MEST 2 brief guidance 2015

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A-level Media Studies

Guidance for MEST2 Brief – 2015 Version 1.0



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Brief One: Silver Lining Productions The brief intends to provide lots of opportunity for choice. Students are free to select a reality, factual or fictional product as the basis of their work. They are asked to consider the broad demographic catered to by E4 and their work must be suitable for a pre-watershed broadcast. This in itself leads the students towards some research questions:

Could a narrower audience group be identified within the 15-35 age group?

How should the audience be addressed? What do they respond to?

What type of texts does E4 typically broadcast before the watershed (what rules must they work within)?

Is there a gap in the market?

Is there a format/genre that could be developed further for this broadcast slot?

Once the form and genre has been selected, the analysis of existing texts will enable the student to recognise the common codes and conventions used in their chosen area. Students should note that the brief is encouraging ‘original and creative approaches’. Broadcasting Task (i) Opening Scenes/Title Sequence Students can choose the form of their broadcast – opening scenes with or without a title sequence. They should replicate codes and conventions, so the form and genre are recognisable. Creative approaches are to be encouraged. Research could investigate how themes, characters and locations are identified early in a broadcast. HBO/Showtime dramas use a range of methods. For example, the title sequence for Game of Thrones travels across a map of the fantasy world the audience will find themselves immersed in whilst Dexter uses a montage of familiar domestic images (cooking breakfast, getting dressed etc.) in extreme close-up, destabilising the familiar and tying it into the violence of the story-lines to follow. Opening scenes should consider using various narrative devices to create a sense of exposition and to introduce viewers to the characters, the location and the genre. The production should carefully consider mise-en-scene, lighting, costume and location as part of the planning process. Students who use a variety of camera shots in their work tend to make more interesting moving image work. Post production effects may also be appropriate and use of the camera and editing software allows marks to be awarded for technical ability. In the evaluation students should be prepared to talk about the reasoning behind their media language choices. They should consider the choices in light of the requirements of the brief/task.



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Broadcasting Task (ii) Viral Marketing The students need to create viral marketing products. These products should be some form of broadcast media. As the purpose of viral marketing is to get the audience to pass round the message by sharing the media products, these broadcast products may, like so many modern media products, be assumed to be part of an e-media dissemination. They could be viewed on YouTube or shared electronically. Alternatively they could offer an unusual audience experience which might encourage people to discuss the campaign, offer audience interaction or reward in some way. Students should look at some recent viral campaigns to see what has worked. For example, Lynx's 'boyfriend' campaign which allowed audiences to select one of five different adverts depending on their taste in women: The Queensland Tourism's Campaign offered a job blogging about the barrier reef. 'The best job in the world' was an extreme version of an ad campaign that offers a physical reward for the audience. Flash mobs use audience members as participants and are novel as well as entertaining. Samsung's 'Sheep Art' is a remarkable example of getting the audience to do the work for you.( http://www.prospectmx.com/15-of-the-best-viral-marketing-campaigns/ ) Feature films use a number of viral techniques in their marketing – they run competitions, ask for audience contributions, provide exclusive footage. Credit will be given to students who can think creatively as to what would appeal to their target audience and make them want to share the marketing material. Broadcasting Task (iii) Radio Feature The final broadcast option is for radio. The radio feature should be based on an idea suggested by the TV programme being developed. So, for example, a radio feature on gypsy culture could be linked to Thelma's Gypsy Girls (a spinoff of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding) or a feature could take the form of a debate on cuts to public service budgets linked to 24 Hours in A&E. The feature could be an interview with the director, writer or star and, again, a creative approach to the content and approach to the radio feature can be rewarded. The radio feature should ideally include multiple voices and some sound effects, background music, jingles and indents as appropriate. Students should research how different radio stations and different programmes present feature material to meet their target audience's expectations and the conventions of the station/programme. To achieve higher level marks for technical ability students should consider sound levels and the use of features such as sound bridges, audio beds etc. They should record their own jingles or indents rather than rely on found work. Having said that, it may be useful for the student to look at some of the free audio available on-line as this can be included within their work. Print (i) Teaser Ad Campaign A print teaser campaign can take many forms. Students should research what is meant by a 'teaser' campaign and then existing campaigns that have proved to be successful. At the heart of any good campaign is a clear focus on appealing to the target audience and creating products that will attract and engage them. They should consider the range of options available to them in print and their products may be posters, display ads, flyers, leaflets or a combination of any of these or other print forms. To help demonstrate a good knowledge of audience, it may be advisable to state where or how the adverts would be published or placed.



