Critical Reflection

This is my CR essay for Comp 3. In case some pictures are not properly labeled refer to the google docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nzPd-het9Qkg53fEMoQ4qP3uCahlEfMRy2p-QRRE7pg/edit?usp=sharing

For our Music Video promotion package, we decided to use Chamber Of Reflection by Your Anxiety Buddy, which is a Mac Demacro song but sung by another official artist. This music video has a genre of indie pop combined with a bit of slow reverb lo-fi. For the main star of our music video, Kenneth Robertson Lee, we portray him as a depressed, lonely teenager who is isolated emotionally away from society around him.

However, any form of media output must stick to the genre convention they are intended for. According to Steve Neale, genre conventions are dynamic and change from time to time. In order to appeal to their audience, they must either conform to or subvert these conventions. By subverting, we are able to keep our product unique and distinct from other products of the same genre, while conforming helps us to retain the interest of our consumers by giving them something they are used to. We conducted research on music videos, one of them is JoJi - SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK which heavily influenced us to do something similar to that. For our music video with pop as our genre, we decided to subvert most of this genre elements. One of the noticeable elements throughout the whole video is the use of pale and distorted dark colour grading which is unlikely to be seen in normal traditional pop music as they use vibrant colours. Another element we also subverted is the star in our music video. Most of the time a typical pop star portrays confidence and energy towards the audience, however we make our star as an introverted individual who feels isolated and emotionally disconnected from society. This demonstrates how Richard Dyer’s theory of stardom can make stars feel normal, but somehow stand out uniquely on the intended audience. One element that we conform to is how the camera angles focus more on the star and appear in every scene which can create an identity in the audience's mind.

When creating the Digipak, I decided that I will conform most elements to the indie pop genre through the close up shot of the star’s emotion and the minimalist design. However there are some subversions I did on the setting of the digipak by presenting the star in an isolated dark room instead of a glamorous environment. From the research I did on multiple digipak covers from artists within our genre, it showed me that they often rely heavily on the zoomed artist image and the use of proper colouring to create emotion. Hence, we decided to implement muted colour grading and one of the pages that showed the artist’s emotional expression to keep it raw and relatable when seen. One genre convention that I used and I find in common with other digipak covers is the usage of simple settings and realistic outfits. By doing this, the audience can feel a sense of relatableness which makes our star seem approachable rather than a typical glamorous artist. We also wanted to make the audience feel that our star’s emotion is honest so we did a close up through his facial expressions with the realistic everyday background and felt a bit of empathy towards him. Another common convention I conform is using the proper lighting to convey the right meaning to combine it with other elements. By using consistent dark colour grading lighting, we made the audience feel the emotional tone of the music before listening to it. Through our research on indie digipaks, for example by Arctic Monkeys, we have learned that close-ups and dark color grading are often employed to create an emotional star image, which has impacted our design choices. This is also in line with the theory of stardom by Richard Dyer, as our digipak design also portrays the artist as relatable yet distinctive through their emotional representation. The colour grading will assist the audience in understanding the feelings of the artist and also helps them to connect with the star emotionally, while at the same time making sure that the digipak is recognizable in the indie genre through the use of a moody and realistic style.

For our media representation, we would like to portray teenagers and young adults who are going through emotional struggles and identity crises as a result of society. The message that we would like to portray to the audience as they watch our media text is to portray the realistic struggles that teenagers go through as opposed to a perfect lifestyle and also that emotional struggles are not something to hide. To show these groups, we deliberately ensured that our star is a young teenager who is mostly depicted as struggling with issues and this forces the audience to delve deeper into the stress, insecurity, and self-growth. In our music video, we ensured that our star is depicted in ordinary clothing to show realism, together with the environment of the supermarket to show that even in such a setting, young people can have valid dreams and struggle.We also showed a close up shot of our star (Fig 2.1) to make the audience feel connected with the star’s emotion. To show more realism, we did a couple of medium and long shots of the supermarket shown in Fig 2.2a - 2.2b. The persona we made our star is relatable, ambitious, and emotionally authentic in order to connect with our target audience of young people. With the media elements combined, we made our star appear approachable and allowed viewers to emotionally connect with his journey. This representation links to David Gauntlett’s theory of identity, which suggests that audiences use media figures as role models to help shape their own sense of self and aspirations. We partially conformed to stereotypes of teenagers being confused and uncertain about their future by making our star hopeless and uncertain about what to do in life. Our social media page is an embodiment of teenagers and young adults who go through emotional struggles and identity crises. We have maintained a dark and muted color scheme throughout the posts to portray the emotional state of the star. The use of close-up shots and lighting effects also aims to highlight the star’s feelings of isolation and uncertainty, allowing the audience to relate to the star emotionally. The casual posing, wearables, and captions (fig 2.3a-b) also help to make the star seem more real and authentic, making the young audience feel that the star is just like them. Through this, our social media page is able to portray the realistic and emotionally vulnerable side of the star while still maintaining the indie look on Instagram.

