CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION
For my coursework project in A2 i chose a music video because i believe that music resonates with a feeling or even a situation perfectly. The social issue I chose to represent in my coursework was mental health, more specifically “depression”. Millions of individuals around the world are impacted by the major societal problem of depression. It is a widespread and incapacitating mental health condition that can make people feel depressed, despondent, and uninterested in life. Depression can significantly affect a person's relationships, ability to perform at a job, and general well-being. Depression can also result in other severe health issues including substance misuse and suicide. People are frequently discouraged from seeking assistance because of the stigma associated with mental health, but it's crucial to understand that depression is a treatable disorder that can be managed. Depression's influence as a social issue can be lessened with increased public understanding and education about the condition as well as with access to high-quality mental health care. In a research brief released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is said that during the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic, the prevalence of anxiety and unhappiness drastically increased internationally. The executive summary also identifies people who have been most affected and describes how the epidemic has affected and evolved over time access to mental health services. There are still substantial gaps and concerns despite the fact that 90% of the countries surveyed had previously included mental health and psychosocial assistance in their COVID-19 response plans in response to worries about a possible spike in mental health difficulties.
For my music video, I chose the song “Broken” by Jonah Kaegan. I got inspired to make this specific music video on this song because the music video represents how a person feels when suffering from depression. The music video opens with a young teen boy sitting by himself in a chair in an empty room. The boy's expressions are dejected and filled with woes. The boy uses his voice and facial expressions to convey his emotions throughout the music video. He wants people to understand that everyone struggles with mental health issues, but that only a small percentage are truly adept at hiding it. Those who don't hide it are frequently shunned by their peers, which causes them to grow to hate themselves and never truly learn to love themselves. In "Broken," he seems unafraid to explore the darker sides of his emotions. His forthright admittance of needing assistance and the clear significance of mental health to him help people embrace asking for assistance when circumstances are tough. Giving voice to those who were most vulnerable was the main goal of the film "Broken." It is for the person who has decided to go up against their demons by themselves but has run out of options. It is a cry for help, a desperate cry for that one person (or those people, or that object) to step in and rescue them from their own flaming disaster. In this difficult period, our mental health is being threatened. In addition to striking a chord with listeners, "Broken" will also inspire them, give them power, and help them understand that no matter what they might be going through, they are never alone.
Broken by Jonah is a Pop song. The pop genre is responsible for creating the most well-known music singles. A hit song is one that sells a lot of copies, and the most recent songs are listed each week in the charts. Even though the majority of singles are also found on albums, a song must be released as a single in order to hit the charts. Songs that go on to become hits almost invariably have some elements that are referred to as the pop music formula. They have a catchy tune, and a good rhythm, and are easy to memorise and sing along to. They frequently have two or more verses as well as a chorus that is played repeatedly.
The lyrics of Broken are really deep and meaningful. The first verse of the song tells us that When you're depressed, it seems like everything is going wrong, and the thoughts racing through your head are so damaging and even horrifying that it's difficult to believe they came from your own mind. But it's easier to say you're "just fine" when someone asks than to convey all the sadness and suffering, and occasionally it could get so bad you think you can scare someone away, which regrettably happens periodically. Jonah is claiming that those who are depressed or dissatisfied regularly and adeptly mask their feelings. The accusation that "they aren't sad enough" and appearing needy are two things that depressed people worry about. He doesn't want to monopolise their time with an idle conversation.
For my codes and conventions I wanted to see what the audience liked to see more in a music video, so in a survey I conducted I asked the question “which music video convection immediately attracts your attention?” and mostly everyone went with camera angles, thus camera angles were our main focus.
For the brand of my artist, I had to create everything from scratch. I wanted to promote my artist as any record company will. I first started off with a website, for that website I first made a few mockups to see what structure of the website would look appealing to the audience.
These are the mockups I made for the artist's website. This website will contain the artist's digipak, as well as some merch items to promote the artist's new song too. Down below is the timelapse of the mockup:
Afterward, when the final structure of the magazine was done and decided, I moved onto making the magazine, for the magazine, I made it on Wix as it is a very reliable website.
Next came the task of recreating the merchandise for my artist because merch is very important for the brand awareness of the singer and it also creates engagement with the audience. I asked the model, who is also my friend, to send me a few pictures of himself, so I could make some merch, Out of the few he sent me, I like this one the best, I edited the colours and turned it into a black and white picture. I then opened it in photoshop and using the brush tool I blurred out his eyes to add to the "mysterious" affect as they say "eyes are the windows to the soul" which would thus make the viewers curious and would push them to get to know the artist.
Down below is the merch I made:
To create more brand awareness, I decided to make an Instagram page for my art as well. On that Instagram page, I first posted a 9-grid image of the album cover, I picture each day to create suspense, Then when the grid posts were done, I thus posted a small teaser of the music video.
In order to select my genre for my music video, I had to ask the general public for their opinion, but going out and asking everyone individually seemed like a very time-consuming task, thus to save time, I created a google form, in which there were numerous questions that asked people for their opinions and what they would like to see in a music video. The majority chose the option of the genre of pop “depression” being represented in a magazine. Hence, I chose my genre.
Down below are some of the questions I included in the google form:
-
Which of the following groups includes your age?
-
What is your gender?
-
How frequently do you watch music videos?
-
Would you be interested in a Performance-based music video
-
Which magazine convention immediately attracts your attention?
-
What genre of music videos do you prefer?
-
Would you watch a music video that was focused on the social issue of mental health?
-
Do you think ‘depression is a social issue which needs to be discussed?
-
Do you believe that there is a growing rate of depression in Pakistan?
I began by creating a rough draft of the questions I would pose to the general public. Once the questions were finalised, I typed them out in a google doc to make sure they were organised and in the right order. Next, I worked on the google form, and once that was completed, I asked my friends and family to share it with their friends and acquaintances in order to get a more diverse and authentic response.
When I posed the question, "How frequently do you watch music videos?" the vast majority of respondents said they watch music videos very frequently. This gave me the confidence to make the music video as my social issue would reach the target audience. And in order to maximize the circulation of my final product I would identify the target audience and create a marketing campaign that appeals to their needs and interests. Utilize various channels, such as social media, email marketing, and influencer partnerships, to reach the target audience. I would share this content across social media and other channels to reach a wider audience.
I'll start by defining conventions, which are the regular elements that viewers typically anticipate seeing in a specific media output, in this example, a music video. I did a lot of study on the conventions used in music videos during the research part of my project and made decisions about which traditions I would adhere to and which ones I wouldn't. First and foremost, I adhered to the one fundamental rule of a music video, namely the style (Performance, Concept, Narrative).
I chose to go with a performance-based music video because it best suited the concept I had in mind for our film. We mostly adhered to conventions when it came to the camera angles and techniques, using wide shots and long shots to demonstrate the surroundings, medium shots to demonstrate gestures, and close-up shots to highlight the emotions and reflect the lyrics of the song with the movement of the characters' lips and to give every music video its cinematic appearance. Conventions were also followed for the editing and mise-en-scene.