Media Studies - COMP 3 Research

This blog post features a list of different music videos that I have watched, detailing what I have learned from them, and what I like about them, as well as research on the branding of different artists based on their social media, persona, and more. This research and blog post was independently conducted and written by me (Maxi).

The A Team, Ed Sheeran
Sheeran, C. E. (2011) The A Team. [Performed by Ed Sheeran] On +.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ

The song "The A Team" was written and performed by Ed Sheeran. The music video was directed by Ruskin Kyle and was released in April of 2010. The music video follows and portrays the life of a female sex worker that is addicted to cocaine, which is an "A-class" drug, from which the song gets its name.

Media Language

The most notable feature of The A Team's music video is that it is shot in greyscale (Black & White), and therefore has a very dark color scale. Since the video and song are focussed on a serious topic, the use of greyscale is an appropriate choice as it is commonly attributed/has conventions related to feelings of sadness and sorrow. This instantly allows the viewer to realize that this isn't going to be a happy song or story, and that the theme of the video will be dark and gloomy. 

We are introduced to the main character through a wide shot of her laying down and waking up from a park bench, which tells the audience she is homeless. This begins to build the audiences sympathy for the character as we initially wonder why and how she got into this position. A shared characteristic of the majority of shots that we see in the video are that they are all of longer duration. This also helps the audience build emotional connection with the main character as the audience is given time within each shot to process what the character is doing and going through and allows the audience to evaluate this and form emotions. This is best seen in shots throughout the video like in a close up shot that showcases the character crying and tearing up that last for a considerable amount of time. Editing is also used to sync up portions of the video with the song itself, e.g. when the song mentions "selling love to another man" we witness the main character in a hotel room with a stranger as the audience is led to believe they partook in intercourse, after which the main character takes her payment in cash from the mans pocket. This sync of sound and footage paints a clearer picture for the audience and allows us to understand how the story is progressing, and is a common aspect in many music videos. 

Additionally, the audiences feelings of sympthy are further provoked by the usage of mise en scene including the clothing the main character wears that is old and worn out, the usage of drugs and substances, and the pale skin tone and makeup that is worn by the character. This all pushes the feeling of sadness and misery that the audience feels throughout watching the video, and overall effectively pushes the producers dominant reading onto audiences that we are supposed to feel pity and sympathy for the character in the video, and furthermore for all people in the world that may be going through similar problems.

Representation

The music video as mentioned previously follows the life of a female sex worker. It can be assumed that she is of caucasian descent and is in a city in the United Kingdom. It is also shown that she is homeless, in a very unstable mental state, and abuses drugs/substances. This can be said to represent more than just a niche group of "female sex workers" but also applies to millions of people who may be going through rough portions of their lives who may also be engaging in drug usage. The sorrowful representation that we see in the music video aims to put the spotlight on the hardships and struggles that people may face and displays to audiences the lives of a group of people that are rarely or even never portrayed in the media. The connotations of drug usage and homelessness are often very negative attributes for people to have, but due to the depressive nature of the music video audiences can't help but feel empathetic and even shed tears for the life that the character we see on the screen has to endure. This goes against most conventions and stereotypes that audiences and the media often associate with these types of people, since usually drug addicts are portrayed as abrasive, angry, problematic, and generally a burden for society. This thus helps push for better representation of misfortunate members of society such as the characters in the music video, and helps change audiences views on the subject.

Audience

The character we see in the music video is portrayed by a female actor from the UK and is of European/caucasian descent. More importantly they appear to be depressed, homeless, and engaging in substance abuse. Despite the niche cast, the music video appeals to millions of people around the world, who may not be British, sex workers, or a victim of substance abuse. This is due to the deep sympathetic nature of the music video that is able to unite anyone who may have experienced trying times in their lives. This means that the video is intended for people of all ages and backgrounds, as many people may relate to being in a period of their life where they simply wish they could get out of as fast as possible. The music video almost acts as an awareness raising piece that demonstrates how the general public should never assume that just because a person seems to be partaking in "un-noble" acts that we should treat them as "below us", as we never know what really is going on in their lives behind closed doors.

Industry

The music video does not apply the use of any heavy technology or CGI, in fact in terms of modernity it is quite basic, and could've been shot and edited using technology developed 50 years ago with little to no differences. The video however was published on the social media site YouTube which allows for audiences to share the video to others who they feel may also resonate with its meanings, and may help in spreading further awareness as it may lead it the video being spread to new markets. It also allows for profits to be made from advertisements that may run on the YouTube platform, further helping the producers and the team behind the music video.

In Conclusion

All in all, The A Team's music video provides a touching and heartfelt story portrayed through not only song but video of a group of people who've been marginalized not only in real life but also in the media. The video is able to provide insight and spread awareness about these people to a broader audience and allows for new perspectives to be shed on topics such as prostitution, depression, and drug usage.The music video not only emotionally resonates with the audience but leaves an impact on them that they are sure to remember, and that will replay in their heads any time they listen to the song. It is more than effective in conveying the meaning of the song that the artist intended and I believe is something that my team and I should strive in recreating, in terms of emotional connection and impact, for the music video we will end up creating.

