Music Marketing 2

 

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Here's a behind the scenes of my group's music marketing project:)

Link- Music Campaign BTS Video

Music Marketing 1

 Hey Blog!

In the upcoming month, I will be working on a group project about marketing in the music industry that will be worth half of my midterm grade. My teammates and I were assigned pop music as our music genre, and we each had to research a different music production company or record label and their marketing process. We researched the companies' history and two artists that have released music through them, and their brand identity, history, and overall marketing strategies. Within the pop genre, I chose Republic Records for my music company and The Weeknd and Taylor Swift as my two artists. Each musician uses very different marketing strategies to get their music to the public and to establish their identity, but they are both considered mainstream and end with the same results: high number of listeners and visibility in the public eye. 

This research significantly helped me understand how the media uses specific strategies to reel people in to continue watching and listening to content, and will definitely help with the big project I had mentioned before. For this assignment, my group was given four songs from the pop genre to choose from; we chose the song "We Are Young" by Fun. Using this song, we must create a new brand/artist identity through developing a campaign to market this artist and song. To do this, we must create social media posts, performances, distribution plants, a music video, and other marketing practices. All of these elements will be put into a powerpoint, where we will record audios explaining all the slides, before submitting all of it. 

For a project this big, we have to plan exactly who is doing what and when. We received a paper that contained a calendar for the month of December, where we wrote down what each group member was "in charge of" and our personal deadlines to meet for each portion of the project. This planner will help us stay on track and finish everything we must on time. My group hasn't planned what we are going to do much yet, but I will keep you updated on our progress!

Multimedia Mise-en-scene Project

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So, throughout the last four classes, I've been working on a Mise-en-scene project with three other students. For this project, we were divided in groups and each group randomly received a paper that described a character. Each group was meant to represent the character they received and illustrate who they are in an interactive way through three different forms of media: visual, audio, and tactile. On the last day, after we had finished developing our person, we presented our projects by setting up stations using what we had created to represent each of our characters and we moved around the classroom guessing what type of person the other groups had portrayed. 

In my group's case, we had to do our project on a tech-savvy middle schooler who loves tinkering with gadgets, is a quick problem-solver, is very shy around new people, and is fiercely loyal to her friends. To represent our character, who we named Alice Rose (AR), we decided to create a project on Scratch, a visual coding program as a common stereotype for people who are interested in technology is that they are good at coding. We created a graphic of her room on Canva and put it on Scratch, and then added sprites of objects in her room, which allowed other students to press on certain things and a pop up of a picture or text box popped up in the middle of the screen, either describing AR or indirectly demonstrating who she is. One of our sprites was a monitor, which when pressed showed a mood board with techy elements, illustrating her interests. Another sprite was a framed picture of her and her friends, proving her loyalty towards her friends, which we thought was important since we basically only selected showing her techy side, and not other things that may interest her.

Our Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1232512039

For our audio element, we created a playlist with songs and artists we thought she would enjoy and listen to. The playlist, mainly consisting of rock music, played in the background of our project during presentations. We also added two sprites, a robot and a box full of gadgets, which when pressed on made noises. The robot, which we imagined she built during her robotics class, further fitting into the trope of nerdy techy character, beeped and made typical robot noises when clicked on. While the box, which contained all her gadgets and trinkets, made metal clattering noises. 

Our playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4OrBbr83ca1xEEygSwT7mv?si=07e0f3607d65432d

And lastly for our tactile element, one of my group members brought a Lego-like robot she built when she was younger and two large Lego wheels demonstrating the gadgets and trinkets that AR would have created, used, or simply just had in her room. These objects were put on one of the desks in our table for other groups to touch and physically see when done exploring the Scratch. 

Overall, I think my group did really well with not just the project's end result, but the creating process as well. We all worked diligently and didn't waste any time, allowing us to submit the project earlier than I had expected. And it also made the whole project just a fun experience rather than difficult work, stressing us out until the minute it's due. While we did struggle a little with the coding since none of us had ever truly coded and we had a technical issue where one of our sprites wasn't functioning how it was supposed to, we were able to do some research and after a while of working on it, we fixed it. But I still feel our project was missing something that the other projects had included. I'm not sure what, but our project, while it took a lot of hard work, still had less information and things that demonstrated our character, making it seem too little and less interactive. I'm not sure what we could have added, especially since I am very different from AR, and genuinely don't know anything from her world, but one group created a diary/journal for their character and I feel that could've been a great addition to our project, with invention designs, and notes about certain things. Other than that, I think we did well using Canva and Scratch to create our project and make it what it is. 

