We are now at the end of our Online, Social and Participatory media unit and need to create an index to ensure we have completed all the work set. You'll have an assessment on this topic next week and need to be able to make specific reference to both OSP products in your 25-mark essay.
Our coursework projects are really starting to take off with some brilliant preliminary exercises. Now it's time to update our Statements of Intent and plan the music video for real. The next stages of the project are critical - this is where the video project will stand or fall. The next tasks and deadlines are as follows: Statement of Intent second draft Submitted as a NEW blog post AND hard copy from Microsoft Word Deadline: Week commencing Monday 2 November Music video pre-production
Three blogposts with a final music video treatment, mise-en-scene plan and shot list.
Deadline: Week commencing Monday 9 November
Filming of music video
Filming window: Monday 19 October - Friday 20 November Deadline: Friday 20 November
Tutorials While you work on the above deadlines, you will have another tutorial with your coursework teacher looking at your latest Statement of Intent and checking pre-production planning. For those who film early in the filming window, it will also involve checking the 'rushes' (the film clips as they come in).
Mark scheme
A few of you have requested the mark scheme for the Statement of Intent. You can find it in the A Level Media specification document here - on pages 21-22 (if you keep scrolling you can also find the mark scheme for the remaining 50 marks for your productions). This is the moment you need to step up... we're demanding professional standards to match the incredible production work Greenford Media students have produced at A Level in the past. Good luck!
Pre-production is an essential part of the filmmaking process. You now need to plan your music videos in detail to ensure you capture everything you need when filming.
There are three key elements to pre-production: music video treatment, mise-en-scene planning and a comprehensive shot list.
Music video treatment
You may already have a finished music video treatment from your summer project.
Post your latest music video treatment to your blog in a blogpost called 'Music video treatment October 2020'.
Mise-en-scene planning
Plan everything that will appear in front of the camera in your music video.
Remember CLAMPS: Costume, Lighting, Actors (cast, placement and movement), Make-up, Props, Setting. Costume What will your characters wear? What is the costume supposed to communicate to the audience? How does this link to your Statement of Intent in terms of creating representations? Lighting How will you light your music video? Day or night? Interior or exterior? If outside, can you use streetlights, shadows, reflected sunlight or other creative techniques to achieve the lighting style you want? If inside, experiment with creative lighting techniques using windows, blinds, artificial lights, phone flashes and more. You may also want to use our professional lighting set-up with a white or greenscreen background. Actors/performers The first thing you need to plan is your cast - who will be in your production and which characters will they play? Try and cast people who are reasonably similar to the character or performer they are playing (both in age and personality). Next, plan their placement and movement in key scenes in your music video. Do you want them to appear trapped in a claustrophobic close-up? Or isolated as a tiny person in a wide shot? Make-up Plan any make-up you require - this can be very important for music video. Props What props will you require? Remember, you can't use anything that might resemble a weapon in a public or school location (this is VERY important). Well-planned props can help to communicate genre and narrative quickly - vital in a music video where you can't use dialogue. Setting This should already be largely planned using your music video treatment. However, now is the time to specify exact locations - if a classroom, which one? How will you arrange it with the teacher? When will you film there? For external locations, try and take pictures of settings or use Google Maps and Google Earth. Spending quality time planning your locations can make a huge difference to the professionalism of your film. AQA also seem to prefer external rather than school-based locations. Here's a video guide to Mise-en-scene at degree or film-school level: ...And here's Darius Britt on the top 15 mistakes new filmmakers make - there are a few key aspects of Mise-en-scene in there:
Post your detailed mise-en-scene planning to your blog in a blogpost called 'Mise-en-scene planning October 2020'.
Shot list
The final aspect of your pre-production planning is to write a comprehensive shot list for every single possible shot you plan to film for your music video. A shot list is a full list of all the shots in your music video with detailed information for each of them (shot type, action etc.) Creative shot choices aside, it’s easy to forget that a shot list is a strategic document. Creating a shot list is essentially like creating a shooting gameplan for the day. Here's our friend Darius with a reminder of the different shot types and angles: Here are some top tips for writing a shot list: Your a shot list needs to contain EVERY shot you plan to film for your music video AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. Remember, music videos have fast-paced editing so you need a LOT of shots. We advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example from a short film here. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the music video in chronological order.
