2. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how
do they represent social groups or issues?
For my A2’s portfolio I decided to create a music video. I chose the
song “Cool girl” by Tove Lo. The Genre of the song is Electropop.
Electropop is a musical genre which combines electronic music and
pop music. Often with simple, catchy hooks and simple dance beats.
It is characterized by a distinctive low frequency synthesizers which
might variously be described as crisp, crunchy, crackly, fuzzy, etc.
Some of the conventions of electropop music are fast-cut-montage,
which provides a professional look. It should be narrative based and it
should have a concept. It should appear quite modern and bright.
The atmosphere should be light hearted and relaxed. There should be
a use of bright colors throughout the video. In electropop videos, the
relationship between the lyrics and the performance is not so
common and is rarely used within such music videos.
3. In my music video, I have shown a girl who has gone from being
victim to psychotic. Dancing, partying and boys are an escape for her
from her depression. She wants to build the “cool girl” exterior to
overcome her depression. Her intensity of suffering can be seen in the
way she has become. It can be shown in her crazy makeup and
colorful clothes. It indicates the desperateness that she has to
overcome her despair. My product does not challenge any
conventions as it completes almost all conventions of an electropop
music video. There are bright colors present throughout the video. A
concept, as described above also exists. I have also used fast cuts to
make the video appear more upbeat. My music video does not
challenge any conventions and completes almost all of them.
4. I decided to make a conventional video because of the narrative that I had
in mind. To portray the narrative through my music video in an accurate
manner I had to stick with the conventions of an electropop music video. If I
would have challenged the conventions, the message that I was trying to
send would have come off incorrectly. I emphasized on my message
because it was important for me to send it through my video and for that I
decided that I will stick with the conventions and also because I have seen
various conventional electropop videos and I was really impressed by how
they turned out. The song “applause” sung by Lady Gaga is also an
electropop song. She sent out a message, she states, “Applause is very
meaningful song. It addresses what many think of celebrities today. That we
“do it” for attention. But some of us are artists in this group called celebrity
and what we create doesn’t live on unless there is an audience to remember
it.
5. Entertainment makes people happy, I live for the “applause”, to know that I have spread that.” Lady
Gaga’s music video was extremely entertaining and it also sent out a clear message. Her music video
was also conventional and I loved every bit of it which is why I decided with making a conventional
music video. Another conventional electropop music video that I was inspired by was of Kesha’s song,
“Tik Tok”. Kesha also sent out a message through her song and the music video. This song is the first
single from Kesha’s debut album, “Animal”. In an interview with esquire magazine, Kesha explained the
original inspiration for this decadent number. "One morning I just woke up, and I live in this house with
I-don't-even-know-how-many roommates - it's this Laurel Canyon house with seven rooms and
roommates fluctuating monthly.”
6. She added: "Well it was the house The Eagles recorded Hotel California in.
So it's just this huge hippy... There are a bunch of hippies who come in and
out, and there are all these people sleeping on the couches. I don't really
care, I don't mind it. But I woke up one day after we went to a party, and I
was surrounded by ten of the most beautiful women you've ever seen. And
I was like, I'm like P. Diddy - there's no man like this in the entire world. So
that became the first line of the new single, and we just went from there.“
Tik Tok is basically about partying and just being young. It is mostly about
having fun and partying, expressing yourself and also letting loose once in a
while. It is also about erasing all the negativities from one’s life for one
night. The conventionality of this electropop video and the success of it was
why I decided on creating a conventional electropop music video.
7. My product highlights the social issue of depression and isolation. Many
people, be it youth or senior citizens, undergo depression. Depression is
something very serious and if continues without treatment, it can also cost
someone their life. Depression can be caused by a number of reasons.
Losing someone you love, too much stress, isolation, etc. Everyone has
different ways of coping up with it. Many choose to hide it and let it eat
them away silently, some are so affected by it that it turns that psychotic.
The same is the case in my music video where a girl who is trying to escape
her depression finds comfort in dancing and acting crazy. Social isolation is
also one of the major reasons that can certainly lead to depression because
any important unmet need that is suppressed usually results in depression.
People who might’ve went through this or maybe still are going through it
can relate to my music video on another level.
8. Recent studies showed that the number of suicides and
depressed teenagers have been increasing rapidly. In fact,
depression and suicide are the third leading cause of death.
