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

Personally, I feel that the combination of the main product and the ancillary tasks have symbiotic relationship as they both feed off each and display the same message (that people should feel perfect the way they are). Both of the ancillary tasks use concepts that have also been used in the main product, such as shots from the film being used in the poster and digipack. They all also use the same font colour, pink, showing that they all have the same house style. Plus, it supports the branding of the artist, whose name is P!NK.

The images used in digipack in the holagrish effect and the other two images may be considered as a big contrast. I believe that it does work together as it all links together to the music video and continues with a similar house style. The holagrish images are to show off the artists black and white personality, while the other two images have been pulled from the music video itself.

Evaluation-In what ways does your media products use, develops or challenge conventions of real media products?

Evaluation-How did you use media technologies in the construction and research planning and evaluation stages?

One other thing I forgot to mention on the slide show was that during the construction stages, I also used my iPod to play the song for the talent to sing along to during filming. I then used it to transfer the song onto the school's iMacs and onto iMovie. 

Evaluation-What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Sorry about the audio. The people were talking really quietly! You might have to turn the volume up a bit.

I asked people from my media class because they will know about the creating of videos. I also asked two random year 11 students so I could get an unbiased opinion about my music video. However, they are media students as well so they also have some background knowledge too. 

I appreciate their feedback, whether it was positive or constructive. At one point, one of the year 11 girls makes a comment about the lip synching not being fully in synch with the music. However, she does mention that there is nothing I could do about it, which is true. I did try to synch the music the best I could , but because I am limited by the production equipment  provided by the school, the lip synching isn't going to be as good a quality as professional production music videos.

Overall though I was pleased with the feedback I received as the general prosecptives were positive. This therefore makes me feel more confident about the main product I have produced.

Music Poster

The picture above was the first draft of my music poster. I thought that it looked alright but I decided to do something else, which is a little bit similar but still quite different.

Above is another draft of my digipack poster. It's a bit more interesting to look at I feel as we can actually see the artist and has more information on it/text that is conventionally on these types of poster (e.g. the pull quote from a well known music magazine). Below is how I created the poster:

So first of all I got a print screen from my music video because by the time I wanted to get photos of the artist, she had completely changed her hair.

I then opened up Photoshop Elements where I had the idea to add lyrics of the song onto the picture (to link it to my hand written letter in the music video).

I experimented with the colours of the font for a while. I thought of maybe using pink to link it back to the branding of the artist but when I tried this out, it didn't look as good as I'd hoped.


Next I used an eraser tool with a blurred edge to fade out the text layer around the artist. Then I set the layer effect to Soft Light to make font appear more faded. After this, I added on more lyrics around Kirsten's head.

In Picasa, I added a Holga-ish effect onto the picture. Then in paint a black box at the bottom of the picture. You can see below that I again experimented with the colour pink by adding a pink tint onto the picture. Again though, I decided not to for the same reason as before.

Finally, I added on the digipack cover and the font in the black box to finish off my poster.

But then looking at other posters, I decided to change it once more as I felt it wasn't advertising the digipack well. Below is the final digipack poster:

My digipack

For my digipack, I downloaded a template from the internet and used it in Adobe Photoshop CS. The two Kirsten's (who is the singer) have been given a holagrish effect onto them. I decided to use both images of Kirsten as the conscience and the normal girl. They're both the same person but are very different, which is shown by the clothes that they wear. Initially, I was going to have one image where the body was black and background was white and then the other image would be the same but vice versa. However, this didn't look right when I tried this so I decided to keep it as it is. I do think that it gives a nice continuity link between both characters though.

The other pictures are related to what is in the music video, so that creates another continuity link. I decided to use the bedroom wall as one long picture for the inside of the digipack as it shows off the characters personality and feelings.

The font is in the colour pink because that is the name of the artist. That is what her brand is about. I also decided to have the girl character in the leather jacket. This is because the artist herself would be seen wearing that type of clothing, so it would be something recognisable for the audience.

Final music video

This is my final draft of my music video for the song Perfect by P!NK. Hope you enjoy it.

Digipack ideas

One of the ideas I've for my digipack is to have an effect similar to the one on the album of Snow Patrol's Final Straw. 

I was thinking of having the talent, both as the conscience and normal girl, on the picture with either a black background or having the wall of stuff in the background. The outline and font would be in pink instead of black as well.

Filming Schedule Changes

So last Thursday I had to reschedule the date of filming as the main character (Kirsten) was unwell and unable to do the filming. 


