Here is the critical reflection for my Component 3 which includes a music video, digipak, and social media. This blog post is written by me (Rara).
How do your products represent social groups or issues?
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
How do your products engage with the audience?
How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
According to the brief set by Cambridge, students had to create a music promotion package consisting of the music video, social media, and digipak. My group decided to create a fictional pop star called Cinta Kyle and covered the song “The Weekend” by BIBI. You can find the links to my groups blogs in my team introduction post. In this essay, I will be delving deep into our pre-production, production, and post production.
We conducted extensive research across various music video genres to passionately pursue our creative vision. This process refined our conceptual framework, helping us determine whether our final product would adopt a narrative or performance-based structure. Our aim was to maximize creative potential and ensure a cohesive artistic output. Central to our mission was portraying a dualistic persona within our artist, embodying the contrast between innocence and assertiveness in romantic relationships. This aligns with Levi-Strauss’s Binary Oppositions theory, where contrasting elements drive narratives, creating tension and engagement.
Through analyzing pop music video conventions, we strategically conformed to and subverted key dynamics to craft a compelling love-themed narrative. Targeting teenagers and young adults, we applied Steve Neale’s genre theory, balancing convention with innovation. Traditionally, women in love narratives are portrayed as euphoric and idealized. Our artist, Cinta, presents a more complex persona, oscillating between vulnerability and assertiveness, challenging gendered stereotypes while reflecting a modern view of relationships. By doing so, we engaged with evolving gender discourse, emphasizing female agency within romantic storytelling.
Steve Neale’s notion of genre as repetition with variation influenced our creative choices. We included conventional close-ups of emotions, synchronized dance sequences, and high-energy montages while challenging the passive portrayal of female leads. Cinta’s assertiveness counters the pop trope of female dependence on male validation, aligning with Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory. By subverting this norm, we reclaimed agency for the female protagonist, allowing her to shape the narrative and challenge expectations within mainstream pop culture.
Our research on Asian representation revealed prevalent tropes in romantic narratives, often slow-paced tales of heartbreak. We diverged by introducing a "player" persona, challenging the underrepresentation of Asian men as confident in romantic contexts. By centering Asian characters, particularly Asian women who are often sidelined in Western media, we aimed to counteract marginalization. This representation not only corrects historical underrepresentation but also appeals to our target demographic.
Furthermore, by incorporating an Asian-led love story with a bold, confident female lead, we sought to normalize the presence of Asian artists in global pop culture. The predominance of Western beauty standards and Eurocentric narratives in the music industry often results in the exclusion or stereotyping of Asian performers. Through our music video, we challenged these norms and expanded the scope of representation.
Applying Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications Theory, we understood that audiences seek personal identity reinforcement in media. By featuring an all-Asian cast, we strengthened connections with Asian communities, allowing them to see themselves reflected in the narrative. In the digital age, social media amplifies audience interaction. Comments, likes, and shares provided real-time feedback, helping us refine our approach. Active audience participation in media consumption, as seen in Henry Jenkins’ participatory culture model, further supports this interaction.
During production, we integrated various media elements to convey feminism, love, and young adulthood. The artist’s name, "Cinta" (Indonesian for "love"), anchors her branding. Red, symbolizing passion and romance, visually reinforces this theme. Her "innocent" persona wears soft pink pajamas with plush toys, while her "player" persona dons bold red attire, aligning with Levi-Strauss’s Binary Oppositions theory. These visual contrasts drive the narrative and enhance engagement by creating clear symbolic differentiation between the two personas.
Red is a recurring motif across Cinta’s digipak and social media, creating a dominant reading (Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory) of her as an artist intrinsically tied to romance. Symbolic codes, like lipstick kiss marks and a heart-shaped logo, reinforce her flirtatious persona, drawing from Roland Barthes’ semiotic theory. The digipak follows conventional pop music packaging, ensuring familiarity while maintaining uniqueness. The incorporation of vibrant imagery and romantic symbolism creates an intertextual reference to classic pop artists, reinforcing genre expectations while crafting a distinctive identity.
Dyer’s Star Theory shaped Cinta’s public persona. He suggests stardom is built through relatability and unattainability. Her social media blends curated imagery with behind-the-scenes content, fostering parasocial relationships where fans form deep connections despite the one-sided nature. High-fashion photoshoots juxtaposed with casual vlogs enhance her appeal, increasing fan loyalty. This dual representation of celebrity both as an aspirational figure and as someone seemingly accessible aligns with contemporary audience expectations of authenticity in media personalities.
Post-production focused on refining Cinta’s social media presence, integrating personal and professional content. Her daily routines, like exercising and singing covers, alongside childhood glimpses, align with Richard Dyer’s Star Theory, portraying her as both extraordinary and relatable. Engaging directly with fans through comments and Q&A sessions fosters intimacy. This interaction aligns with Marshall McLuhan’s "global village" concept, where digital platforms create instant connections and community. The use of Instagram Stories and live-streamed Q&A sessions allowed for real-time engagement, further reinforcing her authenticity as an artist.
Utilizing short-form content on TikTok and Instagram Reels maximized reach, leveraging Henry Jenkins' participatory culture, where audiences actively engage rather than passively consume. Encouraging user-generated content, such as dance challenges and lip-sync videos, deepened audience investment, making them co-creators. This interactive strategy extended the campaign’s longevity and strengthened audience connection with Cinta. The use of trending audio and interactive hashtags further reinforced digital virality, positioning her within the broader social media landscape.
Our promotional strategy also incorporated cross-platform marketing, ensuring Cinta’s brand was consistently represented across YouTube, Spotify, and social media platforms. Collaborations with influencers helped amplify visibility, following the trend of influencer marketing as a key tool in digital branding. This strategy capitalized on the shift from traditional promotional methods to influencer-driven engagement, particularly effective among Gen Z audiences who prioritize peer recommendations and digital word-of-mouth.
The construction of Cinta’s identity extended beyond the music video into carefully curated content across multiple digital platforms, ensuring consistency in her artistic vision. This multimedia presence was crucial in solidifying her star image, demonstrating the importance of transmedia storytelling in modern music marketing.
Our project represents a theoretically grounded approach to music video production, branding, and audience engagement. By balancing convention and subversion, challenging stereotypes, and prioritizing representation, we crafted a product that resonates deeply with its target demographic.
Link gdocs for CSR (just in case the text is off):https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-qMh1h-wRNUk3dAmMk55njJrt0_BnRCc_dRLa8Bp0jE/edit?usp=sharing
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