Aims and intentions 2023 and exemplars

This post is for students who started their coursework in 2023, and will graduate in 2024

What is aims and intentions?

• The aims and intentions essay is a short, one page, 500 word essay
• In it, you explain what you aim to do, how you intend to do it, and how you will meet the brief of the project
• You will use evidence from your research in to music videos and the music industry that you carried out in your production workbook. If you haven't done much of your production workbook, you will have some issues in completing your aims and intentions
• This essay is to be written in the future tense. For example: I SHALL use a rapid fire montage of close up shots to engage the audience, or I WILL make intertextual reference to the horror genre through the iconography of knives, blood and fangs
• 500 words is not enough to write a normal essay. Therefore, you will be using lots of bullet points to cut down the number of words you write. It is completely fine to use LOTS of bullet points!
• In exam board exemplars, every band 5 Aims and intentions essay was at least 550 words, so don't panic about the word count too much. 580 is definitely too much though.
• You will be marked on your accurate use of media language, and your knowledge of representation, industry and target audience
• You will also make reference to appropriate theories. Good ones to use are Barthes, Levi-Strauss, and, depending on your video, various theories of representation 

What was the brief again?

Here is the 2023/4 brief to remind you of what you were asked to make and what you are being marked on:

• A cross-media production for a new artist or band in a popular genre (or sub-genre/ hybrid) of your choice. 
• Create an original music video and associated print material to promote the same artist or band. 
• You should create a cross-media production for a major record label such as Polydor or Epic Records, owned by a major conglomerate, and targeting a mainstream audience of 16-25 year olds
• You must create a convincing brand identity for a new artist that appeals to your designated target audience

Cross media production means your music video AND your magazine. The two must link together!

Digital convergence refers to how digital technology can bring together separate media industries. So for example, your music video could and should be hosted on Youtuber and other streaming services, which means it can be accessed 

You can find the full brief, including details for the magazine unit by clicking here

What do I need to include?

The exam board have provided detailed information, which was provided in your production workbook. But here it is again. Use these bullet points as headings in your aims an intentions! Remember, the aims and intentions essay can use headings an bullet points as you please!

Use evidence from your research into: similar products; the industry context; your target audience, as well as theoretical perspectives, to explain your decisions:

• How and why will you use media language in your cross-media production? 
• How and why will you construct representations of individuals, groups and issues/events? 
• How will you target your intended audience?
• How will your production conform to its industry context?
• How will your cross-media production demonstrate digital convergence?

Cross media production means your music video AND your magazine. The two must link together!

Digital convergence refers to how digital technology can bring together separate media industries. So for example, your music video could and should be hosted on Youtuber and other streaming services, which means it can be accessed 

Haven't I done this already?

If you have completed the whole of your production workbook, then yes, the five slides labelled 'aims and intentions' are your aims and intentions. Just copy and paste. However, I'm not sure many people got that far.

How long will this take?

Honestly? Half an hour to an hour for the first draft. It's short and straightforward, and as long as you have done the research, there won't be an issue. If you have been filling out the workbook, you may have already done it, so just copy and paste it in to a Google doc on your Drive.

What does a good one look like? 

Here are a few examples. Please keep in mind, these are from previous years, when the specification was different. So please make reference to the brief you have been set

Example one

Within my music video, it is my intention to use narrative and performance to convey themes of depression, loneliness and the idea of having to put up a happy front around other people. 

Within my video, there will be –

• Varied editing pace to fit in with the slow beat of the song.
• A range of shot types, such as close ups and establishing shots.
• A subtle but interesting narrative, most of the lyrics taken literally and the shots matching with the lyrics.
• Yellow typography uses intertextuality of Quentin Tarantino films such as ‘Jackie Brown’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. Use of blood and gore to also link to Tarantino films.
• Using mainly natural light to convey a sense of realism and to convey the sad and dull atmosphere, some shots have brightly coloured lighting.
• Colour scheme to show a contrast between interior settings and exterior settings. Interior setting will have a green tinted, dull, vintage camera effect. The exterior shots will have a bright, saturated effect.

In my music video I will be representing young people/teenagers who deal with mental health issues such as depression. I will do this by creating a binary opposition between the shots filmed inside versus the shots filmed outside. The inside shots will show the real emotion with dull, low-key lighting and the use of mise en scene such as blood and broken TVs. To contrast, the outside shots will be saturated and colourful, being filmed on a fisheye camera to represent other people. The inside shots are to represent when the artist is alone and being true to her emotions and the outside shots are to represent how people act happy around other people even when they’re not feeling that way. Some of the inspiration for this type of mise en scene such as the blood from the eyes came from scenes from Uma Thurman, creating even more intertextuality with Quentin Tarantino films.

I will appeal to my target audience of teenagers, especially those who struggle with mental health issues, since the actor is a teenager and represents some of the reality of what it’s like to deal with those issues. Mental health is a big and important discussion among young people and teenagers so i will play into that target them specifically. 

My video will conform to industry standards in the sense that it will include both narrative and performance elements and will include stereotypical elements of an indie music video such as slow paced editing and vintage mise en scene. However, my music video will subvert from industry standards by only featuring one person throughout the music video. 

I will use cross-media production to demonstrate digital convergence by creating a magazine front cover and a double page spread. I want to crest visual interest using mise en scene such as unusual costumes and props. The interview will be a very open and down to earth one, talking about things such as the artists experiences with mental health issues to link to my music video content. The photos will reflect the individuality of the artist to conform to the convention that celebrities are fashion toward and unique individuals. 