I have rescheduled to do the whole filming (what's left of it anyway) on Thursday. I have to film all of it now as Kirsten is actually dying her hair this weekend, which wouldn't look good for continuity marks! 


EDIT: Okay, she's not dying her hair anymore so I don't need to panic as much.

Video tutorials I used

To help me with my music video, I have used some video tutorials that have been posted onto youtube. I use these because I like to visually look and learn how to do things but I thought I'd post them here to show you how I did it as well.

This one was used to help me get the scarred look on the artists wrist:


This one, which I've already posted, showed me how to do the editing for the cloning sequences in the music video:

Filming Schedule

So here is the filming schedule that I have come up with:

Thursday 27th October - Film all the scenes at my house and in my bedroom.

Thursday 3rd November - Film 2nd classroom scene during lesson 5 (free period) at school

Then the following week I shall film the other classroom scene and additional shots for the prologue (e.g. the running down the stairs shots). Date is still undecided.

I'll probably start editing as soon as I have some footage to edit. Ideally I'd like to have finished editing by the end of November/early December.

Rough draft of final project

Below is a video of my first draft for my music video. It does not have any music over it, but it you can kind of get an idea of what is happening in it.

The video does not include every scene in the video, as I realised after filming but you can tell what is going to happen in the final project. Plus it does not have any sound because the music wouldn't sync with the video well.

Doing this has made me realise how much I actually need to film in order to make the music video look effective. Plus, I need to think thoroughly about the various shots I need to include, although I am pleased with the shot I've got already and the locations. They are effective and identifiable to teenage girls, my target audience.

The costumes I'm considering are that the girl is wearing dark clothing and the conscience is wearing the same light clothing throughout the video. The continuity link between them will probably be their hair, make up and a leather jacket. The leather jacket is to show the branding of the artist, who usually wears that kind of clothing.

Lyric Interpretation

Textual analysis of existing text

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1bcQMCZ5gU

Camera work:

In the music video for Perfect by Pink, there are a variation in shots. The different shots help to explore into more depth the emotion of the character and the song. For example, there is a low angled shot as the girl carves words into the toilet cubicle wall. It shows her annoyance with the "skinny b**tches" outside the cubicle.

A low angled shot has been used again when the girl is cutting her hair. We see it fall to the ground and then their is a mid shot of her smiling. This indicates a new beginning for the girl, which we then get to see in the music video.

There is also some panning shots when the flashbacks are presented on the walls, which I personally like because it's a bit less harsh than loads of cuts. Particularly seeing how the pace of the song isn't very fast.

Editing:

The editing helps to separate the flashbacks from the rest of the video. The flashbacks have been set in a sepia tone, whereas the present day is in a normal tone. Some of the flashbacks are also presented on the walls of the room Pink is singing in.

Again, there isn't a fast sequence of cuts (thanks to the flashbacks on the wall), which compliments the pace of the song. It is still quite fast in some places but not like MTV cutting.

Mise en scene:

Generally (appart from when the mother picks the girls clothes for her), the girls clothing is consistently dark and a bit scruffy. Her make up is also dark, especially around the eyes, and her hair is the same dark colour throughout the video.

During the childhood years, her room is quite bright with hints of pink. There are also paints stands in them. As she gets older though, the rooms we she her in are bland with dark lighting in them. One thing that stays cosistent though is her love for art, as we see her through the video drawing and painting.

There is also a prop used throughout the whole video, which is a teddy bear. It has been with the girl since she was little and in the end, she gives it to her little girl saying "you are perfect to me."



Music Video Questionnaire - Results

So overall, I collected results from 22 people. Here are there age ranges and genders:
In my survey, I collected quantitative data. Here are the questions I asked and the responses given:

These results show that music videos are still a popular form of media, especially with young people. However, the way we view them is clearly changing.

People like the music video to be related to the song. If it doesn't, then people become confused and may instantly dislike the song. However, they don't have a preference when it comes to the tone of a music video. I'm guessing as long as it is good quality music video, it doesn't really matter.

Majority of people think that the pace of the video should be in sync with the pace of the song. Too fast or too slow may again instantly put people off the video or even the song and artist. I will have to consider this when creating my video as the song goes at a medium pace. They also like the idea of a hidden moral in the music video. This is good as my music video has a hidden moral, which is that you should think of yourself as perfect and not let the bullies get you down.