Post your detailed shot list to your blog in a blogpost called 'Shot list October 2020'. Optional pre-production: Storyboard Hollywood filmmakers and big-budget music video directors will also storyboard every shot they plan to film. They use storyboard artists to create a visual representation of the shots they wish to film - and use it to communicate a visual plan to the film crew. If you work well visually or are artistic you may wish to create storyboards for key shots in your trailer. If so, storyboard sheets are available in DF07 or online here.
Our second Online, Social and Participatory CSP is the Voice newspaper website - a niche publication targeting the black British community.
The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.
The Voice - background and notes The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.
In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain.
The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.
Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary
The Voice analysis: production values The Voice offers a strong contrast to Teen Vogue with significantly lower production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. However, the growth of digital technology means that the Voice can effectively compete on the same playing field as Teen Vogue, albeit targeting a niche audience. Watch this video on influential black women in business and compare it to Teen Vogue’s video content – similar in ideology but very different in production values (note the view count too):
The Voice: representation
The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see media through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-biased (or even racist) mainstream British media. This also links to Hall's work on representation and the idea of individuals having their own 'conceptual map'.
The Voice: industries The Voice is owned by Jamaican media group the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to Teen Vogue and the international giant Conde Nast. Recently, in a similar move to The Guardian's request for donations, The Voice asks its readers to support the publication by paying donations via PayPal. This raises interesting questions regarding the financial viability of online news media and particularly niche publications such as The Voice (or indeed Oh Comely).
1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice
homepage?
2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?
3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what
does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?
4) Look at the news stories on the Voice homepage. Pick two stories and explain why they might appeal to the Voice's target audience.
5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement
with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’
enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage and how they encourage audiences to click through to them.
3) Read this Voice news story on Grenfell tower and Doreen Lawrence. How might this story reflect the Voice’s values and ideologies? What do the comments below suggest about how readers responded to the article? Can you link this to Gilroy’s work on the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?
Audience
1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice
website? Consider demographics and psychographics.
2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice
website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses &
Gratifications).
3) Give examples of sections or content from the website that tells you
this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.
4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that
feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s
British target audience?
5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website
created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect
Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Representations
1) How is the audience positioned to respond to
representations in the Voice website?
2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s
concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?
3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice
website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly
multiculturalism” here?
4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to
representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of
black Britons in the Voice?
5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in
the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups
(e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)
3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a
subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the
Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia or look at this Guardian article when Gleaner first acquired The Voice.
4) How does the Voice website make money?
5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice
website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What
do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of
the Voice’s website?
6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role
in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?
7) What examples of technological convergence can you find
on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?
8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the
internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?
9) Analyse The Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast
with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as Teen Vogue)? Are
there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?
10) Study a selection of videos from The Voice’s YouTubechannel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production
values of their video content? Homework and deadlines There is plenty of work here - at least 3 to 4 hours - but this is the only blog task on the Voice and covers all four of the key concepts. Finish for homework - due date set on Google Classroom.
The preliminary exercise is a brilliant opportunity to learn or refresh the basics of filmmaking before creating your actual coursework project. After the screening of the preliminary exercises in class, you need to create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise learner response' and embed the video from YouTube. Then, complete the following tasks as your feedback and learner response: 1) Type up your teacher's feedback in full plus a summary of the comments you received from other students in the class. 2) Using a combination of your own reflection on the preliminary exercise and the feedback you were given, write three WWW bullet points and three EBI bullet points for your TV drama scene. 3) How effectively did you complete the objective you laid out in your mini preliminary exercise statement of intent? 4) What have you learned from the preliminary exercise that will help you in the actual coursework project? 5) Now you have completed the preliminary exercise, will you change anything in your actual music video? This could include the narrative or performance element or technical elements such as mise-en-scene, camerawork or editing. The deadline for these feedback and learner response tasks will be set by your coursework teacher and on Google Classroom.
