A-Level Media Sohail A Coursework
Wednesday 9 October 2024
Monday 7 October 2024
Music Video: Ghost Town CSP
The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks
Read this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually. Answer the following questions
1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?
The writer links the song to soundtracks & music hall tradition as the song isn't traditional music in the sense of a standalone music video. IT more fits something like a movie or a background track.
2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?
3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?
The meanings could be relatable to the teenagers and young adults in that time as the video could be linking to the social contexts of that time where there was a lot of injustice and not a lot of opportunity in that time period.
1) How does the article describe the song?
2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
The article says that at that time in Britain there was rioting and lots of unemployment because of the industrial decline.
3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?
The specials reflected this as the band was culturally diverse including black and white people.
4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?
5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
John Barry was a famous composer because people loved his sound and feel. He worked on James Bond and midnight heat.
Ghost Town - Media Factsheet
Watch the video several times before reading Factsheet #211 - Ghost Town. You'll need your GHS Google login to access the factsheet. Once you have analysed the video several times and read the whole factsheet, answer the following questions:
Sunday 29 September 2024
Preliminary exercise: Research and planning
Preliminary exercise: Research and planning
1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise.
2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.
- Kaleidoscope edit effect at the beginning of the video & constant use in video through transitions
- Stereotypical rap clothes e.g. tracksuits
- Locations set in the story of the music video e.g. streatham
- Interview style music video
- Flashbacks to important scenes and times
- Lots of zoom ins and cuts
- Tour around the area he grew up / audience pleasure
- Day in life of being a rapper
- Stereotypical clothes
- Lyrics matching life
Scene 3- the man is in his room feel upset that his friend is dead he eventually snaps out as a company has reached out to sponsor him and wanted hit to wear their shoes. This gives him the idea and starts performing
Shot List - Preliminary Exercise
Shot No. | Shot | Filmed? |
1 | Wide shot/establishing shot of street & lamp, then zooms into characters | |
2 | Over the shoulder (OTS) of mo hearing shouting from behind him. | |
3 | shot of mo turning around to see the commotion | |
4 | Close up of mo’s face in shock | |
5 | Close up of obaida’s face looking angry | |
6 | Medium shot of Obadiah running at mo | |
7 | Wide shot of whole street withcharacters in background. | |
8 | handheld or drone shot of mo running into a bush | |
9 | Obadia loses track of mo, close up on his face in distress | |
10 | mo accidentally makes too much noises and baits his location out medium shot of Obadia’s realisation with bush in background | |
11 | POV shot of Obadia dragging out mo from the bush and beating him |
6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange.
Thursday 26 September 2024
Ignite presentation learner response
Ignite Learner Response
Teacher comments
- Nice opening - uses images on slides really well
- Good comments on representation of London and the general feel of video
- I like the use of images rather than text-heavy slides but there seems to be a lack of planning or rehearsal
- Lack of actual coverage of video - narrative, performance etc
- Shoe sponsorship aspect works and fits genre
- Quite a few slides don’t seem to add to details of concept/plan
- Studio location is excellent - this will really help
- Field location not so sure - does that fit genre/ urban feel ?
- Editing points kind of works but lacks detail / specific elements
- Magazine needs to be original - can’t use existing one
- Audience addressed briefly towards and alongside industry you’ll need a lot more in these areas for your statement of intent
- Delivery reasonably confident but lacking the research and planning that needed to be part of the summer project
Q+A
- Question on mainstream - good point but answered well. One to cover in statement though.
- Nice question on locations - brings up some good questions.
Wednesday 18 September 2024
Summer Project: coursework planning
Research: music videos
In the narrative of this music video, we can see the protagonist, Taylor Swift in a classic unrequited love story however this time it's a college. The video begins with a man arguing on the phone with someone which we can see through a window. This is when Taylor glances up at the window with concern whilst seeing this and holds a sheet of paper saying "You ok" He responds with his sheet of paper, smirking with it saying " Tired of Drama", he then shuts his blinds and goes to bed which makes the audience smile because although he is in a rough patch Taylor cares enough to ask him if he's ok. unfortunately, when he got up to shut the blinds Taylor was writing the middle of writing something but she was unable to finish before he closed the blinds.
In a surprising shock of events to the audience, her sheet of paper said "I love you" and she narrowly missed him to show him. This makes the audience feel heartbroken and sympathetic towards Taylor as she is just about to declare her love for the man. In the next scene, we can see her dancing and singing properly trying to distract herself from feeling upset that he didn't get to see her sheet of paper suddenly we can see the man sneak a peek through his blinds and smirking & laughing when he sees Taylor dancing and singing around. Eventually, Taylor crashes after being tired and goes to sleep. This scene leaves the audience with dramatic irony as they know what is going to be shown on that paper however the male character doesn't.
The next day, Taylor finds herself on a bench with the guy from last night but suddenly his girlfriend drives up to them and he reluctantly gets in her car. This makes the audience feel upset for the guy as it's clear that he would rather spend time with her than his girlfriend. The audience starts to feel resentment for the man's girlfriend. Taylor would be seen as the hero in the story whereas the man's girlfriend would be seen as the villain if we were to use props character theory.
In the next scene the man is playing in an American football game both Taylor and his girlfriend are there. Taylor is on the bleachers and the man's girlfriend is one of the cheerleaders. This makes Taylor feel unpopular and irreverent as she thinks she can never compete with the man's girlfriend. This is emphasised as in the lyrics Taylor is constantly comparing herself to the other girl which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards her and want her to get what she wants which is that man whose girlfriend is 'evil'. In a horrible turn of events after the game the guy's so called girlfriend is seen with another guy and dismisses her boyfriend and everyone in the stadium sees this. This makes the reader feel annoyed and angry at the fact that the girl just pushed away her boyfriend for another man and they feel like the guy deserves better.
After the game, the focus then shifts back to where the music video started which is back at the apartment windows with the man getting ready in a suit ready to go to a party. The guy proceeds to ask Taylor if she is coming to the party or not through the piece of paper, and she responds with 'No, studying'. which is when he puts up a piece of paper back and says that he wishes that she was which after that he leaves. This makes Taylor have second thoughts about staying home and studying- she takes one look at her original piece of paper that said' I love You' and takes a leap of fate feeling like it is a now or never situation she even takes off her glasses and goes to the party. At this point in the narrative the audience is cheering her on and at the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next.
As the next scene fades in from back we can see Taylor all glammed up and in a white dress with everyone in awe and shock, moving out her way. This is when the man that she is looking for spots her and is smiling as his dream came true. They then start walking towards each other however the man is grabbed by his now ex girlfriend and she leans onto him in a flirty way but the man is done with her and quickly pushes her away so that he can carry on walking towards Taylor, once they are finally face to face Taylor finally shows him her ' I love you' paper and in a plot twist the man has his own ' I love you' paper, which after they show each other they share a kiss giving the music video a bittersweet ending. This whole scene would make the audience feel relieved and happy because they finally got what they were rooting for.
The two prominent Narrative theories that I can see in the music video are Todorov's equilibrium and Propp's character types. For Todorov's theory the story starts with a balance where everything is fine then when the guy is arguing on the phone and his girlfriend controlling him then at the end finally having a new balance where he gets rid of his ex girlfriend and moves on and kisses Taylor. For props theory I would say that Taylor is the hero the guys girlfriend is the villain and you could argue that the guy is sort of the damsel in distress considering his girlfriend was controlling a lot of aspects of his life.
Music Video 2: Rihanna - Diamonds (Camerawork)
The camerawork in the music video is a form of show not tell which also matches the mood of the song. Close-up shots on Rihanna’s face as she sings floating in the water make her look vulnerable and scared. Wide angle shots are used while she's running through the desert or standing on a beach witch could symbolise escape. The slow-motion shot of her letting go of a diamond could reflect her own life and the idea of moving on from problems. The Low-angle shots make her look powerful whilst she stares at the stormy sky. The use of a handheld shot crates a feeling of urgency and confusion as everything is shaking which makes everything feel more real to the audience.
Music Video 3: Pozer - Malicious Intentions (Mise-en-scene)
Music Video 4: Paramore - Misery Business (Editing)
Music Video 5: Katy Perry - Firework (Conventions)
Music Video 6: Olivia Rodrigo - Obsessed (intertextuality)
Planning: music video treatment
- Panic Attack
Scene 3- the man is in his room feel upset that his friend is dead he eventually snaps out as a company has reached out to sponsor him and wanted hit to wear their shoes. This gives him the idea and starts performing
Statement of Intent
Introduction
For my music video product i am going to use media language and media representations in order to meet the brief and also hit the target needs of the audience that i am targeting who are people between the age of 16-18, the majority of them being men. The existing artist that i am using for my music video is Dave. The name of my artist that i have made is 1nonly BK. My artist will create a UK rap song which is sponsored by Nike. UK Rap is an up and coming genre which has recently been gaining a lot of attention and has established itself as a mainstream new generation genre. It even has garnered attention in the united states as well. The name of the music magazine is 'empty soul'. I picked this name because it relates to the narrative of the music video.
Media language
Ignite presentation
Friday 23 August 2024
TV assessment learner response
TV assessment learner response
2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment (even if you got full marks for the question).
3) The first question demanded a response using postmodern terminology. Write a definition here of the three main terms:
Bricolage: focused on explaining how entrepreneurship emerges in economically depressed, or resource-poor areas
Pastiche:It is a style which is a tongue-in-cheek light-hearted imitation of another's style which unlike a parody is respectful.
Intertextuality: when one text references another
4) Read this exemplar answer for the 25-mark question in the assessment. Select a quote from the essay for each of the following aspects from the mark scheme:
a) analysis of the products that focuses on contexts and ideological positioning
- The Daily Mail heavily criticised Capital for featuring ‘more left wing causes than a Jeremy Corbyn’s diary’ it could be argued that the focus on house prices and hard work actually reinforces dominant hegemonic ideologies most closely associated with right-wing capitalist values.
b) use of media theory
- Applying Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this is unconsciously communicating to audiences the value in working hard, earning money and contributing to consumerism and capitalism - maintaining the status quo and reinforcing more right-wing ideology.
c) a judgement or conclusion on the question
- In conclusion, it is impossible to ignore the ideological positions constructed by television dramas and Capital and D83 are no exception to this. However, it could be argued that different audiences can read these fictional genres in different ways depending on their own perspectives and therefore social, cultural and political contexts are not the only aspect to this process.
d) examples from the TV CSPs
- In Deutschland 83 (D83), the historical drama / spy thriller genre.
e) use of media terminology
- reinforced through the construction of the narrative and key elements of mise-en-scene.
Postmodernism in music video: Blog tasks
Postmodernism in music video: Blog tasks
Media Magazine Theory Drop - Postmodernism
Create a new blog post called 'Postmodernism in music video: blog tasks'. Read ‘The Theory Drop: Postmodernism’ in MM66 (p26). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions:
Now apply postmodern ideas to our music video CSPs by answering the following questions:
Preliminary Exercise Final
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