03 CREATING MEDIA - MUSIC VIDEO

A music video is a promotional tool for a star and an album. 

You can research the genre using a book like Teaching Music Video by Pete Fraser (on the media dept bookshelf). Another useful source is Dancing In The Distraction Factory by Andrew Goodwin.

They will tell you about the music video genre conventions:

• The record company require lots of close-ups of the main artists
  
• There is usually a relationship between the lyrics (words of the song) and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)
• There is also usually a relationship between the music and the visuals (such as cutting to the beat)
• Music genres have their own styles ( live performance in heavy rock, for example)

PRACTICAL RESEARCH TASK

Watch Jain - Makeba (Official Video) which is about celebrating human rights. Jain has a distinctly 21st century origin story: born in France and raised in (mostly) the United Arab Emirates and the Congo, the 23-year-old singer is a true product of multiculturalism; her music is influenced in equal parts by French techno and African rhythms.

Pick ONE special effect and explain how YOU could replicate it!

Lyrics:

Ooohe, ooh
Ooohe, ooh

Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you

I want to hear your breath just next to my soul
I want to feel oppress without any rest
I want to see you sing
I want to see you fight
Because you are the real beauty of human right

Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you

Nobody can beat the Mama Africa
You follow the beat that she's going to give ya
Only her smile can all make it go
The sufferation of a thousand more

Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you

Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you
Ooohe, Makeba, Makeba ma qué bella
Can I get a "oohe?" Makeba
Makes my body dance for you

Ooohe, Makeba ma qué bella
Ooohe, Makeba ma qué bella
Ooohe, Makeba ma qué bella
Ooohe, Makeba ma qué bella
Ooohe, Makeba ma qué bella

MEDIA SHOWCASE

Once again, the GCSE student work is proudly presented on the school portal's Media Showcase - have a look and share! 

GALA DAY 2022

Year 10 were brilliant at showing family and friends how to make a 'tabletop' film opening!

Families also tried out the QR code on the GCSE flyer to access the blogs.

We were also very happy to screen our music video version of Ajimal's Be Kind, by the singer / palliative care doctor who played Glastonbury this month. We are excited that Ajimal himself will be seeing our version!

03 CREATING MEDIA

Introducing your coursework module 03 CREATING MEDIA.

Next year, you will tackle your NEA (non-examined assessment or 'coursework') from the set briefs for 2023. It is marked by your teacher (30 marks maximum; worth 30% of your overall grade). It moderated by an OCR moderator.

Check out the work that Year 11 GCSE media students did last year here on the Claremont Portal and see how previous years tackled different briefs here on our class blog.

You will also submit a Statement of Intent. This is an outline of what you have intended to create. There are guidelines on the OCR website and all last year's pupils have published their Statements of Intent on their individual blogs - have a look, for instance, here, here and here.

BLOB OPERA

EXPLORING GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE: BLOB OPERA
 

You will be making first a 45 second TV advert then an event flyer

TASK: Open Blob Opera and record a short track.

This is your advert for an opera event with your Blob Choir 

Save the file

Take a screenshot to make an event flyer

Give the opera a name; add the date and place of the performance

Add "pull quotes" to attract attention "Majestic BBC Magazine"...." Fun for all the family" Opera Today

Google Arts and Culture Blob Opera

 

EDITING THE MUSIC VIDEO

Airdrop your clip to MediaMac10 (Monday & Tuesday group) or MediaMac2 (Wednesday and Thursday)

Identify it by giving it one key word as a name

Number it according to where it comes in the lyrics, for example:

Drag it to the BE KIND bin on the desktop

Kai's clip would be '1_thirst'

Jagger '2_quench'

Toyan '3_hunger'

Flo '4_silent' and so on...

Find the track and edit the video

 

PRODUCTION WORK

We are making a music video based on Ajimal Be Kind. Ajimal is Fran O'Hanlon, a palliative care doctor who is playing Glastonbury this year. Both year 10 groups organize themselves by selecting a snatch of the words from the lyrics, writing the words on paper / card and filming themselves presenting the words to camera.