As well as collecting quantitative data, I also collected qualitative data in my survey by asking what were peoples favourite/least favourite music videos and why. Here are the general reasons I was given:

Favourite video:

• Good location
• Humourous storyline
• Awesome dancing
• Beautiful cinematograhy
• Shows emotion
• Makes you think
• Highlights current issues
• Good props
• Interesting theme that relates to the lyrics

Least favourite video:

• Lame visual effects in the background
• Innappropriate and crude
• Over the top
• Too weird
• Overrated
• Just dancing-boring after a while
• Just hate the song!

This has helped me see what generally people like and dislike. I therefore will take all of these answers into consideration when I am creating my music video.

Target audience

The target audience of my media project would be teenage girls.  They are probably from the socio-economic groups of B, C1 or C2. They're also most likely to be school students too, hense why one of the main locations is a school. 


Plus, the storyline will be relatable to teenage girls because, in this day and age, there a large proportion of teenage girls who feel insecure about the way they look. This song is about feeling perfect, so therefore it will relatable to teenage girls, even empowering. 

Of course due to the penumbra effect, we cannot presume that all of the audience will fit into these categories. For example, teenage boys may also like my music video as well.

Digital Technology

The digital technology I will be using in order to create my music video are shown below:

Obviously, I'll be using this to film the scenes. It will be my own camcorder from home.

The tripod will support the camera so it is easier to film without any shaking in the film.

I also used a miniature tripod to have a steady camera from low angles. It could also be handy to use when/if doing any hand held shots, just to make the film look steadier.

I'll be using iMovie 09 on the school's iMacs to edit the whole music video.

I will be using the internet to blog my work on blogger. I will also use it to use search engines. 

Music Video Questionnaire

I have just made a questionnaire about music videos to help me collect more research about what my target audience want to see in the music video. My target audience will teenagers and will probably be mainly for a female audience. I created the survey using surveymonkey.com

Here is a link to it:

Click here to take survey

I have also posted links to the survey onto Facebook and an internet forum, The Student Room, as most people on these websites are in my general age range (in terms of target audience).

Storyboard with audio commentary

Above is the storyboard for my music video, "Perfect" by P!nk.

Camera work: Variation of close ups, mid shots and long shots throughout the whole video. Birds eye view for when the envelope comes through the door. Some point of view shots from the view of the conscience and the girl.

Mise en scene: The girl will be wearing dark clothing to show that her personality/mood is dark as well. The conscience though will be wearing lighter clothing to show a happier, more angelic personality/mood.

Editing: Cloning will be used to show the girl not seeing the conscience.

A Brief History of Music Videos

In 1964, The Beatles starred in their first feature length film "A Hard Days Night", which set the stage for what later became music videos. Two years later, Bob Dylan released a promotional video for his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". This kicked off a new wave of promoting songs through the medium of video.



Top of the Pops was important for promoting bands and their music videos during the 1970s. A good video would increase the sales of the song as viewers hoped to see the video again. For example, in 1975, Queen ordered Bruce Gowers to produce a promo video for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be shown on Top of the Pops, which is noteable as it was entirely shot and edited on video tape.



In 1981, MTV was launched and the song "Video Killed The Radio Star" is the first to be broadcasted on the channel. This sparks a more sophisticated approach to making music videos with added storylines, such as the infamous "Thriller" (1983).



In 2005, iTunes is launched and once music videos could be downloaded from the site, 1 million were downloaded within 20 days. Not only that, internet site Youtube was set up, allowing music artists such as OK Go to become more successful through the ability of viewers watching them online.

More ideas I have come up with

So, at the moment, I am currently stuck between three main ideas for my video project. I have decided to write down the pros and cons of them all in order to help me decide.

Raise Your Glass - Pink

The theme for this music video is going to be about being a teenage outcast. In the video, there will be a gang of outcasts called the "underdogs", terrorising the school and defeating their bullies.

I like the theme of this music video because it follows the current tropes of todays music videos. Plus I think it would be a fun project to do. However, my concerns are props, costumes and locations for the video.

Perfect (clean version) - Pink

The theme for this music video is about a typical teenage girl only her insecurities gets the better of her. She's bullied at school, feels that she has to make herself skinnier to feel prettier and has turned to self harming (not sure whether to keep that part in though). However, her "conscience" is trying to tell her that she is perfect but can't seem to get the message across.

I think this will be quite challenging to do in terms of editig because I was thinking of doig some cloning in the video which I learnt how to do with the video tutorial below. However, as the video says, I need to get the lighting exactly right in each clip. Also, the storyline may be a bit confusing or chessy for some people. But then again, it is a music video!

