CCR Essay - Advanced Portfolio / A2 Media:

 

1. How do your products represent social groups or issues? 

My media products and the main social issue explored in my products is Nostalgia and People looking back to childhood, memories as a way to deal with the sadness of missing the past and the loneliness or longing that comes with it. I chose this theme because it reflects the real struggle of many in my target audience (young people aged 15 to 20s).

Often, people who have gone through life find themselves reminiscing and looking back on the past, which can be nice until they get stuck wanting the good times back instead of letting go and making new good memories. This shows how memories can be both a comfort and a trap. But even young people can feel like this, including myself, and get the nostalgic feeling of our childhood, and this will show how it feels throughout the journey. 

For example, in my main production, I showed a teenage main character struggling to let go of the past and hurt, and move on. This was inspired by my personal experience of looking at old photos of my childhood, and part of me wanted to go back to those happy memories. Through mise-en-scène, I chose isolated public spaces, empty room environments, and close-up camera shots. I was able to visually show the inside of a person who is going through this mind and what it would feel like, hopefully affecting the audience to feel the same and relate to this struggle. The representation is shown very clearly so that you anyone can see the character.

For social group representation, I had lyrics from "Moon River" by Frank Ocean that show people building a relationship between the past and present, showing the differences of time and character development. The poster shows a solitary feel with a single person alone in the shot in a wide open lake, visually showing themes of isolation. The social media account had a similar mysterious feel to relate to real young people to share similar experiences, connecting a narrative to real life.

 

For example:

2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?

The Brand being the same in different aspects was key in connecting together the parts of my project because I wanted it to feel together and match well aesthetically to the viewers. I achieved this through the use of visuals, color palette, type, and tone, which were carefully chosen and applied to all my media products. I wanted it to feel right and turn from a vision to something you can see and feel.

Examples of my digipak:

For example, I used a darker, less colorful palette throughout the music video to reflect the sadder mood. This same tone was kept in the poster, which features cool tones and minimalist design, and in the social media account which, uses warmer tints to match with the album cover of the original artist, Frank Ocean, and some dark blues with simple font choices. I took all the photos used myself and created a home aesthetic this creates a good visual that is recognizable and consistent which is what I wanted to covey.

My social media account:

Typography also played a role. I used a different handwritten-style font for the title across the three products, which gave the branding a unique, bold feel. The logo/title appears in the film, the album cover, and the social media homepage.

The tone and messaging are shown through the products. All three products shared a main theme: nostalgia and mystery. By coordinating elements of narrative and creativity, I created a branding package that feels fitting and emotional to what I was trying to express, ensuring that each thing supports and fades into the others so that it makes sense.

3. How do your products engage with the audience? 

My target audience was primarily young people aged 15–20s, who are emotionally aware, connected, and often seeing representation of their own struggles in the media they watch as they are online a lot.

In the main product, I used a single character and deep storytelling and visual symbolism to create emotional impact. The story is told in a way that shows empathy, allowing the audience to see themselves in the character’s experience if they relate in any way. I also kept it slow and long shots, compared to other media, to give viewers time to reflect and feel what they are watching and seeing.

The album cover is styled to attract attention though it's simple in it's  appearance, it's meaning behind it is deeper and there is lots of symbolism which makes it interesting. Rather than using loud color's or text, it makes it quieter and mysterious. This unknowingness makes the viewer more curious and hopefully make them watch the music video. Overall, my products aim to involve the audience that they can relate, encouraging them not only to watch, but to reflect and respond positively.

4. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions? 

Before doing everything, I did lots of research into genre, audience expectations, and the artist behind the song. This helped me understand both the normal conventions of music videos and how they promote it and the social expectations of the consumers it also showed me how artist are creative and smartly orchestrate there products to make it satisfactory and entertaining for there audience or fan base.

I studied music videos such as can't catch me now by Olivia Rodrigo and Glue Song by beabadoobee, which use tracking camerawork, minimal dialogue, and green background of nature. These music videos influenced my own choices, mainly in framing, and pacing to tell a narrative story without dialogue.

In terms of conventions, I followed many slow build-up, but also challenged others. Instead of a traditional three-act structure, my narrative was reflective, showing fragmented memories to show the character’s mental state. This approach was inspired by my research into more indie narrative structures.

For the social media, I studied posters from the artist to help get the same feel for mine.

Audience feedback from people help shape the final products. 

Through this research, I was able to blend convention and other things, creating a product that felt familiar but still original, and most importantly, different in my own way so that it was made mine and interested the audience thank you for reading my CCR.