PREP Film in landscape. Be creative about how you present your words. Ensure that your words are easy to read.

Link to YouTube here

Link to the Official Video for our swede here

The Times newspaper Saturday 4 June

Above All Else, Be Kind

There is a wind of spite that chills
There is a songless sky of still
If I were struggling for breath, who'd clasp me close?
Who'd bear my breathing
As I gasped in death?

 

There is a dark that light can't kill
Within the blinding fear it fills
If I were huddling for warmth, who'd clean my clothes?
Who'd share their blankets?
Or would I freeze alone?

 

This is not difficult or radical
This is fundamental. This is pivotal.

 
This is the most important:

Be kind, be gentle
Be mild, be simple
Be patient, be peaceful
But above all else, be kind

 

There is a thirst no substance can quench
There is a hunger that will not be silent
If you were famished, your children unfed
Who'd sit you down to share their table?
Who would share their bread?

 

This is not difficult or radical
This is fundamental. This is critical.
 

This is the single most important:

Be kind, be gentle
Be mild, be simple
Be patient, be peaceful
But above all be kind
 

Be humble
Show mercy, show caring
Don't hate or hide
Don't let fears divide

Above all else...
Above all else, be kind

 

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Francis O'Hanlon

 

 

TARGET SETTING: MUSIC & NEWS EXAM - MUSIC VIDEOS

We go over the music video question (10 marks)

Explain how music videos use representations to create difference. Refer to one set pair of music videos you have studied that use different representations to support your answer. The set pairs of music videos are:

Pair 1: Wheatus – Teenage Dirtbag (TD) and Avril Lavigne – Sk8ter Boi (SB)

•   SB’s representation of a powerful woman with agency contrasts with the stereotypical representation of women solely as love objects in TD

•   SB celebrates teenage rebellion and rule-breaking, whereas TD represents a character trying to conform and succeed

•   The highly individualistic, status-ridden and competitive world represented in TD contrasts with the representation of the solidarity of an outsider community in SB

•   The representations convey the meaning of the songs: celebrating skater culture in SB and commiserating with downtrodden teenagers in TD

•   any other representational difference

• 
  

TARGET SETTING: MUSIC & NEWS EXAM - RADIO 1

• We go over the radio question (4 marks)

• Explain one way that music radio stations can meet the requirements of public service broadcasting (PSB). Use the Radio 1 Live Lounge as an example in your answer.
  

• This question is asking for media industries knowledge and understanding of PSB.

  AO1(1a)

  PSB requirements stated, for example:

  •   ‘Inform, educate and entertain’

  •   High quality content

  •   Innovative and challenging content

  •   Stimulating knowledge and learning

  •   Informing the public

  •   Original British-made programming

  •   Reflecting the UK’s cultural identity

  •   Representing diversity and alternative viewpoints

  •   Distinctive programmes

  • Explanation of the PSB requirement may be embedded in the exemplification using the Radio 1 live Lounge.

    Effective examples from the Radio 1 Live Lounge include, for example:

    •   The promotion of live music in the Radio 1 Live Lounge is distinctive and innovative as commercial music radio channels rely on recordings

    •   The range of artists featured in the Radio 1 Live Lounge brings diversity to the representations on BBC channels and reflects the cultural needs of the channels’ young target audience

    •   The Radio 1 Live Lounge is produced by the BBC in the UK, so is original programming

    •   The requirement on the musicians to play live means that the Radio 1 Live Lounge is ‘good of its kind’ – it is superior popular music programming in a cultural context where live performance is valued over recorded music

      Explanation of PSB requirements might include:

