Creative Critical Reflection

Word Document of AICE Media Studies AS CCR

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

The completed music video challenged the conventions that were initially thought of. The genres that could have been used included romance or comedy. This was a common genre that seemed more familiar and easy to replicate. However, after careful consideration I realized I wanted the music video to have more of an eerie storyline, therefore, the music video genre turned into mystery. This change in genre was influenced by my fascination with the storyline of films and music videos in the mystery genre. These films always had a compelling story that kept the readers hooked and I wanted the music video to have a more interesting story that left the audience wanting more. This music video represents the social issue of people who have been victims of being kidnapped and the people trying to solve their cases. The music video follows two girls who go to the park to hang out as they usually do. When one friend sees that it’s getting late they say goodbye and walk home. When one of the friends is at home trying to contact her friend she notices that her friend has not been answering any calls or texts. She calls the police but they are too busy and are not cooperating with the information she gives them. This friend takes matters into her own hands and proceeds to try and find her friend. This shows how the video touches on the issue of kidnapping and how it was displayed in the music video. 

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

This music video engages with the audience because people are usually compelled to want to finish a fast paced story with the protagonist trying to solve the mystery, this music video shares those qualities. This music video will also engage the audience because the music video gives the audience small pieces of information that they will use to try and solve the mystery themselves, promoting more engagement. This would make people watch it over other videos because it entertains the audience while pushing them to see if they can solve what will happen next. This can be seen as more compelling than a video just shown for amusement. If this music video was to be shared on a professional platform I would release it on Tik Tok and YouTube. I would release this on Tik Tok because its users are typically more likely to understand the concept as there are mainly people from generation z on the app. This would help the music video gain traction which could help promote it. Then I would post the music video to YouTube because most mainstream music videos are released there and after the video has gained traction on Tik Tok many people will want to visit YouTube to view it. 

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

Throughout this project my production skills increased as I was able to not only come up with the idea of what the music video was about, but also the production of the music video. During the beginning of the process I didn’t want to portray myself as the boss of anyone, I simply wanted to help during the process. This is because I didn’t expect the workload of the music video to be as demanding as it was. When coming up with the idea I learned that I needed to be more firm in my opinions and that I needed to push and explain what I wanted and why I wanted it. When planning to film I also realized that it was necessary for me to insert myself into my teammate’s schedules so that the work could actually get accomplished. I learned the most from the filming portion of the music video. While filming I realized I didn’t like the way some of the scenes were filmed or what I was doing in those scenes. I pointed these scenes out and reshot them. I also learned how to be a better director. Even though I was an actress, sometimes I still needed to direct what the next scenes should look like and how we should use the camera to show a certain angle. After the filming of the scenes I took on the editing, I learned that I should be taking the initiative and that if I didn’t discuss with the team what the next step was, then it might take a longer time to accomplish. When posting the final music video I learned an easier way to embed the video from YouTube onto blogger and I learned how to change the thumbnail of my video to something that depicted the music video better. 

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

Throughout this project I integrated many different sources of technology. The first being my computer. During planning, I chose to use my computer to help me find sources of inspiration and research other music videos on the internet. When filming I used my phone over a camera because it was a more practical option, using a camera would mean having to bring it to export the videos from the camera onto the phone and then I would need to repeat the process on my computer. A phone is also more transportable than a camera, a phone can be moved anywhere easily to record and move to the next location. I also used my phone to communicate with my group to discuss ideas and times that we could meet and film or edit. When editing the video footage I chose to use CapCut because to me it was an easier tool to use than iMovie. I could move around the footage and effectively cut and add effects to clips without a lot of frustration, while with iMovie I know I would be more confused. This is because I already had background knowledge on how to use CapCut from the initial commercial we made, therefore I was already well versed in its features which made it my choice to use from the beginning. Lastly, I had used blogger to upload all of my footage because it has proved to be a reliable external source for posting all of my content in relation to all of the AICE Media Studies work I have uploaded.