Fan-made vids: MGMT's Kids

I've raised this in a previous post, but its worth flagging up.

This is the fan-made vid for MGMT's "Kids", fast-approaching 40m YouTube views, that Sam mentioned, and an example of what is likely to be a growing trend: bands using fan-made vids directly for their promotional/marketing value, and their convenience as a means of building a relationship with the fanbase. You can read more about this here.

At the time the article was written, this video had racked up 10 MILLION hits on YouTube alone...

You can debate the virtues or otherwise of the fan-made video, but it certainly struck a chord, despite the existence of a strikingly weird official video - compare the two below...

THE STUDENT VIDEO

By August 2015 this video had racked up 50 MILLION hits, and creator J Salmon has smartly embedded links to other work of his - picking up 8k subscribers in the process

THE OFFICIAL VIDEO

Remarkably, the official vid has 2m fewer hits to date!

Terminology Log 2016

A simple post; I will note the terms/concepts we encounter - and you should have noted in your terminology log - as we go through the year...

CONVERGENCE, UGC Smule, You're on Candid Camera

Clip shows still thrive on mainstream TV, but a new app, Smule, brings yet further backing for web 2.0 enthusiast Gillmor's portentous phrase 'the former audience'. Formalising the type of UGC that the likes of Gaga has long been popularising on official social media accounts, Smule provides a platform for fans to duet with their idols.

And the response has been big ...

Jessie J tracks have racked up 10s of millions further YouTube hits (and the attendant revenue) as Smule videos have become popular, viral items. See article.

UGC CONVERGENCE Ezine's fake 8bit metal game trailer

To the eyes of someone who fondly recalls all the acts featured, and the (now!) primitive video game style pastiched, this is a thing of marvel - a trailer for a notional 'Monsters of Rock' game, with legendary bands, music videos and singles all rendered in this retro style.

Bands like Chipmunk have of course made tech-retro part of youth/popular culture, fetishising 80s synths and recording technology.

This is a great example of convergence - an e-zine (there is no print edition, and Facebook, where I most often find its articles, seems to be, in effect, its key 'distributor') commissioned a fake retro video game trailer, 'published' on YouTube, featuring lo-fi music renderings that recall the early mobile phone ringtones.

[below the line: a second example, some important terminology, and points on 2005's Crazy Frog...]

All Planning Documents - storyboards, timing sheets etc

To help find these things, I've added or linked all in to this post...

If you've difficulty in downloading anything just email for the document. Where there is instructional text on a template, delete it before saving yours.

You can find storyboard templates/guide here, then ...
animatics;
treatments;
call sheets;
basic shooting schedule;
pitches;
ideas note sheet [can help simply track the progress/evolution of your thinking];
contacting record label for permission;
music video idea summary [this may help you organise, clarify your thoughts];
individual lesson progress logs [often use this to mutually help you/I track progress, but also to help identify concrete steps, over single lessons when in workshop mode] - embedded below;
the assessment criteria;
using Google calendar [great for Eval Q4, and exam, and simply as an effective means of organisation - which is of course also assessed for R+P!]

Lyric timing sheets
An important INITIAL step, and are helpful again when editing. Use this denotation to work out:

Music Video Day 2015

I'll gather all relevant materials in this post to keep it simple and easy to find.
Below, a vodcast which features clips from all the past Music Video Day productions but also contains numbered points to consider.

THIS POST CONTAINS [its TBC!]:

• Vodcast looking at past examples and themes/issues from these
• General points on blogging
• Note on homework/independent learning
• Full list of required blog posts
• Lesson by lesson schedule for summer terms
• 'Looking Ahead' - how you can make early progress on other A2 tasks

Assessing past coursework

Dependent on time, we will view and discuss these examples as a class or you will be assigned one each.

Have a go at giving an overall mark.

Pick out what you consider the criteria its weakest on, and note what EXample/s make you think this (precise denotation is key).

Pick out what you consider the criteria its strongest on, and note what EXample/s make you think this (precise denotation is key).

