Institutional Research

A2 Media Studies – G324 Advanced Portfolio – Institutional Research

You have to show that you fully understand the issue around music publishing, distribution and marketing and the role that film and music institutions play in the process of bringing an artist to market.

You will need to research how bands, artists and their music products find their way onto the market and how these products are distributed across a range of platforms and the institutions that are behind this distribution and marketing.

Choose about 3 companies that are relevant to the kind of artists you are working on.  The points you need to cover are:

1. The company’s background.  How long has it been in business, who owns it? What other artists are associated with them?
2. Explain why this company is relevant to your project.  What makes them a relevant company for your artist? How are the company positioned to promote your artist. Think about horizontal and vertical integration as well as cross-media convergence.
3. How is technology going to impact upon the distribution and exhibition of your artists products?
4. Are their opportunities for cross-media convergence and synergy?  Explain why.
5. What other options do you have for marketing and distributing your product independently?

Audience Research: Pre-Production

A2 Media Studies – G324 Advanced Portfolio – Audience Research

A compulsory part of your planning is to submit evidence of Audience Research.  This will take the form pre and post production research and feedback and every detail will need to be recorded onto your blog.

Pre-Production

Who are your target audience?  You need to be able to clearly demonstrate you know who your target audience are and how, in the planning, you are attempting to create media products that will appeal to them.
Part of this is to complete the following;
1. An audience survey that focuses upon audiences tastes, expectations and media consumption habits and the role that music/film plays in their lives? Where and how do they consume film/music? How much are they prepared to pay for it? Who often do they stream legally/illegally?  What platforms do they use?

2.  A psychographic and demographic profile of your core audience, including details of their media consumption habits, their interests and hobbies.

Post-production
Once you have completed a rough cut of your film/video, get some audience feedback.  Is your film/video working the way you hope it is?  Are the representations understandable, are the performances authentic, is the camerawork/editing effective?  Use your audience to provide you with feedback that you can act upon in the final edit.

Remember, everything you do needs to be recorded on your blog and evaluated!

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

One of the key features of a pop promo is to make the ordinary appear extraordinary, whatever the situation.  The combination of camera shots and angles, lighting, mise-en-scene and editing combine to present to us a world that is somehow extraordinary.

 

1. Watch your allocated pop promo

Make detailed notes on how the micro-elements combine to make the ordinary appear extraordinary;

• Camera shot, angle and movement
• Lighting
• Mise-en-scene
• Editing
• Performance

2. Using the keys cmd+shift+4 take screen grabs from the pop video that illustrate how each of the micro-elements is used to make the ordinary feel extra-ordinary and represent the artist as a ‘product’.

3. Using the screen grabs, create a 5/6 frame annotated storyboard that clearly demonstrates how the world of the pop video is made to feel extraordinary

Making the ordinary extra-ordinary

A2 Media Studies – G324 Advanced Portfolio, Pop Promo Planning

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

One of the key features of a pop promo is to make the ordinary appear extraordinary, whatever the situation.  The combination of camera shots and angles, lighting, mise-en-scene and editing combine to present to us a world that is somehow extraordinary.

1. For the pop promo you have been allocated analyse how the ordinary is represented as extra-ordinary.  Make detailed notes on how the micro-elements combine to make the ordinary appear extraordinary;

·      Camera shot, angle and movement (pay close attention to focus and shot distances)

·      Lighting (where is the light source positioned? What is the light source?)

·      Mise-en-scene (where is it set? How has it been set out? Costume, props?)

·      Editing (Think about match on action, pace, rhythm)

·      Performance (Is the acting controlled and convincing?)

2. Using the keys cmd+shift+4 take screen grabs from the pop video that illustrate how each of the micro-elements is used to make the ordinary feel extra-ordinary and represent the artist as a ‘product’.

3. Using the screen grabs, create a 5/6 frame annotated storyboard that clearly demonstrates how the world of the pop video is made to feel extraordinary.

Checklist

CHECKLIST: What Should be on Your Blog- Film

Research and Planning:

A production diary that provides evidence of your ‘learning journey’ and the ‘journey’ of your products from start to completion. This should be a continuous chronological explanation and reflection of the entire project.

Research:

• Class textual analysis tasks and notes from theory lessons
• Research and analysis of codes and conventions of pop video conventions and genre conventions and embedded example videos. [1 ordinary/extraordinary, 2 influential pop promos, 2 reference promos]
• Pre production audience research tasks, audience profiling and evaluation of audience research. Post production audience research, feedback and evaluation.
• Institutional research into record companies, their artist rosta and horizontal integration.
• Research into the role of the Internet in the distribution and marketing of music and artists.
• Research and analysis of forms and conventions of digipaks [3]
• Research into forms and conventions of music artists websites [3]
• Presentation of Andrew Goodwin’s theories on music videos.

Planning:

• Production schedule – overview of entire project with dates
• Draft designs/versions of digipak with evidence of audience feedback and reflection.
• Draft designs of Website pages [4] with evidence of audience feedback and reflection.
• Deconstruction of lyrics and explanation of promo ideas.
• Synopsis of pop promo.
• Explanation of ideas behind the unification of all three products.
• Photos of and reflections on locations, costumes, props etc
• Planning of performers, casting photos and reflections.
• Planning of the artist’s representation [image, gender, age, ethnicity].
• Draft and full versions of storyboards.
• Storyboard animatic embedded from YouTube
• Shooting script and shooting schedule

Construction:

• Photos of pop promo shoot
• Embedded rough cuts of pop promo
• Draft versions of digipak and website pages
• Completed Pop Promo
• Completed Digipak
• Completed website

Marking Criteria for Planning Section: (20 marks)

• There is excellent research into similar products and potential target audience
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props
• There is excellent work on shot lists, drafting, layout storyboarding or scripts
• Time management is excellent
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning
• There is excellent skill in the use of ICT or digital technology in the presentation
• There are excellent communication skills

Evaluation:

To answer 4 evaluation questions

These responses should be presented using a range of mixed media forms in a clearly labelled evaluation section of your blog.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• Remember you should not fully challenge a convention otherwise it would no longer be that convention

• You need to talk about aspects you challenged, why and what this added to your music video

• Did you actually challenge visuals, narrative, key concepts, or did you mainly conform?  You must show how your research influenced your planning.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

• This is where you need to focus on recurring themes and patterns.  Visual codes etc. and how these bring all three of your products together.
• Remember ancillary just means other (i.e your poster and magazine review.
• I would suggest bringing in your understanding of media theories here; eg. explaining that you created a postmodern film because of a fragmented narrative, or discussing how certain theories of genre can be applied to your film.Talk about the differences between the fact that the music video is promoting a single, whereas the digipak and magazine advert are promoting an album, how did you address this?

3. What have you learnt from audience feedback?

·         You need to film and interview members of the public

·         We would suggest inserting a text shot with the question and then have 3-4 people giving their feedback and then you analysing their feedback, remember this question is testing what you have learnt from audience feedback and how you used this feedback – make sure you sound like a reflective learner who can take on advice.

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research , planning and evaluation stages?

• This does not just mean Final Cut ProX.  You must show how your skills have developed in the use of Cameras, editing etc.  Think about how you have used the internet to gain feedback –use of You Tube, Facebook, Survey Monkey etc.  A tripod is not a piece of technology.

Evaluation Mark Scheme Level 4 16 -20 marks:

• There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions

• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of production

• There is excellent understanding of the main product and ancillary texts

• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback

• There is excellent choice of form in which to present the evaluation

• There is excellent ability to communicate

• There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation