Research into Target Audience

To get research for a target audience for my music video, i asked a questionnarre to 50 people to gather information on what i should include in my music video.

How Old are you?

• 14-16


• 16-20


• 20-26


• 26-30


• 30 +
  
  

1. Do you often find yourself watching music video's on the music channels?

• Yes/No
  

2. Do you prefer watching(Please tick appropriate):

• Narrative music videos(where the video illustrates the lyrics in a story)


• Performance videos(where the artist is shown performing the song)


• A mix of performance and Narrative


• Random image videos(where the videos dont neccesarily have to fit in with the lyrics of the song but show random clips)

As you can see from my pie chart the people i asked thought that the best types of music videos were ones with a mixture of performance and narrative, the second most popular were random image music videos. I will take this in to consideration when making my music video.

3. What type genre of music do you prefer?

• HipHop/Rap


• Indie


• Rock


• Dance


• Pop


• Drum And Bass

As you can see by the pie chart the most popular genre is pop, which would suggest that music videos for pop songs generally have the biggest target audience. The second most popular genre was hip hop, this suggests that this genre also has a large target audience therefore music videos in this genre would be more popular than others.

4. What type of genre do you think produces the best music videos?

• HipHop/Rap



• Indie



• Rock



• Dance



• Pop



• Drum And Bass
  

As you can see the people i asked think that the genre's that produce the best music videos are hiphop/rap and pop. This is most likely because you can assosiate many more things with these two genres so the music video would be easier to make in terms of thinking of ideas and the use of different locations and props would be easier to decide on.

5. Are your favourite music videos the ones that you find memorable?

• Yes/No
  

By looking at my research into target audience i will be most likely doing a music video with pop as my genre. I will also be aiming my music video at the 14-20 age range as by looking at my research it shows that this is the age group which will most likely be watching music videos. Therefore in my music video i will be using props and locations that appeal and are assossiated with young people. My research also suggests that the most popular type of music video is a mixture of performance and narrative, i will therefore include both of these in my music video. I also like the idea of using random image in my music video as i think it makes the music video more exiting and interesting and gives it repeatability, as a music video has to be able to get repeated and shown several times to an audience.

Kings of leon - Use somebody

This music video is a good example of a performance video. It mostly shows clips of the band performing the song rather than illustrating the meaning of the lyrics. At the beggining of the video i like the effect of the fast motion motorway at night with all the lights going really fast, i think its a good opening to the video. The mixture of different camera shots in the introduction to the song before the lyrics start works well with the rhythm of the song. As soon as the lyrics of the song come in, the mood of the song changes and the transition of fast editing is replaced with the lead singer performing in a close up shot. At 0:57 in the music video, i like the way two different clips are editing to layer each other and the close up of the lead singers eyes combined with the fast motion effect on the motorway gives the idea of him going into thought which works well. The use of black and white on some of the clips in the video add to the mood of the song as it fits in with the sad nature of the lyrics at points in the song.

David Guetta + Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over This music video fits in with the mood and tone of the song. It seems to have a fun/summer theme to it which fits in well with the tone of the song. Bright and busy locations are used to film the video e.g. the park and beach, and summer activities are shown in the video e.g. skateboarding, dancing outside and the the sea, this sets the tone of the music video. The actors and artists in the music video are also wearing contrasting and bright colours which i think is a big factor to this music video as it makes it unboring and creates repeatability. The editing is done well as it jump cuts to many different scenes and clips e.g people dancing or just someone walking along the beach. Its also quite quick editing which makes the video exiting to watch, this also gives the music video repeatabiltity as the audience wouldnt get bored of watching it. I also notice when the mood of the song changes the camera shots will be done in slower motion and then change suddenly to faster clips as the beat of the song beggins to come back in. I think the fast editing fits in well with the fact that the genre of the song is dance and the beat of the song is very quick.

