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.