MA Project Workshop Blog

The feedback that I got on my proof of concept mainly surrounded adding audio and specifying visuals. For visuals, slowing down and letting viewers grasp the theories and ideas I am saying, and adding more b-roll to slow down the visuals and not overwhelm viewers. For sound design, I got feedback suggesting that I don’t need to be talking the whole time and to also slow down in that aspect. Music, sound effects, and other sound design were also mentioned, and that was already planned to be added to my final design. I did also get some good ideas regarding adding myself into the narrative instead of just having a voiceover. I think since I’m not adding interviews, this would be a good idea. Adding the source at the bottom of the videos was also one of the main comments I received, which I will make sure to do. I did not send this to my committee just yet, so I did not get feedback from them; however, my committee is finalized I am just waiting for Jan’s signature. My next steps will be to create a full script and map out what kind of content I will be including for each section to be more organized in my collection process of videos and digital material. This will also make my editing go much smoother.

After creating this project for this program, I will definitely consider posting it on YouTube under my own account. Barry Vacker and I have also discussed the possibility of submitting it to different competitions or contests. I will also definitely add it to my portfolio.

This article reviews research on how social media beauty filters affect adolescent girls’ body image and further their psychological well-being. Filters that specifically smooth skin, make eyes bigger, slim faces, and other attributes, combined with other filters that modify bodies to create a slim waist, are popular among girls who are concerned with their appearance. “Social media also normalizes cosmetic procedures, with platforms increasingly contributing to their acceptance. Moreover, social comparison is prevalent, as appearance-consciousness and self-esteem influence the preference for visually-driven platforms” (Haryo et al, 2024). These filters present a digitally perfect version of themselves, and frequent exposure/normalization to these filters encourages comparison to the real face and the altered version. This makes girls more self-critical and less satisfied with their natural appearance.

This is important to my research as it explores the relationship between girls’ real versions of themselves and the hyperreal versions they can create on digital platforms. Beauty filters play a huge role in constructing hyperreal beauty norms that adolescent girls struggle to meet but have been conditioned to strive for. Mediated images become more real than real life, which affects girls’ perceived understanding of what they should be. Overall, hyperreal standards don’t just affect perceptions; they reshape actual identity and behavior related to gender perception and understanding of self.

This week, I got good feedback for my proof of concept. I was recommended to expand my script and go a little deeper for each section. This is exactly what I did for my proof of concept. I have gone a little deeper for each section and created the script for the first 5 minutes of my video essay. It will basically cover the introduction of my paper, the overall understanding of hyperreal identity related to dolls, then filters and influencer culture, to the self.

Haryo, B. D. W., & Subriadi, A. P. (2024). The impact of social media filters on body perception and psychological well-being in adolescent girls: Systematic literature review. 2024 International Conference on Informatics, Multimedia, Cyber and Information System (ICIMCIS) (pp. 423–428). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIMCIS63449.2024.10956368

This author talks about how certain toys and advertisements can communicate specific gendered messages to the children playing with them. Barbie dolls as an example, teach young girls what femininity is “supposed” to look like, and they are trained from a young age to appeal to those definitions. These toys don’t just reflect societal norms and ideals; they actively construct them by teaching children through play what roles, behaviors, and attitudes are expected based on gender. For example, “Barbie, a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc., was introduced in 1956. Originally, she had five movable body parts, large pointed breasts, a skinny waist, wore high heels and a black-and-white striped bathing suit. She was fashioned after the German Lillie doll, ‘a lascivious plaything for adult men… marketed as a sort of three-dimensional pinup’” (Wagner-Ott, 2002). Basing a children’s toy on the ideal feminine companion promotes certain underlying ideals about what young girls are supposed to be as women. These children then internalize these ideals through repeated exposure to different forms, for example, Bratz and Polly Pockets, along with the original being Barbie. Overall, connecting personal identity with consumer culture. 

This is extremely relevant to my research as I am discussing this exact phenomenon. The way gendered toys can perpetuate certain gendered stereotypes. After being so normalized to this idea with toys at such a young age, being introduced to filters and modification apps that can help adhere to those stereotypes is certainly correlated. This analysis starts the foundational argument that the process starts early, toys like Barbies and Bratz initiate the internalization of artificial gender standards that evolve with technology into digital self-modification through those online beauty ideals that are further pushed. 