Black Eyed Peas - I gotta feeling
This music video is edited well, in terms of it being in sync with the beat of the song. At the beggining it shows clips of people walking which goes in time with the beat which works well as the lyrics suggest they are getting ready for a night out. As the mood of the song changes, the pace of editing and camera clip will also be changed, when the beat of the song gets faster, the video jumps to random clips of them out in different clubs and different parties. The fact that several random clips are shown makes the video exiting to watch as it seems like there is lots going on. Mise-en-scene is an important part of this music video as they have to wear clothes to make them look like they are going on a night out, this also applys to the props used in the music video e.g. the make up, drinks, glowsticks in the nightclub. The lighting used in the clip must have been a big factor to get the image across to the audience of them being in a nightclub. To create a good music video mise-en-scene would be one of the main factors to consider as it makes the video realistic

This music video for Taylor Swift - You belong with me is a good example of a narrative music video.

It illustrates the song to the audience by filming the story to each section of the song. In this case, the

story of a teenage girl who likes a boy (her next door neighbor) who already has a girlfriend and it turns out he likes her aswell.

I like the idea of using sketch pads to make the two characters communicate to each other through their

windows. The editing has been done in sync with the lyrics of the song which makes it work well.

A good example of this is towards the end of the song where the mood changes and it jumps to a clip

of the girl arriving at her school dance.

Mise-en-scene has also been used to create the image of young high school teenagers and a prom towards the end

of the video. The narrative and style of the video also fits in with the genre of the song which is pop/country.

Album Cover Research

This album cover for Florence and the Machines album called lungs shows one main image of the artist surrounded by flowers and a patterned material. She is also wearing some fake lungs around her neck, this is obviously to fit in with the name of her album - Lungs. I think having one main image as the album cover works becuase it gives the audience one thing to concentrate on. I also think that the album cover looks quite different and wierd but it makes it stand out from others so works well. There is then a main title at the top of the cover in a handwriting type font. The title works well in white on a black background because it draws the audiences attention to the cover.


The back of the album is very plain. It includes a diagram of the lungs with numbers linked to it which appear to be linked to the tracks listed underneath the diagram. The list of tracks is put in horizontal lines, and appear one after the other, wheras usually you may see a vertical list of tracks. The back cover also includes a barcode, the artists website, the record labels website, the name of the record label which made it and when it was made. I think the back of the album works well as its quite unusual but would stand out to the audience looking at it. On the side of the case they have used the same font for the name of the artist and the name of the album which they used on the front cover of the cd, this works well as creates recognition to the auidence.


The pussycat dolls album features many of the codes and coventions a cd front cover has. It seperates the difference between the band name and the album name but changing the font and colour of the two. "The pussycat dolls" title has a gradient effect across it which works well and contrasts against the black background. I think black blackgrounds are often most effective as you can contrast so much against it to make things stand out. The main image of the cover is all the members of the band lined up posing. They have used mise en scene in terms of clothing to get them all within the same style which works. They have used a shiny sticker on the front which says the album is special edition which would attract the audience as they feel they are purchasing something a little bit more than the ordinary album. They have also inlcluded a sticker which says the album includes some hit songs which people would have heard of. By putting this on the front cover of the album this will draw people to it as they might have heard those songs and want to hear more.

The inside cover is quite simple. Where the cd goes they have just put the album name "PCD" in very large font to make it eye catching. It matches the album name which is also on the front cover. Underneath this they have also inluded the bands website. They have put the website name in the same font and colour as they used to do the band name on the front cover. This works well as you then assosiate to two together. They have then included a booklet. the back of the booklet which is on show includes an image of the main singer and then details about a competition to win a hoody that looks like hers. They have put "get nicoles hoody" in a yellow star shape which make it stand out against the other image and works well towards getting the attention of the audience.


The back cover is very simple and follow the same style as the front cover. It inlcludes the same font for the artists and album name. They have used yellow against a black background for the track list which contrasts well and they have used the same font as the band name so it fits in with the style of the album's other covers. They have also included a barcode, who made it, where it was made, the website etc. I think the simple design of this cover works well.

This is the front cover of the album Monkey Business by the Black Eyed Peas. The design of it is quite eye catching as they have cut out the band from a picture and put them in the center of the cover and then used a swirl pattern throughout the cover which all sort of swirl in towards the image of the band. They have used swirls on the text aswell which is in keeping with the style of the cover, and they have kept the artist and album name the same font. The colour scheme works well as by using a dark red background, the yellow writing stands out a lot and i think your eye is mostly drawn to the monkey business text as its quite decorative and the yellow text against black contrasts well.


