Linked production tutorial

Linked production tutorial

• Clear brief for an achievable production. Basic concept is very good and fits critical investigations well.
• Shooting schedule is ambitious but building in time to re-shoot or re-edit is wise. The standard demanded for the A2 production is extremely high.
• No pre-production documents on blog – this is very concerning. It’s vital you have these elsewhere – there’s no way you’ll produce a professional-quality music video without a full treatment and shot list. Mise-en-scene planning is briefly outlined but again for a professional production I’d expect a lot more – the locations are vague, where exactly will you film in Camden? How do you make it look urban and authentic rather than a London tourist video? I hope you’ve scouted locations and taken photos on your phone to establish exactly what will be filmed where.
• The lack of a treatment means I can’t tell if this will focus on narrative or performance – or both. If it’s narrative-based, you need to plan this meticulously to ensure the story is communicated clearly and that it maintains the engagement of the audience. What audience pleasures are you providing here?

• Post these tutorial notes to your MEST4 coursework blog as a new blogpost.
• Post any missing planning and research to your blog urgently. Check the quality of this planning is sufficient to reach the ‘approaching professional standards’ requirement of the Linked Production mark scheme.
• The rough cut deadline is Wednesday 22 March – make sure you are on track to meet this deadline.
• After pasting these notes in your blogpost, write a numbered list of THREE things you will do in the next 7 days in order to move your Linked Production project to the next level.

1. Film at at least one more of our scouted locations for the video
2. Get through the editing of all of the footage accumulated on Sunday
3. Finalise all of the planning like the shot list and treatment for the video and upload it to blog

Critical Investigation tutorial – second draft

Critical Investigation tutorial – second draft

• This is a truly magnificent essay – it undoubtedly deserves full marks but just requires a few minor changes to get there. 
• Topic sentences need a little work in places – often you launch into a quote when actually a short, simple sentence introducing the paragraph and developing the argument is required first.
• Similarly for written English – very good but a few issues to address if I am to award 48/48.
• Finally, be careful with passages of description when it comes to the music videos – just make sure there’s enough media terminology/film language so it’s textual analysis rather than describing narrative.
• Your conclusion is absolutely brilliant – but the very end of it is quite hard to read so have a look at the bit I’ve highlighted.
• I need a word count – but it doesn’t seem too long and the essay reads so well currently don’t make major changes.
• Make these minor changes and then re-submit for full marks.

Critical Investigation: learner response

Critical Investigation: learner response

1)

WWW:

• This is a seriously impressive essay: comprehensive research, real authority to your writing and a compelling, contemporary argument. The challenge is now to push this to full marks.

EBI:

• Check your written English. Spelling and punctuation is generally solid but grammar (sentence structure) is clumsy in places. This makes your argument more difficult to follow.
• You mention ideology towards the end but I wonder if you could bring Hegemony into the discussion - particularly in terms of sanitised modern hip hop.
• Can you add theory: the section on black representation surely needs Alvarado or Fanon?
• Your conclusion makes a great point but is clumsily expressed. Re-write to make sharper, more hard-hitting.

2)

Level 4, 47/48, A*

3)

• Inclusion of more media debates in relation to the question
• More historical and economical context maybe linking to African-American and economical power
• Link debates to the concept of moral panics
• Include audience, representation and post-colonialism theories as well as Marxism, Hegemony and Pluralism
• Remove the question marks on certain footnotes as page number wasn't there
• Needs more books
• Modify some of the book sources to include a page range

MEST4 Preliminary exercise: evaluation

MEST4 Preliminary exercise: evaluation

1)

The 'Vince Staples - Norf Norf' video was selected as the subject of our recreation not only because of the common genre that it shares with the linked production piece that I plan to create, but also since it's a head-on take on the issue of police brutality itself which again, is something the piece is entirely based on.  

2)

Difficulties faced in the actual production of this video ranged all the way from the more technical side of things to casting among a few others. So things like a camera battery not being fully charged and not having people to fit things like the ethnicity of each of the actors in the original video had a negative impact on it. Also things like not being 100% familiar with the setting of the recreation prior to filming sprung up another challenge in the production front.

3)

One of the strengths of the production was the editing. With the original video wholly consisting of straight cuts from scene-to-scene in time with every kick and bass drop of the audio track, precision was needed in terms of editing. The recreation seems to more or less hold up to this, with no video clip overstaying its welcome at any point. Another strength is the lip syncing implementation in the later parts of the video with it for the most part, matching up to the lyrics of Norf Norf. 

4)

An aspect to improve is to start planning for a video shoot as early as possible. Rushing to get scenes completed only means you're missing out on the real quality that you could potentially be attaining for a video. Not only this, but you may end 'under-filming' in general and not have that much to play around with when editing. Another aspect to improve is making sure acting is at the level that it needs to be. Setting and lighting alone can only do so much in getting across a certain atmosphere and really what you need to really cement it is solid acting as well. While the quality of acting in the video was reasonable, it could've been better than what it was.

5)

Lessons:

• Start recording as soon possible - provides the opportunity for re-recording if it's required
• Plan thoroughly - detailed shot lists and location briefs
• Take a more experimental approach in terms of camera shots and angles
• Apply a considerable amount of thought to the casting process

6)

The linked production will be a music video either for track 'Hands Up' or another song based on the issue of police brutality. Having already formulated a quick plan as to things that could be in the video ranging from settings to portrayals of historical figures like Huey Newton, I'm extremely confident in delivering what I've proposed.

MEST4 Preliminary Exercise

MEST4 Preliminary Exercise

Linked Production brief

Linked Production brief

Your Critical Investigation topic:

Police brutality within the hip-hop genre.

Your Linked Production brief:

Music video of the track 'Hands Up' by Vince Staples as a form of social commentary on the issue of police brutality.

Length/size of production (e.g. 3 minutes, 5 pages etc.):

3/4 minutes

Give an example of an existing media text this is similar to what you plan to produce:

Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Give an example of an institution that would produce or distribute your planned production:

Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE)

How would your production reach its audience?

Through the use of the e-media platform on things like social networks

Who do you plan to work with on this project?

Ladan Abdulle

Recreation task planning

Recreation task planning

Name of the text you plan to recreate:

Vince Staples - Norf Norf

Scene/section you will recreate:

(01-35 - 02:05) Vince being interrogated by members of the police force and having excessive force exerted on him for non-compliance.Location you will use for your recreation:

Office/small room likely in school.

Actors you will require for your recreation:

• Me
• Callum Louis
• Julian Ntow
• ???

Props/costumes you will require for your recreation:

• Police uniforms
• Police badges
• Desk
• Gun

Equipment you plan to use:

• Camera
• Tripod

Any other relevant information: