Critical Reflection Task 1

Critical Reflection Task 1

In this post I will be creating a video comparing my music campaign to other artists within the same genre.

Below is the video I created of the powerpoint and voiceover:

Below is the powerpoint I created:

Below is the script I used for my voice recording:

Intro 

For this critical reflection task I will be comparing my own music campaign to other artists that share the same genre which is synth-pop. When comparing the different campaigns I will be focusing on the similar or different conventions that were used. Either technical conventions which is how equipment and technology is used to construct a meaning. Where as symbolic conventions is the meaning created beyond what we actually see in front of us from the mise-en-scene such as costumes and props, and therefore tends to be the most easily recognised genre convention. My artist is called JOI and I will be comparing her music campaign to the artists; Charli XCX, Tove Lo, Icona Pop and Little Boots. 

Music Video 

To begin with I will be analysing JOI’s music video and looking at the other artist’s music videos to see what similarities they share. 

CAMERA:

Within the camera shots used the main convention we used was firstly the mid shots. This is done to establish the surroundings and people who are in it so that the audience can clearly see what is going on in the scene. It also uses the convention of showing the outfit styling she has to draw in our target audience as it fits in with the modern trends to this day. Secondly a vast amount of close ups are used to give beauty shots of the artist which gives the viewers a sense of her personality. As our genre is still partly pop that means that focusing on the artist is an important way of creating her brand image. However synth gives it that edgy vibe so that means that we would also focus on creating unique shots of other people and objects which makes the artist organic as well as synthetic.

EDITING:

Next I will be speaking about the similarities within the editing used. As our artist is solo and not a band that meant putting more effort when it came to editing. This is because it is only one person you look at throughout the whole video, if nothing fascinating happens this is when the music video won’t be a success. I realised when looking at the other music videos and my own a lot of fast paced editing is used to keep the music video interesting for audiences. This type of editing also allows the editor to cut exactly to the beat which doesn’t make the video dull. We used this convention throughout parts of our video so that it would stand out from the other artists and also shows a variety of her styles and beauty shots combined with movement. This variety clarifies her personality which leads on to making her star image more memorable to the viewer. For example; Charli XCX’s music videos always uses fast paced editing throughout making it easy for us to watch and also makes us more interested in what will happen. 

LIGHTING & STYLING:

Now I will move onto the similarities of lighting & styling in music videos. For the lighting we used a darker mood lighting with pink, blue and purple tones which is again giving our artist the more organic side of her as it is mysterious and aesthetically pleasing. For example; In one of Tove Lo’s music videos she uses similar lightings to demonstrate her star image as well as making it look fascinating for the viewer. On the other hand, when it came to the styling of the artist and models we wanted to use the convention of strong bold makeup on the eye so that it would pop in the shot which also fits in with the trends of our age group. Usually the viewer will focus their eye on the artist more than the dancers as we planned to use a red eyeliner where as the models had subtle colours that fitted in with the set. This demonstrates who the artist is and that she is most important. Other similar artist like Charli XCX and Little Boots also tend to use the convention of bold makeup in their music videos so that the viewer is drawn to them as it stands out on camera.

SETTING & POSITIONING: 

In our music video we only had one set that we alternated once for the projections. This went well because it kept the same surrounding and looked well planned out. For the positioning we used the common convention of always placing the artist in the centre of the frame. This clearly shows that she is the person to focus on and it also gives her the power over the models so that the attention is on her.

Digipak

LAYOUT:

As seen on our digipak we used the same conventions when it came to the layout of the panels. For example; a photo of the artist, a track list, the name of the album and most importantly the name of the artist. Also what is similar between my digipak and others such as Tove Lo’s or Icona Pop, the name of the artist is always placed at the very top of the album cover where as the name of the album is placed on the bottom. This is to make sure that when consumers see it they instinctively will look at their name which is what increases their sales as the artist is what is getting sold rather than the album. 

IMAGERY, COLOUR & FONT:

As I have seen with the digipaks of Tove Lo, Charli XCX, Little Boots and Icona Pop they all tend to use a strong colour for their background where as the font used is usually a pale white colour in order to stand out. We used this convention as our background is a strong red and the colour of our font is also grey. However, we challenged the convention of the font we used because I made sure to find a font that was unique from the similar artists. Most of the artists I mentioned above used a bold modern font where as ours is more of a handwritten font to show that the artist makes her own rules and styles to create her unique brand image. 

Website

LAYOUT:

Now for the website I have seen that we have followed the conventions of using the same layout such as; the name of the artist, promotions of the new album or song and their social media accounts.

IMAGERY, COLOUR & FONT:

Within the imagery of the website we challenged the convention by including the artist on the main page where as artists like Tove Lo and Icona Pop wanted their first page to focus on the music that they have currently created. This already shows that our artist is more girly than the others which leans her more into the pop genre. However, as in the photo of our artist you can’t see half of her face which still giver her that mysterious image of a synth pop artist. On the other hand, we did use similar conventions when it came to the colour and font of the website. The colours we can clearly see are shades of pink, blue and purple which as also used in our music video. The font is particularly similar between these three from the dripping effect made on the name of the artist or name of the song so that it stands out more. The font also shows the edgy side of these artists and how they are not fully synthetic. 

Outro 

GENDER:

Gender is especially the most important social group that was used within our music video. This is because only females were included which clearly demonstrates the true power they have. 

THE ARTIST 

For the artist we established her gender through many ways such as the costumes we chose for her in order for her to stand out from others. The artist wore a crop top, jeans and a robe which demonstrated her personal style and also shows a sense of sexuality. Her moodiness within the video clearly shows her sexuality and how she isn’t a usual singer within the pop genre. Another way in which we established the stereotypical female was by using several close up camera shots focusing on her eyes so that the audience know that she is confident in herself, which will make the target audience look up to her. All of these reasons add up to her star image and making sure that she isn’t completely the same to other artists within the synth pop genre.

THE MODELS

Gender stereotypes are also stereotypically enforced through models. In this case all of our models were female and had different distinct looks so that each of them had their own style. The gender stereotype was mainly shows by their pyjama costumes which were pink and blue to imply their femininity and sexuality. The models allowed us to exaggerate their femininity and clearly convey the genre to the audience easily.

ETHNICITY:

Another social group used within our music video is ethnicity. This is clearly seen as every female in our music video is unique in their own way which tends to create a wider audience. 

THE ARTIST

Although our artist is white, which is very common within this genre, we have subvert genre exceptions to a degree by having a variety of ethnic groups among our models. Our artist is still European which is similar to Icona Pop who are from Sweden. This demonstrates that our artist will reach a broader more international audience due to her cultural backgrounds.

THE MODELS

For the models we wanted to specifically choose girls from different backgrounds in order to have different types of looks which was our goal. We achieved this and it will draw a wider audience in as we are embracing the beauty of various ethnicities. 

Conclusion 

Overall, I find that my artist and her music campaign uses similar conventions that other artists do within the same genre.  Yet on the other hand we did challenge some conventions in order to make our artist stand out from the artists I included. These are all advantages for our artist because it clearly demonstrates what genre it is and embraces her star image.