Creative Critical Reflection

CCR-1) How do your products represent social groups or issues?

Our music video for "The Less I Know the Better' represents the teenage demographic, particularly exploring the themes of coming-of-age, heartbreak, and freedom. It highlights the emotional distress and instability experienced during adolescence. The original song itself demonstrates jealousy, unrequited love, and heartbreak as a high school basketball player falls for a cheerleader, but she leaves him for a guy in a gorilla suit named Trevor. Our music video follows a similar pattern, having emotional vulnerability and obsession be a common struggle amongst adolescent girls and boys alike. 

The protagonist progresses from burning the photograph to aggressively ripping all the photographs and having a full-blown breakdown, emphasizing the impact of unrequited love along with the pressures of romantic expectations in teenage settings nowadays. Her obsession and emotional breakdown reflect mental health struggles, a pressing issue among teenagers, especially girls, today. They are expected to overcome their emotions and "move on" from their relationship or heartbreak, being provided with no space to open up about their pain or feelings. This leads to destructive actions, as shown by our protagonist. The pictures sprawled across the bed symbolise how heartbreak can consume a person's thoughts, also leading to emotional destruction, even in a bedroom, which is usually seen as a safe and private space for everyone. 

There is also a major theme of isolation. The only interaction she has through out the video is with her friend, who convinces her into speaking to a new guy. Throughout the rest of the scenes, she is alone and dealing with her own thoughts, ultimately leading her to fall to the bathroom floor and sob due to the overwhelming flow of emotions. This is a pressing issue amongst many teenagers, who bundle up their feelings to the point where they become overwhelming and eventually explode in unhealthy ways. The bottled-up emotions manifest as anxiety and obsession, as seen by the main character. 

CCR-2) How do the elements of producing work together to create a sense of branding?

From the beginning, our group had a clear vision of the emotional aesthetic for this project. The three very clear themes are heartbreak, obsession, and mental distress, and these are reflected visually and symbolically throughout the project.

The continuous references to the gathering at the farmhouse, mainly through quick shots, reflect the protagonist’s ongoing memories and jealousy over her ex being there with someone else, even as her thoughts begin to drift toward the new guy. Furthermore, elements such as lighting also mirror the protagonist's mental state. This extends beyond the music video, carrying into the digipak and social media page as well. The natural lighting at the gathering highlights realism as she finds her ex with another girl and realises her potential with another guy. Moreover, the consistency of vibrant pink, deep blue, and purples depict the intensity of her emotions. As these were mainly used when she was alone, the deep blue symbolises sadness and emotional distance, and purple depicts the complexity of her struggles. While pink is usually a colour associated with love, here, it takes on a more overwhelming and intense tone. These colours are also carried into the CD aspect of the digipak. 

One of the most crucial scenes in the music video revolves around the protagonist burning that picture of  Heather and later ripping his and her ex's pictures. This represents her inability to move on and her unclear mental state. This imagery bleeds onto the digipak as well as the poster. The protagonists' overwhelmed and hazy mental state is depicted through the loss of colour and blurriness of the poster. The theme of isolation is also carried on as she stands alone in both pictures of the poster. Repeating the imagery of the picture burning, along with her ex helped in strenghting and re-inforcing the overall message of the music video, along with making it easier for the audience to remember and relate to the story.

Having all these elements repeat across the music video, the digipak, and the digital promotion creates a cohesive, unified identity. It helps audiences delve deeper into the meaning of small details, which may turn out to be significant, especially when they are seen across multiple aspects of the project. 

CCR-3) How do your products engage with the audience?

The music video is designed to resonate with the audience through its themes, visuals, and emotional depth. It primarily resonates with teenagers, however, there is no single demographic, as it speaks to all those who have experienced heartbreak, isolation, and obsession. The music video shows the protagonist's slow descent into madness due to a lack of communication and understanding of her emotional state. This evokes empathy and makes the experience more personal for those who relate to these themes. 

The people, the visuals, and the lighting speak volumes about the protagonist's mental state throughout the music video. Her expressions are crucial, too, as the audience may understand her shock and disappointment upon seeing her ex with another girl at the gathering. Her descent into madness is observed through the lighting and her actions, as well. She goes from observing the new guy's pictures to burning and ripping it apart along with a lot of the other pictures. Her fast pacing around the room and placement of hands to her head demonstrate the peak of her insanity and emotional stress as she does not understand how to deal with the situation other than going to the bathroom and eventually falling to the floor. Furthermore, the vibrant lighting and the types of colours used provide insight into the protagonist's emotional state. For instance, the use of deep blue symbolises her sadness and isolation, both of which are recurring themes across the video. Speaking of isolation, the initial scenes involving a gathering with multiple people, in comparison to the end, and as the video progresses, where she is completely alone and isolated in her room, speak volumes of what may have played a role in triggering the insanity: loneliness. This, again, allows viewers to empathise and relate to her on a more personal level. 

Aside from the video, the Digipak parallels the branding by following a similar aesthetic and major elements such as the lighting, the burning picture, and the pov of the protagonist looking at her ex with a new girl. The use of pink, purple, and blue in the digipak reinforces the themes of love, heartbreak, sadness, and isolation, allowing both products to be cohesive and appealing to the audiences. 

Additionally, the social media page played a crucial role in further engaging and creating anticipation amongst audiences. This was observed through the uploading of "Coming Soon" teasers, behind-the-scenes clips, and symbolic hints to allow the audiences to step behind the curtain and be a part of the process as well. Once the video was released, the intrigue was observed through discussions and responses in the comment sections. 

Conclusively, all aspects of the project collaborate to create an immersive experience for our audience. By aligning with themes that resonate and evoke empathy, we were able to easily attract a following on our social media platform, also largely due to the audience's connection with our visuals and filming techniques.

CCR-4) How did your search inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

My research played a key role in shaping our products, especially in how we approached the narrative structure of our video. I figured that a lot of music videos now use a linear storyline or are heavily performance-based. However, for our music video, we used a non-linear approach that reflects the protagonist's fragmented and divided state of mind. An example of this from the MV is when the protagonist lip syncs while showing recurring clips from the gathering. 

One of the key aspects of our music video was breaking the fourth wall. At some moments, the protagonist directly engages with the audience, looking into the camera and acknowledging the viewer's presence. This technique adds a layer of intimacy and personalizes the experience for the audience a little more, allowing them to resonate with her. It blurs the lines between reality and the character's internal experience, something that is not openly seen in many music videos nowadays.

Furthermore, I explored the depiction of mental health struggles. Oftentimes, the media simplifies emotional distress, not recognizing its triggers and impacts, while our music video puts great emphasis on showing its raw and overwhelming nature. This is displayed through her descent into madness as she burns Heather's picture and tears a lot of other pictures apart. Her scenes in her bathroom and fast pacing across the room also portray the same idea. 

The digipak itself challenges conventions. Instead of using traditional symbols such as the colour black and broken hearts to show heartbreak, we incorporated bright and abstract visuals to reflect the protagonist's inner turmoil. 

My research allowed me to understand the importance of symbols and the impact of colour on storytelling. This knowledge is incorporated in the music video through the burning photograph and the colours pink, blue, and purple, all of which represent a different aspect of the protagonist's mental state. 

Overall, my research allowed me to look past the conventional storytelling to using my creative imagination to incorporate aspects of filming that aren't commonly seen in the media industry. In this way the video doesn't just feel like it is telling a story, but allows audiences to resonate with the characters by understanding certain lighting and actions.