Note to the Moderator

Dear Moderator, My name is Emily Jones Candidate No. **** , welcome to my A Level Media Studies blog. This is a record of the work I have undertaken for the Making Media (Component 03/04) non-examined assessment (NEA) within the OCR H409 GCE A Level course in Media Studies. 
My coursework is not online and has been sent to the exam board.

I worked independently on Brief 4: music video and online to produce a three-minute music video for a fictional dance artist signed to Universal Music, and the working website for my artist. My production is aimed at a culturally sophisticated, 15+ class AB demographic. 

Below you will find evidence of my research and planning for this task, including:

My research into professionally produced music videos and artist websites that are similar in genre, style and form to those proposed in my chosen production brief. This includes:

 - My planning and research of professional websites and music videos to gain a clear perspective on the best way to present my artist and how to make it as realistic as possible.

This includes for example, pictures used to promote the artist on my website and what shots to use for the most effective and attractive dance music video. 

I have also analysed professional artist websites as part of my cross-media brief in terms of, layout, navigation, use of language and use of images/text/audio/video.

In terms of planning, you will find below audience research and feedback.

Website Planning and Research

I am planning a grey scale website for a simplistic look to promote my male artist "Chris Howes". I will be using a female actress in the video so I will make connections between the video and website by creating a gallery of "behind the scenes" filming to create a strong connection between the two.

I have taken inspiration from Shawn Mendes' and Harry Styles' websites to ensure that my website will look as realistic and attractive as possible.

I decided to look at Shawn Mendes' website as it is his song I am using, therefore I wanted to compare how he promoted himself as an artist and his new single.

Music Video Planning

I asked several people:

"What would you expect to see in a dance music video"

Here are some of the replies I received:

"I would expect to see an upbeat atmosphere and emotion presented in the song including shot changes to the beat and maybe some sort of story line to match the beat and emotion presented in the song and the lyrics."

"In a dance music video I would like to see a narrative and some upbeat dance shots to create excitement for the audience. I would also expect to see at least some lip syncing to the song as I believe this is a key expectation in a dance music video"

"In my opinion I would like to see a variety of camera shots and angles, including shots following an action to create the sense of a involvement in the music video and that the shots are creative and flow well with the song and lyrics"

I have decided to film a 'cleaner' at work listening to the song I am using. As the song starts to become more upbeat she is seen to start dancing to the song and really getting involved and just enjoying the music. The 'CEO' enters and it will become clear that he is what the 'cleaner' is fantasising about as she continues to dance around and mouth the lyrics to the song.

Treatment

Song Title: Nervous


Genre: Dance music


Duration: 3 minutes


Target Audience: 16+ female


Rationale: I chose this song as I feel my target audience will find it easy to relate to and will enjoy this style of music (upbeat and exciting)


Budget: Relatively low budget music video