There are several important theories we need to learn and apply to our Online, Social and Participatory media unit. These include Clay Shirky's End of Audience theories, Stuart Hall's work on representation and reality and Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory of black diasporic identity. Notes from the lesson Stuart Hall: representation and reality
Stuart Hall suggests individuals each have their own conceptual map – effectively what we use to decode and understand media texts.
Building on this, Hall outlines three approaches to understanding the relationship between reality and representations:
Reflective approach: the media simply mirrors (or reflects) the real world. This is a limited approach that minimalises the power or complexity of the media. Intentional approach: the producer of the text constructs the world as they see it and the audience accepts those values encoded in the text. This is effectively the dominant or preferred reading (reception theory) and leaves no room for the negotiated or oppositional reading. The constructivist approach: this was Hall’s preferred approach and closely matches reception theory with preferred and oppositional readings. This suggests concepts and signs do have some shared meanings but they are not all inherent and can be interpreted by the audience in a number of ways (dependent on their own ‘conceptual map’).
Paul Gilroy: black diasporic identity
We first explored Paul Gilroy’s theories of black diasporic identity when studying music video.
This is the idea that black identity is informed by diaspora – literally the ‘scattering of people’ across the world. He suggests this creates a “liquidity of culture” that means black identity is formed by journeys across seas, not the solid ground of a home country or culture.
Importantly, Gilroy sees this identity as impossible to reverse – there can be no return to the place of origin as the experience of slavery and displacement can never be “rewound”.
Gilroy: black British identity
The Voice newspaper was formed in 1982 to create a voice for the black British community. Gilroy wrote of the dominant representation of black Britons at that time as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation”.
Gilroy suggests diaspora challenges national ideologies and creates “cultural tension”. This tension helps to create the diasporic identity but often comes with negative experiences such as exclusion and marginalisation.
More succinctly, Gilroy sums this up as the white racist’s question to BAME people: “Why don’t you just go home?” BBC controversy Gilroy wrote about this in the 1970s and 1980s but it's been in the news much more recently with Brexit and Trump bringing debates about race and immigration to the fore. Last year, the BBC found itself embroiled in a controversy regarding BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty's response to Donald Trump suggesting congresswomen should 'go home' to the countries in which they or their parents were born. The original clip and full article can be found below: Paul Gilroy and Russell Brand In 2017, Paul Gilroy took part in Russell Brand’s Under The Skin podcast, exploring ideas and modern culture. Watch the following two extracts and consider how Gilroy’s ideas reflect recent events and media culture. Extract 1: 17.50 – 25.45 Extract 2: 44.30 – 48.08
Paul Gilroy - blog task
Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login. Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks: 1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed? 2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism? 3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it? 4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity? 5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)? 6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this? 7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples. 8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity? 9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US? 10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.
Due date: confirmed by your exam class teacher and on Google Classroom. Make sure you've also got the last sections of your Teen Vogue case study complete:
The final aspect of our work on Teen Vogue involves an industry case study and textual analysis of the magazine's social media presence. Industry is the final key concept to address in this in-depth study. It's important to remember that the exam question could cover anything from how Teen Vogue makes money to what attracts audiences to their social media pages. This means we need comprehensive knowledge across the board. Notes from the lesson Industry: Conde Nast Teen Vogue is owned and published by Condé Nast, an American media organisation that publishes around 20 magazines including Vogue, GQ and Wired. The company targets a wide range of different audiences – 164 million consumers across its brands. In March 2018, Condé Nast announced the launch of Influencer Platform Next Gen, a digital campaign that links advertisers and content creation. The goal is to “connect to a new generation of audience”.