On Tuesday, while we didn’t have class, I met with my chair and we discussed a timeline for when I should get my major pieces to her and what I should focus on first. We also finalized my discussion question, so I can properly begin doing research for certain archival footage. The meeting went well, and I am going to begin by sending my committee the form to sign before Thanksgiving break.

Wagner-Ott, A. (2002). Analysis of Gender Identity through Doll and Action Figure Politics in Art Education. Studies in Art Education, 43(3), 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2002.11651722

The article by Alava and Chauoni explains how social media can foster unrealistic expectations that lead to societal pressure about looks for young girls. Through beauty standards promoted by influencer culture through modes like filters and photo editing, it normalizes young girls to negative comparison that can affect their self-esteem and body satisfaction. Filters and editing apps create a hyperreality where it makes it difficult for young girls to understand what is reality and what is an altered reality. When this surrounds body image, it can create difficult relationships with young girls and their self-esteem. Influencer culture and the likes and comments they receive act as a validation metric that ties self-worth to appearance-based approval. When young girls see a certain body type or look associated with societal approval, it creates an underlying problem related to their body satisfaction. These young girls then internalize narrow beauty ideals, which leads to pressure to modify their own bodies to fit in; this can be done through filters, photo editing, and even surgery. 

This is an extremely important article related to my research, as the relationship between hyperreal expressions of looks in influencer culture is directly related to the hyperreal creation of beauty standards. Young girls already normalize and get a taste of these standards in toys like Barbies and Bratz dolls. When they grow up and see influencer culture, they internalize even more societal expectations to look a certain way. As they continue to develop emotionally in this society, they internalize the idea that the hyperreal beauty standards are reality standards for women’s looks. This leads to changing face and body looks digitally using filters and editing apps, but it can even further lead to surgeries to make these hyperrealistic standards a reality. 

Some of the feedback I received from my preproduction binder workshop was regarding the number of people I will be interviewing, whether I’m going to keep my voice in for the interview questions, whether I am going to add b-roll, and how this relates to my overall research points. With this feedback, I have decided that I am going to do a video essay and try to complete it fully without any interviews moving forward. This means that I am going to rely mainly on b-roll footage and a script explaining my research and findings. My voice will be the narration instead of the person asking questions, and if I do decide to interview 1 or 2 people in the end, I will keep my voice in asking the questions so that it flows with the prior narration.

About a week ago, I was nervous about how my research progress was going based on the timeline I set for myself earlier in the semester. However, as of this week, I have almost completed my committee completed, which was a huge milestone for me. I have my chair and one committee member, and my other possible committee member is in the works. The actual research aspect was always going well, as I have kept up with reading new articles and getting my research ready. 

My project vision has changed, but it is on a new track that I am super excited about. In the beginning, I was imagining more of a documentary-style production for this research. However, now I am leaning more towards a video essay with archival and original footage. I am proud of the fact that I can finally see my project in my mind’s eye. I was a little nervous about the documentary, as my strength is more in post-production rather than in the field. With the video essay, this allows my video editing strengths to shine, and I can get my ideas across more strongly. 

According to the MSP MA project proposal guidelines state that: “The paper that must accompany the MA Project is a theoretically informed, formal paper in which students explain the foundation of the project and analyze its success in terms of the theory used and its significance as a final project”, I believe I am on the right track in terms of research for completing this task. I have a lot of research regarding the hyperreal and spectacle, Baudrillard and Debord being some of my main theoretical frameworks, including the social learning theory. I have a few more theories that I would like to explore further, but so far, I am on the right track. 

I am looking forward to having my entire map planned out for the completion of this project, both the production and writing/research aspects. As I am watching it develop more, it is making me more excited for the second half of this semester, when I have a full schedule planned with my chair and begin editing/writing the entire project. 

The feedback I got for the project treatment and initial media basically stated that the idea of a “documentary narrative” was confusing, and I have changed that idea to being a video essay. The feedback also stated that I need to be more specific when saying “we” and “they”; for this, I will go through my treatment and fix this, and also remember for my actual research paper to be more specific about who I am referring to.

