End of term - lockdown links

Well done! You've reached the end of one of the strangest and most difficult terms any of us can remember.

Right back in March, I said that this pandemic is looking like something potentially as disruptive as World War 2 and therefore it's understandable we've struggled at times. It's really important we take a break and clear our heads and then hopefully we can return to school at something close to normal and have a great Year 13.

The only work you need to do over the summer is your coursework summer project. Here are the links you need:

• Summer project tasks
• Ignite presentation examples
• Music video research suggestions
• Music video treatment example

If you've missed any of the work from the last few months then you'll have emails from your teacher telling you what needs completing. Here are all the links you need to the work we've done in lockdown:

Exam side

• Advertising: Maybelline case study and wider reading
• Advertising - Assessment
• Men's Health - Audience
• Men's Health - Language and Representation
• Men's Health - Industries and the impact of digital media
• Oh Comely - Audience
• Oh Comely - Language and Representation
• Oh Comely - Industry case study
• End of Year 12 assessment

Coursework side

• TV: Industries - The rise of foreign-language TV dramas
• TV: Industries - The impact of new/digital media on television
• TV: assessment
• Music Video - introduction and factsheet questions
• Music Video theory and This Is America analysis
• Common - Letter to the Free context and analysis
• The Specials - Ghost Town context and analysis
• Radio: Introduction to Radio
• Radio: Life Hacks
• Radio: War of the Worlds

It's vital that if you're missing anything you get it caught up over the summer. Fortunately, the links above have all the lesson videos, notes and tasks that you need. I know we set a lot of work but it's all with one goal in mind - making sure you do incredibly well in the exams at the end of Year 13 and go on to a brilliant university or degree-level apprenticeship.

Have a wonderful summer and see you in September!

Coursework: Summer Project 2020

The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan an outstanding music video concept and then present it to class in September.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching music videos, investigating their chosen genre, creating a music video concept, writing a first draft Statement of Intent and presenting this to class as an Ignite presentation in September. However, if you wish to also plan and film elements of your production (lockdown allowing) over the summer while you have time and actors available we would support you in this approach as long as you have parental permission and it is safe to do so.

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: music video analysis 

You need to write a 200-word close-textual analysis of five (or more!) music videos in your chosen genre. For each music video, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog:

Music Video 1: Narrative
How is narrative used in the music video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the music video?

Music Video 2: Mise-en-scene
What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music.

Music Video 3: Camerawork
Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. Remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and camerawork can contribute to this.

Music Video 4: Editing
Analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the music video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?  

Music Video 5: Conventions
Think back to our Introduction to Music Video and our work on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music video conventions as part of the Ghost Town CSP. How many key conventions of music video can you find in your fifth music video example?

You can find a range of notable music video examples in this blogpost or you are free to select videos of your choice. You may wish to write more about one video than another but as long as you have 1,000+ words of research in total you will be fine.

2) Planning: music video treatment (concept)

In order to produce a successful music video, you will need to write a treatment. This is like a script - it tells the band or artist exactly what will happen in the video and the kind of style or effect the video will have. You'll need choose what song you are going to use at this point - remember, you can use an existing artist's track but it needs to be appropriate for a mainstream audience. 

You can find further music video treatment guidance here plus an example of a genuine director's treatment for the brilliant alt-J video Breezeblocks. 


3) Statement of Intent

Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to read this).


4) Ignite presentation

Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:

• Your music video concept: artist, song, genre, narrative/performance/effects etc.
• Media language: how you will use music video conventions, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience. Remember the key word: connotations.
• Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your music video; applications of representation theory.
• Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures - why they would enjoy your video; audience theory.
• Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would sign and promote your band or artist; how fans could watch the video; other ways you could promote your artist (e.g. the headphone sponsorship in the brief).

Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September.

Your Ignite presentation will be marked out of 30 on the following criteria (each worth a possible 5 marks):

1) Research (through the presentation AND your blog) 
2) Music video concept
3) Language: terminology and theory
4) Representations
5) Audience and Industry
6) Delivery

You can find more information about Ignite presentations - including examples - in this Ignite presentation blogpost here.

Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first week back in September



Summer project: optional extensions

Pre-production tasks

Some students in previous years expressed an interest in filming their video production over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. However, it may simply be impossible with social distancing and potential local lockdowns. If you do want to film over the summer, make sure you complete the following pre-production tasks here:

Music video treatment
This is effectively your script for your music video. There is guidance above on how to write a great music video treatment.

Storyboard 
Sketch out a selection of critical shots from your music video, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets can be downloaded from here.

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the music video AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find a film example here. It makes sense to organise your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the music video in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre you are working in? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. 

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it! In the current circumstance, we also recommend including an additional section regarding safety and social distancing.

Non-assessed participants
You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work (both music video and music magazine). Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound and note it on the Candidate Record Form - so this means the song for your music video. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work in Year 13.

Production: Filming and photography

Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film or carry out photoshoots as you wish.

Good luck!

Coursework: Summer project Ignite presentation examples

Your summer project will involve researching and planning your coursework. You will then present this work to the class in the first week of September in the form of an Ignite presentation.

This will be a hugely valuable exercise as it will allow you to test your idea in front of a potential audience - and make sure the narrative, genre or message behind your music video is communicated clearly. The Ignite presentation format offers a particular challenge and will force you to carefully consider how to pitch your project to the class.

The Ignite tagline is simple:

“Enlighten us, but make it quick.”

Ignite talks are a popular presentation format online. The rules are simple:

• 20 slides
• 15 second auto-advance
• 5 minutes
• 1 topic

Here's a good Ignite talk about giving an Ignite talk:

Here are some media-related examples:

And here's another Media-related example that shows you why PRACTICE is so important - the speaker never keeps up with his slides and therefore the whole presentation is rushed:

Summer project: Ignite presentation

Your Ignite presentation will be on your coursework plan - effectively a presentation version of your Statement of Intent. This means telling your audience the genre, title, narrative, media language choices, representations, audience and industry factors in just 20 slides and 5 minutes. You can find all the Summer project tasks in the original blogpost here.

Good luck!

Coursework: Music video examples

Learning the conventions, pacing and construction of music videos will be essential to achieving a top grade in your coursework.

The following music videos are famous, creative or useful examples to help your research and inspire your creativity:

nojahoda - nojahoda




This is a brilliant music video to illustrate the different conventions in a music video - the director Jake Wynne made this to showcase his ability with different styles of music video including narrative, performance and visual effects.


Ed Sheeran - Shape of You



This video uses the classic narrative linked to lyrics approach and contains some really creative shots and locations.


Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk



In many ways this is simply a classic performance video but it does some interesting things with camerawork and editing that is worth watching.



Walk Off The Earth - Red Hands



This is an incredibly creative one-shot video. The level of thought and detail behind it is revealed in this behind the scenes video. 


Joyner Lucas - I'm Not Racist



This is a stunningly simple but incredibly powerful music video that taps into the state of the world today.


Beastie Boys - Sabotage



This one always appears in best ever music video lists - a parody of 1970s cop shows. Intertextuality is a key convention of music videos.


Years & Years - I Wish I Knew



This is another simple video that uses one location and some creative lighting and props to produce a superb finish.


Foals - Hummer



This is a stunning example of camerawork and editing. Watch the opening of the video - just a series of close-ups of instruments but edited to perfection to match the beat of the song.

Coursework: Music video treatment

A music video treatment is like a script or concept - it explains what will happen in the music video.

At the beginning of every music video project, there is a need to work with the artist to define a desired treatment. A video treatment, also known as video concept, outlines information with regards to what the music video will be about.

Conceptually, a music video could show the artist performing the song in front of a live audience or by itself; alternatively, a music video can also present a story line where certain situations and storytelling takes place. Furthermore, it can also be an experimental exercise where random images are shown to complement the music in a more abstract way. All of these angles constitute the treatment, or concept, of a music video.

Music video treatment: essential planning

A video treatment goes beyond this exercise of defining the overall direction of the video. The treatment goes down to describe the kind of locations, situations, stories, images, look and feel, tone and colour, pacing and so on of the music video. Even though most treatment writers don't follow specific guidelines or structures, a well written treatment is one that can successfully communicate complete ideas to artists.