Studies show that at least 90% of the teenagers who kill
themselves have depression. The data that is available right now
portrays that overall, most countries have a suicide rate of
7.4/100,1000. Recent studies also indicate that up to 15% of
those who are clinically depressed die due to suicide. This is the
issue that my product highlights and I intend on creating an
effect with the message that I am sending out through this
music video. It’s a call for all those who are going through this
and how it is okay for them to find comfort in whatever way
that helps them.
9. How do the elements of your production work together to
create a sense of branding?
The process involved in generating a unique label and image for the product in the spectator’s mind,
mainly through a consistent theme present in all elements of production. There are three elements of
my production that creates a sense of branding which are, digipak, website and the video itself. For
the website, I used a background of abstract triangles that portray the state of mind the girl is in. I
used the same background on the front page of my digipak. The picture that I used for the cover of
both my digipak and my website is from one of the scenes of my music video. I chose that particular
picture because it is the one that can relate to the video the most due to the crazy makeup that she
has on and the face that she is making. The picture speaks volumes about the character and the
music video on the whole. The background and the picture both create a sense of branding for my
music video. The abstract background matches with my concept as the girl in my video is shown
mentally unstable. In trying to escape depression, she has gone psychotic.
10. These are the two pictures which are present in
the website, video and the digipak. I am sure
that this will create a sense of branding and
portray a specific theme which is instability of
mind. The name of the album is chaotic which
also relates to the theme of the music video.
The colour scheme for my video, website and
the digipak are bright colours which is why I
have selected this particular picture of the girl.
It includes her crazy makeup and bright
coloured clothes.
11. How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be
distributed as real media products
It is a thought-provoking task to satisfy the audience and to be aware of what they exactly desire.
The age group that my video caters to is mostly youth. Even the elderly might relate to it because of
the social issue that it is highlighting which is depression. Getting your product to engage with the
viewers is a difficult task. While planning my music video, I kept in mind about the likes and dislikes
of the audience. I conducted a survey (some of the pictures of the surveys are mentioned below) to
decide between the options that I had. I interrogated people about which genre they would be
attentive in if they were to see a music video, which genre would they relish the most. After getting
the outcome of the survey I decided with electropop music as mostly they were interested in
something upbeat and catchy and a video that would not bore them.
12. These are some of the results of the surveys that I conducted (add pictures of the interview))))
13.
14. After deciding with genre, I decided to think of a narrative. A narrative that is both entertaining and
also sends out a message. This was one of the most challenging tasks yet it was doable. I decided that I
would go with the same concept as the original one because it highlights a social issue of depression
and isolation. It basically shows how girl goes from being a victim to being psychotic. This will attract
many viewers as it is something many people can relate to. Statistically proven, there is a large amount
of people especially youth who suffer from depression and isolation. They will not only enjoy my music
video but they will be able to relate to it on a personal level. The unorthodox representation of the
character will also be of interest to the masses. There are some strategies that are used to promote
music videos. Some of them are through social media, through certain studios etc.
15. In my opinion the most effective one will be the use of social media. I
would want to upload my music video on YouTube and will share it
on other various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Social media these days has the most power. It can spread certain
contents in minutes. I am hoping that through it I can spread music
video to the targeted audience and would be able to make a change
and also be entertaining at the same time.
16. How did you integrate technologies software, hardware and
online in this project?
There are many technological skills as well that were developed and improved upon from my last
product. When both the videos are compared, significant differences are visible between them. For
editing my music video I used the software Premiere Pro. This is a development because last year,
for my AS project, I used Windows Movie Maker. But for my music video, I took help from online
tutorials about Premiere Pro and used it for editing. It was not easy and it required a lot of effort as it
is learning a whole new software from scratch but I was successful in doing so. The camera that I
used this year to shoot my music video is Sony DSLR AX3000. It is the same as to what I used in my
last project, but this year, I learned new features in it such as adding black and white effect while
recording, which formerly I wasn’t aware of. I also learned about new terms such as rendering and
what it does. I also used the camera very creatively this time i.e. a shot in my music video had an
effect of chaos in it and I created that by moving the camera up and down.
17. I also took some online help and researched more about how to perform
fast cuts professionally and I did get results that really helped me. I didn’t
use much of online resources as there was no use of them as such. In
order to shoot, I not only needed a camera and a cast but a tripod too. A
tripod is the stand on which the camera is placed while shooting to avoid
unwanted jerks. I used this because I wanted my shots to turn out
perfectly. It got a bit tricky when I had to fit the tripod in smaller spaces
like in the scenes that were shot in a lounge but I was still able to do it.