      •   High quality content means that BBC programmes, for example,

        should be ‘good of their kind’ – they don’t all have to be high art, but

        even popular programmes should be well made

      •   Innovative and challenging content means that PSB programmes

        should not chase audiences by being conventional and easy to

        understand

      •   Stimulating knowledge and learning means that PSB channels must

        include information and educational content

      •   Informing the public means that PSB channels must include

        information and educational content

      •   Original British-made programming means that PSB channels cannot

        simply schedule cheap imports

      •   Reflecting the UK’s cultural identity means that PSB channels must schedule programmes that address UK issues and reflect UK culture in all its diversity
      • 
        
      •   Representing diversity and alternative viewpoints means that PSB channels must schedule programmes that reflect UK culture in all its diversity and address UK issues from a variety of viewpoints
      • 
        
      •   Distinctive programmes means that PSB channels must schedule programmes that are different from those on non-PSB commercial channels 

     

  

TARGET SETTING: TV & PROMOTING MEDIA EXAM

We look through the recent exam paper 01 Television and Promoting Media to identify how to improve. You make notes in your target setting document on media terminology that you want to remember, exam tips, how to tackle two-bullet point questions and what the main pitfalls were.

• Q.1 Offer more that two examples if asked for 'at least two'. Revise the difference between editing and camerawork.
  
• Q.2 and 3 You will have to show knowledge and understanding of the genre (police procedural, crime drama) and of the social, historical and cultural contexts. The question will expect you to know the whole of the two texts, not just answer from the 5 minute extract
• Two bullet point questions ask you to make judgements and draw conclusions, so drop down into a new paragraph and signal clearly what your judgements and conclusions are. There are separate marks for each bullet point.
• 'How far' questions expect a nuanced response: offer a balanced view, considering alternative views
• For Blumler and Katz, audiences use media to gratify needs. Can you apply the framework to Cuffs and The Avengers?
• Do you know the names of all the characters in each programme?
• Have you watched the Lego movie video game walkthrough online?
• As you watched the Lego movie trailer, could you identify film trailer conventions?
• Can you analyse action movie genre conventions in the Lego movie poster campaign?
  

 

TARGET SETTING: MUSIC & NEWS EXAM - NEWSPAPER LANGUAGE

We look through the recent exam paper 02 Music and News to identify how to improve. You make notes in your target setting document on media terminology that you want to remember, exam tips, how to tackle two-bullet point questions and whet the main pitfalls were.

• What is media language? This term refers to how a text is presented. In the Music and News exam, there are different types of 'language' for different genres
• The language of music videos
• The language of music magazines 

The language of newspapers: the genre of modern broadsheet newspapers like our set text. 

• The Observer is a mix of serious traditional hard news journalism presented in a formal style, hard news stories with standfirsts, pull quotes
  
• focus on orderly organization in five columns one main photograph often spread across 2-3 columns but the ratio of text to to image is high
• title and copy in dark colours, serif font
• plus an element of tabloidization: skybox occupies at least a quarter of the front cover and advertises the weekend supplements The New Review, The Magazine, Sports section
• Images dominate with celebrity focus and bright colours, often canted angled, leaking / dripping / pushing out of the boundaries 
  

02 MUSIC

Compare and contrast MOJO with the BBC music magazine:

• representations
• media language

THE AVENGERS: SOCIAL , CULTURAL & HISTORICAL CONTEXTS

Social, cultural and historical contexts influence representations in television programmes like The Avengers. There are always exam question on how contexts impact on representation, either applied to one of the TV programmes, or to The Observer newspaper.

• We look for evidence about audience's concerns with the Cold War (your text book p.30)
• We note the absence of representations of different ethnicities and sexualities (p.35)
  
• We consider the changing attitudes to gender roles (your text book p.32)
• Attitudes towards class and the generation gap (your text book p.34)

 

THE AVENGERS: APPLY BLUMLER & KATZ

Today and tomorrow we watch the last of the TV programme The Avengers The Town Of No Return. For Blumler and Katz, audiences are active not passive. Audiences use media to gratify needs. We consider  the various ways in which audiences gain pleasure from watching TV programmes like The Avengers The Town Of No Return.

