Project Components

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T1abshDa4-XcZt2drkjfQVKn8nfVnwu-?usp=sharing

Critical Reflection

The totally rockin’ music video for Jaggn's new single "Top This" speaks to many different social groups and issues through its visual components and themes. “Top This'' represents values that include: creativity, individuality, and expression. The band's aesthetic and the products I created exhibit these values. They are especially demonstrated through the use of unconventional imagery and props within the music video, the unique design of the vinyl record digipak, and the indie/rock and roll vibe of the social media page.

One form of representation in this project is the challenge of gender standards, as all band members are seen wearing red lipstick all through the video. This challenges the routine idea that makeup is only to be used by women, and promotes self-expression and individuality regardless of gender. This representation is especially significant to young people, who may be exploring their own identities and battling with societal expectations. The use of red lipstick throughout the video could also be seen as part of branding, speaking to the band's boldness, confidence, and refusal to comply with conventional gender norms. The band's choice to challenge gender norms by wearing red lipstick also engages with the audience by promoting inclusivity. This could resonate with struggling teenagers who may be battling with their own identities and truly figuring themselves out.

The components of the production, counting the choice of location, props, and outfits, all work together to create a sense of branding for Jaggn. The use of an abandoned parking lot and tires, and the saturated blue tarp backdrop within the video makes a grungy, defiant aesthetic. This aligns with the rock and roll genre of the band's music. The video's style and props, such as the red lipstick, rubber ducks, and chattering teeth, are unusual and peculiar, representing the band's personality as an alternative rock group. The video moreover shows a playful attitude, which is regularly associated with youth culture. The band's Instagram page is exceptionally representative of Jaggn's brand. It gives that same rock vibe given in the music video.

The way in which the music video engages with the audience is through its visual components, themes, and overall tone. The grungy, rebellious aesthetic of the video, combined with the playful and quirky elements, makes an engaging and memorable experience for watchers. The band's use of unconventional props adds an element of shock and interest, keeping the audience engaged and captivated. The video's unusual components convey a feeling of enjoyment and playfulness, making it appealing to a younger audience. This lightness is also visible in the design of the vinyl record digipak, which incorporates vibrant images that complement the video's look. The social media page also allows Jaggn's audience to engage with the band. The utilization of promoting a live show on instagram, makes it so audiences can feel like they are truly a part of the release of “Top This”. The page also highlights a day by day countdown for when the music video will come out to increase anticipation for fans. By promoting live concerts, countdowns, and behind-the-scenes content, the social media page interacts with its audience in a way that encourages inclusion and a feeling of unity. The usage of social media by the band as a promotional tool emphasizes the significance of technology in contemporary music marketing and its ability to reach a larger audience.

Research played a critical part in making the production of Jaggn's music video and the way it challenges conventions. I conducted research on other music videos, especially within the rock and roll genre, to assemble inspiration and ideas for my own video. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Can't Stop" music video is evidence of this research being that the “Top This” video is heavily inspired from that video. This can be seen specifically in the bright colors and complete absurdity that are present in both videos. The band's reference to the "Can't Stop" music video by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the “Top This” video might also engage with fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and fans of similar rock groups, because it creates a sense of recognition and familiarity. This has the potential to also attract new listeners who are fans of other bands, and are interested in similar music and aesthetics. I also (as previously stated) conducted research on gender norms and societal expectations, particularly related to makeup and self-expression. This research shaped my decision to have the band wear red lipstick in the video, challenging conventional gender standards and promoting inclusivity and acceptance.

In conclusion, my multimedia project for Jaggn's new single “Top This” speaks to a social group that values inventiveness, individuality, and expression. The use of unusual props and scenes in the music video, the campy design of the vinyl record digipak, and the indie/rock and roll vibe of the social media page all work to form a sense of branding for the band and engage with the audience. "Top This" is an excellent example of how music can encourage self-expression, inclusiveness, and social awareness. The band's dedication to social responsibility and artistic expression is shown by the project's attention to detail, which ranges from the unorthodox props used in the music video to the funky design of the vinyl record packaging. Future bands can use this effort as a model for how to produce and promote music videos in the time ahead. It is my hope that upcoming bands challenge convention and rock out just as hard as Jaggn.

YOU CAME, YOU SAW, BUT YOU CAN NEVER TOP THIS!

 My whole project is complete! 

Editing on I-movie was actually way smoother than I remember it being for my last full-length project. It felt very comfortable for be being that I have used it now a couple times. I ran into little to no problems whatsoever while editing this project and overall wasn't too bad!

