Monday, September 26, 2022

Coursework: Preliminary exercise 2022

Year 13 coursework now moves on to a preliminary exercise: a chance for you to refresh your technical production skills prior to creating your actual production.

This is a vital element of the overall coursework as it gives you the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them without it impacting on your grade. However, we also strongly advise you to create a preliminary exercise that is linked to your real coursework concept - this may give you additional material to use later in the term.

Preliminary exercise: Music video extract

Task: Film and edit an extract from a music video for your artist/band

Length: 30-45 seconds

Equipment: Your own camera / smartphone or sign out a Media department Canon SLR from our technician Mr Harrison in DF06.

Groups: None. You MUST work individually. However, other people will need to be involved - perhaps as a performer, actor or part of your production team (camera operator etc.) This is fine as long as they are directed by the candidate submitting the work. Keep a note of who you use and how you directed them as you'll need to send this to the exam board at Easter.

What your music video extract needs to include

Content: Your preliminary exercise must include the following:
  • A band/artist logo/brand identity that appears on screen at the beginning of the extract.
  • A range of different camera shots and angles.
  • Either a narrative or performance element.
  • Editing appropriate to the content and song.
Camerawork: Your camerawork must be appropriate for your genre, artist and song. It is likely you will want to include a significant number of close-ups, particularly on the artist/performer.

Editing: You must edit your music video appropriately for the song and/or narrative. 

Sound: For this exercise, you can simply use the sound from the song you are using. However, if you wish to include an element in your music video that contains narrative and diegetic sound this is acceptable.

Mise-en-scene: iconography to establish genre of your band/artist - think carefully on setting, costume, make-up props, lighting etc.

Graphics on screen: Create a brand identity for your artist/band (e.g. font/typography, colour, logo etc.) that appears on screen at the beginning (or end) of your preliminary exercise. 

Deadlines

Planning deadline: See Google Classroom 

Filming deadline: See Google Classroom

Final deadline: See Google Classroom for specific day - total time available for project is two weeks.


Research and planning blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise: Research and planning' and complete the tasks below. First, watch this clip on the mistakes beginner filmmakers make - it will help you identify the errors to avoid when planning and shooting your video (this clip is about narrative filmmaking but many of the same points apply to any video project).



This is a great video discussing five mistakes to avoid when making a music video - but you'll also find loads of great ideas here too:


And here's another one with some specific tips on making a music video - for example, there's some great stuff on composition (leading lines) and lighting here:


There are also loads more tips and tutorials from Darius Britt (D4Darius on YouTube) that we would recommend watching as part of your research and planning. These include:
Now complete the following tasks:

1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise.

2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.

3) Write your music video treatment (this is basically a script for your music video). You can find an example of a treatment here.

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing (in a music video you will find you need FAR more shots than you think, particularly close-ups). These additional shots can be close-ups, alternative angles or something more creative. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word/Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here (this is from narrative filmmaking but the same format can be used for any video project)

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre and style of your artist? Plan your settings, costume, make-up, props and lighting. 

6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange. 


Research and planning deadline: see Google Classroom 

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