CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION
- Patri
- Apr 21, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 3, 2019
1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
What are conventions? A convention is a way in which something is usually done. For example, in music videos, depending on the genre they must follow certain codes and conventions. Indie music videos tend to look as natural as possible. As a norm it consists of a mix between live performance and the building up of a narrative. The live performance allows the viewer to focus on the talent of the artists (promotion wise) and the passion that they have towards music. The narrative is used in order to make the video more entertaining and less boring for the viewer.
I followed the narrative convention as it gives an idea of what the song is about, linking it with the lyrics, sometimes literally and other times metaphorically. It also allows the audience to relate to the song as the lyrics are visually displayed and therefore uses up two of the main senses (sight and hearing). For my music video I decided to use symbolisation. For example, the bath scenes in the chorus symbolised the emotional baggage that she carried with her and how she felt caged. The fact that she is inside a bath naked symbolises the sensual relationship that she had with her lover. The way her skin is predominant in all of the shots expresses how exposed she feels to the world now that she is alone. I took the idea of the bath scene from Riahnna's music videos "Stay" and "ANTI diaRy: Room 5". I really liked how Riahnna’s dark hair contrasted with the white water and so I decided to use this in my production. I used 3 litres of milk mixed with water in order to reach the perfect white. The contrast in colour between my main character’s tattoos and her dark hair against the white water symbolised the bad and the good memories in the relationship.
The different shots of the camera also followed the indie genre conventions by using close-ups and medium shots of the main character in order to portray their feelings, which usually reference the lyrics. I used this in my production by concentrating the camera on her expression along with the narrative of the story as done in the music video of “SEX” by EDEN. At the beginning it starts with a medium shot of the character’s face and along with the beat it comes closer until it becomes a close up shot of it. In my production she mostly looks straight into the camera. For example in the bathroom, there is a medium shot of her inside the bath with a blurry background. She has her knees tucked under her chin, making direct visual contact with the viewer and expressing her melancholic feelings.
This music video mainly represent teenagers. This is clear as both main characters are teenagers. The setting is located at an abandoned house and in the countryside, places where teens usually go to have fun and forget about the real world. This therefore refers to how they wanted to create a place of their own, away from everyone else. My production also represents the LGBT+ community as the narrative talks about a lesbian relationship.
2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
Cross-media branding is used to promote the artist across the products (music video, website, digipak) as well as allowing the fans to associate the products with the artist’s image using Gauntlett’s theory of identity. This is achieved by following a certain pattern all through out the three products. For example using the same colour scheme and font consistently all through out.
Synergy is created by using a combination of different linked products to promote each other. For example in the upper right hand corner of the website you have several icons of different social media platforms from Lewis Capaldi promoting his new CD. In this case, synergy is used to create a recognisable image of the artist, which the audience can pin-point and remember easily. This is carefully done through the colour scheme and typography used throughout all three media products.
The music video is the main product, which uses colours and props that can also be found in the other products. For example, the main character is the centre of attention in all the three products as there are photos of her both in the digipak and in the artist’s website. The colour scheme of black and white can be found in all products, creating a link between them and therefore a sense of branding. I decided to stick to the basic natural colour scheme used in the music video and avoid any type of filter as the main focus of the three products is to make it visually pleasing.
Across the media products, which all look similar, I also use the same font (Impact).
For example in the digipak I use photos from scenes in the music video. The CD cover is the first scene ever seen of the main character in the bath. This is key as it emphasises the importance of the scenes in the chorus and how it has a meaning behind it. I decided to add the name of the album curved (just as in the back cover) but this time without the line as it didn't look good with the interior design of the digipak. I decided to use a dark colour that is in harmony with the tones of the photo, a dark red that integrates the word perfectly.
3. How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be distributed as real media products?
The indie genre is usually enjoyed by the youth, starting from age 12 up until 25 approximately. Many indie tracks are narrative based stories which discuss relationships and life, something that is very relatable when it comes to people this age.