Genre Research

Musical Genre

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For this activity, I decided to research the musical genre, not only because it's basically the only type of film I watch, but also because I feel it is a very misunderstood genre, that people don't typically enjoy due to not knowing enough about it.

This genre has been around for quite some time, with films such as "The Sound of Music" and "The Wizard of Oz" gaining tremendous popularity over the past few decades, attracting audiences to the emotional appeal that the mix of singing, dancing, and storytelling bring.  Once Disney began producing animated films specifically made for children, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and "Pinocchio," the target audience only grew, now including younger children as well. But over the past few years, the musical genre seems to have changed, with the production of Disney Channel movies like "High School Musical" and more recently, film adaptations of already existing Broadway musicals like "Dear Evan Hansen" targeted more for teens. Although Disney continues to create animated musicals, people often associate this genre with these newer releases rather than the animated children movies. Today, this genre is mostly meant to attract singers, actors, dancers, and overall, those who enjoy theatre. 

Content:

The key component of a musical, is the combination of dialogue, singing, and dancing when telling a story; so obviously, every musical contains breaking out into songs and dances. These songs are used to express an idea or emotion that might be difficult to illustrate simply through dialogue. Most musicals have very similar song choices, with certain types of songs being used at specific times to better develop the plot. 

-They usually have a large group opening and finale number with upbeat and catchy tunes. The opening tends to be a long song that establishes the main characters and dilemma, while the finale is often a reinvented version of the opening number showing the resolution. 

-In the first half of the film, the main character will likely sing a dramatic song illustrating their personal desires that will be worked on throughout the film. 

-There also tends to be a big group number with a dance break near the middle of the film when the climax is developed or there is a dramatic change in the plot.

-Closer to the end of the musical, the main character will sing a usually slower, emotional song, demonstrating character development from their first solo song. 

Production Techniques:

The "behind the scenes" of a musical is crucial to make it what it is. Lyricists and script writers must work together to ensure the dialogue and music naturally flow and blend well in a scene. The lyrics must also perfectly convey what the character isn't able to express through dialogue, without any misconnections. Along with the actual writing of songs, choreographers must create dances and block physical movements that fit with the lyrics, rhythm, and beat of the songs, while still illustrating the theme or purpose of it. 

Camera angles and shots are also very important in the world of musicals. During songs and dances, the camera becomes a part of the choreography. So, close-up during emotional scenes, master shots capturing performances, and long shots during big dances numbers are commonly used in these films.

And lastly, set and costume design is another factor that makes musicals stand out from other film genres. Unlike dramas, horrors, and mysteries, musicals tend to be much brighter and colorful. In live theatre, makeup and costume is often exaggerated so that the whole audience is able to see a character even when they are running all over the stage. This custom carried over to films too, but since close-ups are available, designs are a lot more detailed. The set and costume also truly shows a characters personality and emotional being, often changing throughout the film.

Institutional Conventions:

This genre is marketed in many ways to appeal to audiences. The main one being releasing the soundtrack of the film before the release date. Since their target audience are typically teens and theatre kids, who are known for being highly engaged online, this allows for them to get to know the music beforehand, and begin to analyze and memorize the songs before the film even comes out. 

It is also common for musicals to cast popular actors and stars, even if they don't have any music experience. In some cases, it works well, while in others it doesn't. For example, in the live-action "Beauty and the Beast," Emma Watson, a Hollywood star widely known for her role of Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" film series, was casted as Belle. She attracted many audiences, but many were left disappointed as her voice in the soundtrack was heavily edited with autotune, making it sound too clear and not human-like. On the other hand, they also casted Ewan McGregor, another well-known actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels, as Lumiere. He was praised for his talented singing voice, which many did not know he had experience with when acting in "Moulin Rouge."

And lastly, referencing original live musicals when marketing an adaptation is often used to attract theatre kids into watching a film. While this only applies to a reinvention of an already existing piece of media, most musical films nowadays fall into this category. Trailers and posters mentioning that a film is based off of another show, attracts an already existing fanbase that love what will be shown in the movie. Sometimes it ends up not working out, but it still brought audiences wanting to see if the adaptation lives up to its inspiration.

Although this isn't a convention to reel in a specific audience, I thought it was worth mentioning to demonstrate the changes in the musical film industry as time passes...