 

 OCR pdf guide to Television : Industry and Audience here

 

• Audiences watch The Avengers for the pleasures of escapism, diversion and entertainment. It is is exciting, entertaining, thrilling, gripping, and introduces us to a new world. Aim to link your analysis to The Avengers as a spy/ crime drama: thrilling chases, deadly fights, terrifying bloodhounds, sly enemy agents, high production values like filming in Norfolk, the comedy of the train journey, tense after-dark recces
  
• Audiences derive intellectual satisfaction from 'surveillance': education and information finding out about what happens - how do fifth columnists invade Britain, take over a village, plan a covert military campaign?
  
• Audiences  enjoy the social relationships (we share the characters' values & see things from their point of view; The Avengers provided a talking point as it was innovative, amusing and thrilling, with Peel providing both glamour in her pin-up qualities and a role model as a new woman); audiences enjoy sharing pleasures with friends & family, like watching TV together
  
• Audiences make choices about what to watch based on their shared values and beliefs (audiences admire Peel and Steel, empathize with the government agents, are on their side and support British values; audiences identify with certain people as heroes, hope that villains will be defeated, want a particular set of values to be restored and so on) 

 

 

MUSIC VIDEOS: MUSIC LANGUAGE

PREP Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists. Refer to the pair of music videos you have studied from the list below in your answer.

Our music videos are Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag Avril Lavigne Sk8ter Boi

HOW TO ANSWER: Media language points to consider:

the prioritising of the star / the group; the privileging of the star / the groups in the frame

authenticating the star's performance / the band's performance to show their skills

the use of close ups; lip syncing to camera; eye contact with the audience

 

 

MUSIC MAGAZINES: MEDIA LANGUAGE

Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 
  
  

  
  

   

Yr 10: MUSIC VIDEO: REPRESENTATION & LANGUAGE

We analyse the media representations and media language in our two set text music videos.

Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag

Avril Lavigne Sk8er Boi

PREP Read this post about the music video exam questions. Be ready to answer questions in class .

ENRICHMENT : three ways of getting ahead

Open the link to the BFI Academy here. Find out the dates to apply!

Do a FutureLearn course

Explore Google Arts and Culture here

MOJO: REPRESENTATION

TASK:  Copy this MOJO 2019 cover into a new blog post entitled  MOJO: REPRESENTATION. Then write 4 points, one each about about the following.

How the producers have chosen to construct a version of reality that represents events, social groups and ideas to fit their purposes:

• MOJO wishes to attract a target audience that shares its reverence for ‘classic rock’ so constructs a version of reality that represents musicians as authentic heroes, striving for excellence

The messages and values conveyed and issues addressed:

• MOJO’s front cover associates musicians with quest, danger and struggle, celebrating the values associated with rock music of ‘living fast and dying young’
  

How and why (e.g. to enable quick interpretation) stereotypes have been used, including anti-stereotyping / counter-stereotyping:

• MOJO’s selection of a cover photograph of a white male may be to fit the stereotype of rock musicians – this will enable instant recognition by audiences
  

• MOJO’s anti-stereotypical positive representation of older people as popular musicians. This may reflect the anti-ageism of an older audience

Which social groups are under-represented or misrepresented:

• MOJO’s front cover represents predominantly white male musicians in photographs, under- representing female musicians and musicians of colour

 

Yr 11: TO DO

YOUR HOBBY WEBSITE

Caitlin:

You need to cut your Statement of Intent down to 300 words as I cannot ft it into the interactive pdf that the exam board supplies at the moment. Please replace it on your blog here so I know where to look.

 

Next, the video of the young artist shows her turning her eyes away from the audience as if she is reading from a script. This isn’t how a real interview (‘media language’) would look. Is there anything that you can do to change this element? It might mean re-shooting the artist and having her answer spontaneously, or just having the Q & A as a voiceover while the camera shows paintings.