End note: Coming back to this piece of research after my team and I had chosen Sabrina Carpenter's "Feather" as our song for our music video, the research conducted into a video like Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" becomes less valuable, due to the contrasting natures of what both songs are about. Feather being extremely upbeat, while The A Team is far more somber. However, there are key elements that can still be applied in the creative process of our music video, such as the techniques used to tell a story, and ability to create emotional impacts on audiences, which could very much still be applied in a pop song that has a happy and upbeat nature, as it is not something exclusive to more somber and sad songs.

La La Lost You, NIKI
Zefanya, N. & Ray, J. (2019) La La Lost You. [Performed by NIKI] On Head In The Clouds II.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErmgY5GX_wI

The song "La La Lost You" was written and performed by Indonesian artist Nicole Zefanya, more commonly known as NIKI. The song and music video were both released in 2019, with the music video having been directed by Frank Borin. The narrative of the song and video follow NIKI and a significant other who left her behind in Los Angeles to move to New York. 

Media Language

The music video uses a variety of different forms of media language to push along the common theme of how NIKI feels betrayed by her past lover due to him leaving her, and wishes him well as he finds new people to be with in New York. The video primarily takes place on what can be assumed to be a New York City subway line, as it was also mentioned in the beginning of the song how NIKI wonders if her partner is "getting on the L-train", which is a popular subway line in New York. Throughout the video we see NIKI's partner get on the train and reminisce about their past memories which are shown in the form of flashbacks, which are edited to appear grainy and vintage, a common convention of flashbacks in media texts. This, accompanied with the mellow tunes of the song intends to portray the emotions associated with the events of losing a partner who you still have lots of love for, as you try to re-live those moments and go through all the memories you made. 

Mise en scene is used to juxtapose the scenes on the train with the memories that NIKI's partner remembers by showing the remembered moments in bright, vibrant colors, with the expressions on their faces being warm and joyful using medium close ups of them together to display how tight their relationship was, in comparison to the dimly lit and almost depressing New York City Subway that NIKI's partner has now found himself in. Here we also see him staring blankly out of the dark windows, seemingly contemplating where it all went wrong. This narrative is then further pushed as while on the subway, NIKI's partner meets new women that try to throw themselves onto him, while he looks out of the corner of his eye and sees NIKI sitting down wearing a dark red dress staring back at him, almost as if she's a hallucination. His eyes convey a sense of longing which provides a bit of irony, how even though he's surrounded by so many new potential partners, it's the one that he decided to leave that he sees whenever he's with them. The music video also uses cross cutting to show us NIKI's life in LA now that her partner's gone, which at first doesn't seem to be any better. She is shown in close ups as she lip sync's along to the song as she reminisces about her own memories she made with her ex partner. This comes together effectively to portray what it's like to miss a partner that was never meant to leave, and conveys the emotions of longing and sadness that are often seen in break ups from both perspectives accurately. This also follows the conventions of music videos of the genre, that showcase the story through a narrative that the audience is able to easily understand and relate to.

Audience

Since the song and music video are based around the artists experience in her relationship and what happened after they went their own separate ways, it can be said that the target audience would be people who have seen or gone through similar events. NIKI herself is a singer of Asian and more specifically, Chinese-Indonesian descent, and thus, this automatically caters towards many Asian and Indonesian audiences due to them being able to relate to the artist. Additionally, since NIKI herself was 22 when the song and video came our, the video most likely caters towards a younger audience, especially since the problems of relationships and breakups themselves often cater towards younger people who are still going through these types of events regularly. Audiences who are older, for example in their 40's or above, most likely will no longer be able to relate with the struggles of regret and anxiety over losing a partner since they've most likely settled down and are married at that point in their lives. Furthermore, the music video itself takes place and mentions many different cities/places, primarily in the US. Specifically New York City and Los Angeles are mentioned heavily, which leads to audiences that live or have lived in these cities to be able to watch the music video and correlate their own experiences and memories with those that are shown in the music video. 

Representation

The cast of the music video includes, as mentioned before, NIKI, her white ex-lover, all the girls that he meets on the NYC subway, and towards the end of the video, NIKI's new partner that she accepts into her life, who appears to be of African-american descent. In this sense, the videos cast is quite representative of audiences. The video portrays the experiences and emotions that people may go through after a break up, including the sadness, remorse, and regret that 2 people may share when things end in a way they never intended it to. This follows the conventions that the media and audiences attribute to this sort of situation, as people expect it to be sad, and wouldn't expect a story like this to be filled with happy scenes and push emotions of joy onto audiences. The characters themselves can't be said to hold any stereotypes of their own, since in this day and age, inter-racial couples have become completely normal to most audiences, especially those in the western world, and thus don't break any of the conventions associated with the issue. The couple is also heterosexual, which does conform with media conventions in this current era, as most couples portrayed in the media are still heterosexual. This represents most couples in the world, and in the US too as currently heterosexual couples still make up 90% of the total population in the US specifically.