Income sources Teen Vogue’s main source of income is through selling advertising space online – adverts that are targeted using browsing history. However, they also monetise their customer data and loyalty, encouraging readers to register online for updates, offers and access to the ‘Insider’ area of the website. This data can then be sold to other companies or used to attract ‘advertorial’ or sponsored content. Teen Vogue also makes money through YouTube with plenty of 1m+ views on their video content. This is an example of digital convergence – a traditionally print-based product moving into multimedia and accessible on one device. Finally, they run events such as the Teen Vogue summit and US tour. Teen Vogue: fashion industry player Although Teen Vogue has been creating headlines for its political content in recent years, it is also an important part of the fashion industry. Both editorial content and advertising is designed to create a strong desire in their audience for products featured. This links to Condé Nast’s role as a major media company interested in maximising profit. Some argue that Teen Vogue’s more diverse coverage offers a form of public service through its political coverage. But are features criticising capitalism hypocritical when the brand is owned by a media giant like Condé Nast?
Teen Vogue: Industry and social media blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Industry and social media' and work through the following tasks to complete the final aspects of your Teen Vogue case study: Industry: Condé Nast 1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast. What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last year? 2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of income? 3) How are traditionally print-based products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams? 4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’ particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry? 5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and profit? Closure of print edition research Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then answer the questions below: BBC: Teen Vogue: How will going online-only affect readers? New York Times: Condé Nast Ends Teen Vogue’s Print Run Folio: Your Teen Vogue Hot Takes Are All Wrong 1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s digital game is strong”? 2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible for the Teen Vogue website’s success? 3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of the print magazine? 4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it? 5) How do online-only publications make money? 6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for Generation-Z? 7) What does the New York Times say Conde Nast is known for? 8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much? 9) The Folio article also looks at the switch from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only approach. 10) Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere. Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue audience, representation or design. Social media analysis Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Teen Vogue's social media presence: 1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log in at home). How many followers does Teen Vogue have? 2) Now look at the content. Classify the first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News & Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the website? 3) How are the tweets and headlines written? Can you find examples of clickbait? 4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and images? 5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have? 6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the website or Twitter feed? 7) Now look at the Events tab to explore past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences interact with the Teen Vogue brand? 8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How many followers do they have on Instagram? 9) How does the Instagram feed differ from other social media channels? 10) What examples of digital convergence and synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different platforms).
This is your final set of blog tasks for Teen Vogue and will complete your comprehensive case study for this in-depth CSP. Complete for homework - due date set by exam class teacher and on Google Classroom.
Teen Vogue offers a huge amount to discuss and write about for the concepts of audience and representation. The exam could focus on anything from the changing nature of digital audiences to how certain groups or issues are represented in Teen Vogue online. Notes from the lesson Audience Although the brand name suggests a teenage audience, the typical Teen Vogue reader has evolved in recent years. The move to more political content has broadened the appeal and changed the genre – young women now expect more from their media. The ‘Campus Life’ section in Lifestyle also suggests an older readership. However, the audience is still interested in celebrity content and beauty – which Teen Vogue addresses by featuring the ‘opinion leaders’ (two-step flow) of social media.
Generations
Generation X: Born between 1965 – 1980 Millennials / Generation Y: Born between 1981 – 1995 Generation Z (or iGen): Born 1996 – 2010
Teen Vogue: political positioning
Teen Vogue generally takes a liberal, left-wing political stance and positions its readers to become active in their support:
Pro-feminist
Pro-gender fluidity and gender identity
Supports LGBT equality
Pro-multiculturalism
Supports Black Lives Matter
Pro-environment (accepting science on climate change)
Pro-choice (abortion)
Teen Vogue: audience interaction
How does Teen Vogue encourage audience interaction?
Activism
Social media
‘Clickbait’ and first-person headlines
Events – Teen Vogue summit
Representation Changing representations Feminist bloggers and websites such as Rookie and liberal blog Jezebel have been credited with changing the representation of women and feminism in the digital age.
This can be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory with digital influencers changing the media landscape for women – and established mainstream brands like Teen Vogue are following to stay relevant.
