Summer Project: coursework planning
1) Research: TikTok videos
You need to write a 150-word close-textual analysis of SIX TikTok videos that will inform your production work. The TikTok videos you analyse are up to you but focus on a different aspect of media language for each one (see guidance below).TikTok videos
TikTok Video 1: Narrative
How is narrative used in the TikTok video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the TikTok video?
TikTok Video 1: Narrative
How is narrative used in the TikTok video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the TikTok video?
The beginning and end of the TikTok have clips from the song 'Drum Show' but the rest of the TikTok is a look into the behind the scenes for the music video. The narrative of showing how they created the music video can be intriguing for the audience to understand things like the fact there were two vans, one that is cut in half with nothing inside so they can get the spinning tracking shots, while the other van is for other shots. Also the song 'Drum Show' is about Josh ,who is seen as the hero in reference to Propp's character theory, so it is interesting for an audience to get his insight into the music video like how he usually drums on the steering wheel but obviously not as hard as he was directed to do in the music video. The audience getting to know more about Josh builds a personal relationship between him and the audience and getting to know how the video was made is surveillance.
TikTok 1
TikTok Video 2: Camerawork (shots, angles, movement)
Look for particular camera shots and movement - remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and performances and camerawork can contribute to this.
There are fast and big camera movements made by a large camera rig to create a sense of chaos. When the tempo slows down so does the camera and there a multiple low angle shots of Tyler in slow motion which brings emphasis on his performance. There are also close ups of both Josh and Tyler while they are performing. The first shot of the TikTok is an extreme close up of Tyler's eye being red which is interesting action code for the audience because it conveys that he is playing a character 'blurryface' which is important for the parts of the audience that is interested in the story and lore twenty one pilots have built up over years.
TikTok Video 2: Camerawork (shots, angles, movement)
Look for particular camera shots and movement - remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and performances and camerawork can contribute to this.
There are fast and big camera movements made by a large camera rig to create a sense of chaos. When the tempo slows down so does the camera and there a multiple low angle shots of Tyler in slow motion which brings emphasis on his performance. There are also close ups of both Josh and Tyler while they are performing. The first shot of the TikTok is an extreme close up of Tyler's eye being red which is interesting action code for the audience because it conveys that he is playing a character 'blurryface' which is important for the parts of the audience that is interested in the story and lore twenty one pilots have built up over years.
TikTok Video 3: Mise-en-scene
What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music and the personality or brand identity of the band/artist.
The settings are the main concept for this music video because they go to different settings with words (or similar words) to lines in the lyrics and the other setting is the back of a limo. Also their costumes are suits and sunglasses which go with the title of the song 'lavish'. Both of these (costume and setting) have synergy with the upbeat nature of the song and is slightly contradictory to their usual style of songs with more serious topics (even if other songs are also upbeat). They are both not wearing makeup which is unusual for Tyler because he usually wears black paint on his neck and hands when performing and in music videos. The lighting is natural and mostly high-key which, along with the setting, shows an authentic and less overproduced music video that their audience will enjoy. Also, the 'actors' positioning is important in shots where they use their heads or hands to cover other words or letters to match them to the lyrics.
TikTok Video 4: Editing
For editing, analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?
The shot of the behind the scenes is static wide shot and holds for longer, whilst the cut to the actual music video has fast paced editing in time with the song. The slow to fast paced editing of this TikTok creates excitement for the audience as the speed changes with the tempo of the song. Also the transition to the music video is a match on action of James getting kicked through the wall. The music video has a quick shot-reverse-shot of both characters looking at each other so the audience can understand both of their reactions, the hero versus villain which are binary oppositions.
TikTok Video 5: Music Video Conventions
Think back to our Introduction to Music Video and our work on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music video conventions as part of the Ghost Town CSP. How many key conventions of music video can you find in your fifth TikTok example?
There are multiple links between the lyrics and the visuals for example, "300 tracks.." as Tyler does a hand signal for 300, "same twitching in my eye.." as he gestures to his eye and "I fly by.." as he does a body movement like he's flying. It contains the notion of looking as in the music video there is an audience watching their performance, so it's an audience watching an audience watching the performance. It also includes the demands of the record label with multiple close ups of both Josh and Tyler and the symbol of their band placed on the drums. The video is also both performance based and narrative. Its a performance because Tyler is dancing and lip syncing whilst Josh drums and it's also narrative because Tyler is playing a character Clancy that has a story across multiple songs and music videos.
TikTok 6: Visual effects, intertextuality or product placement
Choose a TikTok video that has interesting visual effects or intertextuality and analyse the effect this creates and how it is constructed. Alternatively, you could look at product placement here and see how a band or artist has incorporated a brand or product into their video.
