I used two ways to give my critical reflection one way is in the form of video and the other way is in form of an essay.
HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT REPRESENT SOCIAL GROUPS OR ISSUES?
A very important element that was underlined in my project was the social group it targeted and the issue it represented. When I began research for my project, one of the first questions that came to my mind was the social issue I wanted to work on.
I was sure that I wanted to choose a social issue that was related to women so after a lot of research and thinking I decided to choose domestic violence in marriage as my social issue. As the director, I thought that it would be more interesting to choose a narrative mode along with performance for the music video as it is a simple yet most relatable way to showcase our idea to the audience.
Being a women I really wanted to talk about this issue and make this music video targeting young women age 18-30 who are in there early stage of marriage to bring awareness that they are not alone and that they can fight this and can get out of it, as at the end of the video we show how the female protagonist stops her husband from hitting her and walks out on him we also used clips of posters from Aurat march a movement to empower women at the end of the video to leave a strong message for our viewing audience.
For the video I also kept in mind Andrew Goodwin’s theory that says ‘’Music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males”, which is why I, as a director, tried to use as many close up shots as possible.
Showing a sensitive topic such as domestic abuse was a little difficult so we decided to play around with some ideas until we could find the perfect one. We created symbolism through our makeup as we used makeup to put fake bruises on the female protagonists face, this helped portray a negative image onto the audience.
Goodwin talks about how the tempo, structure and the pace of the song is reflected in the visuals. The speed of the cuts, the movement of the camera and how these contrast between verses and choruses shows this. For example, a faster tempo will include faster cuts between shots. In my music video we commonly see slow paced editing due to the fact that the majority of indie songs are slower paced than a lot of others. So keeping this theory in mind during editing I made sure to follow the beat of the song and edit according to that so that the vibes match.
We kept the color scheme and lighting throughout the video very similar as we didn’t want to break the pattern. We mostly used low-key lighting throughout the entire video. Following the codes and conventions of indie rock videos, we also used many close up shots so that the audience can clearly see the emotions of the character and they can form a relationship through the screen.
A music video, on its own, is considered to be an effective way to engage with your targeted audience. However, there are certain elements, within an engaging video, that help keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The message behind the video is one that several individuals, specifically women, can relate to and it serves as a light of hope for victims of domestic violence. The final product consists of clips, synced well with each beat which aids in keeping the audience engaged. The use of different expressions by the actors, help the viewer’s understand the message behind the video and be able to relate to the characters. We made use of different locations to effectively depict the mood of the scene and to help viewers understand the timeline of events.
The digipak that I created in a way that it would be connected to the music video in terms of aesthetics. The same color schemes and pictures were used in both the digi-pak and social media page in order to create a connection in all three products. Which is why it was very important for us to do the photoshoots using the same lighting and choose images from the music video to keep the lighting same. Branding became easier for us by keeping the same distinctive design throughout all the products made.
HOW DO THE ELEMENTS OF YOUR PRODUCTION WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE A SENSE OF BRANDING?
Cross media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets – print, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through various digital media platforms. We also produced three different products Music video, Digipak, social media page.
According to Kotler and Amstrong, ‘a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of these that identifies the maker or seller of a product, or services’. Branding is important because not only is it what makes a memorable impression on consumers but it allows customers and audiences to know what to expect from your brand. It is a way of distinguishing your brand from other competitors and clarifying what it is your brand offers that makes it the better choice.
All three products that we created play a helping hand in promoting each other. The brand identity of my artists is created through the different media texts I created. To have a more strong hold on understanding and creating my own brand identity I did some extensive research on already existing artists and projected it onto my own work.
House style also creates a sense of branding. The expression house style refers to the specific usage and editing conventions followed by editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a particular publication. The images used on the digipak reflect the nature of the artists and the color scheme was also kept constant throughout the creation of all three products.
This dark color palette symbolizes the sadness and grief that we tried to show in our video. The lighter shade was there to show a little contrast. By using different tools in photoshop in the adjustments panel such as hue and saturation we reached the desired results on the digipak and followed the color scheme we had stuck to in our music video. In Adobe premiere pro I edited the video and applied some LUT prefects onto the video as well to produce the desired outcome and we also made sure to use the right lighting in different scenes for it to create the desired effect.
After the production of my music video the most important part was for it to reach the public, which will provide for our brand an audience and fan following which plays a vital role in the building the artist. Keeping in mind the target audience and also using information on the internet as well as my own knowledge since I also fall into this age group, I knew that the fastest and most reliable way for anything to go viral is via social media. So I created a social media page on Instagram for the album just like many other brands have.