Teen Vogue: Audience and Representation blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Audience and Representation' and work through the following tasks to complete the audience and representation aspects of your Teen Vogue case study:
Audience focus
1) Analyse the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What is the Teen Vogue mission statement and what does this tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures? 2) What is the target audience for Teen Vogue? Use the media pack to pick out key aspects of the audience demographics. Also, consider the psychographic groups that would be attracted to Teen Vogue: make specific reference to the website design or certain articles to support your points regarding this. 3) What audience pleasures or gratifications can be found in Teen Vogue? Do these differ from the gratifications of traditional print-based magazines? 4) How is the audience positioned to respond to political news stories? 5) How does Teen Vogue encourage audiences to interact with the brand – and each other – on social media? The ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ section of the media pack may help with this question.
Representations
1) Look again at the Conde Nast media pack for Teen Vogue. What do the ‘tentpoles and editorial pillars’ (key events and features throughout the year) suggest about the representation of women and teenage girls on teenvogue.com?
2) How are issues of gender identity and sexuality represented in Teen Vogue?
3) Do representations of appearance or beauty in Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge traditional stereotypes?
4) What is the patriarchy and how does Teen Vogue challenge it? Does it succeed?
5) Does Teen Vogue reinforce or challenge typical representations of celebrity?
Teen Vogue: Factsheet Part 2
Read Media Factsheet #205 Teen Vogue Part 2 - Application of theory. You can find the Factsheet in our Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive in school or download it here using your Greenford Google login. Answer the following questions:
1) How does the Factsheet apply David Gauntlett's ideas about gender and identity to Teen Vogue?
2) David Gauntlett has also written about the importance of role models. How can this be applied to the Teen Vogue CSP?
3) bell hooks suggests that profit-seeking media industries reinforce patriarchal values and power structures. How can these ideas be applied to Teen Vogue? Try and argue both sides - that Teen Vogue both empowers women but also arguably reinforces some hegemonic gender stereotypes.
4) List the key points on van Zoonen's gender theories in the Factsheet. How can we apply some of these ideas to Teen Vogue?
5) Read the Greta Thunberg case study on pages 3-4. How does the Factsheet use media theories in the analysis of the special 2019 print edition of Teen Vogue?
A/A* Extension feature: how Teen Vogue represents the changing nature of media aimed at women
1) How was the Teen Vogue op-ed on Donald Trump received on social media?
2) How have newspapers and magazines generally categorised and targeted news by gender?
3) How is this gender bias still present in the modern media landscape?
4) What impact did the alternative women’s website Jezebel have on the women’s magazine market?
5) Do you agree with the writer that female audiences can enjoy celebrity news and beauty tips alongside hard-hitting political coverage? Does this explain the recent success of Teen Vogue?
6) How does the writer suggest feminists used to be represented in the media?
7) What is the more modern representation of feminism? Do you agree that this makes feminism ‘stereotyped as fluffy’?
8) What contrasting audience pleasures for Teen Vogue are suggested by the writer in the article as a whole?
9) The writer suggests that this change in representation and audience pleasures for media products aimed at women has emerged from the feminist-blog movement. How can this be linked to Clay Shirky’s ‘end of audience’ theory?
10) Is Teen Vogue simply a product of the Trump presidency or will websites and magazines aimed at women continue to become more hard-hitting and serious in their offering to audiences?
There is plenty to work on here as this needs to cover two of the key concepts for this in-depth CSP. Complete for homework - due date set by exam teacher.
We are starting Year 13 coursework with 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 edit into your trailer later in the year. Preliminary exercise: Music video extract
Task: Create a short extract of the music video you plan to make for your video production coursework. Length: 30-60 seconds Equipment: Your own camera or phone OR sign out a Canon SLR Media kit from Mr Shepherd. Please note due to quarantining equipment availability may be low and you must return the camera the next school day after signing it out.
