Research and Planning Checklist

• Intro & Brief explained
• Intro to Production chosen. Including analysis of videos, genre, intertextuality, history, star theory, institutions and evidence of theory etc.
• Ancillary 1 Analysis
• Ancillary 2 Analysis
• Audience Research including – Target Audience analysis, Questionnaires, Focus Groups, Results Analysis and Reflection
• Initial Selection Explanation
• Copyright Letter
• Planning including timelines, moodboards, conventions followed, representation, mise en scene, Theory applied,
• Planning including Storyboards/Scripts/Call Sheets, Organisation of Actors, Props, locations, costumes
• Further Research on initial Planning with Feedback and any Changes
• Time management
• There is use of appropriate digital technology or ICT in the presentation
• Communication skills
• Care taken in presentation of research and planning

Further Research

Before filming you need to do more audience research. Create a focus group or create questionnaires about your Planning and your Idea.

Show the results and any changes you have made as a result of further research.

Examples of successful blogs

Please note that the grades refer to the finished blog (i.e. planning + construction + ancillary tasks + evaluation) - not necessarily the main construction itself. Music video  Music Video Music video   Film trailer - Film trailer   Film trailer

Filming

Filming

Think ahead about what could go wrong:

•           Do you need permission to film in your location?

•           Make sure you have fully chraged cameras, tripods, lighting, props etc (remember to take a still camera with you for the digipak images and behind the scenes shots)

•           Make sure you know how to use the equipment

•           Enusre you dont leave equipment behind on the shoot

•           Make sure you have your storyboard with you

•           Have a task list for everthing you want to achieve during the shoot and in the right order

•           Make sure you get enough footage; it is always better to have too much than too little

•           Make sure all actors/team members know what time they are needed and where as well as what to bring

•           Have a back-up plan for bad weather...this is England!

•           Take time to set up your shots

•           Shoot the same shot from a variety of different angles

•           Consider background noise

•           Playback your rushes/footage

•           Make sure someone is in charge of continuity

Even More Planning....

Mood board

Create moodboards to help visualize the thought process. Consider here your research into similar products and wider media texts such as cinema, fashion and art photography.

Make sure you consider the representation of your actors/artist and Gramsci's hegemony. Are you going to follow gender stereotypes or are you going to challenge the representation of hegemonic gender in music?

For this you could use glogster.

Shooting Script (evidence of drafting is required)

You must create a shooting script for your video. Shooting scripts are scripts used during production to shoot the video. They are written with much more detailed than scripts and may include, among other things, scene numbers, editing transitions, and camera angles and movements.

A shooting schedule cannot just say “filming park scenes”.  It must be broken up into particular shots you know you want to get.  It will normally include the day, time, shot description, location, people involved.  You could organise this in a table and then upload it to your blog.  It might involve something like this (although obviously yours will be much longer!):

DAY / TIME	LOCATON	SHOT DESCRIPTION	PEOPLE NEEDED
Tuesday 4th October AM	Exterior - Park	Long shot of lead singer running through park	Lead singer, all crew
		Long shots of lead singer singing whilst sitting on park bench
		Close Ups of lead singer singing in park on bench
Tuesday 4th October PM	Interior – Teenage bedroom	Tracking shot over messy bedroom floor	Lead Singer plus teenager girl
		Medium Shot of teenage girl lying on bed
		Long shot of lead singer singing to teenage girl on bed

Organisation of Actors

As for your AS C/W you need to show you have organised your actors. Here you can create a call sheet/diary of when they are required. It is always nice to have photos of your actors too.

Also write a detailed crew list explaining who will be involved with your filming and what jobs / tasks they will be responsible for throughout the process of production and editing.

Organisation of Costumes

This should not only show your chosen costumes but it should also justify why they are appropriate, remember to reflect on your genre. Remember you will probably need more than one set of clothing for each scene. Try to be creative; think about using images and/or short sequences with the characters in costume and a verbal explanation.

Organisation of Props

This needs to show you have considered genre specific props and are organised generally for the shoot. This should again be creative with images and written justification of how they suit the genre/characters, help reflect the narrative. Make an extensive list of technical equipment you will need for both the production, and post production part of the process.  Equipment you might need is shown below.  Choose the relevant items, plus any others you might need and make the list, for each one saying what you will use it for:

Digital Video Cameras

Tripods

Microphones

Dolly

Lighting

Digital Audio Recorder

Green Screen

Stands

CD Player / Other audio player

Mobile Phones

Apple Mac computer

Stills Cameras

Location Recce

Try to approach this creatively. You should include photographs of locations considered as well as the chosen ones, again remember that this is a music video and so more than one location is bound to be needed. Here you should also consider access to electricity/lighting demands etc. A written justification is also appropriate here.

•           Pictures / Video clips of the locations from different angles

•           Information about why you want to use it as a location and for what scenes

•           Information about access difficulties, restrictions, rules for using each location (eg lack of power points, lots of members of the public, dangerous hazards etc)

•           Information about how you will overcome any of these problems or ensure against any danger / health & safety issues etc..

Drafting for ancillary tasks

You need to show you have developed your ideas. Gaining audience feedback here would also be effective and get you more marks! Remember these ancillary tasks need to look and behave like the real thing so don't try to challenge conventions.

REPRESENTATION IN YOUR VIDEO

For this entry you need to discuss how you plan on representing people / social groups within your music video.  Obviously only discuss the social groups that are relevant to your video.  Social groups might include: men, women, teens, children, adults, ethnic groups, different classes etc.  For this it might be helpful to remind yourself about how you discussed representation in TV Dramas at AS Level.  

Discus how you will use camera, mise-en-scene, editing and other elements to represent the following in your video:

·          Conventional representations (stereotypes)

·         Representations that challenge stereotypes

·         Positive and negative representations

·         How will these representations appeal to your audience or promote the artist?

MISE-EN-SCENE

For this entry you should discuss how you are planning on using mise-en-scene in your music video.  Remember that mise-en-scene includes costume, props, lighting, colour, location, make-up etc.  You could discuss how these elements will:

·          Attract, appeal to or entertain your audience

·         Represent your band / artist

·         Communicate the genre of your song

·         Communicate a narrative or message

·         Create a mood / atmosphere

It would wise to include pictures to illustrate your ideas.

FURTHER RESEARCH AND PLANNING IDEAS

On top of all of these compulsory research and planning tasks, you could choose to include more tasks to further demonstrate your skills.  Here are some ideas for other tasks you could include:

·         Auditions

·         Rehearsals

·         Lip sync practises

·         Release forms for actors  / extras

·         Health & Safety and Risk Assessment discussions / concerns / forms

·         Moodboards

·         Costume & Make up tests

Applying Theory...

Character Development Evidence

Once you have confirmed the film genre you next need to develop your characters. Remember that this is only a film trailer so you need to make sure that the audience are going to be able to easily identify them and be able to understand their role in the  film. Here you should apply Props character functions. You must know these characters like they are your friends, make a creative character profile for them and be sure you know why they would behave in a certain way; as this will ensure they are well developed and the audience will believe in them.

Todorov Narrative Theory

As well as deciding on ideas for your film trailer you need to consider the narrative for the whole film; students who do this will have a far more successful production. Plot your narrative for the entire film using Todorov's Narrative theory of Equilibrium. 

More Planning

Gannt Chart/Timeline

As for your AS C/W you need to show you are managing your time effectively; you can do this either as a gannt chart, or as a diary, or in another creative way you feel is appropriate. Remember this is for the whole project

Genre Conventions

You need to ensure you have considered if your chosen genre will follow or challenge genre conventions; you must consider which genre conventions you are going to include, justifying your choice and how these meet audience expectations (refer to audience feedback and results here). Remember here you can refer to your research into similar texts.

Consider the following too:

• ·         Codes (Ronald Barthes) such as costume, props and location as well.
• ·         Andrew Goodwin
• ·         Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze - is this an appropriate thoery to apply to your genre?

