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How do your products represent social groups or issues?
How do your products represent social groups or issues?
The idea of my music video “Freaks” is that the main character does not belong. He is a freak, he does not fit into societal norms and this reflects how the audience feel, like outsiders, struggling to find their identity. The word freak described someone with an abnormality, a derogatory term used to sustain the cultural hierarchy where being different was not acceptable to society. In my music video I am repurposing the use of freaks to empower the audience to embrace their differences. By reengineering the idea that a freak encompasses a new representation of young people who can be free thinkers, who do not perform to a gender role, who do not need to fit with a group, who do not need to know their identity yet, they can be self expressive and this can provide them with a sense of identity and belonging according to David Guantllett’s theory of identity. How I have achieved this in my video is to use male performers who wear colourful clothing, such as red trousers, and have long curly hair. The idea is that they do not perform to gender stereotypes of Butler’s gender performativity theory. It reflects the youth society that is more gender and identity fluid. To emphasise that my social group is different, my main actor is seen walking backwards at various points in the music video. At other times the actor is in an upside down house to demonstrate the inverted nature of his world. When the actor yells “I’m just a freak” this is showing the audience that he is positively owning being a freak. Across all my media products I create representations that allow the audience to create their own identity from. For example, the whiteout of the bass player on the digi pack is done to allow the feeling that you can put your own identity into the album cover. This provides the opportunity to feel you have control over your identity.
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of 'branding'?
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of 'branding'?
With the branding I am repackaging and reselling the emotional struggle that all young people go through when trying to discover their adult identity. This is a key theme linking all three products. The branding is visual, artistic, energetic and colourful and reflects the Brighton scene. Brighton is significant because it is world famous for its liberal attitude towards identity. All three products compliment each other with a synergy that makes them recognisably part of the same brand. This is done through the use of vibrant colours, strong graphic images with iconography from the music video that is used on the digipak and social media campaign. The strong colours give this new band a distinctive brand identity. The styling for the music video uses vivid imagery throughout to create an optimistic atmosphere about being a freak in society that is central to the brand. Young actors feature to represent a youthful band who will grow up with the audience. For the digipak and social media campaign, I have used one single font that has a hand drawn indie feel and can become associated with the band. It is sans-serif which has a playful and relaxed style. The three main colours I used are red, white and purple. I chose red because Ruff Cutz are an unknown indie band and I need it to stand out in a shop window or online. The white represents a blank canvas that a fan can put their own identity onto.
How do your products engage with the audience?
How do your products engage with the audience?
The target audience for my products are the indie rock fans ages 16-25 years old, white, all genders and most likely to be students in full time or higher education. They most likely fall into the AB and C1 socio economic grades. Their Young and Rubicam psychographic group would be predominately reformers as they are not impressed by social status and are not materialistic but are defined by self esteem. According to Blumler and Katz Uses & Gratification theory, the reason why my target audience will engage with all my products is for personal identity and entertainment. The audience can see themselves reflected in the plurality of identities that are presented across all products or simply enjoy the music video. Imagery from the music video is used to create badges or patches of white silhouettes on red backgrounds that represent the idea of different identities that fans can recognise and relate to. Fans can collect the badges. My target audience will be an active one that will be encouraged to engage via social media. According to Henry Jenkins fandom theory, fans can create and produce content, making them prosumers and this increases engagement and activity in the fanbase. Therefore, a competition will be run on social media for fans to create their own identity badges which will be posted on the bands Instagram page in return for free merchandise. The band will tour around the UK at known indie venues to promote themselves and their music increasing audience engagement. Badges will be handed out for free to increase awareness of the band and push the idea that the audience is the band’s tribe, they can all be unique and different but belong.
How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
The first piece of research that influenced my music video was the analysis of My Hero by the Foo Fighters using Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions of music videos. I loosely followed the convention of an indie rock music video by including a mixture of performance and narrative. However, unlike the Foo Fighters, I did not have a linear narrative. I did this because I wanted to have a more open to interpretation music video to fit the indie conventions. I was heavily inspired by the use of thought beats and I studied the lyrics and came up with visuals to match them. I followed the conventions of an indie rock music video in regard to genre related style and iconography, for example, in the clothing my band members wear. Where I went against the conventions of an indie rock music video was with star image as my band members featured throughout. I did this because they are a new band and I needed to create their identity for the audience. The second piece of research that impacted my products was the album cover analysis of The Ting Tings, We Started Nothing. I followed the conventions of an indie rock band by not featuring the band on the front cover instead I went for a strong visual to draw attention to it. I also followed the convention of going for a vibrant colour as it needs to be eye-catching. I followed the conventions that the album cover provided as it gave me a base upon which to create my designs. I did not challenge the conventions of an indie rock album cover because my band is unknown and I need fans to recognise it’s genre. Codes and conventions are an easy way for the audience to identify the genre and if I challenged them then fans would not recognise what I have created.
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