Pre-production Preliminary Research

Weekly Progress

Here is my weekly progress for component 3. 

Week 1: 

This week is our first week back in media class preparing for our music videos project. We formed our team today, where I’m happy to work with Tisha, Kimora and Kellie. Since the groups were just formed this week, we didn't discuss any ideas for the music videos, such as genre, plot, etc. However, we were instructed to choose a genre quickly and get started on the genre research. 

Problem: One problem we faced that we were instructed to start our genre research immediately on the first lesson of the week, when we had no prior discussions. We weren’t prepared to commit to one decision at all and had to suddenly choose a genre without putting much thought into it. We had a hard time deciding what genre to choose, as everyone mostly had different ideas and visions for this project. Especially since it was the first time all four of us were on one team.

Solution: To help us decide, we decided to evaluate the certain genre conventions and how easy it would be to execute them based on music videos and songs we previously watched or heard. After this, we narrowed it down to pop and R&B, where we held a face-to-face group vote and ultimately chose R&B. After that, we could continue with our genre research smoothly. 

To Do: Currently, I think it is best if we focus on continuing our genre research, so we can quickly gain more ideas, and share them with the others. Especially since we do not know too much about R&B and its conventions.

Week 2:

As we continued on with our genre search, we started collecting ideas on what we could put into our music videos, and more importantly, what song to use. We planned on taking inspiration from the music videos we researched, then pitching the possible ideas to the group, followed with a discussion. Similarly, we prepared one or two songs each to nominate for the official song we would use. We also used a voting system here, after evaluating the pros, cons, and possible ideas for each song. We eventually decided on “POV” by Ariana Grande which is classified as a R&B/Soul song, which was a shock, as Ariana Grande is typically considered a pop singer.

Problem: We faced some difficulties while researching R&B music videos. To be honest, my group did not know a lot of R&B artists besides mainstream and popular ones such as SZA, Daniel Caesar, The Weeknd, etc. Since we did not have too much knowledge on R&B music videos, we were worried that we would research the same (popular) music videos, which would not give me a wide range of knowledge. Additionally, the song we chose did not have a music video, only a lyric video, so we couldn't really take inspiration from that.

Solution: To get a better idea of R&B and its artists, we listened to some recognizable R&B songs and got to know the singer behind the songs. With this, we knew some more artists and familiarized ourself with R&B. To make sure we did not research the same music videos, we each wrote a list of the videos we were planning to research, and cross checked to ensure there were no duplicates. We also tried our best to not research the same artists. This is so we can know the different sides of R&B.

To do: Once again, finishing the genre research is the top priority. Even through we have decided our song for the music video, gaining knowledge on R&B conventions could help make our music video obviously R&B.

Week 3: 

Continuing our genre research was still a task we had yet to finish. This was a very long and tedious task, especially when I’m so busy this week with tests and unit assessments from other subjects outside of media. Since I have to focus on those tests, I haven’t had the chance to really work on my genre research. Especially since I plan to make my genre research rather detailed. When I asked the rest of my team, most of them were also not ready with it. Now I learnt the hard way to manage my time properly to avoid any rushing of my work, which might sacrifice the quality in order to meet deadlines. 

Problem: Since I was so busy, and did not have time to finalize my genre research, I’m wasting precious time finishing it off rather than using my time to start on other blog posts such as the statement of intent. If I had finished it easier by exercising better time management skills, I would’ve been able to start the progress of other important parts of this music video project. 

Solution: I allocated some time after school to really focus on getting my genre research done. I visited a study cafe that really got me into a nice workflow, and I was able to complete the last few music videos I analyzed. I learnt that setting up a proper study area with minimal distractions such as mobile phones is an effective way to finish repetitive media studies work. Next time, I’ll use this same method when I have a lack of motivation to do a blog post.

To Do: Now, I don’t really have anything assigned by my teacher however, I could get a head start on other blog posts like a screen test, which would be a vital part in  our process to find a good actor to be our artist.

