sober

FINALLY DONE WITH EVERYTHING! It has been a solid, nerve-wrecking yet absolutely great and fun couple of years with A-Level Media Studies. From working with 3 more crew members and 3 actors, to working alone with one actor, I have learned a lot. From being intimidated by visual effects to pulling off a green screen shot despite going very wrong with the lighting condition yet somehow saving it in the post-production. From an opening credits sequence to something I never imagined myself making – a music video. All I can say is, it has surely trained me for whichever film school I will be going to, hope its one of the top ones though. A-Level Media Studies has not only taught me just the aspects of film-making but even the business and marketing side of the industry which has sharpened my mind. It’s time to leave but I will always cherish these two years of my life which possibly built my film-making career’s foundations.

METHOD CHOSEN TO ANSWER QUESTION: POWER POINT PRESENTATION

Question: How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
Answer:

Method chosen to answer: PODCAST

Question: How do your products engage with the audience and how would they be distributed as real media products?
Answer:

METHOD CHOSEN TO ANSWER QUESTION: DIGITAL ESSAY

Question: How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
Answer:

Branding is perhaps one of the most important parts of any media text or production to do well. As much as we do believe that cinema, television and music productions are a piece of art, they also have been commercialised and been a big source of business.

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Branding helps in making the most sales for a producer/organization/business, and those sales might even help some producers to convey a message through their art/product/service, since people would take them more seriously because of the branding. My production does intend on spreading a message that I covered in the first question of my creative critical reflection. I would definitely need branding for the music album that I am trying to promote through this music video.

The way I would do it is through merchandise. The way merchandise creates a brand is through influence. I am planning to include a piece of merchandise of the band with the album package. This would guarantee that our merchandise will be used/worn by the audiences since it comes for free with the album. If we take the example of a tee-shirt, it would be the perfect way to spread the album since people might wear the merch t-shirt at public places, which would be noticed by other people and they might develop interest in it. Slowly and gradually, the album has a possibility of trending the charts and through the merchandise and the album, the message about drug abuse that we are trying to convey, would be conveyed smoothly. 

The way different elements come together to create a sense of branding is by complementing each other. I have made a logo for the band and given it a name, which creates an identity and the way it would be recognized amongst other bands, which is then printed on a t-shirt along with the title of the album, and it is now available on the website for the audience to purchase. There are a couple more varieties of t-shirts available, which have some frames from the music video of “SOBER” printed on them, along with some lyrics from the song. In conclusion, I am using a logo, a brand name, the music video itself and the original song to combine and create a branding for the band. 

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METHOD CHOSEN TO ANSWER: SLIDESHOW WITH VOICEOVER

Question: How do your products use or challenge conventions and how do they represent social groups or issues?
Answer:

As soon as I had completed the video and got it approved by Sir Shehzad, I posted it on Instagram, which is the social media profile I have most followers on, compared to other networks. I am attaching below the post I made on Instagram followed by the comments and messages I received from all my peers, friends and family members. I could not be more grateful and proud of myself. I feel like I have done a spectacular job.

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THE RESPONSE

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I did not expect such an overwhelming response to the video. I can not believe it. The adrenaline rush was really high and I felt I’m on top of the world. This really would not have possible without some of my true friends who had been there for me where I needed moral support or props to borrow from them. Other than just my friends, my teacher, Sir Shahzad Naeem, has taught us a lot this year and I do not think it would have been possible if he had not captivated our interest in class and make us love this subject. I am thankful to everybody who has been involved in this process in any way.

WEBSITE LINK : https://anishkdharma.wixsite.com/blackwonder

Creating a website was a very new experience for me since I had not done it last year for my foundation portfolio either. I went in kind of nervous thinking I might not be able to do the best job but I think I have done well! I am proud of what I have made. My strategy here was to make it look and feel as real as it could possibly get, like a real band!

To do that, I had to add some posts and sections on the website that some real websites do too, like a shop! I created a shop section, but now I also had to add products on there, so I made a few t-shirts of the band to sell as merchandise. I also created a youtube channel with the band’s name and uploaded the video there too! I linked that channel and video on the website so anybody who views the website can be referred directly to the youtube channel. I also added an audio version of the title song “SOBER” and gave an option to buy single for $1 and album for $9.99. I also added fake tour dates as if it is a real band. I linked the band Metallica’s tour dates with the tour date section, since the band I created obviously does not tour. I added a logo of the record label I want to pair the band up with, which is RoadRunner Records. I added a mention of myself too, as “in collaboration with music video director Anish Kumar Dharma”. Now, to make the band look credible, I added acclaim ratings from widely known music journalists/critics/reviewers too such as Sputnik music and The Guardian. The website features a log in option as well as a subscribe to mailing list form option to make it look more credible. Lastly, I added the logos of all the major streaming services, to imply that the album is available on there to stream.

I am finally done with the music video. This has been a very exciting yet tough journey. I have learned a lot throughout this project, especially about post production and visual effects such as green screens, which I will be going into further detail about in my future posts after the entire Advanced Portfolio is completed. I am now going to take a break for a week, then send my video to my teacher who is also supervising mine and my classmates’ projects. Once I get his approval, I will also be marketing it on my social media profiles and find out what the audience really thinks. Time for a break!

The last thing to do in this post production process after the cutting, colour grading, and visual effects, was the typography. I divided the texts into three categories:
1. The Disclaimer. I had to include one since my music video contains sensitive material i.e drug abuse and suicide.
2. The pre-video texts, such as the starring credit, mention of the song I am using etc.
3. Post- video texts, such as special thanks, to all the people who I took help from the make this project.

DISCLAIMER

PRE AND POST VIDEO CREDITS

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