G324 - Advanced Portfolio Task Brief

Your task is to create:

"1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options: 

1. • a website homepage for the band;
2. • a digipak for the album’s release;
3. • a magazine advertisement for the digipak."

Your artist, album, and video will need to be original and created by you. You can choose a song from the following playlist (TBC) for your promo video (but remember you are planning the release and promotion of an entire album.)






A digipak is a certain type of cardboard packaging for a physical release of a CD. They look like this:



They can have four, six, or even eight panels. Here are some templates for them: http://www.oasiscd.com/graphics/templates-digipak.asp


GETTING STARTED:

The first thing you need to do is research existing artists and see how they present a coherent identity across their videos, websites, digipaks, and start researching these specific items. See this post for more info.





Andrew Goodwin

Find examples from music videos to illustrate all of Andrew Goodwin's theories.

Post these on your Coursework Blog G324.

Powerpoint on Goodwin's Theories

Exam board blog with coursework exemplars

Exam board blog

REALLY IMPORTANT - MUST BE UPLOADED TO YOUR BLOG

For the music video, candidates need to show evidence they have sought permission to use the track - no more than that, e.g. a letter or fax to the artist/label concerned. Other non- original material may only be used in a limited way. 

eg. if your track was by Katy Perry, you would do the following:

Metamorphosis Music is an American record label owned by Capitol Records and founded in 2014 by singer Katy Perry.  This is a screen grab of their website to use to contact them.

Just email a request and then screen grab your email and put it onto your blog.  You only need to ask for permission for educational purposes for your A Level Media Studies coursework.  You do not need to evidence the reply, although it would be great if you do get one!

How to get the top Level 4 in your digipak

0. Level 4
   
   The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
   
• awareness of conventions of layout and page design
  
• awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size
  
• accurate use of language and register
  
• the appropriate use of ICT for the task set
  
• appropriate integration of illustration and text
  
• framing a shot, 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, including cropping and resizing
  
  
  If you have worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.  Be clear about what EXACTLY you did.
  

How your website is marked - to get a Level 4

0. Level 4
   The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
   
• producing material so that it communicates clearly to the ‘reader’ and is appropriate to the audience, using the conventions of web publishing to enable the ‘reader’ to navigate the material appropriately;
  
• using ICT effectively to appropriately integrate images, written text, sound and video;
  
• using conventions of image, video and sound production appropriately and effectively
  
• accurately using language and register, showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size. 
  
1. 
   If you have worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.  Be clear about what EXACTLY you did.

MY HELPSHEET FOR THE EVALUATION

My Helpsheet for the Evaluation

A2 Evaluation Help

There are only 4 questions for you to answer for your Evaluation this year.  They are:















HELP FOR EVALUATION QUESTIONS


Here is a A* grade Evaluation:

Aaron's Evaluation

THE KEY IS TO MAKE SURE YOU USE FOUR DIFFERENT METHODS OF ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS USING NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES TO EVIDENCE YOUR LEARNING IN AS VISUAL A METHOD AS POSSIBLE - eg. Director's cut, vox pops, vlog, garageband (incorporating still images), 9 key frame analysis (as you did last year),

Sample Artist Bios and Backstory

Here are some sample artist biographies, you will need to know this information about your artist if you are to create a believable video, website, digipak, or magazine advertisement.

The Weeknd

Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known by his stage name The Weeknd(pronounced "weekend"), is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer. In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd". 

He released three nine-track mixtapes throughout 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were critically acclaimed.[1] The following year, he released a compilation album Trilogy, thirty tracks[2] consisting of remastered versions of the mixtape material and three additional songs. It was released under Republic Records and his own label XO. 

In 2013, he released his debut studio album Kiss Land, which was supported by the singles "Kiss Land" and "Live For". His second album, Beauty Behind the Madness, which became his first number one album on the Billboard200, included the top-five single "Earned It" and produced the number-one singles "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face".

Music videos for Production Design

Paul Cripps - Production Designer visit - Wednesday 14th at 3pm

Look at Paul's website and formulate some questions about how to create visually impressive videos.

Remember you will be pitching your idea for your music video so be prepared.

Paul's website is here:

Paul Cripps - Production Designer

Practical Tips - Visual and Stylistic Coherence

Read this website and watch the Lenny Kravitz video for tips on visual and stylistic coherence

Shooting Music Video Tips

G324 Coursework Inspiration - Music Videos

Analyse one of Radiohead's music videos on your blog.


These have been reviewed by Slant as they are so iconic.  Look at "No Surprises" (image below) for a video made up of only one take!


Spoiler alert: Don't try this at home!  He nearly drowned.





Slant Magazine Top 10 Radiohead videos

Researching artists, videos and ancillary tasks for your project.

For your G324 project you are not simply creating a music video, but in reality you are creating:

"A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options: 

• a website homepage for the band; 

• a digipak for the album’s release;

•  a magazine advertisement for the digipak."

So in reality you are creating a new band, and promoting a new fictitious album from them. 

(Only you will be 'borrowing' a real song to use for the video part) 

Your blog and your research should reflect this. You will need to research bands and artists as a whole and see;

1. How they promote themselves across multiple platforms (video / website / artwork)
2. If and how they create consistent theme through image, style, design, colour, narrative, tone, etc. 
3. How these various elements come together to promote a single media text (in this case an album) 

As an example, have a look at this from CHVRCHES. A pop/electronic band from Glasgow who are about to release a new album called " Every Open Eye"

Videos: 

Website screenshots;

Album page

Merchandise / Shop page 

Main 'Splash' screen promoting album 

Menu tab

Instagram

Album + single artwork. (digipak art)

Album

Single

Single

Single 

Publicity Photos 

What you need to do, is put an analysis of more than one artist on your blog, who is currently or has recently promoted a new album. You should include examples of the media texts listed in the brief (Videos, website, artwork, magazine adverts). What you need to do, that I have not done, is to analyse and evaluate the images and examples you are adding to your blog to answer the questions I put at the top of this post. 

- Mr Lane 

A2 exemplar blog - This is an A grade

Hello everyone,

Welcome everyone and well done on your AS results.


Have a look at this blog and check out the competition.

Mrs H.

http://continentalpictures.blogspot.co.uk/

A2 Music Video Playlist

Hello!

Here are some song choices for you to start thinking about your Music Video. This playlist may change so check regularly!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh2qVSPTcSfGbbzN7p34XQls8MuB5xjNI

Please note this playlist is for the SONGS. Not the videos. Some of these videos are awful and we expect you to do better. Equally we do not want you to just copy these existing videos. Make something new!

Remember we have final say on any song choice you will use for your video.

- Mr Lane

"I am the law" - Dredd (2012 Pete Travis)