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Print (ii) Souvenir Magazine As specialist souvenir magazines are published as promotional material the key element here is that the producer can present the programme positively and attempt to control public perception. As with any magazine, the front cover is its 'shop window' and so visual appeal is crucial as are the splashes which will hopefully draw the audience in. General research analysing magazine front pages will help identify design codes and should help the student identify what is seen to appeal to the target audience. The student should choose the content of the two inner pages and this may be influenced by the format of the programme itself and/or the target audience. A celebrity based approach could be as valid as an informative one. For example a Thelma's Gypsy Girls magazine may include interviews with 'Thelma' and two of the girls themselves; for 24 Hours in A&E the two pages could be a feature on different roles in a hospital department. Students should look to real magazines to identify design and layout codes and conventions. Higher level work tends to be accurate in the use of fonts and columns and shows visual awareness and creativity in the use of images. Photography in print work is a good way for students to demonstrate their creativity and flair. Well planned and carefully shot images that have been finished with care will add to any print (or e-media) work. e-Media (i) Fan Site This web task looks for technical ability in the construction of a working web-site that contains linked pages and features that encourage audience interactivity. Students should look at real web-sites, both professional and amateur, to identify different ways interactivity and audience involvement is encouraged. Students can use social networking type features or they may create competitions, showcase audience generated content or have pages with content suggested by audience members etc. Further technical skills can be demonstrated by the inclusion of carefully constructed photographic images or multi-media features. e-Media (ii) e-Media Marketing Campaign

The task intends to encourage the students to research a range of techniques related to e-media marketing. This will help the student come up with ideas appropriate to the programme they are marketing, the target audience and current advertising practices. They should create a minimum of two different types of marketing from the list provided or using other ideas that would be appropriate when considering the target audience and/or media form. Students should consider audience appeal and persuasive techniques quite explicitly when constructing their advertising materials. As this is an e-media task issues such as audience activity, social networking etc. could be considered. The best way to come up with ideas is to research and evaluate a range of existing texts, both sites that appeal to the target audience and sites for other television programmes. The production work should be presented electronically, demonstrating technical skills appropriate to e-media. For example, creating an advert that offers options for the audience via hyperlink has become a common convention (see the Lynx campaign mentioned earlier). Sound, animation and video can also be part of the production process. It is perhaps worth noting that the campaign should be presented through a browser.



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Brief Two: Synopticity Productions

The aims of this brief are to provide a scenario based on the idea of lifestyle programming as a starting point to enable students to think creatively around this topic area in both the selection of a lifestyle topic and the type of products they choose to create. Examples in the brief and this document are for guidance only but should give an indication of the level of freedom given to the students who can select conventional areas (like cookery) or they can focus on less tried and tested ideas should they wish to. Whichever of the platforms they decide to work in, students should remember that they need to show how all these productions can act to promote the Synopticity Productions’ programme. Students should make this as explicit as they can in both productions. Some useful questions to guide research and planning:

What lifestyle area is being selected? How will the topic itself help to define the target audience? What issues are specific to appealing to niche and encouraging loyal audiences? What type of links do existing texts (similar or not) have with sponsorship and/or product placement? How do lifestyle products currently make money using merchandising etc? How do lifestyle programmes become a brand? How do media products promote other media products?

Broadcasting Task (i) Promotional Materials The first option in broadcast looks for approximately two minutes in total of moving image work showing a range of ideas. They could be 4x30 second trailers; one long trailer and two shorter TV spots, a promotional report for a magazine programme, a moving image viral campaign or indeed other ideas students feel are appropriate. The choices should be related to both the lifestyle topic area selected as well as the target audience. There are no specific expectations as to what should be created but students should research the types of promotion that currently exist. Students should be encouraged to think creatively and be supported in approaching this task in a way that avoids simple advertising cliches. For example, clips from shows are shown on programmes such as The Review Show and then subject to panel discussions; press junkets/press conferences are used for film releases and television launches; E! News takes a very specific approach to reporting on celebrities with affiliations to television programmes and has stylistic codes and conventions that could be used as inspiration. Students should justify their creative and technical choices in the evaluation where they can explain how their choices link to existing institutional practice, the identified target audience or the topic itself. Broadcasting Task (ii) Radio The second option is a radio broadcast reporting on an aspect of the lifestyle topic chosen. The approach would depend (again) on the topic, the target audience and radio station/programme selected for broadcast. Students should research the way an extended news report/feature is presented for the radio and they should include multiple voices and the creative use of sound to