I honestly had such a great time doing this whole project. Everything from the digipack to the social media page, mostly everything came out how I had envisioned it. I think one of the only things that would have improved my project is having the video be more promotional. At times it kind of just feels like the band is just doing random things. This is exactly what I was going for, but I should have shot some more shots of Connor singing. 

I think that the randomness and absurdity of this video is GREAT. I mean who would ever think of getting in a fistfight with scooby doo dressed as a wizard!? It is so great and I smile every time I watch it. 

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey! I can't wait for you guys to see the finished product :)

The start of editing.

 Editing is not really my strong suit, so I wanna dedicate a lot of time to do so. So far I have started to cut down all of my usable footage and delete the rest. This took a VERY long time, but will really benefit me when editing later.

I have also decided to edit the color on all of my shots to keep up with the saturated marketing and art for this record. 

I am using I-movie to edit, and will most likely be editing on my phone. It's maybe not the BEST way to go about editing, but it is what I am most comfortable with. Especially with the deadline approaching, I do not want any mishaps. 

JAGGN LIVE PERFORMANCE

 Jaggn had a live performance yesterday, and it was AMAZING. Even better, it was a great opportunity for the band to play top this live, and the audience loved it. I took numerous pictures and videos and dedicated a whole Instagram post to the concert.

Special guest appearance: Skyler Rivera

The post was titled "GET JAGGED" which is a phrase the band often says.

After this post I made a post for the release date, along with the album cover for Top This. 

Finally, I added 2 highlights on the page for the concert, as well as just for the top this video itself.

DIGIPACK COMPLETE

 The digipack for Top This is complete! As said previously, this would be released as a single on a 45rpm vinyl.

Click photo to enlarge

I wanted this single's digipack to be super loud and colorful, while also providing a rock n' roll aesthetic. The music video's rubber ducks and chattering teeth are components, so I wanted to make them very apparent in the album art. 

I decided to add a rubber duck "rubber" for the insert. I think adding this condom for the insert is very on-brand for Jaggn. As the saying goes "sex, drugs, and rock n roll", this condom is really representative of rock n roll and its culture. 

Overall, I love how the digipack turned out, and I cannot wait for this projects final result.

INSTA POSTS

 For my first Instagram post, I posted some album art teasing the new song. I captioned it "COME AND SEE YOU WILL NEVA TOP THIS. coming soon."

I also posted some stills of the duck shots from the video itself. I captioned it "GET DUCKING READY"

The band also has an upcoming live performance which I have also decided to advertise on my page. They are playing the song in the music video at the show which is a great selling point for people to come and hear it before the song comes out. I posted this on my insta story.

DAY 2 FILMING

 Day 2 was filming at my house and in my neighborhood.

I started off the day by getting in all of the shots I wanted in front of the tarp. The duck shots looked GREAT. I got SO MUCH FOOTAGE. I got all the specific shots I wanted, but I just let them mess around and roughhouse with each other for a while as well. This provided some really funny and great clips.

We then all walked to my neighborhood park to get the shots of scooby doo. I honestly had no plan for how they were going to beat up scooby. I just told them to run with it, AND RUN THEY DID. They beat the absolute crap out of this thing and I again got a boatload of footage.

Finally, we ended the day by swimming in my pool. My pool has this light that changes colors and it made the shots look very sick. By the time they got in the pool, there was little to no daylight left, so a lot of the shots are too dark and unusable. For the shots that weren't too dark, they look great.

Overall, amazing film day. I'm gonna start editing very soon. I'll keep you posted with updates!

Setting up for day 2 of filming

 For day 2 of filming, I had to set up the tarp as a backdrop in my garage. My original plan was to hang the tarps by these hooks that were already in my garage, but they were too close together. I tried to use some heavy-duty gorilla grip tape to hold up the tarp, but it was not sticking to the ceiling. 

My dad then had the idea of drilling holes in the garage ceiling. I was so surprised he actually let me do that. Well, it worked great! I got some hooks and it looked great!

My next immediate thought was to test out the duck shot to see how it would look. I used my mom as a test subject, and with some better lighting, I knew it would look great for day 2 of filming.

DAY 1 FILMING

 Day 1 of filming was at the lot! Here is a rundown of the day:

At 4:30 the band met me at the manatee bay elementary parking lot to follow me to the location. We parked outside the barricade of the road and started walking to the lot. It was a LONG walk and a bit sketchy but it was all good!

Once we arrived I found this huge pile of tires and decided to get a ton of different shots of them with the tires. It also started to drizzle a bit, which I was initially worried about, but gave some of the clips a cool vibe.

We also found this really old and worn-down chair lying in some grass so I got some shots of them smashing the chair.

After all of that, I was basically done at the lot. I had planned to go to the park to get the shots of them beating up scooby doo, but it was really gross out. I'll just shoot those on Friday at my neighborhood park instead of peace-mound park. Overall very successful shoot day.

The phone :(

 So I just got home from my cruise and was met with some pretty bad news. The new phone that I got had in authentic apple camera parts. This means I am unable to shoot on this new phone, and I have to send it back and will not have the new phone on time for the shoot. I still have my old phone and it should work FINE, but it just sucks that I won't have this new camera. 

shooting plan day 2

So for my second day of shooting, we are going to be in another 2 (possibly 3) locations.

1: my garage

2: my pool

(3): neighborhood park

Again at 3:30 on Friday after school, the band is going to meet at my house to shoot the rest of the video. I am going to start the shoot in my garage and do all of the duck shots and just miscellaneous shots of the band with the chattering teeth. 

After that, If I don't have enough footage in daylight of the sooby doo fight the day before, then we will walk to my neighborhood park to finish shooting that.

Finally we are going to end up in my pool with all the inflatables and more rubber ducks.

IF NEEDED WE WILL SHOOT ANY ADDITIONAL THINGS SATURDAY.

This should wrap up shooting though, and give me time to edit.

shooting plan day 1

 So for my first day of shooting, we are going to be in two locations.

1: The lot (abandoned parking lot)

2: Peace-mound park

At 3:30 on Tuesday after school, I am picking up the band and all the equipment and we are heading to the lot. There I want to shoot stereotypical promo music vid shots of the band just playing their instruments and rocking out. This should take about an hour- hour and a half.

Then I will drive everyone to the park where I want to get some more shots of the band playing. I mostly want to shoot the giant scooby doo shots there. I want to include some pov shots of the band just beating the crap out of this giant stuffed animal. 

After all of this, day 1 should be complete!

CRUISIN!

 Fun for me, but not fun for future me is I'm going on a cruise this spring break! Since I am gone the whole week, there is nothing I can really do that requires me to meet with the band or set up for the shoot. I am just going to focus on planning out the shoot days and contacting the band to make sure everything is on schedule. 

DUCK SHOOT SETUP

 So I have been struggling with where I was going to shoot the duck shots. After talking to my dad, we have come up with a solution. He and I will hang a tarp from the ceiling in the garage from hooks that are already there. We have to clear out the bikes and other stuff in the way, but this spot is perfect for these duck shots.

My only issue that could arise with this is lighting, but worst comes to worst I'll just set up additional lights. 

BACK COVER

 For the back cover, I wanted to include the credits. I wanted to keep them simple and to the point. I used this Pearl Jam CD as a reference to put what credits on the record. 

This is how it came out:

COVERRRRR

 So I was playing around with ideas for the cover and was using the album art I shot to come up with a cover but nothing was really working for me. 

           This really wasn't doing it for me:

I then thought that having the actual band members on the cover would be very cool. Being that mouths are a big component in my video, I think that having all four of the band member's mouths on the cover with a big "top this" logo would suit the vibe nicely. I want to have a shoot of the four, but for now, I made this moc up with pictures of my own mouth to show you what I'm going for.

ALBUM COVER EDITING

 I have started editing the cover for the single but finding a place to edit it was difficult. I have never had to make something like this before, and choosing an easy place for a beginner was hard. I stumbled on the drawing website https://sketch.io/sketchpad/. Although the website is meant for drawing, editing on this website was very easy and straightforward. 

On the website, I created a logo for the album. I wanted something simple, but bold and I think I have accomplished that. I took inspiration from a blink-182 logo to create mine, and I think the vibe of the two logos is similar.

Blink-182 logo

Top this logo

My phone SUCKS!

As of today, I have an iPhone 8... that's not the best for filming. Before I go to college this summer, I was planning on buying a new phone, but I am going to just purchase one now for the sole purpose of having a decent camera for this project. Did this hurt my pockets a bit?... yes. I was going to buy one anyways, but now I am getting one sooner rather than later. 

The phone I am getting is an iPhone 12 pro max, which is a HUGE upgrade from the phone I have now. The phone has a much better camera and will give me a better result for the video.

Album art!

 I had a shoot day with some of the props I am using in the video, and they turned out GREAT. 

I used the pool table in my house to give the photos a vibrant green background and set up flashlights and lanterns to get certain lighting.

After some editing just in the iPhone camera settings, these are how some of the photos turned out: