Creative Critical Reflection Questions: Music Video

 

1.        How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues? 

 

             I used many common conventions found in past and present music videos, to complete my project. While they may not have been as perfected as today’s music videos, the conventions I used are still present. Like in many romance themed music videos that display diverse loves, I displayed a love between two uncommon individuals. Rather than the common happy, flowering love, I portrayed a sad, dying love. The love was first displayed and then shown to diminish fast and abruptly. I also used close ups to establish a better connection with the main character of my video. The close up provided raw feelings, that allow the audience to truly understand what is going in inside the characters head as well as the story. My dog has a sad looking face, so it really benefitted my video when doing a close up. Music videos lack dialogue, which is usually made up for through facial expressions, but my actors were animals and did not have a profound amount of different expressions. To make up for the lack of facial expressions, I used many filters and effects that portrayed a specific type of atmosphere for each scene. For one specific sad scene I used rain, and when a happy loving scene was shown I used 3d hearts. Due to my actors I didn’t have to worry about certain conventions like costumes and make up.

 

2.       How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

 

My product does not directly engage with the audience, as it is a story telling piece. Rather than directly engaging with the audience, the audience is told a story through the lyrics of the song and scenes displayed through the video. The lyrics tell a story of hope and sad realities, and the video applies context to the lyrics by showing a young couple struggling like the lyrics entail.  Based on the filters and actions of the video the audience can grasp the context and story. I used two kinds of filters that have the surrounding of an old video camera being played, to show the past (when they were happy). One of the filters was even in black and white. While most of the video wasn’t as straightforward as the lyrics, there were some parts that represented the song exactly. When the song mentioned the moon, I displayed a rotating image of the moon that was later faded into one of the lovers. As this is a music video, it would be distributed through online streaming services like YouTube or Vevo. You Tube is a big market for many musicians and serves as an outlet for branding and advertising. While the song itself may not stay secluded into this specific app and would branch off into music apps like SoundCloud, the music video itself would primarily be streamed and distributed through YouTube. YouTube allows watchers to share, comment, and like the video and can even turn out profit if enough attention is obtained. If the video were displayed anywhere else it would most likely be through a TV network, playing in place of commercial advertisements.

 

 

 

3.       How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

 

My production skills developed incredibly throughout this project. I learned how to utilize many apps that I didn’t know how to before. Since Music Videos convey emotions and a certain atmosphere, I got to use a lot more functions on my camera that I previously didn’t use. For example, I used the Toy Camera effect which I’ve never used in a project or for personal use before. The function set a sad and lonely atmosphere that was perfect for the aim of my video. I learned to portray different kinds of emotions through actions, scenes, and editing when there is a lack of dialogue and context. In the last project I worked on my persuasion and propaganda through video, but I can now portray feelings to an audience rather than push a feeling of want onto the audience. I was more in touch with the art of video making. I decided which effects and scenes would best fit the mood I was going for in a way that would be clear for the audience to understand and empathize with. In music video production, success is not only due to the song and its catchiness but also the relatedness and attributes that could be shared with the audience. The goal is to make the audience say “yeah I get that” especially when a music video is romantically themed, and I believe I have improved and eliciting this kind of feeling of empathy from an audience. I have also improved in editing my videos. With a music video, there comes a lot more effects, most of which weren’t in my commonly used editing software. I even went as far as using the Microsoft PowerPoint app to edit a snippet of my video. I recently discovered how to convert PowerPoint slides into videos and my first attempt at doing so was through this project. I took many first attempts through this project like recording and editing through my phone, and I discovered many uses that changed the production of my music video for the better.

 

 

4.       How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

 

I used multiple pieces of technology and software to complete this project. In previous projects I used one to two apps to edit my videos, but as a music video, the app I frequently used wouldn’t be enough. Music Videos have fluid transitions between the scenes in the videos, and while the editing software did have a lot of options, Microsoft Video Editor didn’t apply transitions between scenes. I used the Microsoft Video Editor as my base editing software where I trimmed, adjusted the speed, and arranged all the footage I had on my recording devices. To record, I used my Canon Power Shot ELPH 180 Digital Camera and for the first time, my camera phone. Throughout this project I used my phone for both editing and filming. There were specific apps that could only be downloaded on a mobile device, so I found it best to simply record through my phone. The footage I recorded on my digital camera first needed to be uploaded to my laptop then later uploaded to my phone. To edit I used the social media app Instagram, as it has many filters and does not come with a water mark. Another unfamiliar editing site I used was Clip Champ. I used this site for transitions between scenes. Once I edited each thing individually in these different sites, I eventually brought everything back to Microsoft Video Editor and finalized everything through that app. I downloaded the song I used through a YouTube converter and edited the music (trim, fade out) through Wave Pad audio editor. I used many effects provided in the Editing apps like rose petals and hearts, as a way to portray the love between the two individuals displayed. While filming natural lighting wasn’t always the best so I would often use my 10-inch LED Ring Light to brighten a scene.