Focus Group

This video is a focus group I conducted with a few people at my college. It was to help me to understand other peoples points of view, so I not only had mine to go with, but other peoples. The questions I asked were specific so I knew my target audience, what conventions people find typical of a music video, and what story line I should go with to make a successful indie-pop music video.

The first question I asked was 'What age are you?'

The answer from both was 17 & 18. This questions ties in with others, and helps me to understand certain aspects. 

The next question was 'What age range do you believe music videos are aimed at?'

The answer from both of them was that they believe it depends on the genre. The genre I have decided to make a music video within in Indie-Pop. This goes with the question 'what age are you?' as it tells me that 17 year old listen to this type of music. So this tells me that I am aiming my music video at the right target audience. 

My next question was 'How often do you watch music videos and why?'

Both said when a new song comes out. This is because they like how the video can develop the narrative of the song. If the song is upbeat, catchy and good, the viewer will want to watch the music video everyday too, as the video will match the sound. This tells me that I need to make a good video for people to see my perspective but also to try and understand my ideology, compared to what they could think. I could also try and offer the audience a different, almost unusual version of the song so this will make them think. 

The next question was 'What stylistic feature do you prefer in music videos?

One person said mise-en-scene, and one person said editing. The person who said mise-en-scene said that because it can develop the narrative and make it look good and realistic. This is true because because of the mise-en-scene you can begin to categorize the music video into what genre it is. The person who said editing said this because you can create  together and can create a better image for the viewer overall, but it also changes the wa the viewer sees the action. I believe I will concentrate on all areas which are Editing, Cinematography, and mise-en-scene. I believe all these three area's are very important and I will get this across in my work, editing because the genre Indie-pop will have fading edits, and fading shots throughout which I believe is vital to create a realistic looking product. Cinematography because close ups, and medium close-ups are used throughout to show the artist and to attempt to connect the audience with the artists feelings. But then Mise-en-scene because props and clothing are essential in trying to get across what genre this music video is, and to make sure people can categorize my video into my chosen genre. 

My next question was 'What narrative do you prefer when watching a music video?'
Both people answered with Narrative, they said this because it allows the audience to understand the song better, and allow the action to match the lyrics. This not only draws the audiences attention to the video but also to the lyrics themselves. Normally a narrative music video allows the audience to see a different  narrative to the song than they originally thought it was about. I love this idea so I will follow this, but also add in performance shots to link in with my chosen genre. 

My poll results

I put a poll up on my blog, this asked a variety of questions to people who went on my blog. These questions were based on things that would help me develop my music video, determine certain factors such as what my target audience should be. What stylistic features I should focus on to create a product that people within my target audience will like.

The first question I asked was 'what is your Gender?' depending on the results would determine what story my music video would take. The results were as follows:

The results that I gathered were that more females took part in my poll, however this was only by one vote. This shows me that I should aim my music video to both genders, as I am going to go with a narrative music video I need it to appeal to both genders to be successful. The storyline that I believe I am going to create, follows the life of a boy. It shows how he is in-love with a girl, and how he believes she is always with him. This could attract a male audience as it is shown from the boys perspective, the element that would attract the female audience would be that a girl is shown all the way through the musi video, but she is shown with the main star(the artist) but also shown with other various men, showing that she is not in a relationship, but see's a lot of different men and is seen as 'carefree'. 

My next question is 'what age are you?'. This shows me what age range I am dealing with. The results were as follows: 

The results show me that the majority of people that took part in my poll are between the ages of 15 and 24. However, all ages did complete my poll, so this shows me that other people are interested within the media. This question then links with the next which is 'What age do you think music videos are targeted at?' The results for this question are: 

This comparison between the two show me that even though all age ranges took part in the poll, the majority of people believe that music videos are aimed at the age range of 15-24. This tells me that if the audience of my blog believe this, I should take this on board, and have a young cast. Preferably that falls between this age range, this would attract an audience of similar ages to the cast, and would give me higher ratings. 