Industry  

In terms of shooting and editing techniques nothing in particular stands out to go subvert expectations and is conventionally filmed and edited. The video was uploaded on the social media site YouTube which allows for a vast audience from all over the world to watch the video as it is a global site. It also allows for fans to share the video and may lead to the artist, NIKI, being granted even greater exposure to new audiences as her fans share the video to their friends who may like it too. It also allows for revenue to be garnered from advertisements that are placed on the video by YouTube and other advertisers.

In Conclusion

I believe that overall La La Lost You' music video provides an accurate and relatable portrayal of what it is like for many young people all over the world to lose a romantic partner. It's narrative structure makes it easy to understand and provides a compelling and memorable story. 

Out Of Time, The Weeknd
Tesfaye, A., Harada, T., Aran, T. (2022) Out Of Time. [Performed by The Weeknd] On Dawn FM.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fDzCWNS3ig

"Out Of Time" is a song written and sung by Canadian artist Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd. The music video was directed by RJ Sanchez and Pasqual Gutierrez, and follows The Weeknd as he meets a girl, played by korean actor HoYeon Jung, in an empty hotel bar as they quickly get to know each other and bond over singing the song in a karaoke box. 

Out of time as a song combines elements of R&B and boogie that, along with the Weeknd's soothing voice, provides a relaxing yet also melancholic vibe to listeners. Lyrically, the song details how the singers' trauma from previous relationships have negatively effected his attempts in fixing his romantic relationship with his former partner. The music video seemingly juxtaposes the sorrowful lyrics by showing the Weeknd meeting and bonding with a girl he seemingly begins to fall in love with. Instead the music in the video is used as something that pulls the two closer together, by having them sing along to it and instead further build their connection through a shared taste in music. This joyful and romantic experience is exemplified with dance-y nature of the song as we are shown how the couple run through the halls through hand held and random camera movements, mixed with a multitude of close up and medium close up shots that make the audience feel as if they themselves are the ones going through the events, frolicking through the hallways and singing your heart out with a person you're falling in love with. The idea of having a story revolve around a couple that is able to emotionally connect with audiences is a storyline that I believe would be great to incorporate in our music video. 

The editing of the video also follows a linear narrative that provides a clear picture to audiences of the timeline of events that show the story of the 2 characters. Additionally, the relatively fast paced cutting style also convey a sense of excitement in audiences and provides the heart racing experience that many people associate with falling in love. This goes along with the representations that are commonly related to blossoming relationships and feelings, and those of meeting and instantly "clicking" with a person that may end up being a romantic partner. This editing style is also how I'd want to format and pace the story of our music video. Many shots of the couple in the music video can also be said to pay homage to the 2003 Sofia Coppola film "Lost In Translation", specifically how the couple meet by chance at a hotel where both of them seem lonely but find joy in the company of the other. All in all, the music video does an excellent job at conveying feelings of "love at first sight" and building a connection with a person who was seconds ago no more than a stranger. The lively and joy filled beat of the song go along well with the shots we see in the video however maintains to provide the overall sense of despair and sorrow that are provided through the lyrics of the song and leaves the audience wondering where this relationship we see on the screen is going to go, and how the couple will end up. This is definitely a feeling and atmosphere that I'd want my teams music video to incorporate and have.

Wetsuit, The Vaccines
Young, H. J. (2011) Wetsuit. [Performed by The Vaccines] On What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fDzCWNS3ig

"Wetsuit" is a song written by British indie band The Vaccines, that focusses on ideas and nostalgia of youth. The music video goes against general conventions and doesn't use actual footage that was filmed by the band themselves, instead all the images and footage in the video were taken from pictures and videos sent in by fans.

The song itself provides audiences with a bittersweet feeling due to the emotional connotations of wanting to go back to ones youth. The music video exemplifies these emotions by gathering pictures from this audience of young people that showcase exactly what it looks like to be young and free and wild. The images were sent in from fans that went to a concert of the vaccines at a festival, which showcase the wildness and rowdiness of what it's like to go to a festival with friends and just to enjoy ones life. The video does well at capturing these emotions and catering towards its target audience but lacks a narrative that can be followed. This type of music video doesn't follow the style of what we'd want to create as we would most likely want to film the footage ourself and convey the songs and videos emotions through an actual linear narrative instead of a pushing these feelings through a sort of collage/compilation of moments. For our music video, this probably isn't a style that we'd follow, as we want to go for more of a narrative/performance based music video.

Scene Specific Research: 

In the following pieces of research, I will be analysing specific parts of music videos that have scenes similar to the ones we want to include in our component 3 music video as well. This research was conducted after the creation of the final storyboard and screenplay, and thus it was already known what shots we would need. However, for further inspiration, it would be beneficial to find out how these scenes are shot in other music videos from similar genres, whereby we'll learn more about what is conventionally done in such scenes, i.e scenes at beaches, in cars, in lavish houses/villas, etc.