(Fig 2.1)

(Fig 2.2A)a

(Fig 2.2B) (FIG 2.3A)a

(Fig 2.3B)a

Our product interacts with the audience by building a strong emotional connection and encourages the audience to interact through our social media page. For our target audience, we are looking for teenagers and young adults between the ages 16-25. Our psychographic are people that value their emotional expression and self reflection. According to Clay Shirky’s theory, recently audiences demand more interactivity in media consumption rather than passivity, which can be seen in our Instagram page where the audience can comment, like and share posts to feel more connected with the star. This also supports Richard Dyer’s theory of stardom, as our star is shown to be both normal through his realistic struggles and extraordinary through his emotional vulnerability, making him attractive to the audience. Also our star replies to most of the fans' posts to make them feel connected even though they are far apart (Marshall McLuhan’s Global Village Theory)(Fig 3.A-3.B). By using a dark color scheme, close-ups, and realistic settings that are similar to the visuals in our music video and digipak, we have made this appealing to the audience as it ensures a consistent brand image. These similarities help to reinforce the star’s character as emotionally vulnerable, relatable, and authentic rather than glamorous. Our social media page also has several users and gratifications, as outlined by Denis McQuail, including personal identity, as audiences identify with the struggles of the star, social relationships, as fans can interact with each other, and diversion, as the content offers emotional escapism. Fans can also create communities through comments and shared discussions, reflecting the theory of fandom by Henry Jenkins, where audiences actively participate and connect with others who share similar interests. (Fig 3.A)a

(Fig 3.B)a

In conclusion, branding is basically the image, identity, and message that a media product establishes in order for the audience to easily identify and remember the artist even without mentioning them in detail. Branding is crucial as it enables the establishment of a strong link with the target audience, making the star unique in the competitive world of media. In our case, all three media products – the music video, social media page, and digipak – establish a strong brand image based on emotional vulnerability, realism, and introspection. When we look into the technical elements, all three products have a lot in common, including a dark and muted colour scheme, close-up shots of the star’s facial expressions, and realistic settings such as the supermarket. These elements are consistent with our star’s character, who is relatable, emotionally genuine, and ordinary rather than glamorous, making it easier for the audience to identify with him. This is consistent with Richard Dyer’s theory of stardom, where our star is both ordinary and unique in terms of his emotional complexity, making him easily identifiable in all three media products.

Final Product

This is the final product of our music video. It has finally come to an end. Enjoy!

FINAL VIDEO

In case it doesn't work: https://youtu.be/TnOVLNfLf1k?si=BHAC4rcmpnM70vPI


FINAL DIGIPAK

(Front and back cover)

(Digipak Content)

SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE

social media posts :  

Editting

This is the progress of our editing for the music video. This blogpost is originally made by Jeremy.

First Result:

This is the result of me filming and editing in the span of a day. I thought it was pretty decent but some of the scene color was washed so I had to go do some reshoot

Feedback From Mr Nick: 

- Some of the scene lighting is too dark

- Some of the clips placements are too random

Second Improved Result (After Feedback)

Here I fixed some of the low lighting after reshoot, which I implemented after Mr Nick's advice.