Week 4: 

This week, my team and I started working on the statement of intent. Over the genre research period, we discussed possible storylines, characters, and the overall vibe we are trying to incorporate into our music videos. So we did not really face difficulties writing the statement of intent itself. We decided on a love story between two individuals, where it all ended up to be the girl’s (our artist’s) daydream. We also started on the mood board, so we could visualize the overall style and vibe of each character, scene, etc. This will make it easier for us to decide mis-en-scene, such as outfits and props. Additionally, we printed out a lyric sheet and a storyboard template, hoping to get progress on those two. 

Problem: A problem we faced is we were confused when asked to choose a target market in the statement of intent. We had an idea of what our music video would include, but it was difficult to assign a specific sub-culture to the aesthetic we chose, which made the statement of intent hard to complete. Additionally, the deadline given by our media teacher to finish the statement of intent was quite short, forcing us to complete it quickly.

Solution: We decided to think of it from a different perspective. Instead of thinking “what target audience would match our video”, we thought “what things can we add to our music video to match the chosen target audience?”. Since we live in Bali, Indonesia, we thought about how we could target this audience easily via balinese beaches and indonesian cultural codes. We applied this same logic to other demographics and psychographics, thus solving our dilema. We also worked on it together as a team, in order to add all the necessary information efficiently. 

To Do: Finishing the actual blog posts for these tasks will be the tedious but very necessary next step to take before I can focus on anything else. So for now, finishing the blog posts and reflection is needed.

Week 5: 

In today’s media lesson, we learnt about persona, which is an important part of an artists “branded” or “real” personality. This is one way an artist can express themselves artistically or build a fanbase. We did a classwork per team to research persona, and plan the persona of our artist. Since we did this as a group, we split the parts and finished it relatively quick. So overall, it was not too much of a hassle and it helped us shape our artist. Tisha, who is in charge of the storyboard, found an online storyboard platform/app that she found easy to use, and provided a clear outline of how each scene is going to be filmed. However, she also wanted to create a traditional storyboard to compare between the two. This week, we also finished our mood board.

Problem: One problem I faced is that my part in the persona classwork, our persona plan, required more decision making, and I often had to consult the other members in order to finalize the persona we wanted for our artist. Especially since we planned to create two separate personas, both on-screen and off-screen. I was feeling a lack of inspiration and always asked the other team members questions.

Solution: One way I fixed my lack of inspiration was actually asking students who do not take media studies. I asked them questions about certain celebrity personas we could take inspiration from that would match with both our music video, and our actor, Kellie. Making sure that Kellie can properly embody the persona is an important point in order for filming to go smoothly. With the unbiased view of students outside of media studies, who could possibly also have more knowledge on a wider range of celebrities, I got more suggestions and feedback about the persona I was building for the artist, and also public figures I could reference. This made it easier for me to complete my part in the persona classwork. 

To Do: I really need to get on with the completion of my mood board blog, as the actual mood boards are finished. I just need to start on the actually written content of the blog along with a reflection.  

Week 6: 

This week’s media lessons were mostly used for project work, which provided us with ample time to work on our unfinished blogs, such as the location scout and risk assessment, which was completed by Kimora this week. However, on the first media lessons of the week, we had a media ecology unit assessment. I had to set aside the project work in order to study for the unit assessment, which challenged my time management skills. Additionally, we started filming our first scene today at Peninsula Island. This was scheduled earlier than the recommended filming period given by my teacher, because we want to get a head start on stressful tasks such as filming.  

