Blog Post 3 – Reflection

Reflecting on my finished group project I was really pleased with the end product, especially due to current circumstances and the fact that we had members of the group located around the world. Our Brand was Lazy Oaf and our theme was focused around mental health. We kept our video incredibly short and snappy as in the current society everything is so fast paced and videos are becoming shorter and shorter that people aren’t willing to watch something that is more lengthy for the most part. The aesthetic of the video was very minimal, colour wise it was all black and white which gave a more gloomy appearance to the video which linked to the darker side of mental health as well as giving it a more dated feel which I think worked nicely due to Lazy Oaf having a retro aspect to their style. Every member from the group contributed and read the words ‘Its ok not to be ok.’ This was because obviously we wanted everyone to take part but also be a visual representation that mental health can affect anyone and that you aren’t as alone as you may feel. We printed the words we spoke in order to give a graphic element and to the video and so it was clear on the message we were giving as we did distort the sound and speed it up to make it feel frantic and unsettling, similarly how you may feel when suffering from bad mental health. The pixilated blocky type was inspired by similar typo’s that Lazy Oaf use across their website and advertising as we wanted to bring aspects of the brand in as much as possible. The only thing that I feel would’ve been nice to incorporate would’ve been at least one male to make it even more diverse as that is something we all felt strongly about. Furthermore to acknowledge all the males out there that due suffer from mental health but again with current circumstances some of our original plans did have to change but I do feel as though having males as well as females would’ve been a nice touch. Again due to current circumstances we couldn’t visit any physical stores for content for our video which was frustrating as this did make it incredibly challenging to involve the brand as much as we originally hoped. None the less, I am really happy with the outcome and am so grateful to of worked with such lovely and creative people who made the process through challenging times enjoyable and easier. I feel as though the video worked well at showing our concept and brand. As mentioned originally there were more ideas in terms for content of the actual brand but I still believe the video does well at capturing certain elements of the brands aesthetic.