Overall I would say it's a decent improvement from the first video, and I am satisfied

Some screenshots of the editing process:

Reflection: Even though I didn't help Jeremy with editing, I was able to give him feedback to improve the music video. However, some feedback could not be fixed as it was a problem with the device or the actor not being able to lip-sync properly. Aside from the negatives, it turns out to be pretty good than I thought and I kind of liked how this group went.

Research & Development: Social Media

This blogpost talks about the social media account we created for our artists. This blogpost was mainly made by Candra himself.

Social media research by candra samudra

Reflection: Although I didn't make the social media research blogpost, I learned a few things about artists' accounts after reading Candra's slide. Even though these artists have the same genre of music, they all have their own uniqueness in themselves and their fans. In my next project, I would try to contribute more in social media research as Candra sometimes asked for helped but I was too busy with Digipak and eventually couldn't helped him at the fullest.

Screen Test

This blog shows the screen test we did for our version of the music video. This blog is made by Kenzo:

When we did the screen test for our music video, we showed our audience the first product so that we could get a lot of criticism and produce our version two much better. Another thing is that a screen test helps us to view different perspectives of different types of audience, whether they get the message of the media text we're trying to convey. Most of the ratings given were around 7-8, which surpassed our predicted rating, but there is still more room to improve. The criticism all audiences have in common is that most of the scenes are too dark and shaky, which reduces the clarity of the media text.

Reflection: Doing the screen test helped my group to get criticism about the music video. The common criticism we found is that most scenes are too dark and too shaky in version 1, so we told our editor (Jeremy) to revise for version 2. During the production of the screen test question, we were delayed by a significant amount due to one of our group member forgot to design the questions. This was also our fault as a whole group, as we did not remind him of this task. However, we soon tackled the problem as our group member was quick enough to design the questions and print them out.

Classwork: Persona + Brand

This blog contains the classwork we did relating to Persona and Branding for our music video. The branding was made by Kenzo, and the persona classwork was made by the whole group.

Classwork: Persona by Kenzo Susanto

Here is the mindmap we did for our main character that will be shown in our music video:

Reflection: Doing the branding was pretty hard, as this was also my first time doing this. Eventually, I quickly got the hang of it and finished it just 1 day before the submission. I don't know if this is going to be useful for our music video, but probably be useful for the social media or digipak section. I just hope that my group don't go off course from the mindmap I made. 

UPDATE: Turns out this was very useful because when we entered the shooting location, we knew what we had to do as the persona branch from the mind map gave us a bit of visual on how the video will look like. However, we did went abit off course with the outfit of our artists, but aside from that I think I did pretty well on this.

Digipak: Research & Development

This blog post shows the research I've done and the progress to reach the final Digipak. This blog was mainly made by Kenzo and was assisted by Jeremy (with the visual effects and suggestions).

The Research
When doing the Digipak research, I used multiple social media apps such as Instagram, X, and TikTok to give me a wider understanding of how other artists construct their Digipak to fit their persona and the intended audience of their album. Our teacher told us to do 6 research of Digipak cover but I did 10 give us a better understanding of our genre.

1) Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep

Camera:

1. Medium Shot: The angle of this shot is taken at eye level, and the lack of camera movement and angles makes this scene feel uncomfortable and eerie, as if something is wrong, even though nothing has happened. The position of Billie Eilish is facing directly to the audience and centred in the frame, also adding to the uncomfortable feeling.

Miss-En-Scene:

1. Dark background: A calm but sad feeling. This also depicts a single character in a small, dimly lit room, which conveys loneliness and quiet.
2. Simple and Plain costume: The loose and oversized white outfit shows vulnerability and links to the theme of sleep. The white contrasts with the dark black surroundings, making the image feel unsettling. 

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?