Problem: Our filming location is about an hour away from our team’s houses, we were scared that we would arrive at different times, and uncontrolled variables such as no internet and low battery would affect our ability to communicate and coordinate. One other problem is that our 2 main actors, Kellie and Karl, arrived an hour late. When they did arrive, they texted the other members and I that they had low batteries, and they could not find close parking and our exact locations. When we tried texting them, the messages were not delivered to any of them, since their phones were both dead. We were worried they would not find us, and we waited another 30 minutes until they actually arrived. It was already getting dark at that point. The last problem we faced was that, Karl planned on asking out Kellie in real life on the spot, and we planned to film it to use Kellie’s real reaction in our music video. However, the area became crowded, and multiple people decided cheering for Kellie and Karl.

Solution: To fix the communication worries between Kimora, Tisha and I, we decided to meet up at my house and go there together, so If anything came up, none of us would be lost. Karl and Kellie also decided to go together. When I received Kellie and Karl’s texts, we sent Tisha to go to the entrance and find them while Kimora and I guarded our belongings. After 30 whole minutes, Kellie and Karl finally arrived. We still had some sunshine left, so we filmed the scenes really efficiently and fast before the sunset started. We also got to take some photos of Kellie for her instagram. We decided to change our plan, where sunset scenes would be appropriate and fitting, to make up for the lost time we had with the sun. Lastly, we asked the bystanders to kindly stay away from our cameras, and we also decided to not use the audio in the videos to cover up the cheering sounds. 

To Do: Now, I really need to finish the rest of my blogs such as the storyboard and mood board. The deadline for all these blogs is next week on Monday, so I actually have to work on it soon. I also need to remember to put reflections for all my blog posts, if I didn’t already.

Reflection:

Keeping a weekly progress log has honestly been useful to recap the lessons I’ve learnt, the progress we made so far, and it also serves as a refresher to what we learnt in the past. It’s rewarding to see how far we’ve come in these 6 weeks, and all the grinding I did payed off. The weekly progress also reminds me that deadlines are getting closer every week, which motivates me to work harder and harder. I feel like I’m doing a mini reflection at the end of every week, which makes it easier for me to identify my mistakes or improvements over the week, allowing me to track my growth as a media student. Looking back on how I faced all these problems makes me appreciate my work and effort more. However, a big problem for the weekly progress blog is that it is very forgettable. Some weeks, I’d totally forget that it even exists, then the next week I’d have to scramble to ask my friends what we did and try to regather my thoughts from last week as I write. This also reduces the accuracy of my work. So, in order to solve this, I started putting the weekly progress in my to do list I have on my Ipad, so every time I use it, I see that I have to do my weekly progress. I also set reminders for at the end of every last media class of the week to at least make an outline of what I will write in my weekly progress. Next time, I’ll continue using this method. Overall, It makes me proud to look over how I started from zero.

My Team

 Here is my team for component 3.

Brief

 Here is the brief for component 3.

Final Documentary and Thumbnail ⋆˙⟡♡

 Here is the final product for both the documentary and thumbnail for my crime documentary project.

Documentary

Here is a google drive link incase the video doesn’t work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f1uqSrZlVwtlnKEWchSf6AXg4qUHUYAP/view?usp=drivesdk

Thumbnail

Critical Reflection ❀࿐

Here is my critical reflection for my crime documentary opening project.

CR 1	How do your products represent social groups or issues?
CR 2	How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
CR 3	How do your products engage with the audience?
CR 4	How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

My team was tasked with creating a documentary opening alongside a thumbnail. We then created "Fatal Fixation", within the stalker-crime genre. We aim to target teenagers, true-crime enthusiasts and justice seekers.

Branding is an important part of media production. It allows media texts to establish a distinct identity that differs it from other texts. In both the thumbnail and documentary, we achieve branding by utilizing dark color grading, bold typefaces, and crime-related mis-en-scene such as the pinboard (Fig. 1). These elements set the uneasy tone and reveal genre to audiences. The thumbnail entices viewers by standing out and using hermeneutic codes to raise curiosity, leading to clicks to watch the documentary, which serves as the main text. Stuart Hall's Reception theory explains how audiences interpret the text. Our dominant reading is how stalking is unacceptable. This is reinforced through mis-en-scene such as the girl's pink clothing and white uniform, connoting her femininity, innocence and gender-stereotyped vulnerability. The stalker wears black leather jackets and masks (Fig. 2). Those clothes are culturally linked with aggression, secrecy, and masculine gender stereotypes. The juxtaposition between the two, and discordant non-diegetic sound emphasizes the threat of stalking. This all aligns with Barthes' semiotics theory, as together, these elements form a consistent brand identity that audiences can easily recognize.