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enable them to access the upper reaches of the mark scheme. Sound effects can be sourced on-line but students should be involved in creating some of the sound elements of the broadcast other than just the dialogue. For example, they could create station idents and/or jingles creating new shows for existing stations or rebranding existing shows and/or stations. In this task it is important to consider how an aspect of the lifestyle area can be presented in a way that makes it newsworthy or of interest to listeners. If students researched by listening to The Today Programme on Radio 4 for example, they would find that between the news bulletins a range of different types of reports are provided all 'inspired' by some issue arising from the news: some are pre-recorded and use a documentary style, others are studio interviews, experts on the phone, panel discussion with pre-recorded material etc. Some reports are serious debates whilst others take a light-hearted look at an aspect of a current story. Other stations may use other techniques depending on their target audience. A student who is basing their project on a cookery show as their lifestyle product could, for example, record a brief documentary-style introduction for a discussion on memories of school lunches; a student looking at creating materials for a fashion-based show could create a vox-pop based report on the use of child labour in clothes production or a more light-hearted approach could consider the 'ten worst fashion crimes' according to experts and the general public. Broadcast Task (iii) Magazine Programme Segment Whilst there is a limit on choice and the production needs to fit into a magazine programme in some way, the approach that could be taken is up to the student. Examples of different approaches to this task are given in the brief but it is hoped students will think creatively in terms of the presentation of information to the audience. The students' knowledge and understanding of the topic area, the format of magazine show, the way these shows promote other media products etc. will inform the production. This knowledge should come from research into magazine programming styles. It would be worth the student identifying the broadcast time/channel for the magazine show as this will impact on the appropriate way to approach this task. Print Task (i) Weekend Supplement Feature Students will need to research weekend newspaper supplements to understand how feature articles are constructed, how they are written and illustrated. Students should choose a specific national newspaper and their work should be recognisable through their use of house-style design elements and layout codes. Creativity can come from their manipulation of conventions, their approach to promoting the television programme and the way they design the feature and use photography to illustrate it. The newspaper’s target audience should be considered so a very mainstream lifestyle programme might be discussed analytically or even ironically in a broadsheet supplement but sensationalised and/or personalised more in a tabloid supplement. Print Task (ii) Specialist Magazine This task allows the student to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the codes used in magazines focussing on a topic related to their lifestyle area. This could be direct as in the construction of pages for the BBC’s Good Food magazine where the lifestyle topic is cooking, or indirect where Kerrang runs a feature on sub-culture style where the topic is fashion - both features could, of course, mention the Synopticity Productions programme. e-Media Task (i) Lifestyle Website This task should be based on an existing on-line magazine which may or may not have a lifestyle section. If the section exists it can be used to guide the look and content of the site being



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produced. If there is no lifestyle section the style of the site should be emulated in the construction of these pages. Importantly, the target audience should be addressed appropriately. Students can show their creativity in the use of images, in the inclusion of audience interactivity and the use of multi-media features within their site. e-Media Task (ii) Lifestyle Website The second option offers a little more freedom in as much as students need to construct a standalone site for the programme and they can decide on all aspects of the design of the site. It should, of course, be appropriate for the target audience and the topic/show it is promoting. Again, audience interaction and multi-media features should be part of the site and there is an explicit need to ensure that sponsorship and/or merchandising are explicitly included within the site. Existing websites are using multimedia and getting audiences involved in many different ways. These do not always have to be very technologically complicated. Competitions, the inclusion of uploaded 'selfies', simple quizzes or games all work well. Students should seek inspiration from existing websites - and not just ones from within the same topic area. Corporate links and sponsorship occur in lots of different ways - from on-site advertising, the sponsorship of competitions to all the presenters of a programme being photographed drinking the same soft-drink! Again students can be rewarded for coming up with some original ideas.