This Tiktok is on a merchandise dedicated account from the Sidemen, the product placement is clear and direct to the audience, showcasing each item for a few seconds. The beginning clips have one of the Sidemen in them which would make the audience want to buy the clothes more because of their personal relationship the viewers feel they have with him. Furthermore, the merchandise is self referential to the Sidemen because 2013 is when the YouTube group was made and 'Sundaes new flavour every week' is a reference to how they post a YouTube video every Sunday. This is also an example of the line being blurred between audiences and producers because they are youtubers.
This Tiktok is on a merchandise dedicated account from the Sidemen, the product placement is clear and direct to the audience, showcasing each item for a few seconds. The beginning clips have one of the Sidemen in them which would make the audience want to buy the clothes more because of their personal relationship the viewers feel they have with him. Furthermore, the merchandise is self referential to the Sidemen because 2013 is when the YouTube group was made and 'Sundaes new flavour every week' is a reference to how they post a YouTube video every Sunday. This is also an example of the line being blurred between audiences and producers because they are youtubers.
You can start adding TikTok links to this shared document that should help with research and, of course, or you are free to select videos of your choice. You may wish to write more about one video than another but as long as you have 800+ words of TikTok video research in total you will be fine. Feel free to use bullet points if this is helpful.
2) Planning: THREE TikTok video treatments
1) The artists Bones will use the song 'One way' by twenty one pilots for snippets of a music video to promote the song. The main portion of it will be filmed in front of a one way sign with Bones performing the song wearing the signature ribcage hoodie. There will be a split screen effect for one scene with two versions of Bones on the screen at once, one version wearing a black ski mask to differentiate the two.
2) The TikTok is a vlog style behind the scenes of the one way music video with an incorporated soft drink promotion for Bones' new drink 'Skeley'. This will be filmed in portrait to portray a more authentic and personal feel with the audience. It gives the audience information about the behind the scenes of making a music video which is an audience pleasure, surveillence.
3) Doing the 'whats in my bag trend' on the way to play a show including things like the 'Skeley' drink, phone, makeup ect. This will have a quick promotion for Skeley, including Bones telling the audience where they can purchase the drink. It will give the audience more insight to Bones' personality so they can build a personal relationship.
3) Statement of Intent
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 name of my artist is Bones, who is a alternative pop/rock artist that owns the soft drink 'Skeley'. The website name is 'BonesOfficial'. The tiktoks will collectively span 3 minutes: one TikTok will contain snippets of a music video for the song 'One way', another TikTok will be a vlog style behind the scenes for a music video and the last TikTok will be a 'whats in my bag?' trend. The website will have 3 web pages: one promoting the soft drink 'skeley', another being an advertisement for the new album 'Breach' and another being merchandise.
The first Tiktok is going to be about a minute long of a music video for 'One Way', filmed landscape. There are going to be two main settings for the music video, near a one way sign and a park bench. The music video is going to contain Bones lip syncing to the lyrics of the song whilst wearing a skeleton hoodie which is part of Bones' brand identity. There will also be another character which is another version of Bones, who is going to wear a black ski mask, which will make the music video fit in with Baudrillard's suggestion that postmodern texts are hyper real. This is because there will be a split screen effect so that there will be two of the same person on screen at once. The second TikTok is a behind the scenes of the music video for 'One way', filmed in portrait. This will be a vlog style video with promotion for Skeley with insight into the making of the music video for the audience which is one of the audience pleasures, surveillance. The Third TikTok will be a 'what's in my bag?' trend with the setting of a bus/car whilst Bones travels to a show. This will be shot handheld and in portrait giving the audience a sense of personal relationship with the artist.
The website, BonesOfficial, will have 3 web pages with a variety of things like advertisement for new songs and album, promotion of the Skeley drink and merchandising. The website will have an overall house style of a black, red and white colour scheme having synergy with the Bones iconography. The distribution of the drink Skeley would be in large retail shops like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's and the music items like CDs and vinyls would be in stores like HMV. Bones' record company would be Fueled By Ramen which is known for alternative pop, rock and indie pop music.
The audience for my artist can be any age, ethnicity, gender and class however, the TikTok's will target a younger demographic due to the average age of people who use Tiktok. One of the phsycographic groups of my audience is mainstream because of the relatable music that anyone can enjoy. Another group is reformers due to the fact they value authenticness and are anti-materialistic. Also overall the audience will have to be interested in the alternative music genre.
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:
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 TikTok videos and website pages concept: your new original artist, genre, song and TikTok video treatments. Then, your print brief: title and logo for the artist's website, name of own branded new soft drink etc.
- Media language: how you will use TikTok video conventions and website conventions - e.g. camerawork, editing, typography, layout and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience.
- Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your TikTok video and web pages; 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 TikTok video and web pages; audience theory if relevant. Consider merchandise for your music artist which could be made available through their website e.g. www.spreadshirt.co.uk (could be embeded on a web page)
- Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would promote your artist; the retail providers where you can purchase the artist's own branded new soft drink; the brand identity for your artist (consider the type of social media platforms they would feature on); how fans would engage with your products etc.
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