The next question I asked was 'What do you think is the most important stylistic feature in a music video?' This question can allow me to understand what an audience want from a music video, and what music videos they prefer overall. The results are as follows: 

The results were that Editing and Mise-en-scene are considered the most important features in a music video. This evidence then shows me that I should focus on these two areas the most, but personally I believe all three key areas are very important. So Overall I will focus on Cinematography when it comes to my storyboard so I can create a realistic looking video, but I will concentrate and plan what my mise-en-scene will be. This is so I can create a good product which will fall between the genre I have chosen. I will then look at a lot of Indie-pop genre music videos so I can gather what edits they use within the videos.

The next question I asked was 'What music do you listen to the most?' This can tell me what the majority vote is for the people who look at my blog. This will give me an idea what genre is most popular. The results were as follows:

According to my poll, it shows that the majority of people listen to the Indie and Pop genres. This is very good as this is the genre that I have chosen for my brief genre. I have chosen 'Indie-Pop'. This shows me that I am appealing to the correct audience already which is very good. 

The next question I asked was 'What music videos do you prefer?' This will tell me what I should involve within my video, if I should have it of narrative nature, matching lyrics or even telling a story within itself, or maybe I should create a performance video of the artist performing, writing, or producing the song itself. My third option is abstract, which isn't very conventional of the Indie-Pop genre, but if the audience of this genre would prefer to see this in action with an Indie-Pop genre, then maybe I could get more views through challenging these roles. The results were as follows:

The results of this poll tell me that the audience of Indie-Pop genre would prefer to see the artist perform the song, or have a narrative setting within the video. As the votes are exactly half I believe I am going to combine both ideas, and have both of them feature in my music video. I could combine these, and have the narrative be the main element of the video, but within the music video have shots where the artist is seen performing the song. I could incorporate this to be within the narrative itself, or just show the artist in a setting that is conventional of an artist performing. 

In conclusion all of these questions have helped me develop my ideas for my music video, they have also given me new ideas which I can involve within my product, and how I can relate it back to my target audience. 

History of music videos.

A music video is a video or film which accompanies a piece of music or song. The role of the modern music industry is to create a song and accompany it with a film, this is to get the music video out there onto tv channels to eventually sell more. Most people listen to music these days via youtube and tv channels. Every week a music channel show does the 'Top 40' and if a song which may be in the top 40 for example: Number 9, does not have a music video, the song will not be played. This then leaves the audience to either wonder what the song sounds like, and to research it, or the other half of the audience will forget about it and not be bothered. Music video's these days are becoming more outrageous so they catch more media coverage. for example, Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball, was in the top 40 for weeks due to so many people watching it because it was her debut music video showing the change of how she has grown up since Hannah Montanan to now. Audiences are growing constantly and demand artists to make music videos so they can easily watch them and feel like they interact with them more along their journey to fame.

1. In 1894 sheet music publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired an electrician (George Thomas) and various performers to promote sales of their song 'The Little Lost Child'. Using a magic lantern Thomas projected a series of still images onto a screen simultaneous to live performances. This is now known as illustrated song - A step towards the music video.

2. In 1926 with the arrival of talkies many musical short films were produced.(Vitaphone shorts - warner bros) Animation artist Max Fleischer introduced a series of sing-along short cartoons called 'Screen Songs'. Walt disney went on to produce 'silly Symphonies' and especially 'Fantasia'.

3. Soundies, produced and released from 1940-1947, were musical films that often included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos.

4. Another major aspect that helped was musical films. Several well known music videos have imitated the style of the classic Hollywood musicals. An example of this is Madonna's - Material Girl.  In this video she is imitating the well known singer and actress Marilyn Monroe as she was seen as an iconic figure of her time. Her is doing this is by conveying to the audience that she is as good as Marilyn.

5. 1958: The oldest music clip as we know it today was 'Dame si do bytu' - Ladislav Rychman. 

6. With that and the invention of television more artists came to the public eye because of programmes such as Top of the Pops. These types of tv shows promoted artists due to their looks and music, and to get them out into the public to showcase their talent, making them more money. 

7. In 1981, music videos breached onto mainstream TV with the launch of the US channel MTV. By the mid 1980's, and now playing a major role in music marketing, this channel begun the era of 24 hour a day music on TV.

A theorist that we have studied is called Michael Shores. He came up with a theory in 1984 which said that all music videos have recycled styles within them. The styles that are considered recycled are the narrative of the music video itself. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy can't be with girl, they find a solution to be together in the end. It could also be recycled styles within the three categories of cinematography, editing and mise-en-scene. This theory means that every music video has things in common with one another, It could be a music video of the Pop genre, or a music video from the rock genre.