The digipak cover shows Billie Eilish as someone who enjoys darkness and emotional honesty. The unsettling of the scene, yet calm environment, shows Billie exploring her fear and her inner thoughts. Showing Billie in a dark room alone suggests that the artist is not afraid of confronting uncomfortable life rather than hiding from it.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?
Billie Eilish does not have a strong traditional logo, as her branding often relies on mood, imagery, and minimal use of typography. However, this album cover is consistent throughout her other media, such as merchandise, music videos, and so on, which use low-key, moody lighting, an unsettling environment, and a minimalist aesthetic that prioritises emotions.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?
Even though the vibe given off from this digipak is really well created, our artist would probably not 100% follow this digipak design, as it's too horrifying and disturbing for the viewers. We would most likely only take the lighting from Billie Eilish and apply it to our digipak. Since this was the first digipak I researched, I realised that facial expression is also important, as it conveys what our character's overall personality looks like. 

2) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever people say I am, that's what I am not

Camera:

1. Medium Close-up Shot: The angle of this shot is taken at eye level, and direct framing makes this digipak have a raw, documentary style feeling. Additionally, it also uses the lack of camera angles, which creates a sense of unpolished realism combined with eye level view, suggesting honesty in everyday life.

Miss-En-Scene:

1. Black and White colour palette: this creates an urban, gritty vibe. The urban vibe allows the audience to feel that the artist's lifestyle is similar to theirs.
2. Simple background: Allows the audience to stay focused on the emotion and expression of character in the digipak cover.
3. Cigarette: it helps to symbolise the character in the digipak as a rebellion and a youth culture type of person
4. Plain clothing: it adds to the realism vibe, making it feel more depressing.

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?

It portrays the artist as truly rough and honest, matching their songs about daily life, partying, and the young people's world. It gives off a strong, no-frills energy that highlights how down-to-earth and against mainstream trends they are.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?
This artist has a logo, and they are named Arctic Monkeys. The font used in the text logo matches their indie identity, and with their other music albums, they have focused more on imagery rather than branding, which makes them consistent across their other media.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?
We will most likely create something similar to this album cover, as it does not require any complex props or visuals. A similar font used on the digipak cover could also be used on ours, as both of us share the same vibe and target audience for the music video. So far, this digipak is what we're looking for.

3) The Weeknd - Dawn FM

Camera:

1. Close-up shot: Eye levelled to show the audience the artist's expression, creating a direct connection with the viewer. It also uses a lack of camera angle, making the image feel reflective. Another thing is that it also uses a tight frame to show the artist's clear expression and his age in the picture.

Miss-en-scene:

1. Dark background: shows the artist is isolated, combined with the tight space of the picture.
2. Blue lighting: it shows the mood and vibe that the artist is full of sadness and loneliness.
3. Plain clothing: The artist intentionally does this to keep the audience focused on the facial expression, similar to the previous digipak cover.

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?

From the digipak, it shows that TheWeeknd is a self-aware and reflective artist. The old man shown in the image suggests that the artist is now matured and is looking back on his past choices. In this album cover, the artist is shown more in honesty and vulnerability rather than the normal artists who are mostly shown in glamorous and flashy lighting.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?
The artist uses a simple text logo, such as "TheWeeknd /Dawn FM", similar to his other albums. The typography matches his intended retro radio vibe, and it feels like the branding is minimal and intentional. If we compare it with the other media of TheWeeknd, the design remains consistent, mostly showing his own singular face in the image.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?

Similar to the other album cover, the lighting and makeup show how important they are, as they can tell a story and create a first impression of the music to the audience. Another thing to mention is that facial expression could also be a good combination with the lighting to create a deeper vibe.

4) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

Camera:

1. Medium Close-up: the character is shown side-facing the camera rather than looking at the camera, which is something new compared to the other digipak I researched. The angle at which the album cover was shot makes the audience feel that they are observing the character.

Miss-en-scene:

1. Black and white colour palette: it gives an old classic vibe and a serious mood.
   
2. Neutral face expression: It creates an impression on the audience that the character has detached from emotion and is depressed.
3. Simple background: Similar to the other digipak cover I researched, the artist intentionally does this to make the audience stay focused on the subject, which is the face of the character.

