself!!!

OUR BRITNEY VID

Discuss the task, your individual role, and what you learned from this – obviously embed the video!!! What
responses have you had to this? This leads you nicely into a slightly later discussion on the current status of
music vids.

LADY GAGA: LIL MISS MADONNA?

Rehearse some of the arguments, especially about gender and sexuality (think Judith Butler and her
‘performativity of gender’ theory), we explored when looking at the Bad Romance vid.

HISTORY + DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC VIDEO

The wiki entry on music entry is pretty good … and then there’s the highly recommended book Money For
Nothing by Saul Austerlitz.

CURRENT STATUS OF MUSIC VIDEO

As Austerlitz flags up, it seemed for quite a time as if the music video was destined to become an historical
format, no longer relevant to a contemporary audience … then the digital revolution resuscitated the format, and
made it culturally relevant and influential once more. Discuss this; research where we can find music vids on
the web, and on TV, in an age where MTV largely ignores music vids? Think about C4’s premieres of music
vids; the many digital channels (even Propellor TV, the Leeds-based Sky digital channel that work largely with
short film and music video).
What examples are there which show that the music vid remains a major influence on popular culture?

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FUTURE OF MUSIC VIDEO?
Okay, so the music vid is experiencing a renaissance; we’re seeing hugely successful ad campaigns using the
form (think of that dairy ad, exclusively aired during X Factor breaks), while Lady Gaga has built a career on
her post-Madonna vids.

PERFORMANCE, CONCEPT, NARRATIVE

Which writer argued that all vids are one or more of these categories? Do you agree? Can you give examples of
each?
You could easily spin off a separate post on perf. vids, and/or pick out ONE example you think stands as an
exemplar of each approach (rem. that the pure perf. vid is actually rare; there’s typically some aspect of
narrative and/or concept within these. What sort of shots do we expect to see in each? Think about the singer
and how s/he is presented.

PRACTICE PITCH1
If you liked your ideas on the various practice pitches we did, show them off! Include a link to the track used,
and lyrics, if you do this.

SUB-GENRE PRESENTATION
You each researched a particular sub-genre. You should also be able to separately discuss…

USES + LIMITATIONS OF GENRE

Genre is vital for marketing, and accessing audiences … but the digital revolution, and the explosion of niche
channels (anyone can now effectively set up an online radio station, their own (YouTube) channel etc), makes
the value of this organising concept highly questionable. Is genre of more limited use in the context of music
than with film? Consider how many artists will incorporate a range of disparate and contrasting genres within
one album, a trend that hip-hop, sampling from pretty much any format, never mind genre, of recorded sound,
helped to establish.
Is it even worth discussing hybridity in the context of the music industry?
Such a post/discussion could come after you detail your chosen act’s (sub-)genre/s.
You could also draw upon postmodern theory.

ARTIST PRESENTATION
You could also include detail on any presentation you think is potentially pertinent to your current project.

MY PITCH
Detail the original pitch, and any points that emerged from discussion of this. Upload footage if you have it.
What made you select this act/track/genre?

IDEAS CONSIDERED

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Try to show that you thought widely about what to do, and didn’t simply lump for the first idea that came to
mind.
What other acts/tracks did you consider? Did you have other ideas for this track?

THE GROUP
Who are you working with? (Provide hyperlinks to their blogs)
Why?
Are there identifiable strengths/interests/knowledge/skills/traits each of you brings to the table?

GROUP IDEA: DRAFT 1

A brief synopsis. Try to provide some detail on WHY you and the others have chosen to work on this.

[ADD GROUP/PROJECT DESCRIPTION BOX UNDER BLOG TITLE]

Click on design and add a text box (or other alternatives) below your blog title with brief, clear info on what
you’re working on and with whom. If you can be pithy, outline your idea.

HEAR THE TRACK HERE

Embed or provide a link to a stream to the track (perhaps a YouTube link).

BRAINSTORMING SESSION
Having each reconsidered the initial group idea and then discussed it, what came out of this? Any significant
changes or alterations?

SEEKING FURTHER INSPIRATION

Perhaps you posted to a fansite for ideas/feedback? Talked to an adult fan? Posted on Facebook?

ANNOTATED LYRIC SHEET

You definitely need to make the lyrics accessible – but you could copy/paste these into word and each add your
own annotations, then scan this in. This might be your evidence of the outcome of the brainstorming session.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST/BAND

Okay, just who is this act? What sort of career/success/profile did/do they have? Does their music remain
popular? Used on X Factor (shudder) for instance?
Be detailed but brief – you could pick out some trivia, some career highlights etc – but make sure its not just a
dull summary of a couple of posts/wiki you found online.
Either in this post or as a links list under your blog archive, useful resources – including books such as bios –
would be useful.

