Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Final Product

 Here is the final product of our music video, digipak and social media.


MUSIC VIDEO
In case the video is removed from YouTube, I uploaded the video to Google Drive

DIGIPAK
Front cover

Inside-Left 

Inside-Right (CD)


Back Cover 

Spine 

3D Mockup


SOCIAL MEDIA 
Link to our Instagram social media account: https://www.instagram.com/itscintakyle/



AUDIENCE INTERACTION
Question Box (Story/Highlights) 
Comments Section (Response)


Critical Reflection

Here is my critical reflection essay for our Component 3 project. This blog post is written by me (Chelsea). 


    In accordance with the Cambridge brief for Component 3, students are expected to create a music promotion package of an album, including a music video, an official social media page for the artist and a digipak. My group and I decided to create a fictional Indonesian female pop musical artist with a confident, feminine and attractive personality named โ€œCinta Kyleโ€ along with her album and debut song called โ€œThe Weekendโ€ originally by BIBI and 88rising. Her songs often revolve around the portrayal of complex love relationships, hence it is targeted towards teenagers to young adults aged 16-25 years old. 

    Branding that is consistent is a crucial element for the artistโ€™s identity in order to create a unique image that resonates with the audience and to create a long lasting impression, therefore conveying an effective message that reflects our main theme of love. We decided to incorporate colours that resonate with this such as red and pink, which ends up becoming our brandโ€™s primary colours. In association with Cintaโ€™s personality, we deliberately styled her in black skirts, red tops along with high-heeled boots, connoting power and love. Her distinct styleโ€™s can be seen in her digipak cover (Fig. 1) and her music videoโ€™s main performance outfit (Fig. 2). Her kiss trademark featured in her CD cover (Fig. 3) and heart symbol as her main logo along with scenes gesturing the heart (Fig. 4) adds up to her flirty personality on screen persona, and the use of cursive lettering also reflects her femininity. By using the same colour scheme, fonts, tone, and style across our thumbnail and the whole video, we further improve recognition and encourage viewer familiarity and interaction. 

    Conducting research regarding several music videos allows me to understand the conventions of a pop music genre. We combined narrative and performance to make the music video entertaining and engaging to watch. Our narrative of how she was once a lovergirl but realised throughout her toxic relationship that the only person she could hold on to is herself and did not need validation from other boys, aimed to highlight two aspects of the artistโ€™s persona: innocent (pink outfit, pajamas) and playgirl (red bold outfit, red alcohol cup). We followed the conventions of mostly upbeat and fast paced clips such as quick cuts and match cuts to evoke energy and excitement. Another convention we followed was the usage of direct mode of address, in which the artist looks straight at the camera. This could serve as a way of developing a connection between the artist and the audience, in line with Bulmer and Katz uses and gratifications theory of social relationships. We used creative editing techniques in relation to subvert, including the match cut in the scene where the artist stumbles and falls on the bed (Fig. 5) and the POV shot in which the artist attempts to locate the boys using a heart cutout (Fig. 4). In this way, it will keep the audience engaged. 

    We primarily focused on how South East Asians are being portrayed, which are commonly underrepresented. Considering that our main target audience is also South-East Asians, casting all people in this race would make them feel seen and affirmed when they see themselves being portrayed in the media, which is linked to the Uses & Gratification theory by Bulmer & Katz of personal identity. Furthermore, Issues such as unrequited love and toxic relationships are commonly discussed in this modern society. The mirror shot in digipak (Fig. 6) may symbolise emotional distance and the desire to be seen. We tried to subvert how men and women are usually portrayed; males are frequently referred to as "players," which usually implies they are insincere, manipulative and untrustworthy. However, we attempted to reverse their roles to show that women can also hold positions of power and control a relationship. This is evident in the music video, between the artist and the main guy (dark coloured shirt) and between her and other guys (white T-shirts) (Fig. 7), suggesting that they are simply "guys" who have no significance for her. 

    The simplicity of the design and the medium close-up of the artist in the front over, which gives the album identity and makes it easily recognisable for the audience, along with other features like the title, artist identity, tracklist, production company, copyright and institutional information  helped us conform to the generic conventions of a pop music digipak. Front covers typically have plain backdrops. Our background is unique since we select a simple background that conveys the essential information rather than images relating to the artist. The usage of red and a cursive font is seen as feminine in order to appeal to our demographic, which encourages self-assurance and empowerment.

    The rise of new media has made it easier for our artist to promote her music and increase audience engagement across various social media platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Linktree. We will offer unfiltered, raw moments of Cinta while also boosting promotional content (magazines) in an effort to portray her in a professional and personal way. To make the artist seem more approachable and genuine, informal selfie profile photos and behind-the-scenes photos (Fig. 8) are used to create relatability and authenticity. Her personal side of life fosters deeper connection with the audience, such as her highlights of outfit inspirations, where the audience can be inspired and gain confidence and personal identity from her fashion. According to Clay Shirkey's theory of end of audience, audiences are no longer passive and expect interactive media; for this reason, we use interactive stories by collecting and responding to fans questions using the question box feature (Fig. 9). Moreover, responding to comments establishes a direct connection between the artist and fans which creates a sense of community. The theory by Bulmer and Katz's uses and gratification of social relationship supports that the comment section helps fans to interact with one another to express excitement and reactions for her upcoming album release (Fig. 10).