Midsummer Madness, 88rising (Beach Scenes)
Immanuel, B., Miller, G. K. (2018) Midsummer Madness. [Performed by 88rising] On Head in the Clouds
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSoNx1gyQ4

"Midsummer Madness" is a song by various artists all under the 88rising record label, which includes artists such as Joji, Rich Brian, NIKI, AUGUST 08, and more. The song Midsummer Madness, along with its music video, depicts as the title would suggest, an extravagant summer that features incredible highs, embodying what one would describe as a "Summer to never forget". I decided specifically to research this video due to its inclusion of various scenes on the beach, which I hope will be able to aid us when filming our own beach scenes as well.

From the scenes at the beach in the music video, we can see the usage of multiple close up shots of individual actors, as well as medium close ups of the groups walking together along the shore, with most shots not lasting more than 2 seconds each. The camera movements are almost all handheld, and not too professional, providing the experience as if we were seeing the group the eyes of someone who was with them in the moment. This matches the upbeat nature of the song, which exemplifies the feelings of excitement that one may experience when spending time with friends at a beach, and creates a better connection with the audience as they can fully witness and feel what it would be like to be a part of this group. Further, we also see scenes of the actors dipping and running in the ocean in swimwear, which are shown through medium shots. In all scenes, what is most prominent is the joy that is expressed through the vibrant colors and effects that were added during post production, as well as the smiles on all the faces of the actors on the screen where they are also seen talking, dancing, and running excitedly, which all are conventions of expressing fun, joy, and thrilling emotions.

Since we will also be using a relatively large group of people in our music video, we hope to be able to use these techniques like fast paced editing, close ups, and handheld camera movements to accurately portray the joyful and exhilarating experience that we hope our music video will have. Additionally, we also want to make sure our actors have just as much fun as the actors seen in this music video, and thus we will encourage strong facial and body expressions like wide smiles, spontaneous movements, active conversations, etc. Overall Midsummer Madness executes this portrayal of summer very well, and we hope that we will be able to employ these ideas as well to showcase the amount of fun our cast will have throughout our music video.

0X1=Lovesong, TXT (Car Scenes)

Graham, M., Thomson, M. (2021) 0X1=LOVESONG. [Performed by TXT] On THE CHAOS CHAPTER: FREEZE

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5bbqKYu51w

"0X1=LOVESONG" is a song by the South-Korean boy band consisting of 5 members, TXT.  0X1=LOVESONG can be described as a incredibly energetic, emo-rock, style song, in which audiences can scream their lungs out to.  The song discusses mainly ideas of adolescence and the struggles of finding love during ones youth. The video then adds on to this by depicting the 5 group members as they partake in a youthful adventure that is mixed in with multiple scenes of the 5 dancing and singing together. The scenes of their adventure include the group sneaking out of their homes and exploring abandoned buildings, swimming in pools, dancing in parking lots, and more importantly, driving in a car together. This inclusion of car scenes is the reason I decided to research this video, in the hopes we will be able to employ and use similar shots in our own music video's car scenes.

From the scenes in the car, which can be seen from 0:54 until 1:30 in the music video, the 5 group members start off by entering the car together, shown in a wide shot, and then starting the car and driving off, which are shot from having the camera inside of the car. Once they start driving, we are further shown more shots of the 5 together inside the car, smiling, singing, talking, and all having a visibly enjoyable time. Most of these shots are all filmed from the inside of the car, with the cameraman presumably taking the seat of one of the members of the group. Other shots are also shown where the camera tracks the car from the outside, as well as shots from the outside of the group members leaning their heads out of the car window, which further symbolise the connotations of adolescence and freedom, as car scenes like this with actors rolling down their windows and sticking their heads out often represent a form of independence and youth, with nothing and noone being able to tell them otherwise. These types of shots with actors sticking their heads out would be perfect to use in our music video's car scenes as well, as our video also aims to portray the beauty and the fun of youth and letting go of ones problems. These shots were most likely filmed by having another car lead in front/on the side of the group's (actor) car, with the cameraman inside the lead car, which would be feasible enough for us to film as well.

0X1=LOVESONG does a incredible job as a video in portraying the highs as well as the struggles of adolescence. With a great car scene too, we hope to be able to employ the filming techniques (like having the cameraman inside the car with the actors) as well as mise-én-scene used (such as poking ones head through the car window) in this video to better portray the fun-filled excitement that we aim to include in the car scenes of our music video as well.

The following research does not come from a music video, however from a YouTube tutorial that provides valuable information on the technical process of filming a car scene, which would help us a lot since we've never filmed a car scene before, and finding information on how to do it would be very useful.

Filming A Car Scene | Cinematography Breakdown, Ryan Luth (Car Scenes)

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ya3gAjSKvg

This is a YouTube video by Cinematographer Ryan Luth, in which he analyses and breaks down one of his previous projects which included a car scene, and details how other amateur cinematographers without much of a budget may also film a car scene for their independant film project. Although it isn't a music video, the tips and process that Luth provides in this video will be extremely useful for us as a team when filming our car scenes in our music video, as we have never filmed car scenes before. Thus, this research will help us heavily in the actual technical process of filming these car scenes.