Bob Dylan was the first artist to produce a music video which we recognize as a music video today. This video is beneath and is called 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' which was produced in 1965. This video is very important as it allowed the music industry to see what they could produce. This built the foundations of music videos for generations to come.

An example of a music video which has recycled the style of Bob Dylans music video is 

MaLLy & The Sundance Kid - Heir Time 

  
It uses the idea of cue cards, however the artist uses a tablet instead of card written on. This shows how our technology industry has grown throughout the ages. Also half way through the music video he swipes the screen and a video appears and then the camera zooms into the tablet and the video plays, so this is a progression from Bob Dylan which is typical and what we would expect. Most of the video is also just one long shot, like that of Bob Dylan's. 

Another example of this is The Midnight Beast - Booty Call. however 

The reason why these two music videos are similar is because both videos use props to develop the narrative. The video shows the artist, in a realistic setting, with props they use frequently, this creates verisimilitude for the audience so they can engage further into the product.

My genre that I have chosen is indie-pop, within this genre the most recycled styles are that there is a fade edit at the beginning, and the most common theme of songs are about love and sex. Most of the music videos that fall within this genre are normally of narrative story line with clips showing the artist performing.

Two examples of this idea are as follows:



Both these music videos have a lot in common in terms of recycled styles. Both songs are about love, both begin with a fading edit. Both show the artist performing the song, both have narrative other than the performance factor. Within both videos they wear the same type of clothing, which is conventional of the genre. Music videos have progressed from 1965, to now. Videos are also becoming more abstract which is giving the artist free roam on what they would like to explore. This factor gives the artist the opportunity to experiment and change the laws and expectation of the media. However, within the genre of Indie-Pop the conventions stay the same, they have stayed the same for the last few years, and will probably continue to for the next few years too. This is what the audience seems to like and engage most in, and this works as the sales for Indie music are very high at the moment and are becoming increasingly popular.

Demographics

Demographics are those aspect of society or culture that are measurable and can be used to put people into categories. Income and job level can be used to help put members of a large population into smaller groupings. These groupings are as follows:
These 6 categories were originally created by the Nation Readership Survey (they have been doing this for over 50 years) and it is to classify readers for media purposes.

E being the lowest is unemployed, students and pensioners. 
D being slightly higher are manual workers who are semi or unskilled.
C2 being middle class are skilled manual workers such as builders, contractors.
C1 being higher again are people who are in junior management and administration.
B being in the upper are people in intermediate management, slightly higher administration.
A Being the highest of the classifications are people in high management jobs like CEO's. 

If you choose the wrong demographic groups your music video will not be bringing in any publicity and it will appeal to the wrong audience, meaning it will not hit the charts, it won't bring in any income and it will of been a wasted project. It has to look professional and realistic but also bring in problems that the modern society of students and people aged between this range can relate to so they can make this music video relate to them personally.

My music video will be aimed at the groups E and D, which are students, unskilled people, which means this will fall between my chosen age range of 15-24. 

Initial ideas of music video narrative

Questionnaire

I conducted a questionnaire for my class mates and some family so I had some people of different ages. This photo on the left is this questionnaire.

I handed this questionnaire to 20 people and gathered the answers to help improve and understand what music videos do. 

Most people I handed this questionnaire seemed to be mostly from the age range of 15-24 and this is the audience I have targeted with my music video so the feedback from this helped me to understand what to do with my music video and if it would be successful.

The gender of the people who participated where 11 female, and 9 male. So this is almost half and half, So this then allows me to understand both responses from both and interpret them to see if the reaction is different or similar. 

As the younger generation now seem to live on the internet I expected the answer to this question be the internet however the high answer for TV surprised me. I expected a little less for that answer, so this shows me that I must post my video online to see what the response would be as most of my target audience spend the majority on there. Using Youtube would then be a perfect place to host my music video as it would get to a greater audience. 

This question was to determine what my chosen age range listens to the most to see what genre of music would be most liked when i produce my video. Choosing a song that my audience would like was crucial, there was no point choosing a genre such as Classical if no one would want to watch it again or recommend it to others.

