Category: Creative Critical Reflection 3

Advanced Portfolio – Critical Reflection 3

• How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
• How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
• How do your products represent social groups or issues?
• How do your products engage with the audience?

 

Creating all of our products, we had to ensure they were all aesthetic and followed the same theme of the pop genre. Our music video, digipak and social media page had to create a sense of branding in order to draw the target audience in, by having looked at many different role model music videos, influential social media pages and pop album covers we were able to get inspiration as well as understand how to create successful products. At the start of our research we developed ideas on what image we were going to portray our star as: feminine, powerful, attractive and free, which were key drivers for the representation across all our products. In our mission statement we talked about how our star has an energetic personality and how she was going to communicate and interact with her fans, this will be through her media text and songs. All of our products we created represented our star in the way we wanted to and enticed the audience into the preferred reading of the text we wanted to portray. By including the ‘repertoire of elements’ (Lacey) e.g. the same colour palette throughout all three products, stereotypical fonts for the pop genre as well as how we used the camera and editing to represent our star powerfully yet elegantly. We managed to create a sense of branding through our production work. We followed the theory of De Saussure and how he ‘suggested that any media can be interpreted by a sign’. An example of how we executed this was: for our digipak, we used a rose which was the signifier which signifies love. With the rose pointing to the reader it could also imply how the star is trying to be as close to her fans and connect with them.

 

My partner and I have shown continuity in all three products because we have represented our star image, genre and themes throughout which shows our branding ideas and outcomes. An example of this would be how we have kept the MES and technical elements very similar; in the music video we have used very natural makeup and a colourful blue dress which is a semic code (Barthes) for freedom and confidence, the blue then occurs in our social media page for her tour dates which could relate to her confidence and that they will sell. However the target audience may interpret the media text differently (Barthes) and may get different conceptions.

 

Our brand is identifiable and can be interpreted as a pop genre easily. Our social media page indicates this when our star is collaborating with ‘pretty little thing’, this is a very feminine brand and is aimed at women aged 16-24 which correlates to the demographic we have chosen to see our content and media text.

 

An example of what many pop artists largely stick to is lighthearted themes, natural tones, glamorous makeup, bold, colourful outfits which stand out to the target audience. In the video, ‘Came here for love’ –Sigala, Ella Eyre; it utilised some of the generic conventions of MES with bright, natural lighting. It connotes an upbeat feeling and is very expressive. The bright clothing with hair down shows that the creators are trying to portray the stars as laid back yet energetic as well as freedom. This music video we have analysed shows how it’s conventionally recognisable to the pop genre. Altman would suggest understanding the genre gives you the framework and denotes it is the blueprint for a successful video.  I learnt from watching pop music videos that me and my partner had to include the ‘repertoire of elements’ (Lacey) to satisfy the audience. The target audience will often be looking for specific features and certain aspects that outline the pop genre, however they want to see differences within the text they are consuming otherwise they will lose interest (cultural competence). This meant that me and my partner had to impress the audience by coming up with unique and fun ideas which would attract the audience. While looking at official pop artist videos, we were looking out for how they used the repertoire of elements (Lacey)in order to gain attention from the audience and draw in the fans. These were: star image – how she was represented, the themes revolving performance and narrative e.g. what attitudes and values was she portraying, the production techniques of camera and editing, the lyrics and tempo of the music and if it flowed with the theme they were executing. Another important element is the iconography – this relates to the costumes, props and locations. These had an impact when coming to the production stage as we had a greater understanding regarding what elements to include. We also knew what we were up against so we had to show our skills greatly and sell our star in order to please the audience. 

 

We also had to look at the overarching conventions of lip syncing, editing to the beat and selling the star in an authentic manner. Lacey would suggest this is vital to creating a successful pop video as it includes the ‘repertoire of elements’. Many female pop artists sing to the camera outdoors for their videos which suggests me and my partner have stuck to the key technical elements of the genre and have understood what the audience like.  

 

We aimed to make our music video conventional but different at the same time, this was to ‘wow’ the audience. An example of how we engaged the audience was by our narrative. Because of the close up shots and reaction shots we took, they expressed an emotional feeling as you could see the tears on her face. We thought this was effective as it really showed the audience our narrative. Our research impacted this as from looking at other music videos e.g ‘sigala – sweet loving’ with close up shots, we managed to understand the concept of the camera and what many music videos use to make it successful. Even though their narrative was much more upbeat, the shots we wanted to get were quite similar to this e.g. to show the stars personality more, connect with the audience as well as let them see the emotion through facial expressions. 

 

As a producer, we wanted our audience to accept the text but also see something different. We decided to mainly follow the conventions of the pop genre to ensure we had safety, however we also made the decision to challenge the conventions slightly to create a buzz for the audience. We did this by creating pessimism through our narrative which some fans may not like but hopefully they should be intrigued.