Example two

In my music video I will attempt to incorporate a complex narrative and performance, which includes key themes of depression, death, delinquency and identity.

I aim to conform to the industry standards by including these elements of a stereotypical alternative gothic song, which confronts / protests important social issues, such as mental health, as well as producing a memorable and unique video that attracts attention.

I will be including a male actor as the main subject present throughout the music video, tasked with instrumental syncing and posing for unique unsettling shots. The main subject is a white middle classed European teenager, who is inspired through 80s and 90s Gothic culture, with the representation of him being a stereotypical young adult being altered as the setting and performance changes, which represents the drastic emotions young adults face in current times, such as mental health, suicide, identity, morality and stress.

Here are some key techniques, focuses and ideologies that I will implement:

• Mixture of both close up and mid shots to convey the emotions of the artist.
• Colour grading of film to represent different emotions, such as blue symbolising depression / greyscale representing death.
• Hard cuts and ECUs to keep audience's attention and to make audiences feel unsettled / disturbed.
• Multiple film locations which represent different emotions, death and depression in the graveyard, distress and madness in the garden.
• Foreign narrative to inject the emotions of confusion and darkness into the audience's mind.
• Colour schemes that conform to the Gothic genre, with an vintage video overlay which represents the 80s / 90s Gothic culture.

Lots of the inspiration for my ideas came from analysing the music videos "Forgiveness" by Alice Glass and "Kasvetli Kutlma" by SPA, both include seemingly unrelated and unique shots, which created an overall mood of unease and darkness. I was fascinated with the idea of film appearing like it was recorded on a vintage VHS recorder, with the distorted effect connotating the emotion of confusion young adults face in modern times.

I believe that my product will appeal strongly to a young adult audience, as the cast included are shown to be stereotypical of a young adult. The alternative melancholy music and blunt dark themes both play into current teenage culture, where mental health and identity are large topics of discussion.

I will demonstrate cross-media digital convergence by producing a magazine front cover and double page spread, which will promote my video, as well as focusing on the themes presented and the artists themselves. I will use this opportunity to promote my artist and I plan to create a featured article that explores the artist's past experiences with the issues represented within my music video. 

I will encode the themes and ideologies referenced above in my magazine, through the use of the mise-en-scene, costumes will conform to the Gothic stereotype, dressing actors in black clothing to represent depressed emotion. 

I will be using media language to challenge / reinforce perceptions of stereotypes surrounding mental health and Gothic culture, referencing Stuart Hall's representation theory.

Example three

In my music video, I intend to use close-up camera shots of the character’s faces to display to the audience the emotions of the characters they are all portraying in the narrative. For example there will be the following close-up shots:

• angry and heartbroken shot of the performer
• shot of the character who has been cheating looking guilty
• shot where the character who is having the affair looks at her love interest and mouths 'I love you'
• several shots of the performer and his ‘girlfriend’ laughing and smiling together 
• beat-matched shots
• video interprets the lyrics as the song is about infidelity and the narrative mirrors this
• In the magazine there will be simple, yet effective close-up shots of the artist and long shots to show the artist’s costume. The costume and location for the magazine photoshoot will be reserved, to a certain extent, to reflect the artist’s selling point of being relatable, however they will certainly show that the artist is a star and the centre of attention in the photos. 

·      Performance and action scenes will be mid shots

·      Setting scenes will be long shots

Colour scheme will not be too bright, as it will fit the mood of the song and the narrative. Predominantly:

• Whites as a background so artist stands out in shot
• Black and white shots of artist lip-syncing to suit the darker mood of narrative and song
• Saturated and vibrant greens to emphasise ‘present day’ shots
• Faded, brown tinged shots to emphasise ‘past’ shots
• The artist’s costume in the video will be one to set him apart from the other characters (for example in the argument scene the performer’s costume is brighter than the girlfriend’s), however nothing too out-there, as the artist needs to remain relatable to the target audience. 

The social group I will be representing will be young, working-class men and this is shown by:

• relatable, inexpensive and not extravagant costume to fit group stereotype
• locations such as garages for backgrounds of scenes 
• no focus on hair and make-up for the artist, as it’s not typically associated with group stereotype

I intend to target this audience by:

• Using a song by an indie/rock artist, because this is a genre typically enjoyed by the social group in question
• Topic of the song - infidelity - is something understood and often experienced by people especially in this age group so is relatable for audience
• Colour scheme not being anything too bright and quite dark in places, because young people could be put off a music video if it is so colourful, as it may appear childish - damaging artist credibility

The music video production will conform to its industry context, because it

• is approx. 3 minutes 15 seconds in length, which falls between the 3 minutes and 3 and a half minutes expected of the typical music video 
• has fast-paced editing to transition between scenes and shots 
• has a variety of locations 
• has an element of artist performance
• follows a narrative that is not complex and will be easy to follow

The music video will be consumed by an audience who will watch it on their mobile phones, TVs and computer devices, therefore this is digital convergence. This is evidence of the film industry combining itself with digital technology for the consumption purposes of its audience, e.g. if the video is streamed through YouTube.  

I will also display digital convergence through:

• the music video and magazine both being edited digitally using online platforms, tools and software 
• in my magazine article, I will include the social media handles of the artist, so that fans can engage with the artist digitally
• a link to the magazine's website for further reader-artist(s) engagement and interaction