Advanced portfolio top tips

1. Top Tips

2. The Task
• Package: album (digipack), website or advert,
music video
• 100 marks: research and planning 20, video 40,
digipack 10, website 10, evaluation 20

3. Plan for everything
• Storyboard- you can always shoot extra
• Plan people, places, props, costumes
• Get everyone’s mobile numbers
• Aim to shoot it early, not up against deadline
• Make sure your performers have rehearsed and
know the words

4. MUSIC VIDEO TIMELINE TASK
Using the TIMELINE SHEETS, breakdown your MUSIC TRACK into verses, chorus, instrumental parts, key
phrases and sounds - (USE COLOURS to help differentiate the parts).
Once you have deconstructed the track - start to annotate the timeline explaining
which part of the song is accompanied by what type of visuals.

5. know your equipment
• Do test shots to try out effects
• Check any quirks of the camera
• Make sure you have tripod (and ‘shoe’)
• Is the disk loaded ?
• experiment with editing before the main thing
• Have you got the music and an audible source?

6. the shoot
• Shoot the performance at least ten times with different
set-ups
• Make sure you have plenty of cutaways
• Experiment with extra angles and lighting changes
• Don’t forget: lots of close-ups !
• Enthuse your performers- they must give it plenty!
• Shoot more than you think you will need

7. the edit
• Synch up performances first
• Get the whole picture rather than tiny detail
• Cut and cut again
• Aim for a dynamic piece of work
• Do any effects work last
• Upload a rough cut to your blog and get
feedback

8. look elsewhere for tips
• petesmediablog
• Cranford school wix
• Latymer school websites, digipacks and videos
• Hurtwood media
• Islington Sixth Form

9. Text
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2012_11_01_archive.html

10. http://cranfordmedia.wix.com/mod2013

11. http://www.latymermediamusicvideo.blogspot.co.uk/
http://latymermusicvideo2013group3.blogspot.co.uk/
http://latymermusicvideo2013group2.blogspot.co.uk/

12. http://www.youtube.com/user/hurtwoodhousemedia

13. http://candipop12.blogspot.co.uk/

14. The Blog
• Evidence of whole journey
• Research, Planning, Construction of all 3
products
• Evaluation
• Finished products

15. Good blogs
• http://oliviadarceyhawthorne.blogspot.co.uk
• http://hurtwoodmedia12beesupavarasuwat.blogs
• http://gregfellows72.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://mollyeve73.blogspot.co.uk/

16. Good Housekeeping
• tidy desktop
• storage of footage
• labelling files
• tidy blog

17. Evidence 1
• real music videos
• real music videos of your genre
• any visuals that have influenced you (films,
TV, adverts, music videos, photos)
• ‘steal-o-matic’
• costume photos, location photos, test shots

18. Evidence 2
• real album covers
• real band websites
• early exercises designing album covers
• changes to your designs- screengrabs
• show how it is a ‘package’

19. Random ALBUM COVER exercise
Step 1: Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The title of the first random Wikipedia article you get is the NAME of your band.
Step 2: Go to: http://quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the TITLE of your
album.
Step 3: Go to: http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, is the COVER of your album.
Step 4: Use Photoshop to put it altogether and design the front and back cover of
the album.
[Photoshop canvas size: H 12 cm x W 24 cm / 300 dpi]
Step 5: Upload your finished album artwork to Flickr

21. Re-makes

23. Evidence 3
• student music videos, digipacks and websites
with comments
• Jake’s videos and tips from today
• photos and clips from today
• storyboard and animatic of your video plan

24. Evidence 4
• feedback from your peers
• rough cuts of your video
• screengrabs of your edit in progress
• ‘behind the scenes’
• regular commentary on what you are doing

25. when to do website/digipack
• in parallel, NOT at the end!
• taking photos for later use
• having lots of extra ideas
• can do more than one design within the
group

26. Top Tips