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE ARTIST/BAND

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Have they been featured in any media recently? Provide clips/scans where possible.

HISTORY OF THE TRACK

What have you found out about the track? Release date, producer, label, chart positions (here and elsewhere),
the album its from … all basic info. Found any interpretations of the lyrics? Perhaps references in books about
the act? Have there been re-releases? Is there an existing music video?
You could separate this next point into a new post: what uses of the track can you find on YouTube? Alternative
vids, fan vids, music put to clips from someone’s fave film etc?
What about any use of film soundtracks? Guitar Hero?

LABEL PROFILE
What is the label known for? Who were/are their key acts? An Indie?
Good opportunity to show some knowledge about the structure of the industry here – there are some useful
books in F6 to look at.

CONTACTING RIGHTS HOLDER

Evidence your attempts to get permission to use the audio track, and discuss how you went about this.

GENRE OVERVIEW
(See earlier posts on genre) What genre/s describes this act? Discuss and explore the genre.

MOODBOARD
F

EXISTING VIDS FOR IDEAS

F

LINKS WITH TV/FILM

F

OTHER LINKED CULTURAL ARTEFACTS

F

GROUP IDEA: DRAFT 2

F

COMPANY NAME/S
F

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COMPANY/S LOGO/S
F

TARGET AUDIENCE: CORE + SECONDARY

F

(RE)BRANDING?
F

X GENRE OVERVIEW
F

[LINKS LISTS]
F

Q1A NOTES
F

Q1B NOTES
F

[genre] VIDEO CONVENTIONS: INITIAL BRAINSTORM

F

5 EGs OF [genre] VIDEOS

F

X FURTHER EGs OF [genre] VIDS

F

COMPILATION OF USEFUL VIDS

F

KEY CODES OF [genre] VIDS

F

[genre] AS POSTER
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F

GENRE CONVENTIONS IN OUR VID

F

ANIMATIC
F

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK1
F

AS DIRECTED BY [director name]

F

BUDGETS
F

WHAT IS A DIGIPAK CD?

F

DECONSTRUCTION1 OF A DIGIPAK CD
F

MAG Ads FOR DIGIPAK CDs

F

WHERE MIGHT OUR AD APPEAR?

F

LOCATIONS
F

CAST/CASTING
F

EDITING STYLE NOTES

F

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CINEMATOGRAPHY, LIGHTING, M-EN-S
F

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FEATURETTES
F

TECHNOLOGY + NEW MEDIA NOTES

List all the technology you’ve used, from research to filming/shooting to editing/image manipulation to
publishing and seeking/getting feedback. Useful to include a sample vid or two of your using the technology to
achieve specific goals.

STORYBOARD
F

RE-PITCH
F

SAMPLE SCENE
F

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK2
F

REVISED IDEA + STORYBOARDS

F

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
F

CALL SHEET
F

R+P: AN OVERVIEW
F

THE SHOOT
F

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ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR ANC. PRODS.
F

ANCILLARY DRAFT: DIGIPAK

F

ANCILLARY DRAFT: MAG AD

F

USING PRINT TECHNOLOGIES

F

VID ROUGH CUT1

F

AUD FEEDBACK ON DRAFTS

F

SURVEY RESULTS
F

ROLE OF AUD FEEDBACK

F

ALT. EDITS OF x SCENE

F

RESHOOT SHOTLIST + OUTCOME

F

THE ALT CUT1

Its far from uncommon for bands to cut several videos for one track – U2 famously shot three for “One” for
example. One of these is a very simple, yet iconic, slo-mo vid; another useful example (in the context of time-
stretched Media students!!!) is The Pixies’ vid featuring one single shot stretched out with slo-mo – intended as
a statement of their objections to the glamour fame game its also become iconic. So, consider a simple, easy-to-
do alt cut!!!

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You could even put out invites for anyone to tender their own version (perhaps state it must be just one shot, or
a low total number of shots) – even agree to create one for another group if they will for you. Far from essential,
but could be interesting!

FINAL ANCILLARY: DIGIPAK

F

FINAL ANCILLARY: MAG AD

F

FINAL CUT: MUSIC VIDEO

F

EVALUATION Q1
F

EVALUATION Q2
F

EVALUATION Q3
F

EVALUATION Q4
F

MY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION
F

OVERVIEW OF THIS BLOG

F

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