In the video, Luth shows a clip of a car scene he directed for a short film. Typically, high quality and budget productions will mount cars to the back of pickup trucks or other vehicles, or use a studio where scenery can be added in post production. However, for low budget film producers, shortcuts have to be taken to match the quality of these high end productions. Luth details the process behind this and shows how he filmed multiple shots including tracking shots of the car, drone shots, and shots inside of the car as well. These are all the types of shots that we want to include in our music video, and thus the breakdown of how he executes these shots will be extremely important. The drone/estabalishsing shot is quite simple and self explanatory, which we will be able to do by using a drone and tracking our car as it drives along the road. Next, the tracking shots of the car that Luth shows were done by having a camera on a golf cart follow the car around on the road. Since we do not have access to golf carts, a good substitute will be by filming from the trunk of another car, or from the windows from the inside of the car, which should create similar results to using a golf cart. Having another car will also allow us to safely lead the car with the actors, as they will not need to worry about where to turn or how fast to go, as they will be able to follow the lead car with camera inside. Finally, the shots from inside the car were done by using mounts on the windows and front hood of the car. This will be difficult however as these mounts are typically very expensive. Instead, a good alternative would be to put our cameraman inside the car with our actors, and film from there, which we hope should create similar results as well.

Overall, this video provides a plethora of useful information when it comes to the technical elements of filming car scenes, as well as how to ensure actor safety when filming, which we hope we will be able to employ in the filming of our music video to get the best car shots and create the best car scenes possible.

Branding Research:

Moving on from music video research, I will now focus on researching how artists portray themselves through multiple forms of media outlets such as their videos, social media pages, and album covers, and how this all intertwines to create a fully fledged persona of the artist, and how their audiences interact and enjoy this.

Artist: NIKI

Continuing on from what was mentioned in the music video research portion of this blog post, Nicole Zefanya, who is more commonly known as NIKI, is a 24 year old Indonesian artist who has become a staple in the pop genre, being the most streamed/popular female Indonesian artist. NIKI has cultivated fans not only in Indonesia but also around the globe, with her expressive voice, personal songwriting, and genre-blurring artistry, becoming a vibrant symbol and advocate for a generation of Asian teenagers all over the world. NIKI's branding mirrors her own life and herself as a person, as she does not try to play a character or put up an alter ego when she's either NIKI or Nicole Zefanya. In a sense, NIKI does everything she can to be authentic to all her fans, and show that theres no difference between the two. Due to this, she has become an idol to not only Indonesian girls, but Asian girls all over the world as her music focusses on her personal experiences growing up in Indonesia and her love life that followed her when she moved to the United States. Her social media and branding, along with her music videos almost seem like she could be your average girl, instead of being an international super-star singer.

Her social media posts and stories that she tells through her lyrics feel very personal, like seeing a friends' post on instagram showing them with their friends, or traveling, or just pictures of themselves in general, which combined all create a very informal and personal experience when her fans see these posts. The stories she portrays in the form of song and music videos also feel very relatable to most fans as the experiences of break ups, being in love, and missing your partner are all things that adolescent males or females will one way or another experience in their lives. This paints an overall image of NIKI being a artist who's "just like us", and who fans don't see as some unreachable celebrity. Instead they feel like they're able to interact with her, and be her friend, which builds connection and fan-loyalty.

All in all, NIKI's branding of being an approachable, sweet, and girl-next-door-esque persona makes fans appreciate her music even more, and is a brand that we'd like to replicate for our artist, especially her kind and approachable persona.

Artist: The Weeknd

As previously mentioned in the music video research portion of this blog post, Abel Tesfaye, professionally known as 'The Weeknd', is a Canadian singer-songwriter who makes music primarily in the rap, R&B, and pop genres. What we can observe from the different elements of his songs, social media, and video imagery is that he portrays himself as sort of a "bad man", with his song lyrics often mentioning a high life of sex, using women for their bodies, drugs, excess, and money, that according to him are mainly autobiographical experiences. These elements can most prominently be found in his 3rd album, "Beauty Behind the Madness", specifically in songs such as "Can't Feel my Face" and, "Earned It". However, he also shows a different side in multiple songs where he mentions love, but also despair and pain, as can be seen in a-lot of his newer songs like "Out of Time", "Less Than Zero", and "Die For You". In many songs, The Weeknd talks about personal experiences that make him seem like sort of a play-boy, or as modern generations (Gen Z) would describe as a "red flag", the two terms are almost synonymous but red flag is a term mainly used by these generations to describe consumers/listeners of The Weeknd's music. These ideas of The Weeknd and his fanbase are perpetuated by many elements of his branding, like the constant usage of dark and monotone colors in his album covers, music videos, and social media posts. This usage of darkness and/or low lighting is often associated with connotations of mystery and importance as well, which is in accordance with the persona that he plays as "The Weeknd" in which he seems himself as almost a God-like figure.

From his social media it is obvious he paints himself as a celebrity. He often posts himself performing at concerts in front of an audiences of tens of thousands of fans, making sure he's the center of all the attention. This follows with his persona as "The Weeknd", as he often has planetary objects like the moon surrounding him with bright spotlights being shone upon him, which further paints the idea of the God-like identity The Weeknd believes himself to be.

