Creative Critical Reflection for our Music Video

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

 Common elements in music videos for the genre of music my group selected, which is pop rock, consist of close-up angles, consistent color schemes, and neutral lighting. In our music video we made sure to include some of those elements to capture the true essence of a pop rock music video. Along with us including those elements we wanted to make sure it was not a complete copy and paste, and that we tweaked some of those elements to set our video apart from others. We wanted it to stand out while still remaining true to the basic conventions. For example, our Mise en Scene referring to our clothing; we did not want to use the same idea of dark, early 2000s clothing in our video and we instead wore brighter more modern clothing to capture the meaning of the song which is cheerful and exciting. We wanted to slightly alter traditional conventions while still staying true to them to make sure we maintained the foundation of a pop rock music video. I do believe our product is representative of people who are fans of this particular genre because it brings a more modern angle to the execution of a pop rock music video. 

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

Our product is engaging to audiences due to the playful and exuberant nature of the video. Our music video highlights the more “high-spirited” side to pop rock. With the footage of us enjoying our time at the park this may excite people and they may want to do the same because they saw so much excitement in the video. Due to the nature of this video, it would make sense for it to be showcased on social media or platforms like YouTube. It is a music video and those are most viewed on those platforms.

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

 Throughout the production process I feel like my abilities and skills have grown. In the beginning of our production I had to find a way to make this project work since the pandemic didn't allow for my group to do much which limited our options. Filming the video on a phone was really hard. I feel like this has taught me that timing and preparation plays a big role in filming, I have developed my planning skills because making proper preparations for natural occurrences is really important. Another skill I developed is the ability to achieve camera angles. I was able to achieve both high and low camera shots on my first try, which is an essential skill.

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

 For our music video we used the more modern pieces of technology to produce and edit our final product. To actually shoot the project we used an iPhone 11 pro, only because we didn’t have a tripod or any other filming device. I have to say though that the editing process was better this time due to the fact it was done on a computer by Eric. After we shot our video Eric used iMovie to crop and add sound effects to the video so it would be more like a music video, and Google docs also helped me write down some of my scrambled thoughts and keep track of everything I was doing for our group video.