Critical Creative Reflection Blog

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

  The genre of our music video was similar, if not the same as the “inspirational” videos. This can be interpreted by the establishing shots of all videos, including ours. Introducing some kind of skeptical or uneasy feeling towards the beginning. The reason why this was kept the same was because our group felt it necessary as Halloween was right around the corner, and mystery was filling the air. All songs from our previous research blog were not only in the same genre, but also by the same artist. So, putting it all together into something of our creation was found rather easy. Our video represents, or is directed towards the younger generation. Although it was fun to film something like this, we felt it was important to emphasize that nowadays stalkers are much more common and something to be aware of. Dealing with more of the social aspect of things, it felt fitting to do a video like this. Something that younger teens or adults can enjoy, but also something that spreads awareness to the issue. Especially with things such as meeting people online and social media in general, it is becoming increasingly more common for situations such as these. By sticking to the genre of the previous videos and acknowledging stalking as common, our music video turned out exactly how we hoped. 

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

  Our video keeps the audience on their toes, it is not something that can be easily anticipated. Earlier scenes forebody later scenes, which is then only then realized by the end. Meaning the audience will be entertained throughout the entire video, not just the beginning, which is seen in many other videos. The humorous aspects every now and then are also entertaining. As there are many suspenseful parts, within these we tried to create something funny. To not only relax the audience, but to prepare them for what is coming next. Spoiler alert, it's not something that is expected. As a real media text, this would be released on a popular Youtube channel. But, the catch is it would be a series. I don’t think it would be distributed on an application such as Tiktok simply because it is a longer video. But, it wouldn’t be released on something like MTV or Netflix either, because it shouldn’t be extended in time any more than it already is. So, Youtube would be the perfect fit. Many people who decide to watch shows, movies, or even tiktoks aren't there for long. So by uploading a shorter music video with both thrilling and hysterical moments, not only keeps the audience engaged, but present as well.

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

   Coming up with the idea for this music video was not easy. But, surrounding myself with creative people was the first step. It did not come all together at once, bit by bit ideas were slowly putting themselves together. I found it best to write these downs. During this process, brainstorming is at its highest and I was then able to integrate ideas into one another, with my partner's help of course. Many things were learnt from the assignment, some being technological and others being student related. First things first, I will emphasize the importance of planning. It is such an overlooked process that will only help you in the end. Procrastination is a real thing, but by planning dates and times of when our group was to film only aided in avoiding procrastinating. Through this video, I also learned many things about filming: the angles, the shots, and the timing. Everything comes into play to make an aesthetically pleasing video. Unfortunately, I was doing much of the acting in every scene, so I did not get to see a lot from the perspective of being behind the camera. Despite this, I still learned a lot. The editing stages seemed to be where I learned most. Coming into this course, I was the last person to come to for anything editing wise. My partner was the opposite and I learned the most from here. Uploading the shots was the easiest part. On the other hand, there were transitions and importing the song. It took a second to get a hang of, but once I did it came much faster. I still struggle with importing the song, but at this point I know how to do it, and it can only go up from here. 

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

  To start, we used a phone to film everything. The reason we chose our phone over something like a camera was because it was much easier to maintain, edit, and redo a clip if we felt the need. My partners and I were also not always with each other, so if we edited a clip or wanted an opinion on something we were working on it was a second away from being sent. Rather than taking a few hours to develop the shots, and then sending it over email. It was also just a matter of easy access. None of us own a high tech camera, or any of its equipment, but what we each did have was a phone. Once everything was filmed on an iPhone 14 pro it was uploaded to the editing platform, iMovie. The reason we chose iMovie was because all of us had an experience with this application before. Whether it was from personal usage or a school assignment, it was a mutual agreement between the three of us to use iMovie. This way if one of us missed a day, or got their phone taken another member was able to step in and know what they are doing. To blog our process, we used blogger. When we were first introduced into the class, this is what we were taught to use, and it stuck. Our group knows the ins and outs of both uploading and simply blogging on this site. So, using blogger, iMovie, and an iPhone to both film and blog this assignment it was made much easier. Overall, it was a learning curve with technology, but this Music Video aspired creativity all around.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MMp1BrK_8tX3P36nktda9V4Ti4EWL_BfwU5njrJWGGc/edit