 This question allowed me to see what my audience would do with it after they watched it. Seeing that it is a 50% chance for either watch it again and share it online is very good, this shows that not only if people liked my music video they would watch it, but they would also share it amongst their friends so my video would then reach a larger audience quicker. 

This question then helped me to understand whether music videos are a good source for promoting the song. This shows me that they are, the better the video it seems the most chance that the audience will then go out and buy it. As the music video is normally the promotional factor for the album promoting the single, this shows that music videos fulfill their purpose. 

Overall this questionnaire helped me to plan what I should do next within my planning and research and what actions to take in order to create and successful and effective product. 

Lyric Representation

Here looked at my lyrics and picked out a few words and tried to represent them through images. This is so I can create ideas on whether or not I would do a music video which is based on the lyrics of the song. This is so I can give myself a wider range of ideas, I could chose either Abstract, performance, or narrative. This is quite a good idea as it got me thinking about what shots I could look at and what types of images i could include in my final product. 

My chosen song's Original video.

This is the original music video for my chosen song. 

I believe this video is not as good as it could of been, but there are some things about it that I do like very much. 
Firstly the music video is set in black and white, this seems to be very representative of the genre, however as indie-pop has progressed over time, it seems that videos have moved away from using black and white images.  
Another aspect I like is the due to the video being so short, they have paused the music after 'someday i'm gonna say the truth' this lengthens the video by 20 seconds. This also means that the video has given a more narrative aspect as the audience can tell that it is not all about the song itself. This idea could be transferred to my own work, as due to the song only being 2 minutes and 8 seconds long, this is not long enough for my final piece of work.

Lyric analysis

Here I analysed the lyrics and tried to think about what they could mean. I am leaning towards a narrative music video so analysing the lyrics is a good way to start to see how I can take these features from the lyrics and apply them to my music video.
Some examples I could apply to my music video are as follows:
The beginning paragraph of the lyrics is 'I love you one, two three ect' I took from this that the meaning could be he has loved her for a very long time. It could be possible that hes known her since they were little, and they are childhood sweethearts. The next line 'I can tell someday that i'm gunna say the truth' could be that he is terrified to commit to her and tell her he loves her, he's been wanting to for a very long time, but can't bring himself to do it. But he is telling himself one day, when the time is right, he'll tell her.

The next paragraph to me seems like he is trying to understand his feelings for her, everyday they grow more and more, and he doesn't know how to deal with it because he's never been in this situation before. Every moment he spends thinking of her, whereever he is he feels like she is there with him. This idea would be quite easy to come across in a music video, I could develop this idea into the artist going about his daily business, but with her there with him. Always by his side, whispering into his ear, smiling, the way he remembers her. Then when the music takes a turn and the tempo changes, I could have it being that she was never really there, it was just a figment of his imagination, she is actually with someone else.

The next verse is then the artist declaring how he hates the previous boyfriends she's chosen because all they've really cared about is whether she has sex with them or not. Whereas he cares about her, the connection between the two of them, and the love they will share. This idea would be easy to get across too, as I could just involve a guy figure in which the artist hates and is jealous of, and he then begins to constantly try to tell her that she is meant to be with him.

The next verse is about how the artist is extremely jealous of all the guys she hangs around with, and he is trying to handle it without showing it off too much. The line 'I love you all same' to me seems like he doesn't care about her past, anything she's done, anything thats happened, he just wants her, he wants them to become 'us'. This idea would be easy to convey across into the music video as in the previous paragraph there could be a guy figure in which the artist becomes and is jealous of.

The chorus is then repeated again here, and the lines are obviously the same. But the idea I could get across here is that he is certain he loves her, and throughout the song it seems to be why he loves her, how he loves her, and now he could be sure that he loves her. He could also now be certain that he wants to tell her, and he is adamant that she will be in his future.

The last line 'I love you 5!' is repeated 3 times, and the idea I got from this was that he was preparing himself for telling her, so he could of been practising in a mirror, and the final I love you! could be that she has raced to his house to see him, and for example; he opens the door and tells her. Not realising it is actually her, and he becomes shocked that he actually told her, and then they embrace.

Lyric timings

Indie/Pop Genre conventions