MS2 – coursework

Option 2 – Music Video Part One – overview of coursework

Congratulations you have chosen Option 2! Music Video Project

Your Brief: To plan, create and evaluate an engaging and innovative music video for a song of your choice. Before you begin you must decide on one suitable track for your music video. Note: Avoid tracks which already have well known videos and pick a track which has a good pace and opportunities for interesting narratives. The track should not exceed 3 minutes in length or contain any swearing/inappropriate content. It also needs to be approved by me. What your coursework will look like: Individual Pre-production You will individually submit a portfolio of research and completed storyboards for an individual idea for a music video. Group Production: You will film and edit a music video for one of your group’s storyboards. (See Notes on group work.) Individual Report: This must be completed individually. It should be between 1200-1600 words and should focus on:

• The research you did to inform your pre-production. • A justification of the target audience for your production. • An evaluation of the production, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. • A comparison with existing/comparable products available.

This coursework is an excellent opportunity to be creative and innovative. But don’t be fooled; video work is time consuming and requires excellent organisational and teamwork skills. The nature of film work is that you will be relying on friends and family to be actors and a large portion of the filming will take place outside of college in your own time, ask yourself - “Do I have the skills necessary to be successful in this project?”

Individual Pre-production: The Portfolio You will need to complete the following tasks and present your research in an appropriate manner. Task One: Why do artists create music videos? Mind map your ideas. Task Two: Watch a selection of music videos (min 10) and write up an analysis of the:

• Conventions (typical features) of a music video. • Genre of song – does the video match the tone and pace of the track? • Narrative • Mise-en-scene • Representations - groups within the video, the band/artist and the audience. • Does the video meet or break audience expectations? • Target audience for the video. • You must record the channel, time and day/year of broadcast.

Task Three: By now you should have picked a suitable track and had it approved by me. Research into music videos of a similar genre – which are the most famous? Are there any specific conventions out there that will have to be adhered to? Task Four: Outline your target audience for your chosen genre/track. Consider: Young & Rubicam’s 4Cs model, Lifestyle Categories and the ABC model as well as age, gender, ethnicity, likes and dislikes, hobbies, social life and education. What other bands might they like? Task Five: Listen to the track and think about the pace and style of the music. Mind map ideas for possible narratives, characters, props, costumes, settings and locations. Task Six: Write a step treatment for your music video idea. This is a detailed step by step outline of the narrative of your music video. Individual Pre-production: Storyboards You must fully storyboard at least two scenes of your individual idea for a music video. Through your research you would have found that music videos contain a lot of shots around 40-50 plus. You will complete a first draft of the storyboards for these scenes. This will be at least twenty shots which will be marked and returned with feedback for improvements. Hints & Tips:

• Complete your storyboards on the computer this will enable you to make amendments quickly and helps if you have poor handwriting.

• Don’t panic you don’t need to be Picasso! If one eye is bigger than the other that’s OK… but if your shot is labelled as a medium close up then your picture needs to look like a medium close up.

Exam board mark scheme & assessment objectives:

Group Production: Filming & Editing your video First a note about group work.

• Maximum group size is 4 people. • You must have a clearly definable role and have made a significant contribution to

the finished piece. The individual and their contribution is marked not the final product.

• Within the group each student must be responsible for elements of the production process. You must negotiate your role with me first.

• The roles you might choose from are: - Camera operator - Editing & effects - Lighting, Costume & Set design/decoration

Please note that acting within the video is not a role nor is Director/Producer! Before you start filming you must organise the following:

• Organise actors and locations, props, dates and times • Create a shot list detailing the order and locations of your shoot. • Arrange any necessary permission to shoot.

Once your filming has been completed your footage must be edited and finalised using digital editing software. You will also be required to keep an individual log of the things you have been doing, this will not be submitted to the exam board but will be evidence for me to see exactly what your role has been throughout the project. Making a short video should not be underestimated. It is hard work difficult to make something that looks good and very, very easy to make something that looks bad! However, a competent completed video shows a commitment that can be high scoring but also extremely rewarding. Think carefully about who you work with. Even though you are marked individually – and most of the marks you get will be for the things you do individually – you will want to take pride in your work and will have to work professionally with others and to strict deadlines of your own. If you feel that someone who wants to work with you can’t be trusted then tell them. Don’t feel guilty because you want to do the best job you can from coursework. If you do decide to work as a group and someone isn’t ‘pulling their weight’ then this should be apparent from individual member’s logs.

Exam board mark scheme & assessment objectives:

Individual Report: This must be completed individually. It should be between 1200-1600 words and should:

• Outline and explain the research you did prior to completing your Pre-production. You may bullet point the main findings of your research but the most important part is that you discuss how your research informed your pre-production.

• A justification of the target audience for your production. Explain who your target audience is and how your production has been constructed to appeal to this audience.

• Critically reflect on your production. Is it successful in appealing to its target audience? Highlight strengths and weaknesses of your production.

• Compare your production with existing/comparable products available. What

improvements could you make to improve your production? As you can see – this relatively short piece of work is worth a significant amount of your coursework (and therefore your final AS level). It is not difficult to do very well in this if you use the Assessment Objectives and make sure this has got everything in it that is necessary. It is difficult to do well in this if you haven’t completed the necessary research and used it to help you with your pre-production piece and you haven’t aimed your production at a specific target audience.

Exam board mark scheme & assessment objectives: