Critical

Evaluation
1. How do your products use or challenge conventions and how they
represent social groups or issues?

Our advanced media portfolio consisted of a music video a digi pack and a website.
The concept of our video revolves around a boy (taimur) our protagonist who has an
impulsive disorder called kleptomania. He conceals his condition from his friends
and family and is living a normal life, as a normal teenage boy. He manages to
blend in with his e environment and acts like a normal boy but he has a secret; he is
addicted to stealing keys.

Kleptomania is a disorder in which and individual feels a sense of adrenaline or

"high" after stealing sometime and continues to do so. This usually means stealing a
certain item with certain characteristics and storing or piling them up in a secret
place and not necessarily making any use of it. Therefore the condition only forces
him to steal for the joy and rush of stealing rather than for other reason such as
money, personal gain etc. Later on the reason behind his disorder is revealed. His
father was strict and would lock him up in this room with a key every time he
misbehaved, therefore the memory of his abusive father and the key was
embedded inside his mind forcing him to act out this way.

Our music video breaks certain conventions of how people with psychological
disorders are portrayed in the media in terms of physical activity and social
standing. In TV shows and films mental health patients are shown to look insane
and deviated from social norms, they are represented negatively since they are
usually shown to be bullied, made fun of. Furthermore they seem "abnormal" in the
sense that they cannot fit in society and interact with their peers in a normal way
unlike our protagonist taimur who seems to be a normal boy.

In terms of visual representation of teenage boys we followed convention set by

western media. Esp. shows and movies showing teenagers dressed on high school
etc.
Heres our inspiration for the costume and styling of the artist inspired by celebrities
and current styles.
In terms of conventions followed in EDM music video, we incorporated an outdoor
location. The costumes werent too flashy in like pop videos furthermore we used
minimal makeup etc. The technical aspects involve several shots and angles that
give the video a fast pase and synchronization with the music. Also the video also
involves a performance aspect that is used in several edm music videos.

Our music video demonstrates 2 main social issues that are currently dominant in
our society. First of all domestic oppression. Psychological research has shown that
those children who has negative experiences in their childhood developed negative
schemas of themselves , their environment and their future, this greatly affect their
mental health on their way to adulthood. In the music video taimur father has a
very small role, he is represented as a cruel father who would lock up his worried
and scared son alone in his room. This has a massive emotional impact on the child
and was the leading cause behind his mental disorder.
Another issue that isnt spoken about enough is the fact that people with mental
health disorders are not willing to speak up and seek help from professionals in
order to overcome their disorder. This is a very common trend here in Pakistan,
where people suffering from disorders remain silent and hesitant in seeking
psychological help in fear of a negative social stigma being attached to them. The
few people who do seek help here are labeled as "Abnormal" and are not readily
accepted in society. In a way it has become a matter of shame for people to seek
psychological help for the whole family. People also tend to attach religious
ideologies as to why people think they have a mental disorder such as " you have
drifted away from you faith, that is why you are being punished with this disorder
etc" . All these ideas are absolutely ridiculous and are preventing people from
seeking help for their future wellbeing.

2. How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be
distributed as real media products?

After conducting our survey amongst our target population we noted that our main
audience consists of 17-32 amongst both gender groups consisting of students and
employed workers mainly residing in cities. EDM is a genre of music that has
gradually made its way into mainstream music. Initially when it first started out edm
has a specific niche audience however with hits such as Closer, Where are you
now and This is where you came for, EDM songs have established their place on
the top charts across the globe. The music is upbeat, current and catchy therefore
attracting all sorts of audiences.
Our product: the music video showcases the reality of certain social issues. Our
audience could empathies with the protagonist who is of a similar age group to that
of our primary audience. Empathizing with a character creates an interaction and
bond between the audience and the protagonist therefore making it engaging.
Furthermore the narrative our music video was very different, I believe that people
are quite fed up with the typical love stories and romantic flings and are more
interested in watching videos about social issues and current topics, I aint yo
mama is a perfect example in which JLO talks about women empowerment and
how the purpose of their existence is beyond cooking, cleaning and always taking
care of their significant others.

Our website is interactive and engaging for the audiences promoting tour dates,
social media pages etc. Our goal was user convenience, they can pick their
preferred platform to listen to music and keep up with the artist. We tried to
personalize the digi pack as much as possible by adding the artists signature,
lyrics to the song and social media links on the back cover etc. A personalized digi
pack is more engaging for the audience.

After observing current market trends our chosen channels of distribution for our
music video include 8XM, JALWA, and MTV Pak. Trends show that a majority of our
target audience prefers watching music videos on these local channels. The music
video will also be uploaded on our YouTube and Vidme pages the digi pack will be
placed at CD retail shops all over Pakistan, where audiences can purchase them;
furthermore it will be available to pre order via the official Hamza Janjua website or
Amazon, OLX Pakistan etc.

Q3. How do the elements of your production work together to create a

sense of branding?

First of all, the typography used on the Digi pack and website are the same, this
will allow the audiences to create a sense of familiarity with the product and the
artist. The name of the artist and album name are written in the same font or family
of fonts throughout the fonts was serif which gives a classy and sophisticated look.
This is one of our branding techniques.
Secondly the color palate mostly consisting of purple on the website and Digi pack
is another branding technique since now the audiences can associate this color with
Hamza. Furthermore the brown leather jacket look of the artist was portrayed
throughout the website video and Digi pack differentiating him from other
mainstream artists since his look is more subtle. This is an example of creating a
sense of branding through attire.
The incorporation of sky, clouds and
lightning represent the artists state of
mind.

Q4 How did you integrate

technologies- software, hardware
and online in this project?

Here are some of the online tools and

hardwares we used to create the project:

We used our cameras to take high

quality footage which we would then
use to edit on adobe premiere CS6
to create our music video. Moreover
Online tools such as slides, Emaze, Prezi,
Scribd etc helped me create dynamic
presentations about my research and
planning phase. Other softwares that we used include Adobe Photoshop to design
the Digi pack and mood board. Online blogging softwares such as Wordpress
allowed us to post about our experiences throughout this journey. Our final projects
are all present on our blog along with images of us conducting the shoots, editing
the project etc.

the list of the hardware equipment that we used:

Nikon 3700
Nikon 3200
2 tripods
1 reflector
1 portable light bulb
Desktop computers and Laptops
USBs
Smart phones
Heres a more detailed look into the softwares and hardwares that we used the
most

Adobe Premier CS6:

We used adobe premiere for the very first time in A2. Initially we found it very
complex and difficult o use however after some time we became more familiar with
the tools learnt how to edit the footage effectively. Soon Importing videos, setting a
duration, synchronizing visuals and audios, adding visual effects ( B&W effect,
overlays etc) , transitions( fade in and out) become much easier to do and gave our
video a more professional touch.

Adobe Photoshop CS6:

Photoshop is a tool we were more familiar with as compared to adobe premiere
therefore making the digi pack was a less time consuming task for us. Playing with
Layers, adding color overlays , cropping using the lasso tool, masking, adjusting
levels, managing saturation an hue, adding shadows, experimenting with fonts and
sizes are just a few of the tools and features we have become experts at using.

DSLR NIKON 3700, 3200:

Using dslrs allowed us to capture amazing high quality footage, we grew more
familiar with learning how to manage the lens focus, and setting the suitable
function (sports, portrait, landscape, no flash) etc we also learnt how to manage the
lighting using a reflector and portable light bulb according to the camera settings to
capture the perfect shot.

During the AS project I was not very familiar with all of these hardware tools
however during a levels, I familiarized myself with how to take better pictures and
videos using DSLR Cameras, editing using Adobe Premier, and conducting difficult
shoots is various other locations. Furthermore during the AS shoot we played it easy
and only shot at one single indoor location, however for the level final project we
conducted shoots at 3-4 different locations including an outdoor public area. I feel
that over the past year Ive grown to become more confident and comfortable with
stepping outside of my comfort zone and exploring newer ways to excel at my work.

As media students I believe that we have come a long way from simply
designing a magazine and working on blog to discovering our personalities
and what we would like to share with the world. I have definitely become
more confident overtime, taking risks with the production of the video etc,
the concept I chose was very different than conventions used in edm
videos today therefore it was a major risk following it. But eventually our
efforts paid off and we were able to create our own unique piece of art
that I hope the viewers will enjoy.