A well-defined social media strategy helps determine what to achieve in order to better connect with the audience. Every brand should be represented consistently across all social media networks via the posting of relevant, high-quality content. By following a brand on social media people stay connected to it and slowly become brand loyal. Another platform that we chose was YouTube, where we uploaded our music video.
YouTube is a platform where almost all artists post their music as it is a worldwide platform and many people consistently use it. We also used spotify which is a music streaming platform where the audience can listen and download the song, the most common way now days to promote something is through ads so for the music album I used instagram and youtube to run ads so it can reach to a larger audience. We also created an online store in order to sell the band’s merchandise (t shirts, hoodies etc.), which would create customer loyalty as well. These above and below the line advertising techniques play a significant role in creating a sense of branding in all 3 products.
HOW DO YOUR PRODUCTS ENGAGE WITH THE AUDIENCE?
A media text that the audience cannot understand or relate to or decode is a media text that will not be successful as stated by Stuart Hall that the audience is not passive but is active and they will be able to reject or accept any media text they consume so it was very important to me that our target audience are able to engage and relate to our media text.
To ensure this we conducted some surveys to get into the mind of our audience and understand what they want to see or like to see in music video.
The target audience and demographic for my products was 18-30 year olds. We wanted to convey themes of loneliness and sadness and breaking points to our audience. We chose Universal Music Group as the distributor and record label.
The video I made used the Gratification Theory to attract its audience. The target audience I chose, stereotypically associated with the emotions that were shown in the video such as sadness and abuse. Since the issue addressed in the video was the domestic abuse, the target audience that consume such thing, would be attracted to this topic shown in the video. The video would attract both genders but would lean more towards females. There are use of close up shots as it highlights the actors expression this helps in engaging with the audience
Additionally we also decided to distribute the Digipak on various other medians such as Online media that include putting the album on Soundcloud, YouTube, Vimeo, and iTunes. We also decided to sell the Digi-pack to music retailer stores in Pakistan such as Radio city, Illusions and One shop. We also created some social media platforms so that the audience can engage with the band, such as Instagram. Besides this we’d also air the video on television on channels such as MTV, Channel UFX, 4Music, 40 TV, Channel V, VIVA, Scuzz and so on, a wider demographic audience would be able to view the music video and it would get more exposure.
HOW DID YOUR RESEARCH INFORM YOUR PRODUCTS AND THE WAY THEY USE OR CHALLENGE CONVENTION?
To start of the answer for this point I would first talk about codes and convention of music video genres and describe what codes and conventions are. Codes and conventions are systems of signs which create meaning and are the generally accepted ways of doing something. They invite prediction, set up expectations and allow ways of navigating complex media texts. The patterns provided by codes and conventions in a text are cues for our understanding hence they hold a lot of importance while creating/producing a media text. The codes and conventions of music videos are the different techniques used to construct meaning in them. It can be conveyed through both technical and symbolic techniques.
The genre we chose for our music video was indie rock. In an indie rock music video live performance is very common, artists do a live performance for their music video. This way the main focus is on them as performers doing what they love to do. It also keeps the focus on the actual music itself and the talent that the artists have. Narrative is also a very common way of making an indie rock music video. An indie rock narrative video tells a story throughout the video by using a sequence of images and videos that relate to the song. This is done in such a way that it makes sense to the audience so they can follow and link it to the lyrics. Props and costumes are kept simple and casual in a way that they relate to the scene. The makeup portrays feelings as well as the characters social status. Dialogues may be used either in the beginning or the end of video to create a base for the storyline. Mostly establishing shots and long shots along with close ups and mid shots are used in indie rock videos.
Research largely informed our production process in order to make it as marketable as possible. It helped me understand the requirements that needed to be fulfilled to make the products and allowed me to see what I could twist and take a more unique approach on. Conventions are what the audience expects to see in a product. Style, camera, sound, mis en scene, editing and stereotyping are the main music video convections. The music video was mainly a narrative one. Shots were taken and put together to tell a story while also keeping up with the mood the lyrics provided. Wideshots, long shots were taken to let the audience know the kind of location the scenes were set in. Close ups were taken to highlight important details and show character expressions. Certain moving shots were timed with the music to switch shots after strong beats and also have slower paced scenes when the music was slower. All the shots were taken during day time natural lighting was available which aligned perfect with our softer initial plot. The lighting and colour grading was also made dull scenes meant to convey grief and hardship. Overall the mis en scene was well coordinated. The character outfits were meant to be simple which both the girl and boy are seen in. Make up was used to convey the message as fake bruises were made on the female protagonist face highlighting abuse.
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