Groups: None. You MUST work individually. However, other people can act in the music video or operate equipment (e.g. camera operator) as long as they are directed by the candidate submitting the work. Keep a note of who you use and how you directed them. What your music video needs to include Content: Your extract must include at least one character/performer that either reinforces or subverts stereotypes. Camerawork: You must include an establishing shot, long shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up, over-the-shoulder shot and either a high or low angle shot. You also must include both fixed camera (tripod) shots and camera movement (e.g. handheld, tracking, pan etc.) Editing: You must edit at least two cuts to the beat of the song. Sound: You must use the song you plan to use for your actual coursework (remember this needs to be a radio-edit or clean version if the original has explicit lyrics). Mise-en-scene: iconography to establish the genre of the music or the atmosphere you are trying to create. Only one setting should be used for this preliminary task.
IMPORTANT: Currently, all video work needs to be socially distanced so while shooting and in any scenes with more than one actor/performer ensure you maintain social distancing throughout. You will also need to shoot video off-site as we do not have freedom to move around the school. If your music video requires a school location please discuss this with your Media teacher BEFORE filming anything. Deadlines Planning deadline: Wednesday 30 September
Filming deadline: Monday 5 October Final deadline: Friday 9 October
Research and planning tasks Create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise: Research and planning' and complete the tasks below. First, watch this clip on how to make a music video on your phone - it works as a great introduction to music video making:
You can also check out Darius Britt's Film School (D4Darius on YouTube) on YouTube in case you are planning to make a narrative music video more like a short film. He has tutorials such as:
Now complete the following tasks: 1) State the song and genre you have chosen for your music video. 2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your song or concept and watch them several times. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene. 3) Write or edit your treatment just to include the 30-60 seconds you will make for this preliminary exercise.
4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here. 5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre or narrative? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. For this preliminary task, use just one location to keep it simple. 6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Remember: social distancing! Research and planning deadline: Wednesday
There have been some excellent Ignite presentations with some brilliantly creative responses to the coursework brief. Hopefully, the presentations and Q&A sessions that followed have highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of your coursework proposal and may indeed have prompted re-drafts of your statement of intent. Your learner response is as follows and will take some time to do properly: Create a new blogpost called 'Ignite presentation learner response' 1) Type up your feedback in full including the ratings out of five for each of the six categories. 2) Use this feedback, comments from peers and your own reflection on your presentation to self-assess and write a detailed WWW and EBI for your own coursework concept and presentation as a whole. 3) Write a paragraph discussing how your presentation will lead into your actual coursework production. Do you need to update your statement of intent? Does your concept/treatment offer enough clarity? Is it appropriate for the audience specified in the brief? Is it achievable to film in the midst of a global pandemic? Can you add media terminology or theory to your statement of intent now you have reflected on your presentation and seen others? REMINDER: You also need to ensure that ALL your research and planning from over the summer - including your current statement of intent - is posted to your Media 2 coursework blog. If you continue this process at home, ensure it is completed by your next coursework lesson.
Our first Online, Social and Participatory CSP is Teen Vogue - the former print magazine turned online sensation.
Teen Vogue has generated a huge amount of coverage (and attracted a significant audience) by re-positioning the magazine as a socially conscious political hub for young women.
Notes from the lesson
Teen Vogue: background
Teen Vogue was launched in 2003 as a print magazine ‘little sister’ title to US Vogue. It focused on fashion and celebrity and was a conventional magazine aimed at teenage girls. In 2015, in response to declining sales, the magazine cut back its print distribution and focused on digital content. After single-copy sales dropped 50% in the first six months of 2016 alone, the magazine went quarterly (four issues a year) before announcing the closure of the print magazine completely in November 2017.
Online growth Led by digital director Phillip Picardi, the Teen Vogue website grew substantially as the print magazine declined. Between January 2016 and 2017, Teen Vogue’s online traffic rocketed from 2.9m US visitors to 7.9m. The magazine then surpassed 10m unique users later in 2017. In addition, the magazine has 6m Facebook likes, 3.5m Twitter followers and a huge following on Snapchat.