For the most part, the Weeknd's brand feels like too much of a "god-like" personality that is clearly an act he puts on for the camera. This isn't something we want to take from, as we want to create a more wholesome and relatable personality that audiences can connect with and relate to, not a bigger than life superstar that is too cool for their fans.

Reflection: 

From the research that I've done that can be seen in this blogpost, I was able to gain a lot of ideas regarding what direction I want to take my team's music video in. Originally, I was leaning towards a narrative/story heavy music video, but later on after discussion with my team I was convinced that a healthy mix of performance and narrative would be a much better fit for our music video, artist, and brand. However all in all, I was still able to gain valuable information about what kind of scenes, messages, and representations to include in our music video, especially those regarding taboo topics, and those that go against the industry norm, which is incredibly important to represent in portray in the modern media landscape.

In addition to the information I gained regarding the conventions of music videos, the research I conducted into the specific scenes from music videos of a similar genre that would be like to the scenes we wanted to film in our own music video, ended up providing us valuable information in regards to how we would film these scenes (specific camera angles and techniques), as well as what kind of shots to include in the scene. This type of research helped massively, and should be done more often in any project I take part in in the future, as it benefits the production process greatly, instead of merely researching music videos that provided insight into genre conventions.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Weekly Plan & Progress

This blog post features my (Maxi) diary and plan for my teams music promotion package project.

Here is the schedule for the development and production of our promotion package, outlined by our teacher Mr. Nick.

 

Week	Term 2	Week	Term 3
1 (2 Oct)	Brief, Research	8 ( 8 Jan)	Development
2	Research	9	Shoot
3	Research	10	Shoot, Self Reflection
4	Proposal	11	Post Production
5	Development	12	Post Production
6	Development	13 (13 Feb)	Deadline (Tuesday 13th February)
7	Development	14

Here is a diary that tracks the progress of the creation of me and my music promotion package project:

Week 1 - 06/10/23

This week, having already decided on the team that I will be working with throughout the project, we began our research for our Component 3 music promotion package project, deciding what we want and what we don't want to see in our music video, and began discussing genres for which type of song to use.

Week 2 - 13/10/23

This week we continued our research and decided on a few songs that we could use for the music video were going to make, as well as looking at different artists social media pages and branding. We further discussed about what type of artist we want to have be the star of our music video.

Week 3 - 20/10/23

This week we began to create our statement of intent, and have already agreed on an artist, and their song, that we will use for our music video, which is Sabrina Carpenter's "Feather". We also began to briefly discuss the ideas for the aesthetic of our music video.  Also, I had received feedback from my teacher Mr. Nick where he advised me to include more detailed information in my weekly plan and progress, which I will now do by being more reflective through including the problems we encountered, as well as the possible solutions to those problems in each update to my weekly progress.

Problem: We haven't fully finalized our statement of intent, and still need to finalize target audiences, interests, etc. Our artists persona has also not been fully thought of.

Solution: We will continue to discuss and brainstorm about what kind of personality we want our artist to have, and get a good idea of what we want our music video to look like and who we want it to cater towards.

To Do: Finish statement of intent, and continue discussing the theme of our music video.

Week 4 - 27/10/23

This week we began to pinpoint the aesthetic and vibe of our music video by watching more videos of the same genre, analyzing the lyrics of our song to see what would fit it best, and by creating a mood board. We were also able to practice lip sync editing where we filmed a short segment for a music video as a class project. We hope that this will help us and we will be able to use the knowledge we gained when we shoot our music video,

Problem:  We still haven't decided on our artists name and one of our team members wasn't there to film our mini project with us.

Solution: We will discuss and brainstorm in our own time to finalize the details of our artists persona, and other characteristics.

To Do: Begin to write a screenplay and draw a storyboard.

Week 5 - 04/11/23 

This week we began outlining the timeline of our music video, using a lyrics sheet we started writing and visualizing the scenes for each part of the song. We hope to have a detailed split for what part to include in which scene once we finish this timeline. We also finalized our initial shooting ideas and who we want to cast, as well as the overall theme of the music video.

Problem: We realized that theres a risk of rain in the time that we plan on shooting, which is a problem as a majority of our scenes are outdoor and rely on sunshine. Casting our actors may also be difficult as we experienced in previous projects that scheduling conflicts may often arise when working with large groups of people.

Solution: Finish the development of the screenplay and storyboard, and begin shooting earlier as to avoid the rain. As well as making sure that we have clear communication with our actors which we intend on doing by making a group chat on WhatsApp, and sharing our plans with them there as the team moves forwards.

To do: Finish the outline and timeline of the scenes of our music video.

Week 6 - 10/11/23

This week we finished the timeline of our music video which saw us adding and deliberating on all the types of scenes that we want to include, which helped us when we also began drawing out our storyboard.

Problem: The storyboard may take a bit long to create, and we may not end up needing that detailed of a screenplay, as music videos tend to not have such detailed screenplays, if any.