Recently, there has been a growing trend in movie trailers, not marketing a film as a musical to attract more people. While this does not help specifically bring in target audiences, it is used as a market strategy solely to sell and gain more profit. "Wonka," released in 2023, and "Mean Girls," released in 2024, are two films that were highly anticipated. Both of the movies' trailers were made to seem like a non-musical film, not showing music numbers or including dancing and singing. This led to non-musical fans to want to watch the movies, not knowing that they would be left disappointed and frustrated for paying to watch something they were not expecting and don't necessarily enjoy. 

Samples:

In the Heights (2021)

"In the Heights" released in 2021, is a film based on the stage musical created by Lin Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes. Known for integrating Latin American music and culture into a section of media where it wasn't commonly seen, "In the Heights" quickly gained popularity and won multiple awards since its debut. 

This musical follows many characters, like Usnavi, played by Anthony Ramos, through a few days in their life, living in a predominantly Latino and immigrant-based neighborhood with fewer resources. Through the use of dancing and singing, the movie illustrates the struggles the characters face, their dreams and goals, and passion and pride for their heritage, which is illustrated in the hip-hop and Latin music used throughout the film. 

As expected, the musical includes a big group opening, where everyone is introduced, the setting is established, and a challenge is expressed; a finale, referencing songs sung throughout the film; and a big dance number involving the entire cast halfway through the movie. What makes this musical stand out from others though, is the casting and people involved in the creation of this film. Lin Manuel Miranda is widely known in the theatre industry due to the success of his works for example the lyrics in the soundtrack of "Moana," and "Encanto" and his most popular musical, "Hamilton," where he wrote the entire musical and played as the lead when it debuted. But before any of these, Miranda produced "In the Heights," his first Broadway musical. Like "Hamilton," he casted himself as the lead in this show, and had several actors who originally acted in "In the Heights" act in "Hamilton" as well. Actors like Anthony Ramos, Cristopher Jackson, and even Lin Manuel Miranda himself, were  brought back to perform in the film adaptation of the show, attracting already existing fans from past performances.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

The box-office hit, "The Greatest Showman," is a fantasized retelling of the life of PT Barnum, a 19th century showman and businessman known for the creation of his circus. The film, both a drama and musical, has become one of the most popular modern musical films since its release in 2017. 

The movie begins with the song, "The Greatest Show," a huge number in which pretty much the whole cast performs in, before it fades into a flashback showing PT Barnum's past. This long song is later used as the finale of the film, where audiences realize that the beginning of the film is actually the same as the end.

The design in this movie was crucial to making it what it is, with time accurate costumes, exaggerated circus costumes, and set designs. Since this film takes place in the early to mid-1800s, costumes must contain the former, period accurate attire, while including the artistic circus outfits. The set also needed to depict New York City in the 19th century with the differences in certain buildings from now. 

And while "The Greatest Showman" was not an already existing musical, it gained a lot of attraction with the release of its soundtrack 2 weeks before the release of the film. Certain scenes in the circus are also shot with characters in a spotlight, almost imitating an actual live performance on stage. 

Examples:

Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

La La Land (2016)

Grease (1978)

High School Musical (2006)

The Lion King (1994)

Sound

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So, the past few classes we've been learning about sound techniques and how to utilize them. As someone who really enjoys focusing on the sound and music part of films and shows, I was surprised to learn how many small details really go into the sound of a production. We learned about the specific terminology of sound and how to develop it in a film and later used this newly acquired information to complete 2 sound projects. 

For our first project, we were assigned a partner, with who we had to come up with a scene idea and create a soundscape for, without any visuals. For our scene, we decided to represent the sounds a student would hear when eating in a school cafeteria when a fight breaks out. We recorded sounds that illustrated him buying food, sitting down at a table and eating, the fight breaking out, him running to the action to watch, and later him running out of the cafeteria, scared to get caught by security. During brainstorming, my partner and I thought of noisy environments and what are some things that could occur to make them even more noisy. 

After creating a concrete idea, we made an outline, listing all the sounds we need to create ourselves, foley, or find online, divided by scenes. This helped organize our work and project, and made it easy to know what sounds we still needed when we started recording. We edited on clipchamp in Office365, which we found was easy to access and offered us a lot of free space with our school account. 

