NEA Research - Music Magazines and pitches
1. Complete the work started in class on music magazine research, ready to present what you have learnt next week.
- Collate pictures of music magazine front covers and DPS, group them or classifying by style or subgenre, or demographics.
What emerges? Write up your findings about the codes and conventions of music magazines
You could annotate a couple of your pictures for example.
- Research media packs / media kits for two or more music magazines (such packs are put together for advertisers so you learn a great deal about the intended / imagined / ideal target audience for each product).
Compare the findings for two different magazines.
What emerges? Write up your findings / Capture the evidence.
- Which of the music magazines would be most likely to feature your artist and why / how do you know?
Refer to your star text, use pictures etc
- Focus on the house-style of a couple of front covers from this magazine. How is the house-style constructed? Write up findings or annotate a couple of pictures.
2. Song choices
Kai, I think we can go with your Frank Ocean choice (we've decided that the Vimeo video is just silly and since there is no official video, go for it.)
Sahil, is there any way we can steer you in another direction? We think that you need something more defined within a music genre / subgenre. Do have a look at Arcade Fire whom I mentioned previously (some of their songs do not have a video attached and we can shorten them if needed).
Arcade Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77GfpzqDvQ&list=RDEM5Hx5EcwHnygJr8M4xuhgMQ&index=21
Or something even more 'rock'. Or 'quirky' / sophisticated / mature female artist, a bit like Florence and the Machines or Tori Amos.
3. 'Mock' PITCH - Wednesday 8th May
You have a list of all the work that must be done already. Here, we will need to get a very clear picture of your artist. If you don't yet have a name for him / her, give them a 'working' name.
The pitch / treatment must let us see what he / she is like and what their audience is like, what the music video will be like, what kind of music magazine you will create. You will need lots of pictures to make us 'see' your vision (style / shot types, mise-en-scene, costumes, locations, similar artists / videos etc). PPTs are fine or just present from a blog post - you will have the board.
Your presentation will be followed by a Q+A. Mr James and I will ask questions to probe your ideas but your peers will hopefully give you feedback too. It is very important you take notes while this part is happening so you remember the feedback received to help you adjust your planning.
Examples of basic pitches:
https://prezi.com/dt8sdebpuxtb/music-video-treatment/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
http://skmattwellmusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Planning (good detail but not enough pictures) and here is the recording of his pitch:
Look at Trisha's other research and planning work:
https://trishavekaria.wixsite.com/a2-media/planning-cdfw
Thursday, 2 May 2019
Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Lesson: Wednesday 24th April - WORK DUE IN WEDNESDAY 1ST MAY
Things to do and think about
Thinking about the audience
Now that you have sketched out your artist and have chosen your song, you need to make sure you have the audience research you need.
- similar artists - same genre - similar / same label: What's the audience? How did you find out? What are their tastes? How can they be labelled and classified (for such a wide age-range, there might be several subgroups)
Create an audience profile.
REMEMBER:
'Audience' is a key concept in media because media texts are produced with an audience in mind, a group of people who will receive the text and make some sense out of it; the text will gratify them in some ways. The ways in which they receive the media text is also worth considering.
SO the audience is part of the equation. The video is ultimately serving as a marketing device for the artist and the record label so must appeal.
Audience research is an important element for any media producer. It is important to understand how a targeted audience is 'made up' and how it can be broken down into categories.
Demographics • age • gender • sexual orientation • family size • family life cycle (see below) • occupation (usually of the Chief Income Earner or CIE) • income (with special interest in disposable income) • education (highest level reached) • religion • nationality • socio-economic status
Psychographics - Attitudes, beliefs, interests
There are other ways in which the audience can be labelled and classified. For example, look at UK Tribes https://www.uktribes.com/about
Primary audience research: Direct investigation of the needs, desires and media habits of an audience which involves contacting or talking directly to the target audience members. This includes focus groups to help you gauge the appeal of your initial ideas, using the feedback to refine and redraft.
Secondary audience research looks at the data and existing research about the audience to construct a sound analysis. This will include quantitative and qualitative research / data.
Appealing to your audience through generic conventions of music videos for your genre:
- Why is genre useful when targeting an audience?
- Conventions:What you expect to see?
- Iconography – Genre indicators
What conventions or elements of iconography are present here and how will this appeal to an audience?
Use ideas from audience theories too:
Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications - here it is likely that out of the main categories, the music video will address areas such as Diversion / Escapism, Personal Identity and Personal Relations/ Social Interactions.
Reception Theory:
What messages will be dominant? ie the preferred / encoded reading - how will you make sure that your target audience shares the 'code' of the text? Will you use intertextual references to clarify and anchor meanings (as well as gratify the audience)?
In what ways could messages be negotiated? Is there any risks your messages might find oppositional readings?
Cultivation Theory: What hegemonic messages are likely to be present/ reinforced?
Look at this old post for further help:
http://a2musicvid.blogspot.com/2015/09/audience-research-1-initial-questions.html
Thinking about the conventions for your chosen music video genre
What are the codes and conventions of the music videos by similar artists? You will need to do music video analyses with screengrabs. Use the ideas of Goodwin and Vernallis to help you. What are the dominant features? What music videos will influence your work? You will need to do a collage of shots to illustrate the types of style, iconography, narrative, techniques etc that are likely to appeal to your audience and are source of inspiration for your own work.