This source is channeling the Social Learning Theory. This is important because it shows how people, especially young children, learn behaviors that may include attitudes or norms/values, and it argues that they do this by observing others in their environment. Another way they can learn this is through social settings and norms set up through already existing norms within their environment. Individuals don’t just learn through direct experience but also through experiencing society with others and observing. “Mass media serve as significant socializing agents by providing a vast array of symbolic models for the observer to emulate” (Berge et al, 2012); toys, media, and social media environments are part of the behavioral models that show what is accepted or normal to young children. Through this, people can internalize what they think they need to be based on who they appear as, and they continue to grow into who they think they need to become. 

This is super important to my project as gendered toys like Barbies, Brats, and Pollypockets perpetuated certain stereotypes for young girls that then develop into learned norms about what girls should become. Social learning theory creates this, and it then gets reinforced when seen imitated by others in their environment, whether it be in person or online. Those young girls contribute to the attributes seen on these dolls and also receive positive affirmations that this is who a girl is supposed to be; these are the attitudes and behaviors associated with girlhood. Furthermore, they begin their digital journey and see these behaviors reinforced to a higher extent, but are now given the platforms and tools to change their appearance based on these social norms. In other words, they are copying a fake reality seen online and further contributing to the hyperrealistic version reinforced in the simulations that are based on the “reality”. That reality being social norms and attitudes learned through toys at a young age through the social learning theory; this theory also shows how this paper will be theoretically informed and analyzed formally to standards. 

I am excited to have my entire plan figured out for my project by the end of this semester, including my committee. I am also excited to have a good amount of my paper written and the preproduction planned. I didn’t get any extra feedback yet because I was sick and out of class.

M.A., Sherry & Berge, Zane. (2012). Social Learning Theory. 10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_1257. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302350884_Social_Learning_Theory/citation/download

This week, I read Algorithmic Beauty: The New Beauty Standard by Huang and Fabi. It relates heavily to my topic for my MA project, as filters and modification apps due to a new beauty standard from digital media are what my entire project is about. This entire article is about explaining the rise in algorithmic beauty. This term, in other words, is the idea that the influencers and beauty seen on digital platforms influence real-life beauty standards and how people perceive beauty. “Influencers in the beauty, cosmetics, and personal care fields have some of the largest followings on social media and it was estimated that beauty companies spent $2.6 billion on digital advertising in 2022.⁸ While there is no direct link between the popularity of beauty topics on social media and the number of cosmetic procedures being done, parallel trends have been observed” (Huang et al). In other words, because of this algorithmic beauty being mainly based on filters that modify face and body shapes, etc, this leads to cosmetic procedures to reach this level of beauty in real life. Eventually, a new algorithmic beauty standard or aesthetic will be popular amongst the digital media, and this process continues to go in a circle, and people change their bodies and faces to match the new standard. 

This contributes immensely to my project. A term that would be useful to this article is the hyperreal, which is a keyword for my research; the idea that what we see in the spectacle (algorithms) is taken as a definition for beauty, in this case for reality, but it is only real within the digital hyperreal. This causes people to go and make intense body modifications to reach levels of beauty standards that do not exist outside of the hyperreal. This will be super important when writing about the digital filters and modification apps in relation to beauty standards created in the spectacle. Beauty standards in real life are replaced by algorithmic beauty standards that only exist in the hyperreal, and when young kids see this, they are normalized to the idea of body modifications and certain gender/social stereotypes in relation to their identity. 

This week, I have filmed a mock interview to get an idea of where my questions are for my documentary, so I can continue to finalize the questions I want to ask. I also have a confirmed committee member whom I met with this week, and have sent emails to two other professors in hopes of a chair and a second committee member.

Huang, A. Fabi, S. (2024). Algorithmic Beauty: The New Beauty Standard. https://jddonline.com/articles/algorithmic-beauty-new-beauty-standard-S1545961624P8074X/

This week, I read The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. This is a very important read for my MA project. This source talks about how all that was once lived has become a representation of something further meaningful, usually some sort of social relation. Since long before digital media, we have stopped living directly through life, but rather we live through images and objects that hold meaning, mediatized spectacles (even if that isn’t digital media). Further, since life has become mediated by images and objects that hold societal meaning, individuals become spectators who are influenced rather than active participants in life. “The spectacle is not merely a matter of images, nor even of images plus sounds. It is whatever escapes people’s activity, whatever eludes their practical reconsideration and correction. It is the opposite of dialogue. Wherever representation becomes independent, the spectacle regenerates itself” (Debord, 2014, par.18). In other words, images no longer reflect and represent life; they actually reconfigure life and dominate and push meanings.

