LIA KEEBLE MUSIC PROMOTION PACKAGE
CRITICAL REFLECTION
1. How do your products represent social groups or issues?
Throughout the creation of my component 3 Media promotion package, I focused on representing a certain demographic of people including the social issues they entail. In my music video ‘Iris’ I had a clear target audience of Generation Z to millennials that formed part of the indie rock genre which stereotypically are known as activists who enjoy artists that are more engaged with fans and social issues. As seen in my music video and social media, the narrative reveals the story of a young artist ‘Kie West’ who goes through a breakup and writes a song confessing her love for her ex-boyfriend. Following Judith Butler's gender representation theory, she explains that in film and society, gender is a performance that is represented through certain gender stereotypes, which is exactly what I wanted to convey through my protagonists. Both ‘Kie’ and her boyfriend follow stereotypical gender roles, mainly seen through the mise-en-scene in both my Digipak and Music Video where her boyfriend is taller with darker hair and wearing dark colours and a leather jacket, highlighting his sense of superiority, whereas Kie is wearing pastel colours buying flowers, revealing her femininity. This links to David Gauntlet and his theory on ‘fixed roles’ where he argues that in historical society people have rigid roles on gender performativity that are not often subverted. As the video progresses we see ‘Kie’ slightly changing her appearance when she wears a black leather jacket to please her boyfriend and be the ‘perfect girlfriend’, furthermore, fitting into the visual demographic of how ‘indie rock fans’ dress, specifically in a more alternative style and manner. Her progression is emphasised through the digipak and the parts of the music video seen in the ‘present’ tense narrative where she is seen going back to her own style and finding closure for her breakup. As well as this she finds a balance between herself and fitting into the indie rock genre as she is seen wearing light colours but playing a bright red electric guitar commonly seen played in indie rock bands and is known as a ‘fan favourite’.
2. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense ofbranding?
To make sure all of my media products were linked together I started with making a music production company that clearly linked to my other media products. While incorporating a form of bricolage I created a company logo with two different art forms that showed the ‘Iris’ of an eye as a record playing on a deck. The eye is bright blue just like Kie’s boyfriend considering the song is dedicated to him. As well as this there is a black-and-white version of the logo to reference the narrative of the video and how the relationship is in the past. This sense of ‘branding’ is pivotal to the relation of media products to make sure audiences can clearly notice references to each product. My digipak on the front and back colour incorporate warm colours representing Kie’s current state of mind while the inside is in black and white with a photo of her and her ex-boyfriend representing the past and referencing the flashbacks in the music video. As well as her social media page she shows the process of filming the video where all photography can be seen posted with a colour version as well as in black and white. The plethora of red colours on the Digipak contrasts the bright blue in the company logo which is a common colour combination seen in indie rock concerts and conveys the stereotypes of the genre. The Digipak will sell as it incorporates themes and icons of a multitude of indie rock albums, especially referencing The band ‘The Goo Goo Dolls’ and they use strong warm tones, with hints of floral background as their approach to the genre is more relaxed compared to hard rock. While ‘Kie West’ is a singular artist, she references singers like Avril Levinge who is a strong independent woman, subverting gender roles and approaching the genre without a fixed band to play with, which hopefully audiences would relate to and purchase the single. This relates to Richard Dyer's ‘star theory’ in the way that celebrities are manufactured to please audiences, just like Kie West and her representation throughout the 3 media products. All these concepts are evidently referenced through her social media as it highlights the process of the design of the digipak and the inspiration taken from other indie rock bands, making sure that the codes and conventions of the genre are portrayed.
3. How do your products engage with the audience?
When receiving feedback, one of the main concerns with my music video was that the narrative would not be understood. After presenting my video to different peers they all understood the narrative while having different interpretations of the end product of their relationship. Evidently, I wanted to make sure the ending was open to interpretation, but some people wanted more focus on the progression of the relationship itself and how or why it ended when in reality I wanted the focus of the video to be on my protagonist ‘Kie West’ and her progression into closure, rather on the story of her relationship itself. As well as this, originally my entire Digipak was going to be in colour until I got some great feedback to put the inside in black and white, to link my products together and highlight the narrative of the story and the past that she has with her ex-boyfriend. Due to this change, the Focus of the Digipak is still on Kie, but when opened it's revealed that the narrative is based on herself. These comments have positively helped me develop the branding of my products and clearly link them together meaning that in the future, I will consider multiple opinions and different perspectives on my products to make sure they are understood by different audiences.
4. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
Some of the main conventions seen through the majority of indie rock music videos is that the band is always seen playing through the majority of the video. As well as this, they are commonly separated into ‘narrative’ and ‘non-linear videos’, focusing on the instruments and performance itself, whereas videos from the 90s were more likely to have romantic narratives attached, including the original music video for ‘Iris’ by the ‘Goo Goo Dolls’. In order to fit the narrative of my video better, I decided to focus on single female artists rather than a band, to first subvert gender roles and have a more narrative-based video making it easier to link the products and conventions of my video together. Although romantic narratives are more commonly seen throughout the pop-rock genre, I wanted to incorporate a genre that has a more niche audience allowing the development of each product to be more accurately targeted rather than to a mass audience. In my Digipak, there are more clear conventions of indie rock represented, mainly through the use of the bright red electric guitar and the colour combination of warm red tones. This is reciprocated through the social media page which is inspired by other indie rock bands like the Arctic Monkey and the Goo Goo Dolls on Instagram who keep the main themes of the page as photography based around the band, also seen in my website as the background of the home page. The combination of my products will attract my target audience and the clear use of indie rock conventions is present, meaning people who appeal to this genre will likely purchase the single, watch the music video, or even follow the Instagram page. According to Henry Jenkin's Fandom theory, audiences will interpret the products on an emotional level and hopefully be able to relate to the narrative, which may convince them to engage with similar forms of media available, like purchasing the song or following the Instagram account. This would be active audiences as they are ‘actively’ engaging with the products.