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Brief Three: This music brief intends to get the students thinking about the way that modern media products can be used to market and promote musical artists - specifically those that are outside the mainstream music industry. Students will need to come up with strategies to promote their chosen band/artist on a limited budget. Contemporary musicians have access to technologies that allow them to create their own marketing products and they can use e-media platforms and social networking to promote their music, seek out new audiences and communicate with their fan base. This brief aims to encourage students to imagine themselves in a realistic environment that requires them to consider the range of marketing techniques available to musical artists and to then select strategies to promote their band/artist. Initial decisions will need to be made in terms of the genre of music the student wishes to promote so that research can consider genre codes and conventions that will need to be communicated in the design, the imagery and the approach taken in the production work. Research could also be focused on gathering information about the way music and artists themselves are marketed. Students could look at the strategies employed by both record companies and independent artists to seek ideas for their own productions. Research does not need to be limited to their chosen music genre nor even music related marketing as inspiration for strategies could come from unexpected sources. Students should consider both traditional and non-traditional marketing techniques - especially in the way social media is able to engage and interact with audiences and provide new experiences that audience may want to pass on. Some students may want to work with a real local bands/artists and this is fine. Students should remember though that all images, design, moving image footage etc should be created by the student specifically for this project. On the other hand students may wish to create a fictional artist using friends/relatives as models - this too is fine. Original music can be used but this is not a requirement. Students may want to chose the music of an established artist to help demonstrate the genre of their own band/artist. Where music is used that is under copyright, students should be made aware that submitting online could be a problem - for example, in the past some student work on YouTube has been taken down because of copyright breaches. A key aspect of this brief is the idea of creating an integrated campaign. Each production should link to and/or make reference to the other production in some way. For example: the broadcast production could be referred to or embedded within the e-media materials; the print work could make direct reference to the video in some way; print could share a visual style with the e-media work and/or could direct the audience to the online materials; the newsletter could include a feature on the video shoot ‘written by the artist’ etc. As with the other briefs, students should feel free to make decisions about their approaches to the topic and creative, original approaches can be rewarded highly. Broadcasting Task Students are asked to create a promotional video for a music track. To keep the workload manageable students should be encouraged to limit themselves to two minutes worth of finished work. They will have to film much more than two minutes worth of footage and editing is a crucial part of the process so time should be given to all parts of the production.



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If the song being used is longer than two minutes long students should feel free to edit the music (if they can) or simply fade out at the two minute point. Knowledge of genre codes and audience expectations should influence creative choices as too should a consideration of the brand image the band/artist want to communicate. Video is an ideal way to communicate an artist’s ‘personality’, politics or philosophy. Given the institutional backdrop to this task, videos should try to take a creative and interesting approach that would encourage audiences to discuss the band/artist on social media. Mainstream, mass market artists create videos that are high budget and high concept. Lady Gaga’s mini films have huge budgets and are deliberately overblown and bombastic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNu_-deVemE). However, a quick search on YouTube will show that many unsigned bands/artists use the platform to upload their own, much lower budget videos. Most genres are represented and the quality can be varied: some videos focus on performance, some use post-production to create visual effects and others are clearly trying to create brand images. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFrljyqU6i0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWrT2ufYgqc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mD4DYkK2io https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adp-s-e1-lU&list=PL03B9E5248E7C27F8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6S_ytGKDGE&list=PL03B9E5248E7C27F8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_83oSqw6BTU Another approach to music video can be seen in the promotion of OK Go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2fpgpanZAw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHlJODYBLKs OK Go are an American band - they are successful (and signed to a record label) but they are not ‘household names’. Much of their success has come from their low-budget yet highly creative videos promoted via video sharing and network sites. Their music videos contain some incredible choreography, planning and performances (not least by some very talented dogs) and so are not offered as examples of what is expected from students, but they could be used to look at the way audiences respond to videos that provide new visual experiences and unusual approaches – specifically those that appear more ‘handmade’. This band’s videos have attracted millions of hits (one video alone has had 42m+ views) and this brought them to the attention of advertisers. One of their videos was made with the support of Chevrolet and they have made several other commercial partnerships with corporations such as Google and Range Rover and have won awards. All of these marketing devices provide income sources for the band and introduced their music to new audiences. Students might want to tap into viral formats such as flash mobs or the trend for parodies of popular video images and the repetition of memes to connect their band/artist to social media trends. Some of the most popular videos of 2013 were Wrecking Ball parodies and versions of the Harlem Shake were everywhere following a flurry of Gangnam Style homages and parodies. Research into successful viral videos may inspire students to be creative in their approach to this marketing task and provide ideas that don’t need massive budgets.