Jar of hearts - Christina Perri

The theme of this getting over a heart break. Typical scenario of a typical break up-girl finds out she's been cheated on (several times?) and is now coming to terms with it.

Again, this may be challenging in terms of editing as I have an idea of having the events where the girl isn't singing in the video in reverse such as the music video below. Then towards the end of the song, the lyrics are "I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed", which gave me an idea that at the end of the video, she could prevent herself from dating him. (it makes sense in my head, don't worry). Only trouble I'd have is with casting really.

Short film (undecided title)

The scene starts with a mother leavig a message on a girl's mobile phone. The girl is the room but doesn't answer it. Her mother says that she's sorry for fighting earlier and that she's looking for her. The daughter grabs a pen and notepad and writes a letter saying how she is sorry but ends the letter with "but now you won't have to deal with me anymore." During the film, it looks as if the girl is suicidal but there's a clever twist at the end (well I think it's clever).

This is a tricky one. As much as I love the idea of it, I think it may be a bit to depressing for me to do this time around. Maybe I could do it in my own time one day.

So overall, I think I'm settled with doing a music video. Now all I need to do is decide which song I'm going to use. Wish me luck!

Did video kill the radio star?

The purpose of music videos and radio stations are to promote the band and their song/s. This will help to increase the sales of their songs so they can climb up the charts and become more successful. However, music videos do one other thing that radio cannot do - they can create a visual image of the band if people haven't seen them live.

Today, music videos are very important on promoting the band. Particularly in recent years where music videos for pop songs seem to have a trope of having big production story lines in them. For example, Lady GaGa's "Telephone" is around 9 minutes long for a 3 minute long song just because of the development of the storyline.

Does this mean though that in today's society bands and music artists are reliant on their image? In pop music I believe so. Lady GaGa being the obvious choose for her controversial outfits and music videos and I hardly doubt that Justin Bieber would have as many fan girls screaming over him if he was portrayed as ugly in the media. But are music artists reliant on their image in other genres of music? Again I think this seems to be case. I don't they're completely reliant upon it but it does seems to make an impact.

For example, 10 or 20 years ago, rock bands wouldn't have seemed to have cared about there image. Now though, it seems that they are when it comes to how they look or what their music videos look like. Take My Chemical Romance's video for "Sing". They have gone along with the trope of having a big production storyline in it. And again, you will hear fan girls discussing about the appearance of the members of these rock bands.

So in my opinion, music videos do play a major part in promoting a band and their song. In fact more than radio now. However, music videos mainly promote the band's image. The main component of all of this, as I see it, is the actual song (although this could be debatable these days). So although radio isn't as significant as music videos are, they are still vital in promoting songs. Hence why I think music videos have not yet killed the radio star.

A Day in the Life of a Ninja!

This our finished mini film project. It has been a lot of fun to make (hense why I added the bloopers to show how much fun it was) and has made me confident about creating my coursework in September.

The idea for this came to me when I saw a sticker on the back of a van saying :

"Vikings eat Pirates and sh*t Ninjas for dinner"

So of course I thought this would be an excellent concept for a short film. The film is basically taking the conventions of old ninja movies and kind of mocking them (just like a parody). All in all it was just a really fun project to do with a lot of laughs!

I hope you like it :)

A Hard Days Night

In a lesson, we watched 'A Hard Days Night' to see the conventions in this film where roughly the same as the ones in modern music videos. It is a documentary styled film showing the life's of the band members, featuring some of their songs as well. At the end of the film they perform on stage "live".

The film did show some conventions that are now seen in today's music videos. For example, it was done on a low budget in black and white, which may be seen in music videos for indie songs. Also, when "Can't Buy Me Love" was being played, the film showed the members of the band goofing around, which again is another trope often found in music videos. And of course the film showed the trope of being chased by fan girls!

In my opinion I thought that the movie was good, even though the rest of my class may disagree with me. Mainly because I'm big fan of The Beatles so I thought it was very cool to see a whole film about them. Also, although some of friends said that the humour of it wasn't understandable, I actually understood it. It was cheesy and a bit out of date but still understandable. Then again as a child I use to watch The Monkees TV series so maybe that's why I understood it a bit more than others.

I could also see some conventions being portrayed from this film though. The goofing around scenes reminded me of The Monkees TV show and also some later films about pop stars such as The Spice Girls Movie (don't judge me-I was 6 years old and I still kind of like the Spice Girls). Therefore, I think that this film as well as The Beatles songs has been very influential on the development of pop music and music videos.

Mini task may need adjustments...

