Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Friday 31 July 2015

Get thee not to a nunnery Katy Perry

Link + further quotes below
Nothing like chewing up a Shakespeare quote to get started with...

News of the abominable Katy Perry - a view I now know is shared with a bunch of Hollywood nuns.
“You’re not selling to Katy Perry anytime soon,” Chalfant told the archbishop’s lawyers.
The archdiocese and nuns agree the property, which was bestowed to the sisters by a devout Catholic who wanted them to keep him in their prayers, should be sold. The two sides are fighting over the control of the sale’s proceeds and whether Perry or Hollister are suitable buyers.
Further quotes from the article on this below - with the displeasure of nuns who viewed her execrable (but hugely successful - I'm not exactly in the target market!) music videos forming a key plank of the story...

Monday 20 July 2015

MADONNA REPRESENTATION John Izod's the female shaman concept

Another to add to the list of will come back to, found this a very striking notion, and an unexpected encounter with one of my old uni professors ... in a Madonna biography

IDEAS The horror of boybands...

A quick illustration of how wide your options are for music videos...

  • two iconic US 90s boybands have announced they're teaming up on a...

Sunday 19 July 2015

Blogging on AUDIENCE

I'LL UPDATE THIS THROUGH THE NEW SAMPLE BLOG TIME PERMITTING...
I've covered aspects of this in many posts - use the Q3 links list, and look at past egs linked in Q3 guide for example; try a search, or use the tags cloud!
A complementary guide, including a Word doc with step-by instructions, is available here.
You can also access PowerPoints on audience theory here, and links to other audience-related posts on the ProdEval blog here
This 2015 A2 example is a good reference point: you can see a video questionnaire, and this being delivered to a class, teachers etc, as well as audience feedback on rough cuts etc.
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This post looks at one of the better examples from 2012 and considers any issues that prevent it from being assessed as excellent (criteria: 'research into a similar target audience')
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Thursday 9 July 2015

Recommended Reading Material

I'm consolidating several past posts here, and including books on media regulation and postmodernism as well as on music video. The more you can apply wider reading and learning on academic concepts and arguments through and in your coursework (especially the Evaluation), the easier you will find the first half of the exam. Section A asks you (Q1a) to apply one or more of a range of concepts to a comparison of your AS/A2 productions, and to discuss theories around one of five key concept areas (MANGeR: Media Language, Audience, Narrative, Genre, Representation) in reference to either your AS or A2 production (it makes sense to go with your A2).
For the second section, there are multiple topics - the one we look at is media regulation. There are suggestions/links for all of these below.

MUSIC VIDEO READING
DVD of the greatest director of all?
Simply viewing a wide range of music videos, from different eras and genres, is a good idea. If your blog is set up you can add brief notes/bullet points, with screenshots to illustrate, on what you've found most noteworthy. Looking at past examples of student work is useful too - you'll still find lots of good ideas you could use, and could start to consider the do's and don'ts of successful production - what features are excellent, and which less so?


There are many DVD collections, most usefully of directors such as Anton Corbijn, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham, that span multiple genres and acts but provide some great featurettes going behind the scenes. You can even catch a show on iPlayer now that features 80s videos and interviews with the stars of those. Simply dipping into one of the many music channels and making brief notes (even if it is literally ONE point that could be useful example, helping you evidence 'Use of Conventions From Existing Texts')

The by now huge archive on this blog is naturally highly recommended! I've more retro-tagging to do, but have managed to go back and tag 100s of posts so far.

There are lots of useful sites/e-zines that feature industry news and highlight new (or classic!) videos: LouderThanWar and Loudwire being two examples that I frequently read myself, using their Facebook updates to do so.

The Guardian remains the best newspaper for media news, features and analysis, and its music section will keep you well updated with industry developments.

BOOKS ON MUSIC VIDEO
Book-wise, there are some stand-out options...

Keith Negus' Popular Music in Theory: incredibly useful for both coursework and exam, this gives you a summary of media theories applied to music. Great for the Evaluation, but also blogging about audience; brilliant for both Q1 and Q1b of the exam, and also the pomo essay!

Monday 6 July 2015

CONVERGENCE NME goes free, ezine goes to print edition

Curious overlapping of contradictory events; one of the most iconic UK music magazines is to go freesheet (given away) to assist its expansion into radio, TV and web platforms ... while the ezine/website I read of this on (via following it on Facebook) is to launch a print edition!