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?
The album cover highlights the emotional depth of the Smith rather than the glamour, reflecting on Smith's introspective nature. The album cover rejects the norms of pop culture and instead tries to create an emotional feeling of detachment by using proper Miss-en-scene which is in line with the band's artistic identity.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?
Same with the other artist I researched, The Smiths, uses a simple serif text logo for their band on the album cover. This style of logo remains consistent throughout other Smith's albums and merch. The reason they do this is probably because the band wants the audience to focus more on the message and make it feel more honest, rather than focusing more on the branding.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?

From this album cover, I like the use of the colour grading, although it is maybe way too dark for my album cover. I also liked how all the album covers have the same similarities, which is that they use simple, minimal font typography, as this creates a stronger meaning in their song.

5) Keshi - Requiem

Camera:

1. Long shot: the camera is positioned a bit distant from the artist to create a silhouette shot. This camera angle completely subverts a typical pop-star image, as the lack of eye contact suggests emotional detachment and avoids being too glamorous.

Miss-en-scene:

1. Low-key lighting: The image, combined with a strong backlight of the character, creates a dramatic silhouette.
2. Dark, simple clothing: It adds up to the vibe.
3. Lack of props: the artist wants the audience to focus on the emotion rather than on other objects.
4. Unclear setting: the artist wants the audience to focus on the emotion rather than the location.

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?

Keshi's persona is that of an introverted and emotionally honest artist, which matches the album cover vibe. It is shown through the silhouette that suggests the artist is having an inner conflict with his emotions. Additionally, the lack of visual images of unpolished scenes also reinforces this ideology.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?

Keshi's logo is a minimalist typographic design that often only uses his name in bold with clean lettering. This also applies to his other media, such as the merchandise and vinyl designs. Having a consistent logo allows him to create a strong brand identity and cohesion across different platform making him gain a lot of fans.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?

I like how the cover has already told me what emotional expression I would get before listening to the song. The silhouette also made me feel that I can relate to this artist. However, I do not like the lighting of the album cover because it's way too dark and it does not fit with the album we are going to make. 

6) Jeremy Zucker - Love is not dying

Camera:

1. Medium shot: It is also placed at eye level to create equality between the artists and the audience. The artist's head is shown tilted down while avoiding eye contact and is intentionally placed slightly off-centre, creating a sense of emotional imbalance.

Miss-en-scene:

1. Lighting: low-key lighting under the sunset with orange and a bit of mixed purple colour.
2. Setting: Outdoor sky at dusk may symbolise that something is about to end, and a new life may begin.
3. Simple costume: the artist is trying to make the audience relate to him.
4. No props: the artist wants the audience to focus on the emotion rather than on other objects or status.

How does this reflect the Artist's Persona?

The artist's persona is often seen as emotionally open and relatable by the audience. In this album cover, the artist's posture and lack of eye contact make him insecure and honest about vulnerability.His image as a bedroom-pop musician who prioritises authenticity over celebrity is linked to the natural setting and understated style.

Does the Artist have a logo? Is it consistent with their other media?
The artist does not have a visual logo; he relies on his handwritten style, typography and minimal graphic design. Throughout his career, this style has been shown consistently on his merchandise and vinyl/cassette designs.

How has the Album Cover influenced you?
I like how the album gives a healing lighting through the sunset setting and dusk sky, telling the listeners that it's going to be reflective music. Jeremy's closed body language promotes emotional connection and empathy. By this, it makes the audience listen to the record more intently and thoughtfully, instead of just carelessly
___________________________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPMENT #1

FRONT COVER
The front cover is the most important part of the digipak, as it gives the audience a first impression of how the music's vibe will be. Which is why Jeremy and I produced a lot of versions of the front cover and asked a few audience members which design is prefered the most.

1st Version:
We didn't have any illustrations or whatsover however, we want to fuse Arctic Monkeys' digipak cover with our music video. We want the audience to feel that the character is trapped inside his own thoughts by making the character alone in a small room with his head down. Additionally, we want to tell the audience that it was his birthday, so instead of having candles on a cake, we added a cigarette on layers of bread. The cigarette on the bread suggests that the character is doing the bare minimum on a day that he's supposed to feel special about, combined with water from the shower raining upon him, telling that he's trying to cleanse himself from thoughts washing over him. We used the glowing question mark on his head to make the audience think that our character is uncertain of his identity. 

