Critical Creative Reflection

 

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

• For the music video, I used the song “Take me out” By Franz Fernidand. The genre for this song was Alternative/Indie. Although that was the genre, my group did not follow it. Remember, then lyrics are what made our video express a theme. The beat was uprising and vibrant. We used those factors to make our video fun. My video has one major social issue that causes the world to shift apart. That social issue is leaving one out. The feeling of being left out truly causes one to overthink about every action, thought, or breath they take. I thought it was very important to show the difference between doing activities alone and doing it with the people you enjoy hanging out with. Many agree that yes, it is important to spend time with yourself, however, it distracts you from making core memories of happiness. To refer back to the topic, I did stress that we follow the Mis en Scene. It helped our video flow and connect with the original idea that Franz Fernidand had. Each action he did made the video pop with different emotions, and I believed that it was unique to recreate. From the constant tapping of the foot to the head nodding, it goes back to how Franz Fernidand wanted his audience to react. Therefore, our video was just as great and will reach many just as Franz Fernidand’s did.

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

• My music video flows smoothly and conveys a clear message. Theme related to having a friend group that you do not feel a part of. The audience also has room to evoke emotion seeing the sadness demonstrated on the cast member’s face from being alone. The cast selected were close friends who appreciate each other's presence. It does not include a random cast picked and rather shows energy that my group did enjoy the task we were assigned. I know that people specifically prefer genuine vibes and dislike tension hidden in products created. In fact, hidden tension is always demonstrated in the way the cast selected portray their scripted roles. People wanna see fun and creativity. It is impossible to convince an audience that opponents can successfully produce a film showcasing friendship. Other videos produced by directors boldly show that casts do not connect and they solely work together for profit gain. If this were a professional video, I would release it on TikTok. This is due to the fact that the TikTok platform engages a large audience who like to leave opinions on how to improve directors' crafts. Other social platforms often like to limit viewers' opinions and try to make as much profit as possible with many irrelevant ads. Why am I watching a socioeconomics video with a laundry detergent ad? That does not correlate at all, and yet sabotages the director's idea intended to show. I know from an audience point of view, my interest is lost immediately. However, TikTok does not cloud users with ads or decide what their interest should be. With helpful advice on how to provide better quality from supportive viewers, I am certain that my future projects will do and sell well without other platforms interfering.

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

• In this project, my production improved significantly. I started to expect more and better. I refused to settle for low quality or effort. I had constantly filmed over and over again to create a film that I believed was fit for the public. The steps I took were very difficult. I had to gain permission from companies to include their service in my video. I was lucky to not be denied or asked for payment. For future projects, I purchased a professional camera. Then I had to change original plans last minute, but those changes did nothing but make the video better. Those changes included having more footage to complete time. Also, having to fill in for a cast member not being able to join due to complicated schedules. I personally learned patience. I constantly stressed on when the group could meet and discuss ideas, but their schedules were so busy it delayed most of our work. Our only solution to all the steps was to just work with what we had. Whether it was one scene and three cast, we made it work. At that exact time, we expanded our thoughts and used what we had to our advantage. Overall, the fill-ins worked and my group learned to communicate more concisely. My phone recording skills were great, however, I have no idea how to work a real camera. For new projects, the bar will be raised with standards. If there is another assignment with groups, I will be sure to practice patience, organization, and preparation for challenges that may occur.

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

The technology I used was my phone, CapCut, and iMovie. My original intent was to borrow my dad’s professional camera and shoot with it, but we ran into a few problems. Yes, we had the camera but the charger was not working, and no one in the group knew how to work the camera nor transfer it onto editing platforms. What sense would it make to use a dying camera, that none of us even knew how to work? Solution to that was iPhone 14 cinematic mode. Using Apple’s product assured that I can easily download the footage and send it to editing software. Next, I put the scenes into iMovie first. The timing of the scenes needed to match the audio with the correct speed before using CapCut. iMovie is another Apple service that is designed for editing, but I decided it was not enough to my liking. Finally, the last step was to use CapCut for different effects and animations that iMovie could not add. The effects and animations were simply the bird sounds, scene transitions, lighting changes. All the editing was free and for the production of the video was no more than $20, for the props. Using CapCut was the official last step to create my music video.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hbUHBCxl7WtIbZobJ2_hwLqjCJePl7k4UtqcoooyH0Q/edit?usp=sharing