Creative Critical Reflection Q1 to Q4

Q1) How do your products represent social groups or issues?

I’ve already explained in my earlier blog posts as to why I chose the song ‘Hall Of Fame’. This song is meant to signify motivation, willpower, and getting through struggles, which can apply to all humans going through some sort of difficulty.

The social groups shown in the video are primarily of young males and females. The main characters, of the Boxer and the Gamer, are both young men who, unlike the stereotypical image of males being strong and dominant, are instead shown in the video as failing members of society, which is what the rest of the world considers them if the grades they achieve are not satisfactory or if they do not perform well in certain tasks.

Further near the end of the video, the animation shows a team of 3 women taking on an ice like being known as Malphite, who was chosen metaphorically to be a big hurdle, and the only way to get past it would be to work together. The women are being shown as weak initially but gaining strength by cooperating their efforts and winning, again going against the stereotypical behavior and social issue that women are weaker.

League of Legends is also infamous for being a game that quite heavily sexualizes both women and men, often giving characters of both genders unbelievably attractive proportions, and attiring them in outfits one would consider erotic. Over the recent years however, Riot Games has shifted from this practice and given their characters more personality and livelihood, especially with something like the release of Arcane. I took proper care to utilize characters such as these, and to stay away from camera angles and character attire that would fall under something that fits Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory.

Q2) How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

Due to the immense diversity of the shots shown in the Music Video, it was rather difficult to make things have a flow. The colors were drastically different because of the different locations, lighting setups, and equipment used to film. Although I used color grading to try and make it a bit standardized or universal, I wouldn’t say it’s directly noticeable, until the rest of the Media Products are viewed.

I used the same color style of dark, dull, and blue on the Digipak cover and the Social Media page for the posts. Beyond that, there are 3 fonts used within the Music Video itself, one after another. Different ones being used to signify a different scenario. The digital one for the game, the wild one for the boxer, and the third one for the combined motivation of both. I was hoping to use this third font, labelled ‘Peace Sans’, for everything else such as the Social Media Page and the Digipak, but was limited by how bold it was. It didn't fit, so instead I searched up fonts similar to it in style that I could use. Century Gothic seemed a good candidate, from a distance it looked like a less bold version of Peace Sans, so that was the one I used primarily on the Digipak and Social Media Page.

I wanted to give the entire promotion a modern aesthetic but not in the sense of looking sleek, but rather a modern, post 2010 kind of aesthetic, where it’s colorful. It’s unique.

Q3) How do your products engage with the audience?

When I first started working on the video, I focused on the product itself before even viewing any of the CCR questions because I thought they’d be the same as the ones in AS. Only now after finishing the video do I realize I’ve unintentionally done extra things to answer this question because I wanted the video to be motivational.

The song is directed towards younger, or rather, driven (towards a goal) audiences, as there are also athletes and players of sports who are much older than teenagers. It’s meant for people working towards something and facing challenge, so pretty much anyone who isn’t retired, be it male, female, old, young, poor, rich, anyone.

As for how they engage, to begin with, the lyrics of the song are directed directly towards the listener. ‘YOU can be the greatest, YOU can be the best. YOU can be a master.’ The listener is constantly being given motivation that they are the center of attention and they’re the victors. The entire song follows this pattern.

‘And the world’s gonna know YOUR name.’

The Lipsync parts throughout the vid, I instructed my singer to constantly look at the camera so the motivational aspect of the lyrics can hit harder. He’s talking directly to the audience, further giving strength to the impact of the lyrics.

When the song cuts out in the middle, I wanted to show the struggle of our characters, that even with training, not everything goes as planned. For the audience to feel that point of view, that pressure, and that drive. “I want, the world to know MY name”. What is it like from their perspective?

And ending the song with ‘Go get ‘em hotshot.’ I could’ve written anything here but, hotshot felt personal to me, so I used it. I don’t really know why.

Q4) How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

The main reference and piece of media I took inspiration from was the Official Music Video of Hall Of Fame. It awakened in me a passion of boxing which is why I chose it as one of the stories to represent.

The genre this falls under is of Pop Rock. I mostly followed conventions and made it a video not too heavily edited or not too fancy, just traditional and it tells a story. The message is through the performance and actions. This also allowed the video to be created on a very low budget, and keeping backgrounds simple allowed audiences to focus more on the characters, their performances, and their emotions.

The transitions used were just basic cuts, no cross fades or presets or dips, just cuts. I did plan for a few Graphic Match cuts, such as in the start with the test and in the middle from the gym to the finale of the boxing journey.

For the Social Media page and digipak I followed the convention of promoting the artist alongside the music. I couldn’t really take images of other band members as I didn’t get the opportunity to film or photograph any, so instead the posts on the Social Meda Page are stylized and text based, like posters.

Todorov’s Narrative Theory can also be applied to this text; it heavily follows the conventions described in it. The Disruption being that of failing and not keeping up with the rest of society, The Recognition being looking up to those who have won, The Repairs being of training your mind and body to be better, and the New Equilibrium, being to acquire victory in the face of everyone who considered them failures.