My research informed me about typical genre conventions in crime documentaries, such as CCTV high-angle shots, phone call audio, female victims and desaturation. My project conformed to most genre conventions, so ensure it felt familiar to audiences. For instance, we used CCTV footage (Fig. 3) to make crime scenes feel more authentic. We also applied desaturation to create  a serious mood and connote sadness. Phone call audios, especially with heavy breathing, helped create a threatening and uneasy atmosphere. A cliche I followed was the “I’ve never seen a case like this before” (Fig. 4). According to Steve Neale, genres rely on repetition and difference, which is why we subverted the female victim stereotype to make our documentary to keep audiences engaged. While our protagonist is a victim of stalking, the kidnapping victim is actually her boyfriend, which challenges traditional genre conventions and societal expectations of female weakness and “hero” males. Research into Netflix stalking documentaries such as Lover, Killer, Stalker (2024) and Can I Tell You A Secret (2024) strongly influenced our choices during production, such as inspiring our mis-en-scene and overall style.

Our target audience is late teens to young adults (16-30), true-crime enthusiasts and justice seekers. Our text is open to both Indonesian and global audiences. To appeal to them, we place teenagers at the center of the narrative, even using uniforms (Fig. 5), to relate to them. We also add elements of drama and relationships — topics young audiences resonate with. The perpetrator’s identity is deliberately hidden, creating hermeneutic codes that attract those who enjoy solving mysteries. Similarly, the obsessive pinboard in the thumbnail (Fig. 1) raises questions like “who would go this far?”, sparking curiosity. The thumbnail also builds empathy by placing the victim’s face in the middle with a red target graphic, highlighting her vulnerability and making the crime feel personal. This emotional pull encourages audiences to connect with the story. According to Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory, our product fulfills both diversion and surveillance. For some, the suspense and mystery provide an escape from reality, while Indonesian audiences may see it as shedding light on local crimes. Global viewers, meanwhile, gain insight into the psychological effects of stalking and how it can escalate in young people’s lives.

Our documentary includes teenagers, young couples, a stalker, and a detective. We represent the teenage couples using gender stereotypes. The female uses pastel, feminine clothing (Fig. 6) while the male uses neutral-colored attire. We put photo booth pictures of them (Fig. 7) in the girl's messy anime-themed room, which are both trending amongst teens. We represented the stalker with a dark silhouette and a lisp (Fig. 2). This would make him suspicious and mysterious, raising hermeneutic codes. Additionally, his lisp can make him look more “creepy”, due to the “weird kid with a lisp” stereotype. The detective uses glasses, "girly" keychains, and a "tridatu" bracelet (Fig. 8), showing he is a smart Balinese detective and father. We also represented issues like obsessive stalking. Our documentary represents the issues with stalking, and Indonesia's lack of laws for stalking. Our dominant reading is that stalking is dangerous, and without legal protection, it could escalate to other major crimes. This is represented through the detective's dialogue, where he admits it's difficult to get cases like this. The Binary opposites are law vs crime. 

Thumbnail Research + Development ⸝⸝.ᐟ⋆

Here is my thumbnail research and development for my documentary project. This is made by Sagara and I (Cassie).

Editing ༉‧₊˚.

 Here is the editing blog for my documentary project. This is done by mostly Candra, and Maisie helped.

Behind The Scenes .𖥔 ݁ ˖

Here is the behind the scenes for my documentary project. This was made primarily by Maisie, but Sagara and I (Cassie) helped with a few parts.