Reflective Essay

 IN THIS POST:

• Criteria
• Critical reflection

Criteria

Critical reflection

(1000 words)

Our first step was researching general industry examples, for video, digipak and social media. General research included SUICIDE SILENCE, Arctic Monkeys and Chris Stapleton until we found our ‘dark pop’ genre, and looked at Melanie Martinez, Lana Del Rey and finally Billie Eilish. Looking for visual ideas, (and following Goodwin's conventions) we took inspiration from TRIPTYKON’s abstract visuals and narratives (contrasting Vernallis,

TRIPTYKON’s abstract visuals

 suggesting music videos are too short to portray a narrative + more elliptical). Pixies (Silver Snail) playfully deconstructed the conventional video (Neale’s ‘difference in repetition’ - tweaking genre expectations). We used ‘colour pop’ (form of escapism - uses and gratifications), inspired by AJ Tracey (Rain) and Yoko Oh No (Love u), with their ‘camp’ male protagonist wearing excessive makeup, bows in hair, and extreme lighting). Eilish explores dark themes (through her ‘dark pop’ genre), targeting her youthful female audience, so we contrasted concepts between the above artists.


The couple is heteronormative, however explore gender fluidity (queering) by reducing the male character's presence, with him lip-syncing to Eilish’ lines

Melanie Martinez’s doll-like look

. We applied Butler’s gender performativity concept, moving away from the simulacrum (Baudrillard) of Eilish’s brand/genre. We encoded polysemic potential feminist/post-feminist readings (after researching Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor Twitter conflict on queering). This was expressed through costume and makeup, taking Melanie Martinez’s doll-like look (another dark pop artists), including black lipstick, pigtails (through the video and on our digipak) and ‘gummy bear’ earrings. Laura Mulvey would argue there is male gaze present, with revealing shots of her bust, although our protagonist has agency. This deconstructionist hyper-feminist look conforms with Judith Butler’s queer theory. Most of the females clothing was promiscuous and tight-fitting, however, we stuck to some of Eilish’s branding, wearing baggy trousers, rejecting gender binary. There is arguably ‘female gaze’ connecting to our secondary male character with shots of his bare chest present.

Eilish conventional avoids any sexual connotations in her videos despite being common in the ‘dark pop’ genre. Our character wore revealing ‘lingerie’ in bed, low-cut tops, with the narrative anchoring sexual connotations, with a shot of the couple under the sheets. In this case, the agency is shared between our couple, most prominent when the male character pushes the female onto the bed, which is a playful postmodern approach to 

male character pushes the female onto the bed

gender norms. We chose to hit the generation Z 'woke' zeitgeist while ironically eating fast food after Eilish sparked controversy in a recent music video (eating fast food in an empty shopping mall). BBFC’s age rating scheme provides a voluntary rating for UK artists signed to the 'big 3'. We took this into account and avoided excessive explicit imagery potentially offensive for our t(w)een audience.

 

We are aware of lack of diversity, eg no BAME or disabled characters, however, this was due to covid restrictions. Eilish targets a globalised brand, therefore we avoided anchorage of any locations. Inspired by Madonna, our character wore crucifix earrings; however, this is left polysemic, with playful lyrics and use of promiscuity. In our video, we incorporated an easter egg (Invisalign next to the bed), intertextualising

intertextualising The Shining’s twins, with our protagonist doubled on screen

a prior Eilish reference. Intertextuality links to Altman’s intellectual puzzles, boosting someone's cultural capital if a reference is picked up on. The influence was taken from film, intertextualising The Shining’s twins, with our protagonist doubled on screen. We uploaded a gif of ‘here’s Johnny’ on Twitter to hint at this.


We created 2 logo’s and applied them to our merchandise, website, digipak and socials. I photoshopped a collection of contrary merchandise products, from a record player (engaging an older audience) to a child’s handbag (targeting a 6-10s). Her socials incorporate filters/themes, often dark and red, tying in the hellish connotations. I integrated her darker themes together with her relatable teenage content (engaging
identification, uses and gratifications theory). O’Reilly's Web 2.0 theory  suggests the 

We created a diegetic outro, in which our protagonist break's role

consumer is becoming increasingly more involved in shaping an artist’s brand. We created a diegetic outro, in which our protagonist break's role (Eilish had also done this previously, maintaining her brand).
We produced a reaction video, unboxing video and dance video, produced by both our primary and secondary audience. We released a lyric video as artists took previous user-generated content and uploaded them while monetising them (Justin Bieber ‘Yummy’).


Eilish is a leading figure on social media, with 106m followers across Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (being 3 social media’s, engaging the most followers), posting relatable content (Uses and gratifications theory - McQuail). She has been featured on Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone

She has been featured on Vanity Fair

which pushed her into the older secondary target audience. We utilised personal identity, escapism and social interactions (aspects of this theory). I set up the Instagram ‘BillieTheAvocado2001’, referencing our fans’ nickname (avocado’s), creating a sense of personal identity. We established an image our primary audience could identify with, targeting t(w)eens with the exaggerated stereotype of the ‘doll’ and sexualised elements (along with older teen cast) targeted older teen/young adult. The performativity/playfulness of gender (Gaga - Bad Romance), help reinforce Eilish’s appeal to the LGBTQ+ community. The colour pop earlier mentioned provides escapism.


We used conventional ‘t(w)een language (emoji’s, slang, direct address and hashtagging), with one caption to a fan account repost being, “LOVE THIS!! Thank uuuuuuu @emmyeeeeee this is incredible (fire emoji) (bomb emoji) #new single #okaygirl”. After researching TikTok

accepted the LGBTQ+ community through our Instagram

(Ariane Grande), we used a ‘trend’ to create audience pleasure, where we use a bed transition (camera falls into bed, rises up from the other side). We launched competitions and QnA’s to engage the audience, creating ‘fan accounts’ to participate. A ‘fan’ says “Where’s the music video you promised us?”, and we replied as Billie Eilish, “don’t worryyy keep patient & u won’t be disappointed!! Xx”. We created a tweet to instil shared experience in the genre community (Chandler), writing, “tonight/midnight/stay tuned”. We address the body image concerns and accepted the LGBTQ+ community through our Instagram, retweeting fans discussing body confidence, and reposting a TikTok (of a counterhegemonic male wearing makeup), captioned as “@Aaronstray slayyyy honey (heart eyes emoji) everyone can wear makeup y’all #changetheworld”.