Right, when I was writing the script, I didn't realise that the project had to be only a minute long so I shall have to cut some scenes out in post production. I am including the main fight though so it's all good! :D

Literal music videos

Yesterday, we had a look at some literal music videos online. They're music videos that have a voiceover on top of them explaining what is happening in the video. It's to show how silly music videos really are.

Here are some examples:

Mini task - "A Day in the Life of..."

To get us ready to do the main task, our teacher has assigned a mini video project entitled "A Day in the Life of..." I have already created a screenplay for this and shall post it below:

A Day in the Life of a Ninja!

(blank screen cut to ninja jumping on screen)

Ninja: Hoi-yah! Bet you didn't expect that did you? Anyway, let us proceed to a day in the life of me, a Ninja! (punches to camera and title appears on screen)

Ninja: A ninja starts their day off with a healthy breakfast

(ninja drinks some form of unhealthy drink)

After this they must do a work out to enhance their inner strength. I always start my day by doing the following, one armed push-ups.

(raises hand above head)

Breaking wood

(snaps twig)

and the ultimate challenge...breaking a rock with ones head!

(breaks rock with head)

Ninja: (turns to person off screen) So we'll just edit that part won't we...okay. Great stuff.

A ninja must also practice their skills to the fullest throughout their day. The first skill a ninja should have is the element of surprise.

(ninja scares little girl but then gets scared by her)

They should also possess the skill to disappear and seemingly teleport out of harms way.

(clips showing ninja going under table and coming out the other side)

Finally, they must be able to run at lightening speed to avoid being captured.

(montage of clips of ninja running that will be sped up during post-production. Either have a voiceover/Benny Hill song in the background)

Ninja: It's hard being a ninja but doing these things on a daily basis helps me to be the best. With my ninja skills , none of my mortal enemies can defeat me.

(Pirate barges in. The next conversation is out of synch with the clip to give it an old ninja movie look. Ninja turns around in shock)

What are you doing here?

Pirate: It is time us to settle once and for all which one of us is best!

Ninja: Fine. Prepare for some serious ass whooping!

Pirate: ARGG! We'll see about that matey!

Ninja: OK

(no more out of synch talking. Montage of fight including a slow motion kick and a slow motion sword whip. Ninja wins)

Ninja: Hoi-yah! Take that!

(shows Pirate dead on the floor)

I am the greatest! Nothing can stop me! Nothing!

Viking: Wanna bet?

(Ninja turns around nervously to see Viking at the door with a weapon of some form. Viking then charges at Ninja and kills him. He picks up his weapon, holds it to his face and growls at the camera. This cues the credits to start)

I was thinking for the credits, we could show clips of the person and have their name and character on screen.

I say we because Corinne Allen is going to work with me on this project and has already given me some great ideas on the film.

Short films-Pudding Bowl/Ginger Cake

In media, we have watched two short films. One is called 'Pudding Bowl' (shown above) by Vanessa Caswill and the other is 'Ginger Cake' made by Charley Deakin (A2 student). 'Ginger Cake' was made with 'Pudding Bowl' as its style model so we were asked to look out for the similar conventions used in both films. Here is what I found:

• Both films start with the camera panning over the girls work. There is some relaxing non diegetic music being played in the background and the titles of the films appear in the corner of the shot. The sound continues in the background of the next scene creating a sound bridge.


• The film both uses a variety of shots to show the girls working hards on their projects (e.g. close ups mid shots, zoom ins, etc.


• They also both emphasise the silence and the diegetic soundswhen they are working.


• Both films have minimal dialogue in it. Instead they use camerawork and major and minor key music to give the charcters more depth.


• They both have a twist in the tale to prevent the main character fulfilling their dream (hair being cut off/massive spot on face).


• There is a mirror for the main characters to look into in both films.


• The ending of both films have happy music playing to the end credits.

History of film genres

For homework, we were asked to find films of seven different genres from as early as 1910 to present day. Here's what I found:

Western:
1910-1920’s: By Indian Post (1919)
30s-40s: Billy The Kid (1930)
50s-60s: The Hellbenders (1967)
70s-80s: Once upon a time in Texas (1988)
90s-present day: Wild Wild West (1999)

Horror:
1910-1920’s: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920)
30s-40s: Dracula (1931)
50s-60s: Psycho (1960)
70s-80s: The Exorcist (1973)
90s-present day: Paranormal Activity (2009)