Overall I think we did a good job for our first ever sound project. I really liked the beginning and end of the recording where everything blended perfectly and really immersed listeners into the intended environment. The beginning was a collection of school cafeteria noises; the ID scanner; talking; footsteps; and other small noises, like a water bottle falling, a bad of chips being opened, and the creaking of the bench when the person sat down. And the end had running footsteps, doors opening and closing, security radio noises, worried whispers and chattering, and panting after running, one of my favorite additions. We also added a zipper noise, showing the student opening their backpack to get a bottle of water out, which we then put in a noise of a bottle cap turning and drinking water. I really disliked how our fight scene came along though. It sounded very unrealistic, the punches sounded too harsh, the chanting in the back didn't sound good as we only recorded 4 voices saying it, and it was very hurried. I feel like if we had used more and different sound effects and recordings for this scene, it would have come out much better.

Link to project- FernandezRabachute_soundscape_per4

We also did a second sound project with different partners, this time with our partner from our first project, the one word film project. For this one we had to create a soundscape for our one word film, which if you don't remember was completely silent and muted, to portray the story. We were instructed to find all the sound effects and record all the foleys together, and then edit them into our video individually. 

The brainstorming process in this project was a lot harder since our story took place in an empty hallway, so to figure out what sounds to use we walked around the hallway and jotted down things we heard, like air going through the vent and distant toilet flushes. The outline helped us organize the sounds per scene and we used it as a checklist for all our sounds, highlighting the ones we would foley and search, and which ones we already found or were missing. 

We also used clipchamp on Office 365 for this one and I really think this was one of my favorite projects. I think everything was done very well, especially the distant bathroom noises as the main character was walking further away from the bathroom. I loved the occasional knocks on the door heard in the background and even the small squeak of shoes hitting the floor when the character was walking. We could have done better recording the "dialogue," which consisted of an "ah" and "oof," when the character tripped on top of someone. They sounded very fake and not at all surprised or hurt, but it still didn't sound horrifyingly horrible. I'm really glad with this project though.

Link- OWFSound_Fernandez

One Word Film Project

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For the last few classes, a partner and I have been working on a new project: the One Word Film Project. We were asked to brainstorm, plan, and film a 1 minute clip inspired by a random word we drew out from a hat. 

My partner and I began by brainstorming story ideas, and camera shots we thought would look good with certain actions. To bring our word, anxious, to life, we decided to film a scene where a girl tries to let another girl know that her backpack is open, but begins to overthink and doubt herself. We created a storyboard beforehand to plan exactly what shots and angles we wanted to use, which especially helped when planning out the scenarios happening inside the main character's head, showing her thought process. For the actual editing, we used Adobe Express, adding transitions and an effect during the scenarios happening inside the girl's head to portray how the anxiety is happening is entirely in her head. 

Overall, I think we did very well especially for it being our first filming project. I really liked how we filmed one specific shot where the camera focused on the main character's nervous face, then tilted down to a close'up of her hands fidgeting, and back up to a close-up of her face. It added a smooth and realistic feeling of anxiety. I feel we could have done better with the length of every shot as some felt very abrupt and short, and maybe even change the angles of some of them to flow more smoothly into the scene. Other than that though, I think we did great for a first film.

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eot5dAvNy9GdKgze8MfOZAsw-J6q7-b4/view?usp=drivesdk

-Sofia

Camera Shots/Angles Quiz

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For our first quiz of the year, we were instructed to get into pairs and create a story using photos. We were to use the information we had learned the class before about camera shots and angles, and a maximum of two inanimate objects to produce a story in exactly 15 shots. We then had to identify what specific shot type we used for each photo and explain why we had chosen to use it.

My partner and I decided to use a pink highlighter and a black Expo marker to tell the story of a couple struggling to cook pasta together on a date night. For the background we drew a kitchen on a big piece of paper and for the "cooking supplies" we folded cut-out pieces of paper and made a table, bowls, tomatoes, and pieces of pasta. Overall, I think we did pretty good. We were able to get our story across while keeping it cute, creative, and entertaining. We did, however, misidentify a few camera shots and angles in our explanation, and half of our pictures had better lighting then the rest due to us realizing too late that the use of our phone flashlights would make our pictures look clearer and more detailed. The lighting in the photos could have been improved, more attention could have been paid to the definitions of every camera shot and angle, and we could have started to shoot earlier to have had more time to take the pictures, instead of hurrying to beat the dismissal bell. Still, the shots and angles we used created a nice balance between the small dramatized, instructional, and sweet romantic moments this couple experienced in a short amount of time.

CameraShotsQuiz.pptx