QUESTION 1

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

My product is used to represent how someone on its own can get through a tough situation. I have represented this across the three products as they are represented by the main actress which is me and it is denoting her loneliness and her not having someone by her side. Additionally, the main actress being a woman and being the only character shown in the video is also connoting how she is self-sufficient and also connoting the difficulties a woman can have. As Judith Butler stated, women and gender in media are always represented in a certain type of way, and Butler believes that gender is what you do not how you are. In my music video I have tried to represent women in a way they are not stereotyped, and also showed her in different situations where she is well and badly dressed to show the contrast. As the main character is the only one of the videos it gives importance to the female gender and it also gives importance to the way in which they are represented. Moreover, her being a teenager also highlights the message of the song and the lyrics, as it is talking about the problems of not having someone by your side and being represented by a teenager gives the significance to the meaning of the music video. 

 

QUESTION 2

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of

branding?

Using a brand identity or house style is very important in order to build an identity of the artist and the audience to know them for that. What I have done in order for my products to combine together, is to create an aesthetic which transmits the message of the song in my products. For example, in the digipak I have used a font which is transmitting the sense of sadness and calmness but also the gender of the song. I used this font throughout all the digipak in order for it to link with each other and make sense. Also in the digipak I added the photos in the front cover, inside left and back cover in black and white and the other in colour in order to communicate the message of her emotional state, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. The way in which I have designed my digipak is used to sell to my target audience as it is made for my target audience to engage with that genre. In my social media page I have tried to link everything to the gender and to the digipak, I did this by uploading photos of the artist (Mabel Smith), which fitt with the genre and also uploading photos of the digipak to promote the album. I think that adding my digipak to my social media was a good idea in order to promote and this was to spread the chances of selling the digipak. 

 

QUESTION 3

How do your products engage with the audience?

My products are specifically made to engage my audience as I took my target audience in order to create something that could be appealing to them and to capture their attention.when showing my video to my peers  and also to focus groups of people inside my target audience, they commented that the video was able to reflect the idea of the song. They also said that the video was engaging and it made them want to see more of that artist. This helped me get an idea of what my target audience, which was young adults, liked about my music video. I also had negative comments when I showed my first draft, such as to include new shots in order for it to not be as repetitive and also to not have longer shots. I used these comments in order to make my music video better and more engaging, and I filmed more clips which made the video better than before. I also had the help of my brother which was the main audience I wanted my video to be targeted in and also because he works in the production of music video industry. Additionally, as stated by Henry Jenkins, fans are active, creative, critical and also socially active in relation to media. This is why it was important for me to have comments from my audience as that could make the audience engage more as a fan. 

 

QUESTION 4

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge

conventions?

Steve Neales believes that every media product of the same genre or type should have conventions that make them similar, this makes the audience identify what it is from each genre and keep the audience interested. For the research that I did I tried to do it based on my genre in order for it to make sense and also if I got ideas it had to be in the same style as the ones of this genre. I firstly did research from music videos, and I analysed ‘Stay’ by Rihanna, ‘Say Something’ by A Great Big World and ‘Skinny Love’ by Birdy. These music videos helped me get the idea of what artists with similar genres do, for example the colours used, they all used dark and neutral colours in order to convey the idea of sadness. Another convention that I saw that was common is how neutral there is as there are no dances and a lot of shots of the singers singing the song, including a lot of close ups in order to see the facial expressions clearly. For the research of my digipak I analysed ‘Unapologetic’ by Rihanna and ‘Is There Anybody Out There’ by A Great Big World. What I say by analysis these digipaks is how different there were depending on their music, has Rihanna had a more upbeating music in that album she made a more funky digipak, and on the other had A Great Big World had a more calm and classic music they had a more mystical and magical. I used the idea of Rihanna’s digipak of using the photo in colour and in the back in black and white. For the social media research I analysed the websites of Alicia Keys and The Weekend, as I liked the way in which they used their website in order to promote their music. What I found out by doing this research is the way in which they link their merchandise and also their tour tickets for their fans to be able to keep updated on everything, also how they have a link to the news where the artist can show the awards they win and other news. All the research that I did helped me get ideas of the conventions that I had to use for my product in order to make it more appealing to my target audience.