Solution: Create a storyboard that is initially detailed, then just use a rough draft for the rest of it, while creating a screenplay anyway that is detailed in the important sections where actors will need to put on a performance, as to provide them a clear idea of what their behaviour should look like. 

To Do: Finish the storyboard and screenplay.

Week 7 - 17/11/23

This week, as we are about to go on our 2 month long break, we completed and finished the blog posts that we weren't done with yet. We also have finished important parts of the screenplay and storyboard, making sure we had the majority of them done before we left for our break.

Problem: Still have some information and reflections that haven't been added to the blog, as well as not having the complete storyboard and screenplay.

Solution: Will add and finish the blog posts, as well as finish the storyboard and screenplay.

To do: Over the break, we plan on scouting our locations (and start filming our music video if possible).

Reflection (Halfway point):

Going into this term break with the progress we've made so far, I am quite happy with how the project has gone so far. Everything has essentially gone according to plan with little to no setbacks, except for maybe tight deadlines and pushed back work. Other than that, we have been able to effectively work together to create the basis of the project, developing and researching what we could to the best of our abilities in the pre production phase, and are eager to move onto the production process of the music video.

Week 8 - 12/01/24

This is our first week back after finishing our 2 month long school holiday. During the holiday, we were able to finish the screenplay, and scout a few locations for our shoot, however were not able to start shooting due to schedule conflicts. We also contacted all our actors and made sure of which dates they would be available for shooting. Also, I had received feedback from my teacher Mr. Nick where he advised me to further continue researching more music videos, which I also plan on doing. Lastly, we finally updated the formats of our blog as to make it simpler and easier for Cambridge Examiners that will eventually read them, and mark them.

Problem: Do not yet have set dates for when our shoots will be, and still need to think about how and what equipment we may need to rent and use when we shoot.

Solution: Come together and look at our schedules and finalize the exact dates where we are free, and give those dates to the actors. If problems further arise, we'll discuss with them and get better dates.

To Do: Finish the risk assessment of the locations we plan on shooting our music video in.

Week 9 - 19/01/24 This week we finished our filming schedule, and created a WhatsApp group with our cast members in which we provided them with information regarding their costumes, schedules, locations, etc. This allows us to easily communicate with all our actors in case of a sudden change in plans, or if any of them suddenly won't be able to make it.

Problem: One of our team members wasn't able to come during the creation of our filming schedule, but we were able to inform him via WhatsApp and confirmed that everything looked great. Another problem is that I unexpectedly will have to be in Sydney next week during the filming of one of our scenes.

Solution: Since I wont be able to attend on the first day of filming (27th of January), we decided to choose the easiest location on that day to shoot, which was the scenes at Gunung Payung Beach. Additionally, if anything went wrong, my team members could still call me and ask for help regarding issues with the screenplay, etc.

To Do: Research social media pages of artists in the same genre and get inspiration for our artists social media page, and plan out what kind of posts we need.

Week 10 - 26/01/24

This week we began more extensive research into the social media pages and digipaks of artists, and what the general conventions of each are and how we can apply them to our own artist. We also began planning out what kind of posts we want to include on our artists social media page.

Problem: We plan on having our first day of shooting on the 27th of January, however I will not be able to attend due to sudden plans.

Solution: If the team encounters any problems where they need my help, they can easily call me via WhatsApp if they want to ask me anything or confer for my opinion.

To Do: Finish shooting all beach scenes.

Week 11 - 02/02/24 Over the weekend of this week, we had finished shooting the first few scenes of our music video which were at the beach, which is all detailed in the behind the scenes/production process of that day on my blog. We also began writing our critical self reflections.

Problem: While shooting at our original location, Gunung Payung Beach, we were suddenly told it would cost us IDR 750.000 to film there by security.

Solution: Since we believed that this was too much money for us to pay, we ended up moving to the nearby Pandawa Beach, where we ended up getting all the shots we needed as well.

To Do: By next week, we aim to have finished our villa scenes as well, as we will be shooting on the 3rd of February.

Week 12 - 02/09/24

Over this weeks weekend, we finished shooting the scenes of our music video with our artist and her friends that were set in the Villa, and further detailed the behind the scenes and production process in my behind the scenes blogpost.

Problem: While shooting at the villa, we intended to film the closing scene of the music video, which was the sunset scene. However, since the skies on that day were quite cloudy, we were not able to capture the sunset.

Solution: We decided to instead change the location of the sunset scene to Peninsula Island Park, where we will be shooting at shortly.

To Do: By next week, we aim to have finished our villa scenes as well, as we will be shooting on the 3rd of February.

Week 13 - 02/16/24

Over the course of the week and the weekend, we finished shooting the scenes of our actors where they would be in the car, and at the park. Additionally, Timo finished editing the first draft of our music video, and showed it to our teacher Mr. Nick. We had also gotten the majority of the content that we planned on uploading to our artists social media, including pictures, interviews, and dance challenges, as well as photo's for our digipak. These can be seen in the social media development post, and the digipak development post. Lastly, Mr. Nick also extended the deadline for the submission of our project from the 13th of February, to the 23rd of February, due to various school and national holidays that took away from the time we originally had in class to finish the project. Thus, we now had a bit more time to finish all aspects of our project.