Look at these student's work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xi9M1CK_6w
https://www.scribd.com/document/242442454/Arctic-Fire-The-Suburbs
https://lishagorasia.wixsite.com/a2mediastudies/research
We will be looking at the following music videos in class:
Lana Del Rey https://youtu.be/JRWox-i6aAk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrL3QxjyVw
Paloma Faith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijel4Vcqd9g&feature=youtu.be
Thinking about the audience
Now that you have sketched out your artist and have chosen your song, you need to make sure you have the audience research you need.
- similar artists - same genre - similar / same label: What's the audience? How did you find out? What are their tastes? How can they be labelled and classified (for such a wide age-range, there might be several subgroups)
Create an audience profile.
REMEMBER:
'Audience' is a key concept in media because media texts are produced with an audience in mind, a group of people who will receive the text and make some sense out of it; the text will gratify them in some ways. The ways in which they receive the media text is also worth considering.
SO the audience is part of the equation. The video is ultimately serving as a marketing device for the artist and the record label so must appeal.
Audience research is an important element for any media producer. It is important to understand how a targeted audience is 'made up' and how it can be broken down into categories.
Demographics • age • gender • sexual orientation • family size • family life cycle (see below) • occupation (usually of the Chief Income Earner or CIE) • income (with special interest in disposable income) • education (highest level reached) • religion • nationality • socio-economic status
Psychographics - Attitudes, beliefs, interests
Also think about the different generations:
Secondary audience research looks at the data and existing research about the audience to construct a sound analysis. This will include quantitative and qualitative research / data.
Appealing to your audience through generic conventions of music videos for your genre:
- Why is genre useful when targeting an audience?
- Conventions:What you expect to see?
- Iconography – Genre indicators
What conventions or elements of iconography are present here and how will this appeal to an audience?
Use ideas from audience theories too:
Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications - here it is likely that out of the main categories, the music video will address areas such as Diversion / Escapism, Personal Identity and Personal Relations/ Social Interactions.
Reception Theory:
What messages will be dominant? ie the preferred / encoded reading - how will you make sure that your target audience shares the 'code' of the text? Will you use intertextual references to clarify and anchor meanings (as well as gratify the audience)?
In what ways could messages be negotiated? Is there any risks your messages might find oppositional readings?
Cultivation Theory: What hegemonic messages are likely to be present/ reinforced?
Look at this old post for further help:
http://a2musicvid.blogspot.com/2015/09/audience-research-1-initial-questions.html
Thinking about the conventions for your chosen music video genre
What are the codes and conventions of the music videos by similar artists? You will need to do music video analyses with screengrabs. Use the ideas of Goodwin and Vernallis to help you. What are the dominant features? What music videos will influence your work? You will need to do a collage of shots to illustrate the types of style, iconography, narrative, techniques etc that are likely to appeal to your audience and are source of inspiration for your own work.
Look at these student's work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xi9M1CK_6w
https://www.scribd.com/document/242442454/Arctic-Fire-The-Suburbs
https://lishagorasia.wixsite.com/a2mediastudies/research
We will be looking at the following music videos in class:
Lana Del Rey https://youtu.be/JRWox-i6aAk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrL3QxjyVw
Paloma Faith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijel4Vcqd9g&feature=youtu.be
Mumford and Sons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqFsRt0uYzA&feature=youtu.be
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
NEA 2019-2020 - First steps and initial research
1. Knowing the brief:
Annotate, read , repeat, make sure you understand all aspects of the brief.
2. Choosing the song and sketching your artist.
Look at artists likely to appeal to the target - quite a broad spectrum.
Ask parents, teachers etc... quick questionnaires.
Start with obvious candidates and dig around for similar artists:
Dido https://www.didomusic.com/
Early Coldplay or Elbow... Anything anthem-like...
Adele http://adele.com/home/
Arcade Fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM&start_radio=1&list=RDEM5Hx5EcwHnygJr8M4xuhgMQ
Perhaps slightly more edgy, Imogen Heap http://imogenheap.com/myceliatour.php?
One of her songs:
And here is a video produced by a media student to one of her songs:
Look for similar artists, eg.:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/adele-mn0000503460/related
Also explore the record labels mentioned in the brief:
Columbia
http://www.columbiarecords.com/artists/
Parlophone
https://www.instagram.com/parlophone/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlophone
By next Wednesday, come ready with a song choice, the lyrics, with your early ideas. You could start researching videos that could inspire your own work - collage, embedded videos if you have a blog etc...
Start defining your artist. Early sketch of their star text.
Look for past students' videos like these:
Annotate, read , repeat, make sure you understand all aspects of the brief.
2. Choosing the song and sketching your artist.
Look at artists likely to appeal to the target - quite a broad spectrum.
Ask parents, teachers etc... quick questionnaires.
Start with obvious candidates and dig around for similar artists:
Dido https://www.didomusic.com/
Early Coldplay or Elbow... Anything anthem-like...
Adele http://adele.com/home/
Arcade Fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM&start_radio=1&list=RDEM5Hx5EcwHnygJr8M4xuhgMQ
Perhaps slightly more edgy, Imogen Heap http://imogenheap.com/myceliatour.php?
One of her songs:
And here is a video produced by a media student to one of her songs:
Look for similar artists, eg.:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/adele-mn0000503460/related
Also explore the record labels mentioned in the brief:
Columbia
http://www.columbiarecords.com/artists/
Parlophone
https://www.instagram.com/parlophone/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlophone
By next Wednesday, come ready with a song choice, the lyrics, with your early ideas. You could start researching videos that could inspire your own work - collage, embedded videos if you have a blog etc...
Start defining your artist. Early sketch of their star text.
Look for past students' videos like these:
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