Summarising, a music video treatment is the starting point of every project. It allows the production company to communicate its ideas to the artists and it allows artists to make decisions regarding the direction of their video. The treatment also helps production companies to write production budgets that are accurate and that give artists a complete view of what to expect when embarking on the production of their music video.

Source: Creando Music Video Production

Music video: example treatment

Alt-J: Breezeblocks by Ellis Bahl 



Original treatment from the director:

Three shots, slow motion, played in reverse.

Cool tones. Blues and Whites.

Scene 1: A man sits on the floor of a bathroom, head in hands.

The camera moves to the bathtub, the water is running, a fully clothed woman lies submerged, a breezeblock on her stomach. Her hair floats on top of the water, hiding her face. Blood slowly runs backwards into her head. The man gets up and the breezeblock bounces up off the woman's head and into his hands. He puts it on the ground next the the tub. The two of them scuffle.

Scene 2: They sprint backwards down the hallway. Her in front, him in back. (he's chasing her) They backwards fight through a flat. They unshatter dishes and bookshelves stand up with books placing themselves back into order as they reverse fight their way through the apartment.

Scene 3: They make their way towards the front door. A knife flies off the floor and into the woman's hand. The man grapples with her. He turns away from her and she recedes into the shadows. 

The man looks down into a cupboard. ANOTHER woman is tied up and sucking in a scream. Her eyes close. They kiss. They stop and the man slaps ducktape over her mouth. He closes the door. He walks backwards, flips the lights off and exits out the front door.


The woman with the knife returns and opens the cupboard. The tied up woman's eyes are filled with terror. The knife woman says something. "I think I'll have a bath while we wait for your Husband to get home. You don't mind, do you?"

End of Year 12 assessment

Your final task in Year 12 is an end-of-year assessment on your blog.

Usually, we would be doing this assessment as a formal exam in the Hall with the result counting towards your UCAS predicted grade. With schools still largely closed, we can't run formal exams so have instead decided to run this as an 'open book' assessment. This means you don't have a time pressure and can use all the resources you like while you answer the questions. To help you even more, I've also produced a 'walk and talk' video for each question going through how long you'd have to answer it in a real exam and breaking down what the question is asking you to do.

You can complete this assessment on paper or typed on your blog - it is up to you. However, you must answer all seven questions and you must submit the work on your blog. If you write out responses on paper you must take pictures and post them to your blog. Here's a short video introducing the idea behind this assessment:



Your assessment will be marked but it won't be given marks and a grading. This is because it is an open-book assessment and not in exam conditions. However, the quality of your answers will be considered when calculating your UCAS predicted grade along with the Year 13 Baseline Assessment in September.

The deadline to post your answers to your blog is Monday 13 July.


Year 12 Assessment questions

Paper 1 Section A

1) Analyse the Close Study Product Score hair cream advert using narrative theory including Todorov. [9 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:





2) “Postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality.” – Jean Baudrillard

To what extent can your music video Close Study Products be described as postmodern? [20 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:





Paper 1 Section B


3) Identify three strategies used to promote Chicken to an audience. Explain a reason for each strategy. Each of the reasons must be different. [6 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:






4) How do regulatory contexts shape the output of media industries? You should refer to your film industry Close Study Product, Chicken. [9 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:





5) How useful are media effects theories in evaluating the success of media products? Refer to your Radio Close Study Products, Life Hacks and War of the Worlds, in your answer. [20 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:





Paper 2


1) Liesbet van Zoonen suggests that gender is constructed through media language and that these constructions reflect social contexts. 


How far does an analysis of Men’s Health and Oh Comely support this argument? [25 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:





2) “Television dramas reflect the social and cultural contexts of their production.”


To what extent does an analysis of your television Close Study Products support this view? [25 marks]

Walk and talk video guide:




Remember - all answers need to be posted to your blog but this can be pictures of written work. Good luck!

Year 12 Assessment due date: Monday 13 July