For /music videos remember that you need to justify your choices and discuss if you are challenging or following genre conventions and how this is appropriate.

• Background of the Song.
• Research into the history of the song. When was it first released? By whom? Any other relevant information you can think of.
• Your Chosen Songs Meaning/Deconstructing Songs

Analysing meaning and the impact of a song is only a small fraction of how meanings are established in popular music as songs are not poems on a page, they are written to be performed. When analysing songs, it is important to begin by addressing the content of the song -

·         What is it about?

·         What is the 'plot' of the story?

·         Describe the 'story' in your own words.

·         The next stage is identifying the how meaning is created through the lyrics/music style/genre and voice. This is achieved by identifying the following:

·         The structure of the song - does it conform to mainstream songs' formulaic verse-chorus-second verse-repeat chorus and so forth?

·         The language used in the lyrics - what words are often repeated and what impact does this have?

·         Consider the relationship between the musical style and the song's lyrics and narrative structure - does it all 'fit' together?

·         How does the song make you feel? How do the lyrics and the music contribute to this?

·         What impact is created by the tone of the voice?

·         What emotions are conveyed int he voice and how does this relate to the lyrics?

·         What words are emphasised - how and why?

·         How does the vocal delivery 'fit' the songs subject matter and music accompaniment?

·         Consider how the vocal delivery assists in our response to the song - what role does it play in creating sympathy/empathy, are we emotionally moved or distanced because of the voice and the delivery of the lyrics?

· 

STORYBOARDS

You should complete a full storyboard for your video to illustrate exactly what’s going to happen throughout the video.  Your storyboards must be detailed and include shot descriptions, shot durations, lyrics where possible, editing transitions etc  As the typical shot in a music video lasts only 1-3 seconds, you may need a LOT of shots.  Previous students have had storyboards with up to 30 pages!  The storyboards should be hand drawn, and preferably coloured in, on blank templates available from us, and then scanned in and uploaded as images to your blog.

A helpful guide to storyboarding - a must for all moving image briefs!

A guide to storyboarding and creating shot lists

Pdf template - blank storyboard

Alternative blank storyboard template

Another exemplar storyboard

Call sheet for you to plan each shot

COPYRIGHT PERMISSION LETTER

For this first task you must prove to the examiner that you have requested permission from the music company to use their track or audio in your video.  You should lay this out like a formal letter / email and upload it onto your blog as the very first entry.  An example is shown below.

Dear Copyright Holder,

We are A-Level students and we are writing to request your permission to use one of the latest tracks by Two Door Cinema Club.  The track we wish to use is I Can Talk.

With your permission, this task would be used in our current A-Level Media Studies project, which involves creating a music video to a popular music track, as well as producing an album and a magazine advert for the artist.

If we received your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by our media class, our teacher and the OCR exam board moderator.  It would not be released to a large audience.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognised throughout pre-production and the final video itself.  A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project.  If this is required, please send full details.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Regards

John Smith

Planning

Planning

Selection

Write a brief outline of your idea

Your Selection must conform to the following criteria:

• ·         It must provide opportunities for original and creative work
• ·         It must have a clearly definable target audience
• ·         It must be generically identifiable i.e as clearly belonging to a particular genre/sub/genre
• ·         It must be of digital quality and in an appropriate format for capturing to Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
• ·         Audio used must have been recorded to a high standard, including if using an independent artist (e.g. local band)
• ·         You need to be able to prove you have checked ownership and have sought permission to use any audio.

Your choices will need to:

• ·         Be discussed by the class - pro's and con's identified
• ·         Be filtered out by your teacher if unsuitable (please anticipate the likely 'secondary' audience (parents, younger children, principle etc)
• ·         Inspire you to make a creative, original music video that uses and/or challenges conventions

Be suitable for broadcast on mainstream music television so

• ·         No swearing
• ·         No sexually aggressive language/imagery
• ·         Avoid drug related lyrics/imagery

AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE/INTERVIEW/FOCUS GROUP ETC

AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE/INTERVIEW/FOCUS GROUP ETC

Remember that you need to be as creative as possible when undertaking your audience research. Consider how you can do this more imaginatively. Remember you need to undertake audience research for all three products; not just your video.

