This blog post contains the critical reflection to my component 3 project
My brief was to create a music promotion package consisting of a music video, social media page and digipak for
our fictional R&B artist “Ellie Collins” using the song “pov” by Ariana Grande (2020). The product presents an
authentic female artist aimed to target teenagers, young women and couples aged 16-25 who value simple
relationships. Branding is established through the display of consistent visuals of the artist's persona and style across all products.
This is important as it helps the audience easily recognise and recall the artist across different platforms as the visuals
are constantly repeated, slowly associating the brand to the artist. In my project, our artist Ellie Collin’s brand is based
on ordinariness and sincerity. Her branding is constructed through the repeated visuals of casual clothing and simple
dates, in the music video and social media page, she is often shown wearing comfortable clothing like t-shirts or tank t
ops and her dates are simple such as picnics and walks in the park. These visuals represent her as ordinary and relatable.
We also tried to keep a consistent color palette of warm colors (beige, brown, orange), shown in her Instagram page
and digipak. These warm colors connote warmth and nostalgia, which associates Ellie as emotionally sincere. Her
branding is also constructed by her persona, which is consistently presented across all three products. In all the products,
she is shown playing a guitar, this signifies her passion and desire for music, this connotes that she isn’t just a performer
but also a musical artist who genuinely expresses herself through her music. Her on-screen persona presents her as an
ordinary and emotionally sincere figure, shown through her simple dates and natural performances, this allows audiences
to perceive her as relatable and genuine. On her social media page, her post consists of captions written in a personal and
informal tone, which reinforces that she is genuine and expressive rather than professional. The repeated use of the brown
heart emoji “🤎” in her captions helps audiences associate this emoji with Ellie, strengthening the recall of her identity.
Moreover, her frequent interactions with fans through comments and replies helps construct a closer relationship with
her audience, making her seem more approachable and relatable. Her off-screen persona is pretty similar however her
clothing style subverts her on-screen persona, she dresses up in a more streetwear style, such as shown on her magazine
cover in the Instagram page, this makes her appear more bold and confident. Research into R&B conventions heavily influenced both our music video and digipak. R&B digipaks typically focus on
the artist with solo shots, warm or muted colours, tracklists on the back, and consistent imagery across inside panels and the
CD. Music videos in the genre often use close-ups to emphasise emotion, medium shots to show settings, and narratives
centred around love and relationships. We used these conventions for our products while also fitting Ellie’s persona into it.
In the digipak, we followed conventions by featuring a solo image of Ellie playing the guitar on the front cover, highlighting
her passion for music and her identity as a genuine musical artist. Warm beige and brown tones create a sense of intimacy
and sincerity, consistent with R&B aesthetics. The back cover includes the tracklist, but we subverted tradition by adding an
interactive barcode and phone number, allowing fans to hear Ellie’s voice, which makes the product more personal and engaging.
The inside panels and CD maintain the same colour palette and simple, cohesive design to reinforce her brand. In the music
video, we conformed to R&B conventions through close-up and medium shots that show Ellie’s expressions and the casual,
relatable environments of her dates. We also subverted conventions with brighter lighting during daytime scenes to reflect the pop
elements of the song, while later scenes use darker tones to highlight vulnerability and emotional intimacy. Both the digipak and
music video maintain consistent visuals, including Ellie playing the guitar and warm tones, creating a cohesive brand identity
across the products and reinforcing her persona as authentic, approachable, and passionate about music.
The social media page primarily targets teenagers, young females and couples aged 16-25 who value ordinary and genuine
expressions of young love and nostalgia. This appeals to them because the products reflect their own experiences and emotions,
shown through relationships and dates. The Instagram page includes a mix of professional and personal posts, including magazine
covers, MV release announcements, behind-the-scenes photos, personal / lifestyle photos and appreciation posts. Professional
posts show Ellie’s public and professional persona as a relatable yet rising R&B artist. Her professional posts include captions
written by Ellie herself, which adds authenticity and relatability, making her and her audiences have a closer connection without
creating a distance of professionalism. Her personal posts create authenticity and showcase her genuine persona. This aligns to the
Theory of Stardom, as audiences are drawn to artists who appear ordinary and relatable, allowing them to form a stronger
connection and create parasocial relationships. Hermeneutic codes such as spoilers or captions hinting an upcoming release invites
audiences to create speculations and be invested in her work. This engagement allows fans to interact with each other and create a
shared sense of fandom. The social media page also fulfills the Uses & Gratification theory by providing surveillance by allowing
fans to stay updated on Ellie’s releases and activities, it also offers diversion through relatable content shown through personal
photos and date posts. Moreover it also supports personal identity by showing relatable and personal values through her passion in
music and her value of love and relationships, it also encourages social interaction as fans comment and connect with one another
through the comment section.
Our project represents Indonesians and young couples who value ordinary and genuine expressions of young love. We aim to show
how ordinary gestures in relationships create a heartfelt and meaningful feeling to audiences and how authenticity shapes relationships.
In the music video, Ellie is shown going on simple dates with her significant other. Most shots are filmed through a pov shot, putting
the audience in the couple’s perspective, making it more engaging and relatable. Clothing and props also show ordinariness and
simplicity. Ellie’s style in the music video is very basic and simple, such as wearing t-shirts or tank tops along with simple props for
her dates such as paintings, this can enhance Ellie’s creativity and authenticity, making her appear humane and relatable. To target
Indonesian audiences, we included some scenes showcasing Indonesian culture, for example where Ellie and Karl ate babi guling,
which is a traditional Balinese dish. This makes Indonesian audiences feel represented as they share the same cultural knowledge,
which increases relatability and engagement. On social media, we show this by providing a mix of both personal and professional
posts. Captions in most of Ellie’s posts are personal and written by herself, she uses an informal and friendly tone, subverting
professional public figures where captions are kept in a certain formal tone to enhance their professionalism. Ellie’s captions make
her sound more ordinary and approachable to audiences, therefore audiences can easily relate to her and feel more connected, creating
parasocial relationships. Other than that, Ellie frequently interacts with her fans through Instagram post comments, she replies and
genuinely communicates with her fans. This creates authenticity as her personal typing style and choice of wanting to communicate
with her fans shows that she is a genuine and affectionate person.
No comments:
Post a Comment