 

In order to create a successful digipak, we had to research multiple different examples in order to get an idea how to present our album and represent the pop star and genre. Our inspiration was from Dua Lipa’s album ‘Be the one’. By analysing this we were able to see what the target audience liked so therefore we incorporated different aspects but changed it to be unique and our own, this included looking at fonts, colours etc that are usually used for pop artist products. The reason why we have explored pop artists is to understand what repertoire of elements (Lacey) to use as well as understand the media language to represent the star. This can also be done through the using the media language of fonts, colours, images and costumes etc.  Reflecting on my digipak, me and my partner have used the technical conventions which represent the pop genre. In mine and my partners digipak we have followed these conventions by using stereotypical costumes, our star was in a red dress which shows femininity, she was also revealing very impassive facial expressions, this follows many modern day models like in vogue magazines and depicts the pop genre very well. However, Barthes would argue these cultural codes may encourage an alternative reading from what he calls an active audience as they may not know how to decode the references.  The fonts we used for our digipak needed to follow the technical conventions otherwise it would look out of place.  On our front cover, ‘matti’ encourages a connection as it conveys a symbolic code (Barthes) of a handwritten personal signature from her as a star to the audience. Our star is portrayed in a feminine and powerful way.  Another example of how we have engaged the audience is by using added handwritten fonts for the song titles on the back cover, this is personal and symbolises (Barthes) that the audience will feel closer to her and her journey. This could also be relatable as it is like she is writing to her audience and fans can feel engaged which is therefore ordinary.  Barthes talks about  narrative codes. My partner and I have been able to show meaning through the symbolic and semic code. A few examples from my digipak would be how her hand gestures present an elegant image, this symbolises a character who is kind, soft and caring. Another would be how her long blonde flowing hair is a semic code. This could signify freedom. It could also portray her as a young, contemporary, self assured woman.

 

We represented the star simultaneously, both ordinary yet extraordinary (Dyer). We did this by attaining mid shots of the star, we shot in both natural lighting outside as well as soft lighting in the studio. We represented our star ordinarily by getting her to wear naturalistic makeup, but also conveyed an extraordinary image with the props e.g. rose which is a symbolic code for love and romance, this was to add effect and more meaning through the power of the object. 

 

When my partner and I came to set up our social media page, we had to think about how we can attract and interest the audience as well as consider the essential marketing concepts e.g. desire and call to action (AIDA).  We had to take into consideration what information we were going to include as well as how we were going to entertain the fans with our content choice. An example of how we have tried to draw in the target audience and make our account stand out is by using vibrant colours. This is shown in the highlight stories as well as our posts e.g. new upcoming album cover. For that we used purple with added glowing strips to entice the audience into the post. This was to attract the young, contemporary audiences. The theme we wanted to follow was a vibrant, energetic and upbeat feeling. In addition we wanted to attract the attention of our chosen demographic, 16- 25 year olds, who are primarily females. 

 

As a prosumer, we all interact with other media texts as well as create our own. Shirky believes that there are no longer boundaries between audiences and producers as we are now expected to include and interact with products on the same level. In our social media page we distributed many posts which evidenced the uses and gratifications theory (Blumler and Katz). We structured our social media page around this and decided to include elements that we thought would attract the target audience and make it the most eye catching. The four Uses and Gratifications are social interaction, personal identity, information and entertainment. A few examples from our social media page would be: having the link in our star’s bio to her website where her upcoming events, tickets and merch can be purchased. This shows her key information which the audience can consume in order for them to be up to date with her journey. She entertains her fan base by including content e.g. holidays, behind the scenes, tour life and collabs. Our star has socially interacted with her target audience by including Q & A’s as well as responding to inquizitive comments on her posts. Her personality is expressed a lot through these forms of content and shows a positive persona. The way ‘matti’ portrays herself online (kind, genuine) could influence many and fans may shape their personal identity based on her as a role model. Our star has also collaborated with a fashion brand, pretty little thing which would make the audience feel emboldened. 

 

Individuals in society have different interests, interpretations as well as responses to certain media texts (Stuart Hall), this means that not all consumers will be interested in our social media page, this also means when we created, we had to express our page with stereotypical colours, body language and mostly mid shots to fit the pop genre. This also had an impact on how we wanted our star to be portrayed as we wanted her to look aesthetic and not just rushed shots of her. As a prosumer, my partner and I had to ensure we represented our star in the way we wanted and how we thought the target audience would want to see her. We encoded ideologies in the hope that there was a ‘preferred reading’ for our audience and that they were able to relate and be entertained by it. On the other hand Shirky says that the audience expect to be involved as the boundary between audiences and producers has eroded.