This is the inside cover of the album. They have kept the design quite simple with a picture of a monkey taking up the circle where the cd will go. This is quite effective as it is a very big image so is definatly eye catching to the audience. They then have a booklet on the left hand side which includes things such as, thanks to all the people that were involved in making it, where it was made, several pictures of the band, dates that they are on tour and other facts about the band. A booklet inside a cd cover is often a code and convention which you would see in such projects. The back cover has a very similar design to the front cover, this works well as the design is consistent throughout the project and they have kept to the same style. They have included the same monkey business album name as the one on the front cover. The track list is centered in the middle of the cover and is just listed vertically without any numbers, i think this looks attractive to the reader as it is then surrounded by the swirl pattern which makes the track list the main focus point of the page. They have also included in the right hand cover "includes a bonus track" this would perhaps be a contributing factor to someone buying the album as you can only recieve the bonus track from this album. Other things included in the back cover are a barcode, the logo of the record labels that produced it, where the album was made, who made it etc.

Having analysed cd covers i have came up with some codes and conventions you can generally see:

• One main image that takes up most of the cover
• Colour scheme kept throughout the project
  
• Eye catching/contrasting colours
• Artist name font is kept the same throughout the project
• Things which will encourage someone to buy it such as "special edition" etc.
• Barcode, website name, record label name, where it was made etc.

This magazine advert is for 'Them crooked vultures album'. It uses an eye catching image as the main point on the advert. Your eye is drawn to it by the effect which creates lines coming out from the middle of the page. The colour scheme used contrasts well, changing the colour of the album name and 'out now' works well because it seperates the two apart. They have including a place where you could buy the album which in this case if amazon.co.uk. They have also included the website name for the band, the record label and where it was made.
This advert is for the prodigy's album 'invaders must die' uses an exiting font to catch the readers eye. They have also kept to the same style font for the album name. By using green against a black background for the album name, it brings it out the text. They have also included comments from news papers and magazines which say things like "red hot" and "no1 album", "special edition" which will attract the reader to buy the album. It also shows what the album cover looks like, this is a good technique to show the reader what the cover looks like when going to purchase it. Below this they have the hmv sign to show where they could then go and buy the album.
This magazine advert for The Clash's new album includes text which says that the album includes limited edition features and a free dvd about how the album was made. This would attract the reader to buy the album. It also includes a place where you can buy the album which is amazon.co.uk. It shows what the cd cover looks like, this makes the cd recognisable to the reader in the case that they do go and buy it. Half the advert is taken up by a drawing which differs from the normal codes and conventions of a album advert so therefore may attract the reader as its not something you always see.

Having analysed magazine adverts i have came up with some codes and conventions:

• An eye catching image or title
• A colour scheme
• Eye catching/contrasting colours
• Quotes that will help sell the album such as "special edition" "no.1 album/single" etc
• Often the logo of a place you can buy the album
• The website name of the artist
  

Codes and Conventions of A Music Video

The codes and conventions of a music video depend on the genre and mood of the song.

• The lyrics of the song influence what is shown in the video and often show a story to what is written in the song.
• The artist is often shown perfoming the song
• The pace of editing fits in with the pace of the music
• The dress codes reflect the mood and genre of the song, for example, if the song was a rock song you would expect them to be wearing clothes which are punky

The music video could be a simple performance video where it just shows the artist/artists performing the song or it could be a narrative video where the video illustrates the meaning of the lyrics for the audience. When making a narrative video, it is important that the story fits in with the mood and genre of the song. Some music videos could also be a mixture of both narrative and performance. Ilustration is what makes the music video realistic and understandable. Some music videos dont nesscessarily have anything to do with the song but work well as they are so creative it keeps the audience involved in the video, i think a good example of this is the music video for Justice - D.A.N.C.E. 

It is important that a music video has repeatability, meaning that the viewer can watch the video several times without getting bored. A good way to do this is to not make the music video too detailed and make the narrative more suggestive and imaginative. When making a performance video, a good way to create repeatability is to use varied camera shots at different angles to make the video more interesting. 

Mise-en-scene is also an important point to consider when creating a music video. This can be affected by the time period of the video and the genre of the song. For example many R'N'B songs are set in glamourous locations surrounded by money, well dressed people, expensive houses etc. Mise-en-scene is important for making the music video realistic and believeable to an audience.