 Max K:  

Try to write the article: it goes with the film interview. About 150-200 words. See what other people have written.

Jess N: Put something on the website to lead the moderator to your video.

Jackson:

Your coursework is a hobby website for teens. In your Statement of Intent, you write:

 

In this article, I will be filming Tom Wilson and Alex Histon. Both of these young stars play for academy and both have the potential to reach Smith Rowe's footsteps. I will be filming these at Claremont by the football pitch. This will be filmed in a scenic manner, which will hopefully inspire young footballers. I will also be using editing to make this more inspiring and dramatic. 

 

From your website:

 

“Here you can see a humble interview from Emile Smith-Rowe which shows how you can become and breakthrough just like him.”

 

However, I cannot see the re-shot interview : all I can see is a football match with a lot of wind sound.

We had agreed that you would re-shoot the interview somewhere without background noise.

 

I also suggested making the website title THE NEXT STEP a bit more eye-catching (so, bigger and more legible)

Jack: Complete the Statement of Intent properly

Tabbi: Where on your home page does one click to open the video? I cannot tell and therefore the moderator won’t be able to. Please fix this.

Grace:
You emailed me on 8 February saying that you were at home trying to upload your video.See IT and please sort this out.

Laurence:

1. The main video is a bit difficult to open. 
2. There should be an article of about 150-200 words on a linked page (that the moderator clicks to open)

 YOUR EXAM 

Today revise from The Avengers : media representations

 

CUFFS: MEDIA LANGUAGE, REPRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS, SOCIAL ISSUES AND CONTEXTS

We watch Cuffs using Clickview and work from the OCR GCSE text book starting at page 10.

PREP Choose a piece of Popcorn Prep and post the answer on your blog tonight. 

In point

 

Out point

CUFFS: MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS & CONTEXTS

OCR have told us that the unseen extract will be from The Avengers this summer but that the focus for CUFFS will be on media representations and media contexts.
 OCR pdf guide to Television : Industry and Audience here

pdf here 

• The BBC wanted a programme to replace Waterloo Road, a social realist serial drama set in a school with an ensemble cast. Cuffs is a police drama / police procedural with an ensemble cast
  
• Television series with ensemble casts, such as Cuffs, offer audiences a team, or substitute family, towards whom they can adopt a ‘mother’ role – forgiving the characters’ weaknesses, admiring their achievements, and hoping for the best for them.  
• The cast reflects the social and historical contexts of the time: changes in social and cultural contexts mean that television audiences expect diverse representations in their television programmes. In multicultural and post-feminist Britain it would seem unusual to have a solely white male ensemble cast.  There are representations of strong women in positions of responsibility like Jo and Donna.
  
• The presence of Jake, a gay character who is not defined by his sexuality, in Cuffs reflects the BBC’s assumption that audiences would not find this representation unsettling. Simon Reddington, a lawyer and duty solicitor, embarks on a relationship with Jake.
  
• The role of Ryan as the trusted mentor of Chief Superintendent Vickers' son positions him as both the team leader and cornerstone of the force. Both Ryan and PC Misha Baig, a young female Muslim police officer, reflect the diversity of ethnicities in modern-day Brighton.
• The slot – 8pm Wednesday – was pre-watershed prime time, so required family-friendly mass entertainment. 

  The show offers comedy, suspense and action, some elements of spectacle and attractive actors.

  Television series with ensemble casts, such as Cuffs, do not offer simple hero and villain roles that enable identification with role models. However, audiences might identify with the values celebrated by the programme, such as public order, professional teamwork, comradeship, and dedication to duty in the face of public indifference, or might choose favourites as role models from among the ensemble cast. 

  WHAT KINDS OF EXAM QUESTIONS? This summer, look for the terms representation and contexts. Here are some exam questions on the class blog.
  

  Usually, we also need to prepare for media language (mise-en-scene, camerawork, sound and editing) and industry / audiences.