Crime/thriller:
1910-1920’s: The Lodger (1926)
30s-40s: The Man Who Know Too Much (1934)
50s-60s: The Killing (1956)
70s-80s: Jaws (1975)
90s-present day: Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Action adventure:
1910-1920’s: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1916)
30s-40s: King Kong (1933)
50s-60s: From Russia With Love (1963)
70s-80s: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
90s-present day: Jumanji (1995)

Romance:
1910-1920’s: Fools Paradise (1921)
30s-40s: Casablanca (1942)
50s-60s: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
70s-80s: When Harry Met Sally (1989)
90s-present day: Titanic (1997)

Sci-fi:
1910-1920’s: The Mysterious Island (1929)
30s-40s: Man Made Monster (1941)
50s-60s: Dr. Who And The Daleks (1965)
70s-80s: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
90s-present day: Inception (2010)

Documentary:
1910-1920’s: Grass: A Nation’s Battle For Life (1925)
30s-40s: A Diary for Timothy (1945)
50s-60s: Don’t Look Back (1967)
70s-80s: Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
90s-present day: Aryton Senna (2011)

Early music videos

In todays lesson, we looked at an early music video, 'Tell Him' by The Exciters. As far as we know, it's probably one of the first promo music videos. It was surprising to see some conventions in the music video that are still around today. These conventions included:

Young women on screen
Some choreography
Singing to camera
Lip Syncing
Tracking shot and a pan away shot

However, there are some aspects that are a bit dated now such as:

The choreography (it's too simple)
Lip syncing wasn't as good as it would be today
Location was at a zoo
Animals were put on screen for a variation of shots
Song itself is dated

Ideas that I have thought of...

Last night, after having a reasonably bad day, I managed to turn my bad experiences into scenes I could possibly use for a trailer of a rom-com or a comedy. If I created this trailer, I would have called it "Life's Too Short", but of course with my luck, I went onto youtube to find that Ricky Gervais is creating a sitcom for the BBC with exactly the same title! So I may have to create another title...


I'm still undecided which task I want to do, but now that have more ideas for the movie trailer task, it is possible that I may decide to this.


The movie trailer would be about a girl who experiences bad luck on daily basis. She decides that "life's too short" to be in bad mood and tries to think more positively by fighting her negative thoughts. This is all I have thought of so far but if I decided to do this project, I would develop the plot line later on.


The scenes I have thought include:

• Getting stuck in a toilet cubicle and having to climb out. Then someone walks in when she's climbing.
  


• Kicking a fence out of anger and getting barked at by dogs.



• Wanting to throw something out of anger but only having a phone to throw. She decides to throw the back cover of her phone instead because her phone is too precious. The throwing failed and it might as well been a frisbee.



• Almost getting run over by the bus she's wanting to get on.
  

As I said, these were bad experiences that happened to me yesterday that I've developed for comedic effect. Not sure which one's I would use either as some of them may not come across as funny on screen, but I'd definitely use the one with the toilet cubicle!

And just to prove it to you, here is the evidence that Ricky Gervais is making a sitcom called "Life's Too Short"...






It's fair to say I'm annoyed about that...

Conventions of Music Videos

In our lesson, we created a mind map of the different conventions we had noticed in music videos. Here are our results:

• MTV Cutting
• Editing matches beat
• Tropes and Memes - challenging
• Multiple locations
• Multiple situations
• Multiple costumes
• Choreography
• Purpose: promote song/band
• Purpose: Sell product (shifting units)
• Purpose: iTunes (£2 videos)
• Symbolism
• Montage, anchored by music
• Lip sync
• In concert - live footage (more naturalistic)
• Pastiche - copy but not exact - style thieves
• Parody - mocking copy
• Homage - tribute
• Intertextuality
• Narrative/mini-movie approach - compressed narrative
• Interpretive abstract approach - surrealist
• Artificial performance (non-naturalistic) like musicals - pre-planned, spontaneous bursts of song
• Direct address by performer - breaking the fourth wall
• Act out story of the song
• Genre affects style

New blog!

Hello!

My name is Sophie Oliver and I am currently studying A2 Media Studies. This blog will document my coursework for it, as well as lesson work, homework and any private research that I find interesting. The coursework is a choice to do any of the following:

1. A short film in its entirety (5 minutes). This will also include doing a film magazine review DPS of the film, a poster or a radio trailer.

2. A music promo video. This will also include doing a magazine advert for the digipack of the band as well as the digipack cover itself.

3. A film trailer. This will also include a poster for the film and a film magazine front cover.

Initially, I would like to do a music video. I like the idea of creating one and also creating a digipack sounds very interesting as well.

Hope you all like it!