After we finished the 1st version, we asked our teacher how the front cover looks and it was met with pretty good feedback. Here's what he said, summarised in points:

1) Good lighting, it gives a proper vibe to the music video

2) The question mark is a bit too off and dominating; this will pull the audience away from the better detail (like the cigarette on the bread)
 

=========================================

2nd Version:
After receiving feedback from our teacher, we scrapped our first version and immediately worked on our second version. We decided to pick another picture that shows the bread and a cigarette, much more visible than our previous 1st version. We also experiment with different lighting and visual effects to try to give more options for our audience to decide.

(Fig2.1)

(Fig 2.2)

(Fig 2.3)

(Fig 2.4)

(Fig 2.5)

On this attempton colour grading, I tried using Arctic Monkey's lighting, and it received good feedback from the teacher.

Throughout version 2, I experimented with different types of colour grading to ensure that it fits with the vibe we are looking for and the intended audience. I want to create a message just from the digipak cover, so I decided to choose Fig 2.2 because my intention was to make the colour gold to represent how Kenneth Lee is from the outside (giving a positive vibe as if the artist has successfully reached his goal) while the inside of the digipak is going to be dark moody blue to show Kenneth Lee's inner self (giving lonely and sadness feeling even though he succeeded). When the audience opens/listens to the digipak, it will make them feel as if they are entering into Kenneth Lee's emotions.

***

The chosen Digipak Design based on Fig 2.2

I intentionally covered Kenneth Lee's eye, as it creates a meaning of uncertainty and lack of clarity about his future life. Aditionally I added roses in the background as it symbolizes love and desire; however, I lowered the contrast of the roses and made them dark and a bit hidden, which makes the audience think that the artist emotionally wants that to exist but cannot be clearly perceived. I also copied most of the digipak research where the artists are centred in the frame. This makes the audience focused on the intended subject (which is Kenneth Lee). I think this is a good digipak design because it creates a powerful message without explanation.

___________________________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPMENT #2

DIGIPAK CONTENT

Version 1 (attempt made by friend)


Version 2 

Mini vote

So it turns out version 2 was the chosen one. Even though it was a good attempt made by my friend, there are some flaws that it has (for example: The same digipak cover is used for the digipak content). In version 2, the content is divided into the left panel and the right panel. On the left panel, the artist is shot from a high angle, making him vulnerable, and the low lighting gives a sense of emotional heaviness and depression. We intentionally make the artist feel like he's doing too much but still is not enough, which fits the theme of the song. Not to mention, I also added a quote saying “I step into another year carrying the same unanswered thoughts,” which is not a dramatic quote but a reflective one, talking about how time is slowly passing, and growth is expected. On the right panel, it shows the shadow outline of the artist rather than the full person, which may suggest he has lost his identity.
___________________________________________________________________________________

DEVELOPMENT #3

BACK COVER

(The original Picture we took)

The Final Version

For the final creation, I used Canva to help me edit the picture and the lighting. We used the bread and the candle as our main symbol on the digipak cover because it gives an impression to the audience that something is wrong, as this suggests that the character is celebrating nothing all alone. We intentionally make the candle flame small, showing that the fire is steady, to create a meaning that this character's loneliness isn't explosive but just constant (reminding him every single time). The dark background of the digipak used to isolate the bread and candle together, just like being mentally alone.

THE FINAL MEANING OF THE DIGIPAK
The gold exterior and the dark interior create a contrast that can represent the difference between Kenneth Lee's public identity and his private emotions.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Reflection:

This was my very first attempt at digipak creation, and it turned out pretty well. I find it enjoyable to search different artists' digipaks, as it gives me broader inspiration. Throughout the research and creation, I found myself with no new ideas and had difficulties deciding the placement, fonts and colour palette. I had a plan to reshoot for another day for the digipak; however, the main actor refused to cooperate with me, and so I was left to use the filming footage that was scrapped during the shoot. I had a really hard time developing them, but luckily, a few of my designer friends helped me on creating this. Next time, if I had another chance to do this, I would probably try to imagine and plan what the digipak will look like before shooting.