Evolution and activism
The spectacular digital growth of Teen Vogue has been credited to the editor Elaine Welteroth and digital guru Picardi leading the magazine in a radically different direction to traditional teenage magazines. Focusing on politics, activism and feminism, the magazine has developed a reputation for high-quality journalism while recruiting millions of socially-conscious, educated readers.
'Woke' Teen Vogue considers itself a ‘woke’ brand.
Woke definition: a political term of African American origin that refers to an awareness of issues concerning social justice. This means Teen Vogue covers issues of politics, racism and gender identity… and amazingly has expanded the appeal and reach of the brand while doing do.
Teen Vogue: background reading and textual analysis blog tasks
Work through the following tasks to complete your first case study on Teen Vogue.
1) What was the article that announced Teen Vogue as a more
serious, political website – with 1.3m hits and counting?
2) When was the original Teen Vogue magazine launched and what
was its original content?
3) How did editor Elaine Welteroth change Teen Vogue’s
approach in 2015?
4) How many stories are published on Teen Vogue a day? What topics
do they cover?
5) What influence did digital director Phillip Picardi have
over the editorial direction?
6) What is Teen Vogue’s audience demographic and what does ‘woke’
refer to?
7) What issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?
8) What does Tavi Gevinson suggest regarding the internet
and ‘accountability culture’ with regards to modern audiences? Can you link
this to our work on Clay Shirky?
9) What social and political issues have been covered successfully
by Teen Vogue?
10) What do Teen Vogue readers think of the magazine and website?
Teen Vogue: Factsheet Part 1
Read Media Factsheet #200 Teen Vogue - Part 1. You can find the Factsheet in our Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive in school or download it here using your Greenford Google login. Answer the following questions:
1) The Factsheet suggests Teen Vogue has successfully made the transition to an online, social and participatory product. Why? What platforms is it now available on?
2) Look at the screenshots and details on pages 3-4 of the Factsheet. What does Teen Vogue offer its audience?
3) Who is the typical Teen Vogue reader?
4) Read the content analysis of the Teen Vogue website on page 5 of the Factsheet. Pick out three key examples of how meanings are created in Teen Vogue and what is communicated to the audience.
5) Finally, look at pages 6-7 focusing on representations. What range of representations can be found in Teen Vogue and what does this suggest regarding Teen Vogue's values and ideologies?
Teen Vogue textual analysis and example articles
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of the Teen Vogue website and read notable Teen Vogue articles to refer to in exam answers.
Homepage analysis
Go to the Teen Vogue homepage and answer the following:
1) What website key conventions can you find on the Teen
Vogue homepage?
2) How does the page design encourage audience engagement?
3) Where does advertising appear on the homepage?
4) What are the items in the top menu bar and what does this
tell you about the content of Teen Vogue?
5) How far does the homepage scroll down? How many stories
appear on the homepage in total?
Lifestyle section
Now analyse the Lifestyle section of Teen Vogue (in the Identity section) and answer
the following:
1) What are the items in the top menu bar for the Lifestyle
section?
2) How is the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement
audience engagement? Think about page design, images, text and more.
3) What do you notice about the way headlines are written in
Teen Vogue?
4) What does the focus on education, university and ‘campus life’
tell you about the Teen Vogue audience demographics and psychographics?
5) Choose one story featured in the Lifestyle section and explain how reflects the Teen Vogue brand.
Teen Vogue: Five key articles
Read the following five notable Teen Vogue features then
answer the questions below.
1) What do you notice about the content and style of these articles? What do they have in common?
2) How do the articles use narrative to engage the reader?
Try and apply narrative theory here if possible - what makes the reader want to click or read more?
3) Pick a quote from each article that illustrates the political, 'woke' ideology of Teen Vogue and paste it here.
4) What effect on the audience are these articles hoping to achieve?
5) How do these article reflect the values and ideologies
of the modern Teen Vogue?
There is plenty to work on here - you will need to complete the majority for homework but we will set an extended deadline due to the volume of work.