Problem: Mr. Nick saw a few minor problems with our first draft, mainly due to the editing choices that were made. Including cuts being too fast, or the speed of some shots not matching the lyrics of the video

Solution: Since they were only editing issues, Timo only had to choose different clips to put into the video that would fit the timeline of the video better.

To Do: By next week, we will have to submit our final finished project to our teacher Mr. Nick, thus the team and I will need to finish all our blogposts including self reflections, as well as finish uploading our artist's content onto social media, and finish creating the digipak.

Week 14 - 02/23/24

As this was the week we'd be submitting our project to the school, we recieved some final bits of feedback from Mr. Nick, and made our final changes to our music video, digipak, and social media page. I had also gone back to older blog posts and updated them with new information, such as how our storyboard and screenplay differed from our final music video, and added additional reflection to a few posts as well. Another change to my blog posts I made was including Hyperlinks in blog posts that relate/include material from previous blog posts. i.e, in a blog post about the production process, when mentioning the screenplay, I added a hyperlink as to allow anyone reading the blog to easily find the material I was referencing in the various blog posts in which this occurred. Bonus Week - 04/26/24 After submitting our project for our school grade, we still had lots of time until we finally submitted our project to Cambridge. Mr. Nick had done this as so we would still be able to edit anything that needed to be changed during that time frame. In this time, I added new blog posts such as how we used media language to represent the story and characters in our music video, as well as a blog post detailing how we were regulated throughout the creation of our music video. I also edited my self reflection as to make it more in depth. Lastly, I made final checks and small changes to previous blog posts such as highlighting important information, adding extra images, adding more links, etc.

Reflection (End of Project):

Over the course of the second half of this project, there have been a myriad of aspects and elements which I am proud of, as well as problems that we faced which should not have occurred, and could have been avoided. However, the progress of our Compenent 3 project in general remained stable, and we were able to keep all our tasks on track and keep on schedule. Overall, despite the problems that we faced throughout the shooting process, I am proud that as a team we were able to rise above them and find the solutions to those problems using our own innovations and plans. This helped us stay ahead of ourselves and not fall behind schedule, despite the pressures that may have led us into doing so. This progress report to me has been useful in outlining each week the problems we encountered, what we should do, as well as keeping an organized list of things to finish as soon as possible, which has helped me keep myself, as well as my teammates organized. All in all, I am very happy with manner in which my team and I have progressed throughout the course of over 14 weeks of working on this project, and hope to improve on areas which we lacked in for future projects that I may embark on in the future, outside of A-Level Media Studies.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Team

This blog post features an introduction of my (Maxi) team for my music video project, and was written by me.

My team for this film opening project consists of me (Maxi), Timothy, Sharon, and Nayana. I chose this group because I believe that we all share a different set of skills that will be useful in the production of our film opening. They are all hard workers that, from past experience, are able to withstand the pressure of deadlines and get tasks done on time, and provide an enjoyable working environment all without proving to be a burden to the team. 

I have worked with all of them together in previous projects, specifically in our component 1 project in which we worked together to create a film opening. In said project, we all worked together very well and bonded great due to our team chemistry, and thus I have no reason to want to pick different teammates for this project as they all are incredibly suitable.

Here is a picture of my team. (From Left to right: Nayana, Sharon, Me, Timothy)

Here are the links to Timothy's, Sharon's, and Nayana's, blogs.

Sharon: Creative Director, Storyboard Artist Maxi: Screenwriter, Assistant Director Timothy: Director, Editor, Cinematographer Nayana: Casting Director, Cast Manager

Reflection:

Looking back throughout the process of creating our music video, I can confidently say that I made the right choice in picking my team. Overall, we have worked together very smoothly and communicated our ideas together excellently, which ensured that our deadlines were met, and any disagreements we had were resolved easily and effectively. All the decisions we make are made as a team, and we are often left satisfied with the conclusions we come to. The team environment is fun, yet also productive, and I believe the way in which we compliment each others' skills and personalities was a major factor which allowed that to happen. I am very happy with how much effort we put in together, and the way in which our teamwork skills have developed throughout the course of the project, which has played a pivotal role in the management and production of our music video and project in general.

Media Studies - COMP 3 Brief

This blog post features the brief for my Component 3 music promotion package project. Written by me (Maxi).

Reflection:

Going into this project, I feel quite confident about my abilities and my team in creating a high quality and effective music video. Some aspects seem quite challenging however, including the creation of a social media page which we have never done or practiced before. It will be interesting learning about how to properly and how to successfully create a brand surrounding a product, which in this case will be our artist. I am excited to see where this project will take my team and I, and experience and produce a whole new format of media texts.

Media Studies - Documentary Final Piece

This blog post features the final output of our documentary; Dave(s). 

(We suggest you go to this YouTube link instead of watching on blogger as YouTube provides higher video quality)

This Google Drive link also contains the previous drafts for the documentary, if interested, and if the video on YouTube gets taken down.