Creative Critical Reflection for the Music Video

Creative Critical Reflection: TiK ToK 

                       

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

All media contains conventions. A convention is a generally accepted way of doing something. For the music video project, I chose a pop song. In my music video, I use many conventions. First, let's talk about the character that was in the music video. On the first day that I filmed, I wore a pink cropped sweatshirt and black flowy shorts. I realized that the week that I was going to film my music video, it was going to be cold outside. On the second day of filming for my music video, I decided to refilm the entire video because I wanted to wear something different. I decided to wear black leggings, a white crop top, a black zip-up jacket, white high top shoes. throughout the whole video, I wore a pair of shiny, purple, and pink sunglasses. I would say that the outfit that I chose was very stylish and fashionable for a pop music video. The girl (which is me) looks very happy and she seems like she's having a lot of fun. The lyrics of the song are very teenage vibes and like a party song. This song also has a set structure and has a consistent beat. This is a performance-based music video. Pop music videos are normally associated with people in their teenage years partying and clubbing. A lot of the imagery created is based on sex or partying, but in my music video, I obviously did not show any sexual stuff. I had a different approach to the audience. These conventions are not used by me instead I have shown the ideal fun-filled side of teenagers. I used a few camera shots and angles. I used close-ups and medium shots. I used a lot of cool, new transitions, which made up for the fact that I didn't use many different types of shots. 

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

The music video that I created is a pop genre song. Pop songs are mostly targeted at teenagers and younger adults. My music video to the song "TiK ToK" by Kesha, was definitely targeted towards this audience. Now for my camera, I bought the camera a few years ago because I saw a lot of YouTubers and other people my age using it to take pictures and make videos. I bought the Canon Rebel T6 about two years ago on Black Friday. I bought it in a package which had the camera bag, the camera, two different lenses, a memory card, and a charger. I guess you could say that I hopped on the bandwagon because I hadn't used my camera much until I joined this class. To distribute the music video, my number one platform would be YouTube. To find any type of music video, individuals all around the world go to YouTube to find it. Youtube is also great because you can make a profit if you have a certain amount of views and followers. My next platform would be TikTok. TikTok is a great way to get your projects and videos out. It's easy to get a lot of views and you can get famous quickly. Then to get more attention, I would link the video on my Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter. I would attract many people with this music video because everyone knows the song TiK ToK by Kesha. It's a really well known song and it used to be on the radio all of the time. I also included myself in the video, which shows the diversity of a person. I am Mexican, and I'm also a female. I also show myself having a lot of fun and enjoying my life. The message that my music video gives is that you can have a lot of fun by yourself and as a teen. You can have a great time, sitting at home. I used many transitions in my music video because on the app "TikTok", it's a very common thing to do.                      

(3) How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

My production skills definitely improved throughout the process of creating this music video. Considering that I already filmed a commercial, you'd think that a music video would be a similar experience. Nope. I messed up a lot when creating this music video. The first day that I filmed for my music video went okay. I would definitely say all of those clips were rough drafts for the real filming day. My outfit, singing, lighting, and camera work just weren't at the level that it needed to be. The next day, I put a better outfit on, did my makeup way better, and instead of filming at night like I did the day before, I filmed during the day. These things already made a huge difference in the project, but then I needed to fix my camera skills. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to use my Canon Rebel T6 better, which definitely helped. The day of the actual filming went well, but I did take most of the day. Since I did a lot of continuous transitions, I had to edit each clip right after I would film it, and if it didn't look good, I would have to refilm it. And considering that there were twelve scenes in the music video, it took a really long time. I also didn't know how I wanted to transition from each scene to the next, so I needed to think of those as I went, which also wasn't the best idea. In my opinion, the only part of filming that went well was the storyboard that I had beforehand. The storyboard gave me some sort of direction as to what I needed to film. Now with editing, my experience went very well. I edited the music video while filming, so it was really easy. iMovie was the application that I used to edit. It's a very simple software to use, and if I had any questions or concerns, it only took a quick google search to figure it out.         

(4) How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?

For the music video project, I used many technologies. I used a combination of technology, hardware, and computer programs. It was a lot of trial and error because I’m good at taking pictures, but I’m not very experienced with filming videos, and way less with filming music videos. Over the past few projects, I have definitely improved my film making skills. First, let's talk about the equipment that I used to make my music video. To film my music video, I used a Canon Rebel T6 camera with an 18-55 mm lens. I also used my iPhone XR to film a few of the clips. The scenes from the music video that was outside, were filmed using the Canon Rebel T6 camera. The scenes that took place indoors, were filmed using my cellphone. I also used a tripod. My tripod came with a ring light, so I used that as well. I filmed a few clips using my phone because my tripod only allows me to either attach a ring light or a camera. For the scenes that were filmed indoors, I did use the ring light, so I filmed that part of the music video using my phone. I also used a pair of AirPods. I used AirPods to be able to hear the song, so I could lipsync the words at the correct tone and speed. To listen to the song, I used my iPad mini and I used Bluetooth to connect the AirPods to the iPad. Along with all of that equipment, I also used a MacBook Air laptop. I used a MacBook to be able to edit my music video. Now let's talk about the software that I used. Before editing my music video, I had to airdrop the clips that I filmed on my phone to my laptop. For the clips that I filmed using my camera, I used the Canon app to airdrop the clips to my phone. Then from my phone to the laptop. Once all of the clips were downloaded onto the MacBook Air, I began editing the music video on iMovie. I did all of my editing on iMovie. The process of converting the song to an mp3 file was pretty simple. I just went into my settings and changed the format. I also used YouTube to upload the music video. To create my thumbnail for the YouTube post, I used two apps on my phone called "Phonto" and "PicsArt". I used "Phonto" to add the text. I used "PicsArt" to add the stars. To post my blogs, I used Google Blogger. I also used it to look at my storyboard every day that I filmed, to know what I needed to film for each scene.