Research and Planning Checklist

• Intro & Brief explained
• Intro to Production chosen. Including analysis of videos, genre, intertextuality, history, star theory, institutions and evidence of theory etc.
• Ancillary 1 Analysis
• Ancillary 2 Analysis
• Audience Research including – Target Audience analysis, Questionnaires, Focus Groups, Results Analysis and Reflection
• Initial Selection Explanation
• Copyright Letter
• Planning including timelines, moodboards, conventions followed, representation, mise en scene, Theory applied,
• Planning including Storyboards/Scripts/Call Sheets, Organisation of Actors, Props, locations, costumes
• Further Research on initial Planning with Feedback and any Changes
• Time management
• There is use of appropriate digital technology or ICT in the presentation
• Communication skills
• Care taken in presentation of research and planning

Further Research

Before filming you need to do more audience research. Create a focus group or create questionnaires about your Planning and your Idea.

Show the results and any changes you have made as a result of further research.

Examples of successful blogs

Please note that the grades refer to the finished blog (i.e. planning + construction + ancillary tasks + evaluation) - not necessarily the main construction itself. Music video  Music Video Music video   Film trailer - Film trailer   Film trailer

Filming

Filming

Think ahead about what could go wrong:

•           Do you need permission to film in your location?

•           Make sure you have fully chraged cameras, tripods, lighting, props etc (remember to take a still camera with you for the digipak images and behind the scenes shots)

•           Make sure you know how to use the equipment

•           Enusre you dont leave equipment behind on the shoot

•           Make sure you have your storyboard with you

•           Have a task list for everthing you want to achieve during the shoot and in the right order

•           Make sure you get enough footage; it is always better to have too much than too little

•           Make sure all actors/team members know what time they are needed and where as well as what to bring

•           Have a back-up plan for bad weather...this is England!

•           Take time to set up your shots

•           Shoot the same shot from a variety of different angles

•           Consider background noise

•           Playback your rushes/footage

•           Make sure someone is in charge of continuity

Even More Planning....

Mood board

Create moodboards to help visualize the thought process. Consider here your research into similar products and wider media texts such as cinema, fashion and art photography.

Make sure you consider the representation of your actors/artist and Gramsci's hegemony. Are you going to follow gender stereotypes or are you going to challenge the representation of hegemonic gender in music?

For this you could use glogster.

Shooting Script (evidence of drafting is required)

You must create a shooting script for your video. Shooting scripts are scripts used during production to shoot the video. They are written with much more detailed than scripts and may include, among other things, scene numbers, editing transitions, and camera angles and movements.

A shooting schedule cannot just say “filming park scenes”.  It must be broken up into particular shots you know you want to get.  It will normally include the day, time, shot description, location, people involved.  You could organise this in a table and then upload it to your blog.  It might involve something like this (although obviously yours will be much longer!):

DAY / TIME	LOCATON	SHOT DESCRIPTION	PEOPLE NEEDED
Tuesday 4th October AM	Exterior - Park	Long shot of lead singer running through park	Lead singer, all crew
		Long shots of lead singer singing whilst sitting on park bench
		Close Ups of lead singer singing in park on bench
Tuesday 4th October PM	Interior – Teenage bedroom	Tracking shot over messy bedroom floor	Lead Singer plus teenager girl
		Medium Shot of teenage girl lying on bed
		Long shot of lead singer singing to teenage girl on bed

Organisation of Actors

As for your AS C/W you need to show you have organised your actors. Here you can create a call sheet/diary of when they are required. It is always nice to have photos of your actors too.

Also write a detailed crew list explaining who will be involved with your filming and what jobs / tasks they will be responsible for throughout the process of production and editing.

Organisation of Costumes

This should not only show your chosen costumes but it should also justify why they are appropriate, remember to reflect on your genre. Remember you will probably need more than one set of clothing for each scene. Try to be creative; think about using images and/or short sequences with the characters in costume and a verbal explanation.

Organisation of Props

This needs to show you have considered genre specific props and are organised generally for the shoot. This should again be creative with images and written justification of how they suit the genre/characters, help reflect the narrative. Make an extensive list of technical equipment you will need for both the production, and post production part of the process.  Equipment you might need is shown below.  Choose the relevant items, plus any others you might need and make the list, for each one saying what you will use it for:

Digital Video Cameras

Tripods

Microphones

Dolly

Lighting

Digital Audio Recorder

Green Screen

Stands

CD Player / Other audio player

Mobile Phones

Apple Mac computer

Stills Cameras

Location Recce

Try to approach this creatively. You should include photographs of locations considered as well as the chosen ones, again remember that this is a music video and so more than one location is bound to be needed. Here you should also consider access to electricity/lighting demands etc. A written justification is also appropriate here.