EXAMPLE 1: THE DOORS: PEOPLE ARE STRANGE


EXAMPLE 2: LADY GAGA: BAD ROMANCE
For this one, it is worth looking at the actual final cut post, so use this link to do so. Before even considering the mark of 'the' final cut, what have these students done differently? Do you think this would work for you? You might notice that Amber and Conal differed on this.
The video below is, effectively, only part of 'the' final cut!

Creating new Blogs

This 2020 Ppt replaces the earlier post:

A2 blog setup 2021 on from DB3igs

...

You will need a gmail account to complete this.

Your task is simple: carefully following the instructions below, set up a new blog and start adding to it with the tasks at the bottom of this post!

ONCE YOU HAVE WORKED THROUGH THE 10 STEPS BELOW, CHECK YOU'VE SET   (1) 'WORD VERIFICATION FOR COMMENTS' TO NO;   (2) 'COMMENT MODERATION' TO ALWAYS (YOU NEED TO PROVIDE AN EMAIL ADDRESS) [both of these through DESIGN-SETTINGS-COMMENTS];   (3) TIME TO GMT [through DESIGN-SETTINGS-FORMATTING];

Read the following carefully; take the time to think of a brief and memorable URL:

PREVIEWS OF THE BLOGGER SCREENS:

Resources for researching music video in web 2.0 era

A NOTE ON AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING...
In the web 2.0 (3.0 now?) era, you have extraordinary resources at hand to aid you not just in your research into conventions, but also your search for ideas and inspirations!!!!

WEB 2.0 AUDIENCES Streamers abandon live music?

The launch of Apple's entry into the streaming (and radio) market has of course caused a tidal wave of comment, hype and analysis.

See below for link to article on Corey Taylor's views

Much of this centres on the impact on rivals such as Spotify. The implications for artists and record labels likewise has been much debated - I'll try to remember to add a link to Slipknot' Corey Taylor's rather ... colourful views. [done - NB: strong, albeit censored, language!]

This article, though, looks at research into streamers (possibly a neologism, it seems to me a sensible descriptor for users of streaming services) and how heavy users tend not to form strong attachments to any acts. Rather than listening to some acts over and over again, many tend to largely keep listening to new music, and an increasing proportion also don't bother to listen to full albums.

The article argues that this will lead to falling concert attendance down the road, as many concert-goers have forged an emotional attachment to the act they've gone to see over many years of repeat listening.

I've listened to many of Depeche Mode's albums, in full, many 1000s of times, and was thrilled to finally see them live in Leeds last year - 30 odd years after first getting one of their singles on vinyl. Will heavily streamed contemporary acts attract sell-out crowds a decade or more down the line? 

Article link below

UGC FAN-MADE VIDEOS Sepultura use fan vid

I've mentioned this in another (under construction) post, but it merits singling out.
Before I give the actual example, here's what you can learn from this:

• don't restrict yourself to your preferred genre/s! the odds are that few of you are Sepultura fans, but you can pick up great ideas and examples by looking beyond the obvious (take the Morbid Angel [silent movies?!] or Rammstein [Snow White?!] or Rage Against the Machine [Beach Boys?!] examples...)
• embrace the random chances that web 2.0 throws up; I came across this only because I scrolled further into a lengthy web page, despite having found the information I was looking for. I didn't know these Brazilian thrashers had commissioned a competition for a fan-made video until I spotted it here! Some of the examples above come from videos I've spotted in e-zine articles I 'subscribe' to through FB
• when Gillmor writes of the 'former audience', Gauntlett of 'the end of audience studies' and Jenkins of 'convergence culture', these are not hazy ivory tower academics, but active researchers reflecting on clear contemporary trends; you need clear-cut examples to help illustrate such ideas and arguments in the context of the format you're working in
• examples such as this also help to justify any work you do on viral-style/UGC productions, evidencing that it is a very much real phenomenon
• could there be a better illustration of the concept of the 'prosumer'?

The actual video, and further details, are below the line...