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...

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...

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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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!

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!

http://louderthanwar.com/nme-to-go-free-thoughts/#.VZp1oCdUYX4.twitter

INDUSTRY Universal owner buys DailyMotion - isVEVO dead?

http://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/7-1-2015/the-death-of-vevo.html

VINYL Pretentious Plastics v Superior Sound/Experience: the Debate

http://louderthanwar.com/vinyl-vs-streaming-debate-continues/

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...

INDUSTRY WEB 2.0 Conglomerates sued over fees for 'broken' downloads

Great illustration over the downsides of web 2.0 and how the likes of John McMuria may be right in arguing that the brave digital new world is simply a slightly reconstituted lineup of giant conglomerates, not the newly democratic, level playing field technotopians see it as.

Universal is in the frame here, but their practices are fairly standard for the record industry.

Article link below the line.

THEORY Andrew Keen arch-critic of web 2.0

It might be more accurate by now to use web 3.0, but either way Keen is not keen on the workings of the new media, and how the social media giants are transforming wider societal and democratic values as users get accustomed to surrendering privacy, to arguably vacuous virtual interaction, and so forth.

I'll return to Keen; I was sure I had already blogged on him. He's a very useful (highly readable!) sceptic of the wonders of our new interconnected age. Some of his work is available free on Kindle (not sure about other e-readers), and the rest is fairly cheap. I've read most of it, and while it is polemical (he has a point or argument to get across), it was no chore - a genuinely entertaining read!

I'll add more later - but you can always Google 'Andrew Keen'...

TECH TIP: Using ViewSync to compare cuts

Thanks to Conal Walsh for this, I'd never heard of ViewSync, a nifty website, designed with gamers in mind, which enables  you to view 2 or more cuts side by side. A nice example of convergence - the sort of high-tech gadgetry that you might associate with the likes of Formula One is now in the hands of everyone. When you're trying to pinpoint the changes made step by step, and also as a tool for some targeted audience feedback (generate different clips of the same short sequence with different editing styles for example), this is a great option.

Conal's ViewSync for nine iterations of the Bad Romance video

WEB 2.0 KICKSTARTER De La Soul Stakes is High ... $600k and rising

News that De La Soul, daisy age hip hoppers (currently on UK tour I see), have raised the 2nd highest figure ever by musicians on KickStarter. At over $600k its still only half of the highest ever ($1.2m), but unlikely to be topped anytime soon.

(Amanda Palmer’s controversial “loss leader” $1.2 million campaign still holds the #1 spot, and it’s hard to imagine anything topping that, especially given this New York Times piece about how Kickstarter donations are not safe investments.) With that money, De La are now free to avoid label concessions in putting together the album, and they tell The New York Times that they plan to use the money on recording the album, as well as on marketing, making videos, and maybe putting together a tour.

SOURCE: Stereogum article.

INDUSTRY Spotify moving into video?

One of the basic issues you have to address if you're making music videos is the perception that they're so, like, 90s, they're just over aren't they?

Ignoring my painful effort at teen skatz, in the era of UGC, where anyone can have a go at a music video with a phone or tablet, never mind a Mac, does the vid retain real cultural cachet? [zeitgeisty?] Is it still the centrepiece of marketing campaigns?

There's no definite answer ..  but I'd offer yes and no. The phenomenon of Gangnam Style is a YouTube video phenomenon; the cheesiness of the video, not the song, made it huge, and its monetisation was primarily through the billion+ YouTube hits and all those cover videos. No, because for all the hype Wrecking Ball's nude antics got Mikey Cyrus, its just part of a marketing mix that includes snogging Madonna and anything else that makes her Daily Mail clickbait. At that end of the market, as Elberse's case studies of Lady Gaga and Jay Z (yay, clickbait ahoy!) shows, tie-ins and distribution (often linked) are key, but so is audience engagement, some degree of interactivity with a campaign.

The humble QR code would have had Dennis McQuail, or Blumler and Katz, originators of the uses and gratifications theory, nodding to themselves, thinking just how right they were!

Where I've used the INDUSTRY heading, I'm often reflecting, quite indirectly at times, on the position of video in the marketing mix, and this post, marking the news that Spotify is set to (I'll try to update once news is out) move into video in a big way, is no exception.

By the way, given the apparent shocking outcome of the UK general election (voting count continues today), bear in mind the noise the Tories made about censoring and age rating music video, could develop into rather a major story for the music industry and even prosumers such as yourselves...

DIFFUSER.FM ARTICLE link.

INDIE RETRO Before blogs there were zines...

Great, in-depth interview with Bruce 'Sub Pop' Pavitt (that's where Nirvana started if you don't know the name).

Simon Reynolds' writing, notably the book Retromania, is a good way of getting a handle on how the music industry and fandom was, back in the day; this interview is a great starter for any such wider reading.

The appeal of retro media and technology, from zines to vinyl, and that ridiculous music movement that insists on using only primitive 80s sequencers, is a marked feature of our postmodern, mashed-up era of pastiche and bricolage. Digitisation has ironically boosted the appeal of analogue technology, at least once it has almost entirely obliterated it from mainstream retailing and usage.

SOURCE: Diffuser.fm.