This is an important source for my work, as toys like Barbies, action figures, and other objects are not neutral; they are not just for play. They actually are embedded with ideologies that are socially related; part of the spectacle. These toys are not just being played with; while playing, kids are actually consuming the image and ideal that the toys embody. In this instance, it is certain gender/social norms that little girls who are playing with Barbies learn they are supposed to copy and become. Further into life, when digital media are introduced that can alter personal visuals, identity becomes mediated. The spectacle fosters a condition where being is mediated, and autonomy is reduced. In other words, gender ideals like beauty norms are commodified through filters and look-altering apps. Overall, mediated images of beauty or masculinity begin to shape what counts as “real.”

This week, I haven’t made much progress besides reaching out to a friend of a friend whom I would like to film next week for my first step of production. I also have teddered down some questions I’d like to ask all of my interviewees, as I have to have a list finalized before next week’s production. I will also send the email to my chair next week as I have begun drafting that.

Debord, G. (2014). The Society of the Spectacle. Bureau of Public Secrets.
https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf

Simulacra and Simulation by Baudrillard explains how certain media artifacts can replace the original meaning of an artifact and alter it, such that the real is no longer the real; “A new morphogenesis has appeared,
which comes from the cybernetic kind (that is to say, reproducing at the level of the territory, of the home, of transit, the scenarios of molecular control that are those of the genetic code), and whose form is nuclear and satellitic” (Baudrillard, 1981, pg.77). In other words, for my project, the simulation of what the toys represent, societally, changes when the digital age comes around and continues to perpetuate such norms in more hyperrealistic ways. When it comes to toys like Barbies, Brats, action figures, etc, they come off as just ‘play things’. However, they actually are perpetuating idealized gender norms. When children play with them, they begin to internalize these models. This model becomes the blueprint for identity. For young girls, it can mean specific beauty expectations. When reality continues to mesh with the hyperreal, we begin to move to other phases to continue to push these models in different media forms. Different filters or modification apps that change the way your face looks to be more ‘ideal’ in terms of online beauty standards, you aren’t just reflecting beauty ideals; they are creating and continuing them. In other words, as children grow up seeing these gender models perpetuated in toys, what is real (personal identity) loses its hold to these simulacra that model.

This is important to my project because I am talking about the relationship between hypererality and gender pushed identity formation. In other words, what it looks like being pushed by toys to be a certain identity, then perpetuated by digital modification apps to further want to become that. 

This week for my project, I have finalized my research question, created a timeline, and begun rereading the articles I have read and reading my articles I haven’t read.

Baudrillard, J. (1981). Simulacra and Simulation. https://0ducks.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/simulacra-and-simulation-by-jean-baudrillard.pdf

I recently watched a new documentary on Netflix called Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. It is very different from what I am doing topic-wise, but style-wise, it is very similar. Some things that are similar to my project that I need to address for my own project style are: the way content is shown as B-roll, in this documentary, they remade text messaging, which is something I am going to have to think about when it comes to referring to the content I’m talking about as B-roll. They also talk about serious topics related to the media, for example when they talk about the stalker and state a text message they say, “I was getting messages telling me to kill myself” (Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, 2025), while also showing the text messages on the screen. I will be doing the same, so the stylistic choices when it comes to showing media content on screen, music and camera position/lighting are things I did take note of.

This then made me think of the skills I’m going to need for this project that I was unaware of. Mainly content, I didn’t even think of the fact that I am going to have to include the content I am speaking of in interviews as B-roll in my documentary. Then the question of different copyrights comes up: Am I allowed to do this? To what extent of content am I allowed to repurpose as B-roll? I need to research this, along with questions, and what I am expecting people to say about their personal identity based on gender/social norms pushed onto them by different media forms. Further, when they answer with what I am expecting, how do I get interviewees to open up even further and go even deeper… How do I make sure they are comfortable with the kinds of personal identity questions I am asking, even gender/social norm questions, which can lead to discomfort. These are all similar questions that I have for this project that I have to look deeper into. 

Campfire Studios, & Skye Borgman. (2025). Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. Campfire Studios / Terminal B TV. Netflix.