Media Studies
CCR Evaluative Essay
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My music video represents children as being joyful and teenagers as making unwise decisions which impact their future. Childhood is portrayed as being a time of care-freeness where you are protected, communicated by the natural lighting of warm hues (signify safety and joy) and numerous two-shots of the young girl with her mother as happy as can be which represent how, in childhood, there's always someone near to guard you.
Then, in contrast, the more cold blue/black lighting used in the shots of the artist now signify teenage years as being difficult, depressing. This supports the stereotype of teenagers being hard-to-handle and moody.
In these shots, Phoebe Armitage wears oversized, dark clothing, has messy hair and facial expressions which convey her exhaustion...all symbols of her distraught mental state and appearance. This representation supports the typical stereotype of women being remorseful and ‘messed up’.
My idea behind my brand image is that my artist has now grown up and realised how many unwise decisions she made growing up, dedicating this song to reflecting back on the raw emotions she feels towards the lessons she’s learnt in hope of helping others facing something similar. My artist is now in a much better place - free of drug abuse/depression, and aiming to “#breakthestigma”. A forerunner within the LGBTQ community.
In my research processes whilst creating my social media page, I looked at Demi Lovato’s Instagram account for inspiration. It’s evident that she loves bold colours and vibrancy, the brightness pointing back to her healthier mental state. She posts pictures with sayings such as “break the stigma”, so when creating my artist’s Instagram profile, I used CANVA to create similar designs, encouraging audiences to ‘break the stigma’ and ‘treat others with kindness’ as well.
Examples of Lovato’s designs pictured below:
The intense topics of lament, regret and depression are discussed within my video because they’re emotions the artist felt strongly in years gone by, and are also relevant issues experienced by teenagers worldwide, relating to teenagers and therefore encouraging them not to go down similar roads but to instead listen to advice they receive.
We made the decision to represent contrasting races within our videos - a Maori male and a white female - which adds diversity, allowing individuals of various races to feel represented. Again, this connects with minorities, increases relatability, support and appreciation for my music video because people are more open to and supportive of what they feel relates to them.
Armitage appears highly affected by her life situation, revealed through close-up shots, whereas Levi Wijohn appears less fazed. This supports the typical stereotype of women being emotional and easily affected, and the stereotype of men being valiant and tough. Supporting these typical stereotypes may strike a cord of anger within women towards this stigma society has created.
However, there are shots of our male talent also seeming concerned which hopefully normalise men vocalising their emotions.
The lyric of “I could use some tape, I could use some glue” is an example of a man expressing his feelings. The music video normalises feeling emotions, and encourages people not to feel ashamed for feeling regret for something they’ve done in their past, encouraging them to embrace those feelings, and grow from them whether they're male or female, promoting gender equality and bringing to light the fact that depression can affect anyone. This reinforces the overall brand image of self-acceptance and being BOLDLY you.
The music video also represents the loving relationship between mother and daughter.
Then, the loneliness and grief experienced by the daughter (Phoebe Armitage) when her mother passes away.
This contrast highlights how we, as humans, thrive from human connection and truly need our mothers in our lives, also supporting the typical stereotype of mothers being the glue that holds families together. My artist feels LOST without her mother.
Practically, I started my music video off with the absence of sound - engaging because it instantly engages audiences by causing them to really tune in - draws them in. Silence deliberately contrasts to the overwhelming opinions of everyone else the artist spent to much time listening to.
Furthermore, the very opening shot being an extreme close-up of our Armitage’s face is personalising, therefore engaging, because it instantly creates that connection between the actor and audience, encouraging audiences to sympathise for her.
The fade transitions used throughout mimic the lament-full tone of the product which, again, creates a cohesive and ‘moving’, all round engaging product where audiences are drawn into the experience - a depressing, deep one. The dark colour of the fade highlights that.
Contrasting the more ‘golden’, warmly lit shots of the artist’s childhood to the more ‘empty’ shots of her current life now as a young adult (/teenager) creates a visual representation of how different her life is now without her mother, emphasising the regret she feels for not listening to her mother’s guidance and choosing to arrogantly go down wrong roads.
The sequence is not repetitive/slow. The use of frequent cuts and flashbacks creates a narrative ‘vibe’ which enables audiences to feel as though they’re being taken along this timeline, getting to know the characters. This ensures the viewers don’t lose interest, encouraging them to think beyond what is face-level. They're drawn in as they begin to ponder what the dynamic is - whether Amoné (the younger girl) is Phoebe as a young girl, what happened to Phoebe’s mother etc. This encouraging of thinking creates an immersive experience for viewers because when audiences need to think deeper, they become more invested in a video.
As part of my research I discovered that pop is a very popular genre of music - being the favourite genre of me personally and most of the people who completed my questionnaire earlier this year. I used this to my advantage and created a music video to a pop genre song - instantly making it more appealing to possible audiences.
From my research I also discovered that pop genre songs typically have lots of bright colours, makeup, costumes, and we decided to challenge this to create effect by making use of dark, moody lighting in some instances and natural lighting in others, and using a few slower, more held-out shots, discussing more intense themes throughout my music video.
Challenging the stereotypical conventions of the pop genre creates a less superficial and more realistic, relatable ‘vibe’ to which audiences can relate.
When creating my digipack I kept the typical conventions of the pop genre in mind, and chose to conform to most of them in creating a bright, eye-catching end product that that attracts the eye of audiences and draws them to pick it up from the racks.
I evidently made use of bright purple and blue colours and hues of lighting to achieve this. I also conformed to Richard Dyer's Star Image theory which describes the star as being a commodity.
This meant depicting my star image - Armitage - as being bold and center of my digipack, emphasising her importance in the album. After all, it's about her life.
By conforming to this convention, I provide some level of normalcy in my music video, which then allows the audience to concentrate on the other deeper elements discussed, and adds an element of excitement and professionalism to it as well.
1404 words
9/10
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