Jasmine's presentation report

Today we had a guest explaining to us how the standards differ from an A-Level to the real life in making music videos. She also told us what she has been doing in this area.

Jasmine Blackborow who did Media as one of her A-Levels, won the BBC Blast competition when she was 18 years old.

This is the video she did with her a-level group and won the competition with:

What I like about this video is that it is very colourful as well as different shots/angles. It also has a party feeling to it.

After she won the competition she got £3,000 from the BBC to produce another, professional music video. She got together with a team of people who are professionals in producing music videos and got a role as director.
She then had to come up with ideas to a song which the producer chose for her. After everything was done she knew what differences there are in producing a video for A-levels or for the music industry.
Here is the video she directed with the professional team:


After we watched both videos she explained to us how she worked with the professionals and how a music video is produced.

• The 'Producer' is in charge of budget and the team (director etc.) The producer is also in touch with the artists and producer company.

• The 'Treatment' is a paper version of the music video, with quotes of the lyrics and visuals such as pictures to pinpoint specific ideas.

• 'Referencing' is getting ideas of other music videos as well as films and the media in general.
  

• The 'Shotlist' is every shot explained in text. There is a rough one and after l while a detailed one, so that the team knows exactly what shot to shoot.

• 'Storyboarding' is the rough 'shotlist' but in visuals, mostly hand drawn images.
  

• The 'Contact sheet' is very important because it lists the people and equipment plus a map. The contact sheet is normally produced by the assistant producer.

• The editors use the storyboard and shotlist to edit the music video.

• Mindmap to see what connects to each other and to see what could work.

• Schedule for the day of shoot - to plan and see what next to film.

• Lyrics breakdown and timeline to get ideas what to come when and where.

She then told us that it is very important when we are producing our music videos to take these points into account:

• Updating: discuss ideas with the group and constantly update any changes and any ideas on a 'Treatment' so that everyone in the group is up to date.
  

• Know what's going on: stay constantly in touch with each other.
  

• Make decisions: be creative and productive.
  

• Have individual ideas: and compromise so that everyone is happy.

• Have not more than 3 locations, otherwise it gets too complex.

It was really helpful to have someone who has worked with the music industry, but also knowing what we need to do in order to produce a good music video.