You must undertake an audience questionnaire in order to determine who your audience are and how to target them. The following questions are a guide as to what to ask for audience research into music video (it is strongly suggested that you giev them different options to tick/circle for each of the questions):

·         How old are you?

·         What gender?

·         What typical features do you expect to see in a hip hop/dub step/rock etc music video?

·         What genre of music are you into at the moment?

·         What appeals to you moslty in a music video?

·         What form of media do you prefer to listen to/consume music?

·         How often do you watch music videos

·         Where are you most likey to watch music videos?

·         Do you prefer a music video to have a narrative?

·         Would you prefer to see more than one location?

·         Do you prefer a) Stadium videos b) Studio videos c) Location videos d) A combination of two/three of them

AUDIENCE RESEARCH RESULTS

Once you have a decent amount of completed questionnaires/responses you need to put these results into excel and produce pie charts/graphs to visually support the results.

AUDIENCE PROFILE

You will need to consider your audience in more detail and depth so you will need to produce a creative audience profile just like you did for your AS c/w. This needs to state exactly who your audience are inclduing age, gender percentage as well as brands they buy, where they shop, what they like to do in their spare time and so on. Remember the more detailed your audience research is the better your marks!

FOCUS GROUPS AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

For this task you need to get a group of people together (preferably from your target audience profile) to have a filmed group discussion as research.  You will have around 5 key questions prepared that are “open” questions allowing for descriptive answers and then film the group discussing what their opinions are about these questions. 

To do this you will need a camera and tripod, a quiet room, and 4-6 people willing to take part on camera (not people from your group).

Good questions to ask are things such as:

·          Here is our idea (tell them about it), what do you think about it?  What could be improved?

·         What locations do you think would be good to film in ?

·         What images / storyline do you imagine for our song choice?

·         What are your favourite music videos/videos and why?

·         Is there anything you hate in particular videos and why?

And so on…

You need to make sure the camera is as close as possible to the group to pick up their audio clearly. 

This focus group video then needs to be uploaded into Final Cut (edited if you wish) and then exported as a video clip (see Jason for help).  The video clip then needs to be embedded into your blog.

You then need to add a comment in afterwards summing up:

·          What you have learned from your focus group

·         How you will apply this to your music video production etc

Reflection on Research

As with your AS c/w it is important to show the process or the journey of your work and ideas. Therefore you should refelct on your research and consider what you have learnt and how this might impact on your own productions. This should be set out in the following way:

•           Reflection on Film Trailers

•           Reflection on Ancillary 1

•           Reflection on Ancillary 1

Research into Audience

DESCRIPTION OF YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

For this section you must identify your target audience in as much detail as possible.  This would ideally be done as a Scribd or Prezzi Presentation embedded into your blog, or an audio file like a podcast, embedded into your blog, preferably with pictures embedded too.  When describing your target audience for your music video you need to include:

•           Age

•           Gender

•           Social Demographic (eg ABC1C2DE)

•           Occupation

•           Hobbies

•           Style

•           Media Grouping - fave films, fave tv. favourite artists / music

•           What Uses & Gratifications will your music video offer to your audience?

•           What solutions will your music video offer to their problems (Utopian theory)

 

Before you start your audience research you need to confirm who your target audience is going to be. If you do this before your audience research your research will be far more directed and focused with results that will actually impact on your decisions. You should research into target audiences for your chosen music genre and find out what audience demographic the most successful music videos were aimed at. Remember that these are the audience banks that your audience fall into:

·         Teenage boys and girls

·         Families

·         Couples

·         16-25 yrs skewed to boys

·         16-25 yrs skewed to girls

·         25-35 skewed to women

·         25-35 skewed to men

·         35+

Once you have chosen your audience you need to make sure your research is targeting them.