Critical Reflection Questions

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

    My music video was for the song "Attracted to You" by PinkPantheress, and it falls under the genre of alternative/indie and pop. Therefore, I used many of the conventions commonly found in the music videos for songs of this genre. For example, a common convention of alternative/indie music is that the actors lip sing to the song throughout the video. I used this convention, as I had Giulia, my actor, lip sing to the song in every scene she was in. Another convention I followed is the use of scenic settings like fields and beaches in my shots. I chose to film at my local park, so that I could use the green fields for my last shot and have the scenery in the background. However, I only used a sonic setting for the last shot, which is not as much as many music video of this genre typically have. The last convention of the alternative/indie genre is that the actions of the actors portray a literal representation of the song. For my music video, I used that convention at some points, like having the actress hold flowers to the camera for the line "Now I'm bringing flowers to your front door," but I also challenged this convention by incorporating some scenes that didn't represent the literal words of the song. 

    The song of my music video is also considered a pop song, so I also incorporated many conventions that are found in typical music videos for this genre. The first convention I used was a storyline about love and relationships, as I used different acting, props, and editing to portray a storyline about a toxic love relationship and coping with the struggles of breakups. The other convention I used from this genre is the use of diegetic sound in the beginning of the video. In the beginning of my music video, I made sure to incorporate a scene of me making a phone call that cuts to Giulia sighting in distress to help establish the storyline. 

    My music video also represents the social issue of toxic relationships and the mental struggles that come with going through a breakup. This is portrayed through the acting and editing I used. In the beginning of my music video I show someone on a phone call saying that they want to ghost someone, and then I cut to the anguish, stress, and confusion of the person who is on the receiving end of this "ghosting." The actor uses facial expressions to show their unhappiness, and certain angles and shots are used to show how their sense of confusion, like the last scene where I start from a close up and move the camera upwards to capture her whole body and show her unhappiness. Since actors of a high school ages are used in the video, my video also represent high school-age students, and because the two ex partner are of the same gender, I also represent the LGBTQ+ community within the video. However, this storyline is still something that is relatable to almost everyone, not just the people that fall within this category. 

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

    My music video engages with audiences through the creation of a relatable storyline. The storyline reflects a universal experience that is applicable to almost all ages, going through a breakup. This storyline is developed through the editing, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, and acting throughout the video. Almost every person, from young adults and older, has experienced a situation like the one shown in the storyline, so this allows the audience to feel understood through this video. The audience can feel connected to the struggles the actor is going through, and this will likely make them more invested in the storyline and the video itself. In the end, I also incorporated a scene of myself saying "she's still obsessed with me," which ties the entire video together with humor. This is because the whole video showcased a person struggling to heal from a breakup, and that line in the end states the obvious, bringing in the humor. This would please audiences and make them enjoy the music video more, which increases their engagement. 

    My music video was distributed as a real media text through YouTube. I uploaded the movie file from my computer onto my YouTube channel and made the video available to the public. YouTube was the best place for me to upload my video, as almost all professional music videos are uploaded there. Whenever artists come out with a new song, they publish it on YouTube because the platform has such a large reach. People of all ages use YouTube, and the algorithms make it so that your video is more accessible to your viewers. This makes YouTube the easiest and most efficient platform to share my music video on. 

3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project 

My production skills developed immensely throughout this project, in both filming and editing. First, I learned how to use a professional camera to film and was able to learn how different setting on the camera can improve the lighting and quality of my video. I also learned about an SD card and how to use it when  transferring the videos onto different devices for editing. Since the SD card I had didn't have a way to plug into my computer, I also had to research and learn about SD adapters that can help you transfer your videos to any device so that you can begin editing. I also got much better at editing and learned how to use CapCut to do all the editing I needed. I learned how to upload the video onto the app, silence the audio from the original video, and place a new audio on top of the video. I was able to adjust the volume of different part of the song so that I can have the song slowly fade in and then fade out as well. I also learned how to do certain types of editing, like a split screen, fade ins, and an insert. At first, I had no clue how to do any of these effects, but after researching and watching a few YouTube videos, I learned everything I needed to know. I also found out that when you try to insert certain scenes, it can affect the line up of the audio with the video. So, I also had to learn how to navigate that problem, and while it could be frustrating at times, I was able to understand how to change when the song started in relation to when the music video started, and this allowed me to edit the video smoothly. 

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

I used a Sony Camera to film most of the scenes in the music video, and the remaining scenes were filmed using my iPhone. The next hardware I used was an SD card to store the videos I filmed, and I also used an SD adapter. This adapter was necessary, as without it, I had no way to transfer the videos from the SD card onto my computer for the editing. The software I used for this project was an editing software called CapCut. Before choosing this software I had researched other editing softwares and even tried editing on iMovie, but then I realized that CapCut was the easiest option for editing. I also used YouTube for many parts of this video. First, I used YouTube to research how to do certain editing techniques on CapCut. I also used YouTube to screen record the audio to the song for the video, so that I wouldn't have to pay to use it. Lastly, I used YouTube to publish my final video. Each technology I used played a crucial part in completing this music video, and without it, this process would have been much, much harder. The last technology I used was blogger. I used this to post periodic blogs to keep track of my progress and document my experiences. This way, I can share my experiences with other and also look back at the blogs in the future to see what I learned and reflect on the different techniques I used for future reference. The blogs will help me to know what I should continue doing in the future and what to change to make the process easier for next time.