Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Narrative Theory




Narrative:

State of equilibrium: Popstars life is good, has boyfriend, is famous and has money
Disruption of equilibrium: Boyfriend has anger management problems and so she attempts to kill herself
Recognition of disruption of equilibrium: We are taken to a place that may be a symbol of heaven
Attempt to restore equilibrium: She is rushed off to hospital and at the same time runs back to life
Restoration to new equilibrium: She sees the baby born and so decides not to kill herself

Propp

Heroine: Britney Spears
Villain: Boyfriend
(Possibly) Donor: The baby

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

3 videos from the genre: Contemporary R&B (Goodwins Characteristics Research)

Contemporary R&B: A music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.







Shared characteristics:

- All videos focus mainly on the singer and do not involve large productions or dance routines, but rather just focus on the singing.

- All videos have strong relationships between music and visuals

- All videos have certain parts of the video where the outside edges are blurred out and the artist looks more prominent

- All videos are basic productions i.e. easily replicable by amateurs

- All videos are aimed at a target audience of around ages 16-24

- Jamie Woon and Jessie J have about four different locations and are all related. For example Jamie Woon is on escalators, a tram and in a taxi which are all methods of transport in one way or another. Jessie J is in different coloured bright rooms, e.g. blue, pink and purple. It could also be argued that James Blake does this in that he has blue, green and pink lights flashing around him.

Friday, 9 September 2011

The music industry

Music Publishers

There are three music publishers that all songs must be licensed under:

BMI - http://www.bmi.com/

SESAC - http://www.sesac.com/

ASCAP - http://www.ascap.com/


Market share of the music majors

The global music majors' physical and digital market shares in 2009:


Universal Music Group - 27.7%

Independents - 23.9%

Sony Music - 23.1%

Warner Music - 15.3%

EMI - 10%

A2 Specification


3.4 A2 G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media

The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3); secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2); and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4). The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity to develop their own skills in these technologies. It also enables them to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.

This is a coursework unit. Centres must set the brief from the menu below, though they may define more precise details in negotiation with candidates. From this brief, candidates will produce:

a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts
a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in digital format(s).

The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media:

Video
Print
Web-based
Audio
 Games software

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally, this evaluation being guided by the set of key questions below. This evaluation may be done collectively for a group production or individually. 

Examples of suitable formats for the evaluation are:

 A blog
 DVD Extras
 A Podcast
 A Powerpoint
 A Website





Production work for the main text in the Advanced Portfolio may be in the same medium as AS work (in order to allow for the development of skills within a particular medium) or a different medium (in order to allow for breadth of experience of different media forms). The ancillary tasks will ensure that all candidates have the opportunity to explore a different medium at some point in their production work.

The production element and presentation of research, planning and evaluation may be individual or group work (maximum group size is four candidates). Where candidates have worked in a group, the evidence for assessment may be presented collectively but centres will still assess candidates on an individual basis for their contribution to aspects of the work, from planning, research and production to evaluation.

Though there is no formal individual essay component for this unit, in the G325 examination, candidates will be asked to write about the work undertaken from this unit and from the AS coursework unit. It is therefore recommended that candidates undertake some form of written reflection as practice for the exam.

G324 is marked and internally standardised by the centre and marks are submitted to OCR by a specified date, a sample is then selected for external moderation. The unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for the planning and research and its presentation; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation.

In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Brief
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

a website homepage for the band
a digipak for the album’s release
a magazine advertisement for the digipak.