Here is a Google Docs link for my critical reflection: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mgCSkjx2rwnsjjz101OUnLYotve9QuW9duuj7TQUr0o/edit?usp=sharing 

Production: File Organisation

Here is a blog post where I show how me and my group organise our files to ease the making of our project. 

add adv & disadv

1.) Google Docs
Google Docs have so many uses, one of which is to gather my group's brainstorming from each of us individually. Then, we collect these ideas to produce a big idea that we'll use for our project. The majority of the ideas we discussed about were still developing and were primarily the first ideas that came up from our mind. You can view the file here

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2.) Google Spreadsheet 
I made a google spreadsheet to keep on track for each blog post to ensure that I've finish and include everything in my overall blog. This is such an effective and efficient way for me to view my progress without having to go back and forth checking each blog post. Here is what my Google Spreadsheet look like:


I also made another section to list out all of my file links so that it is easier for me to navigate any file I want to go with just one click.

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3.) Google Drive 
Google Drive is essential to gather all the shooting files in one place, the sharing feature allows us to freely upload any videos/photos from different accounts/devices. Creating files made it easier for us to identify between different categories and prevent confusion from all of the takes. Here is what our Google Drive look like: 


Categories:
โ†ช BTS (behind the scenes)

โ†ช CINTA & DARREL (pictures together) 
โ†ช PHOTOSHOOT 
โ†ช RAW VIDS (from camera) 
โ†ช SCREEN TEST (behind the scenes pictures) 

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4.) Whatsapp 
Whatsapp is a powerful communication tool to ease our group discussions and file sharing. It helps our team to stay connected and track progress efficiently. For this component 3 project specifically, we made a Whatsapp community since the number of cast joining our shooting process were quite a lot so we may need separate groups within the community for easier management. 


1 - A group consisting of my team members (Audrey, Kalista, Rara & Chelsea) 
โ†ช Sharing agenda during shooting day
โ†ช File sharing (docs, links, embeds, presentations, etc)
โ†ช Regular discussions regarding plan & development of our project
โ†ช Ask and answer questions to allow ourselves to continuously improve together 
โ†ช Giving reminders to our work and submit them on time, this increases our awareness and responsibility 
โ†ช Dividing roles and jobs 
โ†ช Share to-do lists 
โ†ช Stress on deadlines & creative block, but most importantly, encourage each other! 

2 - A group consisting of my team members (Audrey, Kalista, Rara & Chelsea) and the main cast (Cinta) 
3 - A group consisting of my team members (Audrey, Kalista, Rara & Chelsea) and the side cast for day 2 (Agung, Bagus, Louis, Neils, Ryan, Darrel, Turah K) 
4 - A group consisting of my team members (Audrey, Kalista, Rara & Chelsea) and side cast for day 3 (Haresha, Nathan, Neils, Turah K)
5 - A group consisting of my team members (Audrey, Kalista, Rara & Chelsea) and side cast for day 4 (Agung, Bagas, Ryan)
6 - A group for editing discussions & feedback (Consisting only my team members) 
7 - A group for links & resources (Consisting only my team members, we were refrained to send any text besides links & resources that are related to our project) 
8 - A group for final submission (Consisting only my team members, here we only shared the final outcome of our music video, digipak and social media) 

We followed a standardised procedure for all groups to maintain professionalism and consistency, such as: 
โ†ช Announce the cast members regarding the date, time, attire and cast needed days (maximum a day) before the shooting day



โ†ช We also never forget to show our appreciation towards our cast members for sparring their time to participate in the shooting process 



โ†ช We remind them to keep all information confidential and not shared to other people until the project is finished 

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5.) Pinterest 


โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ขโƒยฐโ€ขยฐ Self reflectionยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”“

Since I am an organised person who likes everything to be well-structured and in place, I always take advantage of these applications specifically to accomplish projects or tasks I have (not only in the media, individually or in groups), so this method helps me work more efficiently and keep everything on track in one play. Google Docs can be a useful tool for my teammates and me to share ideas on possible technical elements we would use and narrative ideas.With headings, we can quickly navigate to a certain category without having to scroll down, and the collaborative function lets us collaborate on a same document from many devices. Using a Google Spreadsheet allows me to keep track of the things I've completed and those I still need to perform in a clear and efficient manner. The use of Google Drive enables me to navigate more easily and avoid having to search through the files again thanks to the embedded links. It is simpler to upload, organise, and distinguish between all of the behind-the-scenes and raw footage. This helps me decide which shots will be included in the final cut for editing. Finally, using WhatsApp reduces barriers to communication between me and my team and supports open discussion of any topic. It is also beneficial to inform any cast members regarding their roles and responsibilities. I intend to continue utilising these methods in the future to efficiently arrange my files, but I also hoped to discover many more applications that would support as well.