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Print Task Most communication between musical artists and their audiences today will take place electronically but where bands/artists play live, print can still be a useful format. News, information and promotional campaigns can be distributed direct to interested audience members at live shows. Music artists will rely on email mail shots to maintain communication with their audience and so this could share layout and design features with the print production. This task should be presented as a print production and the conversion to an email product does not have to be included or alluded to in the presentation of this task. Students can approach the design of the newsletter and its content in any way they feel would suit the audience, reflect the genre and communicate the brand image of the band best. Students can take a serious tone or be more lighthearted or ironic depending on the image they wish to create. They can emulate exiting design styles - the newsletter could look like a tabloid newspaper, a music magazine or parody the style and design of advertising. On the other hand, the students can make their own choices about design but should consider legibility, clarity and readability in the way they present the information. As with all production tasks, visual appeal is important. Students should plan and produce photographic images and/or illustrations for the newsletter. e-Media Task Students should be encouraged to research e-media promotional campaigns to consider how social networking, video sharing, blogging, vlogging, image sharing etc are being used to advertise, promote and market. Initial research does not need to focus on music at all as inspiration for techniques and strategies could be found in many areas. Of course, it would be worth looking at successful marketing campaigns within music to see what techniques are known to work. Integrated campaigns using a range of e-media sites and platforms are used to promote and market. Many musical artists use MySpace to create brand image and communicate with fans. The social networking site allows creative photography to be used to communicate brand image and audiences can listen to music when visiting. Fans can also communicate with each other – an important factor in creating a loyal fan base that feels as if it is part of a community. Some musicians use Twitter to create the appearance of accessibility to fans and to de-mystify the idea of celebrity and stardom. Some users use Twitter to communicate their ideologies and values whilst others create a platform for explicit marketing communications. There are many artists who can be accessed online - some bands offer front room gigs, free entry to shows for some and encourage the purchase of music and live show tickets. Some artists give some personal information to their followers and are happy to engage in arguments and discussions with other Twitter users and so provide entertainment and (sometimes) controversy. Some musical artists control their own social media but many have Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, blogs and websites that are run by public relations professionals where image and communication is carefully controlled. X Factor alumni James Arthur had to ‘leave Twitter’ after posting some ill judged comments and his promotion on social networks was taken over (to an extent) by the professionals at Syco (at the time of writing, this relationship is looking very strained). Discerning between the personal and the professional on Twitter is sometimes quite difficult but its use as a marketing and promotional platform is now firmly established.



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The web contains lots of websites and videos that offer advice as to how social media can be used as a marketing tool and students may find research into this area useful. Twitter itself offers marketing ideas and advice https://business.twitter.com/marketing-twitter as do other business related websites http://mashable.com/category/social-media-101-series/ and newspapers http://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/on-social-media-marketing. For example, one strategy is to try to find events that you can attach your marketing campaign to. Live tweeting during popular events (sports, The X Factor, a Game of Thrones episode) can get a Twitter account noticed and generate re-tweets. The link between the event and the product being marketed might be quite tenuous - Marie Claire did well to find a way to promote the women’s lifestyle magazine on the back of Game of Thrones by posting comments on female characters’ hairstyles during the HBO broadcast. Perhaps more obviously connected in terms of event and target audience, Tide (a washing detergent brand) attached itself to Mother’s Day discussions in a recent video-based campaign. Being part of a trending topic can potentially help spread your marketing message to a wider audience or simply raise your own profile. Sinead O’Connor published an open letter to Miley Cyrus on her website after the VMA twerking scandal broke. O’Connor’s website received extra traffic and performance artist Amanda Palmer’s addition to the argument received many re-tweets and was reported in the news, bringing her to a potentially wider audience too. Students may well have many more examples of the way social media acts to market and promote and so they should be encouraged to be creative in their approaches. They are free to create an overview explaining their strategy to accompany the production work if they feel this would help contextualise their productions. Students should show their technical skills by emulating pages from any social media platforms students feel would be appropriate for the task. Finding ways to link platforms, include audience input, encourage interaction and repeated engagement are important in e-Media products. There is scope to provide multi-media experiences for audience and ambitious students should feel free to include moving image, audio, animation and interactive features if they wish to. Students do not have to create all the features - for example, a blog could include an embedded link to an existing video on YouTube. The assessed e-media production work should be original though and be presented for viewing through a browser. Work can be submitted off line on a disc or pen-drive – but please ensure that it is in a universally accessible format. Work can be submitted on-line via a url. Please inform students that work cannot be changed once it has been submitted and note the comments above regarding copyright considerations.

MEST 2 brief guidance 2015

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