The music video, would engage with the audience for several reasons. The lyrics and its use of symbolisation for example the bath scenes symbolising the break up due to the dark lightning and the countryside scenes symbolising the happy moments due to the high key lighting. It touches the topics of relationships and breakups, which is a commonly used theme in popular culture, due to it being relatable to a wider audience. This creates an emotional connection with the audience, who might have gone through similar experiences. The way it is filmed, mainly using medium shots where the main character looks straight into the camera and makes direct eye contact with the viewer creates an emotional connection, making them unable to take their eyes off screen. To make it even more relatable and appealing to the youthful audience, the main characters are two teenage girls.
For the artist’s website I followed the convention of having a top header with the different sites that the website can differ you to, for example tour dates and the shop. Following Gauntlett's theory, the words are short and easy to read, making it straight forward and quick for the audience to access if they want to. Social media links are situated on the right hand corner of the website as icons. This makes it very visual and easy for the audience to click on the one they want to access. On the tour window the audience will have access to all the tour dates with all the locations that he will be performing live. Just by clicking on top of them it will take them to ticket-master using synergy where they will be able to select what type of concert ticket they want. They are able to buy the album in the “media” tab by clicking the "Buy Album” option. They can also share it on the social media platforms (creating word of mouth) by clicking "Share Album". This is very important as it adds to the marketing campaign and gives the audience the feeling of having different options about what happens after listening to it.
The digipak’s front and back cover images are strong with clear understanding of codes and conventions. It targets the audience as it is juvenile and eye-catching due to the contrast between the blue and the yellow. Also it stars the main character, a teenage girl wearing Vans and very dark clothes, creating fluency all throughout the digipak as the main colours are black and white. Moreover the way she is staring into the camera makes an instant connection with the buyer. The setting of the digipak is giving a wider overview of where part of the music video is filmed, therefore giving a sneak peak of the official music video. Moreover, the way there are two song lyrics written over the inside images is key as the buyer is able to sing along to the songs while reading the lyrics.
The marketing and distribution of the real media products would be done by the record label that the artist is signed with. Lewis Capaldi is signed with Virgin EMI Records, which is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Being signed to a big record label makes it easier to promote and distribute his products, because they have access to the mass audience using different channels. For example, Virgin EMI Records has their own website where they promote their artists and include links to their official social platforms, as well as a YouTube Channel where they post videos of their artists and promote their new materials.
Marketing a new song or album can also be done through social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, as they are mostly accessed by my target audience due to the age range.
4. How did you integrate technologies -software, hardware and online – in this project?
In order to do all the research needed to create both the major and minor tasks I had to do a lot of research in the internet of different music genres in order to know what type of codes and conventions I had to follow. I analysed several music videos from YouTube, including “New Rules” by Dua Lipa and “Single” by the Neighbourhood. All of the research can be found on an online blog which I created using the platform “WIX”.
When shooting the music video I used the camera Canon EOS 4000D along with a tripod for the scenes where I needed to film the rays of the sun as it caught the light better. I also used my iPhone 8 which can record 4K 60fps scenes for close ups as it was easier to move around. It really managed to record all the small details.
To edit the footage I used iMovie as I found it very straight forward. I had to retouch some of the colour scheme on certain clips as it looked too dark, specially in the bath scenes. Moreover, I used a 10% slow motion in all the clips in order to exaggerate and dramatise her movements, for example when she blinked. Furthermore to download the song “bruises” I had to use an online mp3 converter.
For the photos of the digipak I used the camera as it had better quality in terms of photography. To edit them I used two different apps, VSCO and PicsArt. I retouched the lighting and added grain both to the front and back cover as it created a more laid back look. For the back cover I decided to used Photoshop to manipulate the front cover image and rub the main character out of the photo. It was a long process and very tricky but in the end it was worth it. I had to do the same with on one of the inside images in the digipak as I didn’t like how the house in the background looked so I decided to manipulate the image and rub it out too. Moreover, Photoshop was used to add the text and all the records’ logos plus the barcode seen in the digipak’s back cover.
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