Critical Creative Reflection Blog

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


 The music video makes use of many conventions to effectively represent social groups. One of the most noticeable conventions is the sound. In the first scene of the video, the viewer can hear the ambient sound of the friend group conversing in the background. Also, the song All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA begins at the start of the second scene and continues to play the whole time as non-diegetic sound. Another distinguishable convention in the video is the usage of different angles and camera shots. For example, the video demonstrates tracking shots, medium-long shots, tilts, extreme close-ups, zooms, and many more features. An additional convention that was challenged was the usage of multiple settings. The various settings also portray different times of day, meaning changes in lighting, which add a nice contrast to the overview of the film. Overall, the use of various conventions adequately completes the music video with the needed detail and technique to properly portray the story.


 Furthermore, while there is no direct social issue, the music video does represent social groups. This is shown throughout the duration of the film as the main idea is that the group of friends found a photo book and are reliving all their fond memories together. Each scene of the video delineates a different memory that the friends share throughout the years of their friendship. The production goal was to have the viewer envision the scenes as a montage of the fun times the friends had together. With the utilization of the correct conventions, this goal was assuredly reached.


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


 The product engages with a range of audiences, including people of all ages. This is because it recalls the memories of a friend group. This recollection evokes the same emotions for whoever watches the film. Everyone, young and old, has experienced memories that they wish to relive. Therefore, this music video appeals to everyone. Also, the sudden and quick scene changes seize the attention of the audience as it continues to keep the audience engaged. The fast duration of this video and bright settings also add to this. 


 To continue, this music video would be distributed as a real media text through various platforms. A significant way that the video would be allocated is through social media. With the rise of various social media apps and websites such as YouTube and Instagram, media spreads widely all over the internet, and at a rapid pace. Uploading the video to one of these platforms could instantly grab the attention of social media users, especially if the video has a noticeable thumbnail. Moreover, it only takes one remarkable figure to acknowledge the music video and make the film more known. This is seen every day on various platforms. Another way the video could be shared is through advertising. Promoting videos is very common and it requires skill to sufficiently accomplish. By paying attention to the intended audience and what grabs their attention best, advertising could draw in many viewers. In general, the music video could be disseminated as a real media text in a plethora of ways.



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

My production skills developed significantly throughout this project. Before beginning this film, I had very little experience with filming and editing. My prior knowledge of filming a video comprised of producing short films with my siblings in elementary school. This whole process was still very new for me. However, my groupmate Kemora began the project with a lot of prior insight into filming. This was very beneficial to my group since Kemora taught me everything I needed to know. Initially, while filming, I was very intimidated by the thought of creating an entire music video. However, reflecting on the process, I can say that it was not nearly as difficult as I imagined. At first, I was very cautious with how I would set up the camera as well as which angles and shots to pick. Now, I am much more confident in filming. Also, as the project continued, I noticed how much more I was learning about media. I became more efficient with using the proper vocabulary words, such as the various editing and shot types. I watched my production skills develop further every single day. Even between filming different scenes I recognized improvement. For example, in the short time I had between filming the beach scene and the store scene, I noticed how I learned how to correctly film a tracking shot and wide shot. This includes getting the proper angles and zooms. Additionally, not only did my filming skills improve, but I developed a wider range of editing techniques. My prior editing knowledge consisted of creating the All About Me commercial. This provided me with some insight, but not too much, as that project consisted of editing pre-taken photos and videos, and this one included filming a whole video. This did not hold me back, as I still developed the necessary editing skills that I will use for the rest of my manufacturing career. I learned how to create special effects and how to make use of the editing tools provided by different editing software.


  1. How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?


 I integrated technology into this project in many ways. The most relevant way was through the app CapCut. CapCut is a downloadable app that makes editing videos easy and enjoyable. This is the main app I used to edit the video. I used the app on my iPhone. CapCut allowed me to upload every video and edit them accordingly with transitions and special effects. This app comes with many unique features that I would not have been able to incorporate if I used a different software. Some of these features include being able to zoom in and out artificially to crop some of the clips and having the ability to edit out certain parts I did not want to show in the final product. To continue, a type of hardware I used in this project was a printer. I used a printer to make the photobook, as I needed to print hard copies of the photos I intended to use. The usage of a printer allowed the photobook to look realistic as if the audience was actually going into the memories of the friends. I also made use of online websites to make the most out of my abilities. Using online technology, such as Google, allowed my groupmates and me to gather examples of different music videos in the same genre. This gave me a structured outline for how a music video should be formatted, which then gave me the inspiration for how to begin the process of producing the video. Universally, technology helped me produce my music video with my best work and talent.



https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cr7dZ4-rSgZbS70kFEeDr89BUCg59QHNYLao_uhXwlA/edit?usp=sharing

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