•           Pictures / Video clips of the locations from different angles

•           Information about why you want to use it as a location and for what scenes

•           Information about access difficulties, restrictions, rules for using each location (eg lack of power points, lots of members of the public, dangerous hazards etc)

•           Information about how you will overcome any of these problems or ensure against any danger / health & safety issues etc..

Drafting for ancillary tasks

You need to show you have developed your ideas. Gaining audience feedback here would also be effective and get you more marks! Remember these ancillary tasks need to look and behave like the real thing so don't try to challenge conventions.

REPRESENTATION IN YOUR VIDEO

For this entry you need to discuss how you plan on representing people / social groups within your music video.  Obviously only discuss the social groups that are relevant to your video.  Social groups might include: men, women, teens, children, adults, ethnic groups, different classes etc.  For this it might be helpful to remind yourself about how you discussed representation in TV Dramas at AS Level.  

Discus how you will use camera, mise-en-scene, editing and other elements to represent the following in your video:

·          Conventional representations (stereotypes)

·         Representations that challenge stereotypes

·         Positive and negative representations

·         How will these representations appeal to your audience or promote the artist?

MISE-EN-SCENE

For this entry you should discuss how you are planning on using mise-en-scene in your music video.  Remember that mise-en-scene includes costume, props, lighting, colour, location, make-up etc.  You could discuss how these elements will:

·          Attract, appeal to or entertain your audience

·         Represent your band / artist

·         Communicate the genre of your song

·         Communicate a narrative or message

·         Create a mood / atmosphere

It would wise to include pictures to illustrate your ideas.

FURTHER RESEARCH AND PLANNING IDEAS

On top of all of these compulsory research and planning tasks, you could choose to include more tasks to further demonstrate your skills.  Here are some ideas for other tasks you could include:

·         Auditions

·         Rehearsals

·         Lip sync practises

·         Release forms for actors  / extras

·         Health & Safety and Risk Assessment discussions / concerns / forms

·         Moodboards

·         Costume & Make up tests

Applying Theory...

Character Development Evidence

Once you have confirmed the film genre you next need to develop your characters. Remember that this is only a film trailer so you need to make sure that the audience are going to be able to easily identify them and be able to understand their role in the  film. Here you should apply Props character functions. You must know these characters like they are your friends, make a creative character profile for them and be sure you know why they would behave in a certain way; as this will ensure they are well developed and the audience will believe in them.

Todorov Narrative Theory

As well as deciding on ideas for your film trailer you need to consider the narrative for the whole film; students who do this will have a far more successful production. Plot your narrative for the entire film using Todorov's Narrative theory of Equilibrium. 

More Planning

Gannt Chart/Timeline

As for your AS C/W you need to show you are managing your time effectively; you can do this either as a gannt chart, or as a diary, or in another creative way you feel is appropriate. Remember this is for the whole project

Genre Conventions

You need to ensure you have considered if your chosen genre will follow or challenge genre conventions; you must consider which genre conventions you are going to include, justifying your choice and how these meet audience expectations (refer to audience feedback and results here). Remember here you can refer to your research into similar texts.

Consider the following too:

• ·         Codes (Ronald Barthes) such as costume, props and location as well.
• ·         Andrew Goodwin
• ·         Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze - is this an appropriate thoery to apply to your genre?

For /music videos remember that you need to justify your choices and discuss if you are challenging or following genre conventions and how this is appropriate.

• Background of the Song.
• Research into the history of the song. When was it first released? By whom? Any other relevant information you can think of.
• Your Chosen Songs Meaning/Deconstructing Songs

Analysing meaning and the impact of a song is only a small fraction of how meanings are established in popular music as songs are not poems on a page, they are written to be performed. When analysing songs, it is important to begin by addressing the content of the song -

·         What is it about?

·         What is the 'plot' of the story?

·         Describe the 'story' in your own words.

·         The next stage is identifying the how meaning is created through the lyrics/music style/genre and voice. This is achieved by identifying the following:

·         The structure of the song - does it conform to mainstream songs' formulaic verse-chorus-second verse-repeat chorus and so forth?

·         The language used in the lyrics - what words are often repeated and what impact does this have?

·         Consider the relationship between the musical style and the song's lyrics and narrative structure - does it all 'fit' together?

·         How does the song make you feel? How do the lyrics and the music contribute to this?

·         What impact is created by the tone of the voice?

·         What emotions are conveyed int he voice and how does this relate to the lyrics?

·         What words are emphasised - how and why?

·         How does the vocal delivery 'fit' the songs subject matter and music accompaniment?

·         Consider how the vocal delivery assists in our response to the song - what role does it play in creating sympathy/empathy, are we emotionally moved or distanced because of the voice and the delivery of the lyrics?

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