โ”—โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ข   โƒยฐโ€ขยฐโ€ยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ   โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”›

Clothing Analysis

Here is a blogpost explaining the usage of clothing in our music video. This blogpost is written by me (Chelsea).

VIEW LINK HERE

Media Language Usage

Here is a blogpost which outlines the media language & technical elements used in our music video. This blogpost is written by me (Chelsea). 

VIEW LINK HERE

Post-Production: Editing

Here is the editing process of our music video project. This blogpost is written by me (Chelsea). 


To edit the music video, I used CapCut that is compatible for Macbook, this is a free editing app for PC designed for beginners (like me) and experienced creators which offers a variety of tools for both basic and advanced editing tasks to create high quality and visually appealing videos. CapCut also has an online version that is meant for novice editors and doesn't require downloads or installations; nevertheless, I got the installed version on purpose in order to edit offline and organise my files better. Below are the process of my editing sequence in this presentation file: 
VIEW LINK (click here)

Editing needs countless revisions from not only my teammates, but also my teacher and non-media students to gain different perspective. Here, I created a second presentation to show the changes I made over time to create the finished music video.

โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ขโƒยฐโ€ขยฐ  Self reflection ยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”“

At first, we as a  group decided to do the editing collaboratively. Given that I already have this CapCut application on my laptop for a while, I might as well give it a go for editing. I was curious whether they offer collaborative editing, and they do! Although my group and I were enthusiastic, we are still unsure of how to do so. Hence, I looked up a YouTube tutorial and found this tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r6jHROPZ6E). There was an issue when I attempted to invite one of my teammates. My teammate was able to open the editing file, but all they could see was a black screen because they were unable to access any of the uploaded videos. The fact that the free option only allows one collaborator means that my other teammates were unable to edit as well, which created another problem. My teammate (Audrey) had time to purchase a monthly subscription of Capcut pro. At first, it was effective as we can edit during any time without having to see other. However, it becomes inefficient over time since file needs to be constantly updated and downloaded in order to edit (which can take up minutes to hours). At the end, we let only one person to do the editing and allowed me because the application already existed in the laptop. 

Editing is a lot of work, especially when I have to explain each modification I made and the progress I've made. Editing took me a long time from start to finish, but fortunately, my teammates are very encouraging and always provide comments, recommendations and comments that make our project better and better each time. Additionally, there have been occasions when our in-person meetings have made it easier for us to discuss and work through ideas quickly rather than me taking a screenshot, sending it to the group, and then waiting for replies, or over the phone in case there are internet issues. Although I am still considered as a beginner, being responsible for editing helped me gain so many technical skills, and watching tutorials also made it easier for me to know what to do. 
 
โ”—โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ” โ” โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ข โƒยฐโ€ขยฐโ€ยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ” โ” โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”›

Production: Behind the Scenes

Here is the behind the scenes of our music video production. The pictures & videos are taken as a group, and we did this together as a group (Chelsea, Audrey, Kalista & Audrey). 






Here is a mini vlog made by me (Chelsea) of our fun shooting process from day 1-5 in a form of a short video. This video was also posted on our star's social media page.



โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ขโƒยฐโ€ขยฐ  Self reflection ยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”“

This blog post was enjoyable to write because I love explaining things visually and find that it helps me communicate things more clearly though creative presentation. Overall, our production processes were fun but productive, and I enjoyed working with all of the cast and teammates who were very cooperative because we all had the same vision - to do the best we could and we also take this project seriously. Because problems occur often and require solutions and an action plan for the next time, creating this behind the scenes post helps me monitor the progress that my teammates and I have been making as well as improving evaluation, which is necessary for continuous improvement. Moreover, behind the scenes provided evidence of what we were doing during the shooting days, particularly when some members of the team were unable to attend due to sickness or other personal reasons. For this reason, it is crucial that we show them these images and videos so they can understand our current progress. We also took a lot of photos and videos, which helps me describe every step of the process. However, because I feel like I need to explain everything, time management is a challenge for me because it will take a while to explain every image. We have a lot of scenes to break down and uncover me and my teammates decided to split up the behind the scenes work. I prefer to work quickly rather than last minute, however in this case time management was quite a challenge for all of us since we were so packed with all of the activities, tests and mocks outside Media Studies class so we had to catch up with it at the end. Next time, I should have created the behind the scenes immediately just after we finished shooting to avoid wasting too much time. Thankfully, due to the many documentations we took, it prevents me from being forgetful as I'm explaining the pictures/videos. Other additional information can be added from my teammates if I missed something and vice versa. 

โ”—โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ” โ” โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ€ข โƒยฐโ€ขยฐโ€ยฐโ€ขยฐโƒ โ€ขโ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ” โ” โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”โ”›