Coursework: Summer Project 2024

 1) Research: music videos

You need to write a 150-word close-textual analysis of SIX music videos that will inform your production work. The music videos you analyse are up to you but focus on a different aspect of media language for each one (see guidance below).  

22, Taylor Swift- This music video is a carefree montage with the themes of friendship, living life in the moment and celebrating youth. The costume is casual summer pieces including the denim shorts, heart shaped sunglasses and friendship bracelet. The sunglasses are also shared amongst the friends showing unity and closeness. The setting changes from the house party, garden to the beach. These are familiar settings to young people. Clearly Taylor Swift is targeting teenagers and young adults with these themes. Once the setting changes to the party, it shows familiar conventions of American teenage parties like checking your makeup and hair and dancing on tables and chairs. And then finally jumping into the pool. These are things young Americans will easily identify with. The music video also opens with Taylor Swift singing by herself and ends with Taylor Swift in the pool by herself. The ambience is lively and full of life and this adds to young American teenage experiences 

Humble, Kendrick Lamar- The music video opens with a wide shot where Kendrick is dressed as a pope. The wide shot shows the light from the window cast down on him which creates a great god like image. This contrasts the song's humble lyrics. When Kendrick is on the table the camera is directly above him. This high angle presents him as vulnerable despite all the money around him. The scene with the dinner table resembling the last supper has Kendrick directly in the centre to portray the burden of being a prominent artist in the industry. However Kendrick being in the centre of the shot feels iconic. The camera rotating when Kendrick is surrounded by men in black hoodies creates a sense of loss of control and dizziness. The sudden cuts to different settings (from to white rooms to urban settings) show Kendrick's humble roots.

Bad Romance, Lady Gaga- The set is futuristic and minimalistic with white walls and empty space. This could show loneliness or detachment. There is a lot of contrast between the settings from the bathroom to the dark room where Lady Gaga dances in front of flames. Her emerging from the pods portrays freedom and control. The costume is white latex outfits as the dancers are doing robotic movements. This could show objectification and when Gaga wears red she might be showing her rebellion because red is associated with violence reflecting the bad side of love. In the final scenes, the flames and warm lighting could suggest her reclaiming her power and breaking from when she burns her captor. The music video shows the duality of love. We see this with light vs dark and control vs freedom. The dark tones and colours represent conflict and a toxic relationship and the white symbolises purity and control.

Blinding Lights, The weeknd- The narrative of this music video is about chaos and self destruction. The character played by The Weeknd is shown to be driving around at night, fighting and being reckless. His character is covered in blood and he is bruised. This could show that his inner demons are taking a toll on him physically and mentally. The narrative is non linear where there are quick cuts from different settings to show an emotional journey. This  could suggest the character has no clear direction and is in a cycle of his dangerous behaviour. The lyrics 'blinded by the lights' means he is distracted by the desires of his dangerous lifestyle. The lights could be a metaphor for fame, money or love. There is no narrative resolution, instead we see The weeknd smiling and covered in blood. This shows a repetition of self destruction where the character is doomed to end up alone because of his bad habits

Michael Jackson, Thriller- This music video blends film and music video elements together. Here is a film narrative almost like a short film with dialogue. It opens with MJ and nis date watching a horror movie and then MJ turns into a zombie, The horror film narrative is used in this music video with classic conventions like ripped up zombie clothes,eerie music, makeup and dark lighting. The zombie movements are creepy but also seem like choreographed dance. This shows this mix of regular music video conventions but with horror themes. There is a hybridity of pop music videos and horror films. The sounds of the creaking floorboards and thunder blend with the song to reinforce the horror genre. The costume and makeup are important to visually establish the horror genre and MJ's look as a vampire and then as a werewolf with special effects contributes to the blending of genres

Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next-  This music video has a lot of intertextual references to famous films and tv shows. The jingle bells rock scene in Mean girls is recreated in the video. The video also references Legally blond with a scene of Elle Woods Harvard admission video. Another reference is to the film 13 going on 30 where Ariana Grande recreates the Thriller dance party. This adds nostalgia and touches on the playfulness of youth. Overall the music video had many high school tropes like cliques and prom. The music video can also be seen as a way to create relatability with viewers as the tropes in the video are universal experiences and these films are so popular audiences with be familiar with the sets and and scenes

2) Planning: music video treatment

1) Artist/band and song you will use for your video- 21 Gracie Abrahms

2) Original name for artist/band you have created - ΝΑΣΡΑ

The music video for "21" by Gracie Abrams, reimagined by ΝΑΣΡΑ, captures the essence of indie pop through a nostalgic lens. Her artistic identity relies heavily on her uniqueness and her performing in the indie pop genre adds to that., Also, her music has a narrative focus using relatable experiences and her visual style ties it together with warm colours and candid illustrations. I plan to show the bond between two people, then their falling out and distancing, then the self reflection. I will then layer the video with illustrations.

3) Statement of Intent

Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

The original AQA brief is here: NEA Student Booklet - Brief 4.

We also strongly recommend you look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to read this). 

This is just your first draft of the statement so try and keep it under 500 words if you can. That will leave a bit of room to add later when you do your next draft.

The music video for "21" by Gracie Abrams, reimagined by ΝΑΣΡΑ, captures the essence of indie pop through a nostalgic lens. Her artistic identity relies heavily on her uniqueness and her performing in the indie pop genre adds to that., Also, her music has a narrative focus using relatable experiences and her visual style ties it together with warm colours and candid illustrations. I plan to show the bond between two people, then their falling out and distancing, then the self reflection. I will then layer the video with illustrations. Young people will resonate with this song as growing up comes with dealing with complex emotions. With this information i have decided to a narrative consisting of a friendship breakup. The pacing of the video i'll be controlled by the emotional journey of the narrative. The video will start of at a slower during the happy memories but will the pick up speed as tension mirroring the conflict and then will slow down again towards the end. The overall pacing and flow of the video only adds on to the emotional impact the audience will have. My music video challenges stereotypical representations of fall outs by focussing on the experience of growing apart and capturing the highs and lows that people feel. This idea portrays emotional experiences in a more realistic way. This is also socially relevant as it puts a spotlight on young people’s mental health. I want the audience to feel nostalgia and empathy but also enjoy the music. The empathy would come from seeing both perspectives of the story. I will film the performance part of the music video with my phone giving a handheld affect to make it appear personal. The editing that cuts between past and present will be the beat of song. The video will rely heavily on natural lighting to give it a home video feel and if needed i will add colour grading whilst editing. I will also use familiar settings so the audience can almost relate to the narrative.

My magazines’ name is The Music Journal. This is where people can get there news of everything that's music and where artist’s like to give the blueprints of their work. I will add a contents page with listings of news that will interest the mainstream audience. A contents page will give insight on what my magazine offers audiences and will meet the brief as i can mention topics that the mainstream audience would be interested in For example, musicals and plays (Billboard mentions Lin Manuel Miranda’s in the heights) and upcoming awards/nominations like the Grammys

4) Ignite presentation

Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:

• Your music video and music magazine concept: your new original artist, genre, song and music video treatment. Then, your print brief: music magazine title, double page feature, additional page, photoshoot etc.
• Media language: how you will use music video conventions and music magazine conventions - e.g. camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience. 
• Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your music video and music magazine; applications of representation theory; social and cultural contexts - how your coursework will reflect contemporary media culture and society.
• Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures - why they would enjoy your music video and magazine; audience theory if relevant.
• Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would promote your band or artist; the publisher for your music magazine; the brand identity for your artist; how fans would engage with your products etc.

Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September.

Your Ignite presentation will be marked out of 30 on the following criteria (each worth a possible 5 marks):

1) Research (through the presentation AND your blog - make sure it is posted before you present) 
2) Coursework concept
3) Language: terminology and theory
4) Representations / social and cultural contexts
5) Audience and Industry / digital convergence
6) Presentation delivery

Presentation