Critical Reflection

CRITICAL REFLECTION

1. How do your products represent social groups or issues?

My project surrounds the idea of teenage love and the contrast between a “heart breaker” and an innocent, pure girl. I tackle the social issue of teenage struggles, as confusion and hormone imbalances lead to bad decision making and insecurities such as becoming rebellious, vandalism, consuming drugs/alcohol… In my coursework I break this stereotype and portray a not so visible side to teenagers, where seemingly bad decisions lead to good outcomes, as is the relationship of Jorge and Delfina. The two main social groups I represent are “Bad Boys” and the “Innocent Blonde Girl”; both of them are completely opposite and have bad reputations, “Bad Boys” are seen as players, heartbreakers, to mistreat women, smoke, have sex and consume drugs/alcohol. But on the other side, the innocent girl is seen as an easy target, prude, virgin, to have no experience with drugs/alcohol, yet this relationship still works against all odds.

Since teens are generally seen as immature and incapable of having a healthy and respectful relationship, with many adults claiming “teenage relationships are not real relationships”, teenagers have less pressure to work on healthy relationships and have less expectations on what a good relationship should be. Adults are mostly concerned with issues such a teen pregnancy, yet do not take signs of deeper bonding seriously. My project aims to go against those outdated beliefs, since often teen relationships go deeper than adults and other single teenagers care to imagine.

Likewise, having a best-friend relationship with your partner is frowned upon by both male and female teens, especially by those teens who have not seen that connection amongst their parents. This means teens are less likely to open themselves to these deeper connections with their partners fearing a lack of reciprocity. Once again, my project, more specifically my music video, shows how if teens such as Jorge and Delfina reveal their connection to one another, the bond between them becomes stronger, as they develop a friendship within the relationship.

2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of “branding”?

I used a diversity of different tools to create the visual branding throughout my 3 elements of production. Firstly, I searched for a typography that most accurately reflected “Futura”, the Font used by Lorde in her Pure Heroine album. I chose “Josefin Sans Regular” as it was almost identical, and this meant that already my branding for this project reflected the artist I am interpreting. I used the same font consistently throughout my Digipak, Social Media Page & Music Video to create this visual branding, as the font will be associated with this project.This is also favoured by the fact my typography is unique and eye-catching, making it easier for my audience to recognise.

In terms of colour I made sure green was the main colour throughout my work since it symbolises harmony, freshness and safety. Green can also symbolise youth which made it perfect for a teen romance video clip. This is reinforced by my use of white and orange, which both represent the brightness aspects to life. Since Delfina is the brighter character, I constantly used these colours in her outfits.

I was also very consistent with the disposable camera look, all of my post pictures were all taken from pinterest where I looked for grainy/90s retro look, disposable cameras tend to have a light tint on them which is later seen on the pictures, hinting back at my constant use of green.

Some of these pictures even have green backgrounds such as fields, making for a more explicit use of the colour. Moreover, my whole music video was filmed with a disposable camera filter , and the pictures in my social media all included this filter too.

By doing so, I am trying to immerse the audience into my project, so when they consume my products they unconsciously travel back in time to the 70s/90s. This immersive experience will cause audiences to want to consume more of my content and associate other 90s/vintage footage with my project, creating branding and brand loyalty..

I also kept an eye out when incorporating my production company logo, which features in all my products, at the start of my music video, at the back of my digipak and as the profile picture of my social media page. The consistent use of my logo not only creates visual branding but since my logo is inspired by 70's hippie flowers, it ties everything together very well. This kind of detail is very important since it seems part of the project and makes it more unique.

3.How do your products engage with the audience?

My products involve a variety of camera shots and movement, creative mise en scene, up beat sound and specific editing. The constant use of close up shots in my products attracts the audience in, it also gives a more personal approach to my project. I also edited specifically to match the lyrics to the visuals and keep my audience engaged, the edited 90’s disposable tint also helped to time travel my audience to another era. I purposely added lot’s of symbolism and other hidden meanings for the audience to decode such as the front cover of my digipak which features two arrows behind me illustrating love as a journey, two faced, with its ups and downs (seen in my music video by the contrast of the dark beginning and the colourful rest of the video).

The audience not only engages with all these conventions but with all the psychological effects my music video has upon the audience. For instance people use media to escape from their routines and to make up for the lack of satisfaction in their personal lives (Blumer & Katz theory), and the majority of my audience will feel this. In one of my showings to my target audience, one of them had an emotional reaction where he explained how he wished he had experienced that kind of relationship with someone. He was very touched by all the products and said how well the message and the 90’s environment was transmitted.

As seen in Q1, pressure from stereotypes & expectations often cause relationships to fail even if they could have worked out, and this is especially true for teenagers. My products engage with and captivate the audience because they break this stereotype, by showing a healthy relationship (Jorge & Delfina’s) that remains strong regardless of what other people think. Unfortunately, for many people in my audience this seems like an ideal, meaning my products will engage with them by helping them evade reality).

4. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

Throughout my project I did a lot of research into the 90’s/70’s, I was very aware of my surroundings at all times looking out for innovative ideas which fit my desired genre. I found Tik Tok’s, TV shows, music videos… By staying connected to all different types and media platforms I obtained a wide mixture of perspectives. They all helped me cultivate my knowledge to create unique products.

One of my main sources of inspiration for this project was the movie Grease; not only is it nostalgic for the audience, which I am also trying to achieve with this music video, but moreover, the 2 main characters (Danny and Sandy) perfectly reflect Jorge and Delfina, except Jorge & Delfina break their stereotypes from the start. Danny and Sandy’s relationship is hindered by the need to “keep an image”, especially Danny, who cannot afford to be seen as vulnerable and interested in a deeper relationship with Sandy. Jorge, however, while looking like a “bad boy” is willing to let his guard down. This shows intertextuality but with a twist, a twist that represents the difference between the 80s (when Grease is based) and the present, where some relationships (such as the one in my video) have developed the ability to establish a deeper link.

Another link between the two couples is like Jorge & Delfina, Danny only is his true self whenever he is alone with Sandy. By using this intertextuality, I am trying to show the audience the importance of intimacy and having a deep connection and friendship when maintaining a healthy relationship.

Furthermore I even replicated Sandy and Danny’s physical appearance in Delfina and Jorge. Sandy being a gentle blonde girl who we see wearing lots of white and green, and Danny with black clothes, dark hair and gazing eyes. As you can see you can resemble my character to Sandy and Jorge’s to Danny’s. In the picture below you can see how in the frame the main colours are white, green, black and red, I mentioned in my post several times how these are the main colours of my project too.