Audience Research 1

 

This is the questionnaire my group produced, so that we would be able to receive a good understanding of what they feel is appropriate for a pop music video.

Another purpose of this questionnaire is to gain an understanding of what they expect to see in a promotional package for an artist in the pop genre.

This questionnaire will be handed out to twenty people per member of the group (leading to sixty questionnaires overall, as there are three members in my group).

My group will aim to ask people of all ages, genders and ethnicities, so we can see which type of person our pop artist should be targeted towards, based from the results of the questionnaire.

Audience Research 2

 The results from this graph displays that 16-24 year olds are clearly the ones who answered our questionnaire the most. Because of this, our pop music video will have to cater more towards an audience of that particular age-range, as they generally seem to value pop music more than people of other ages.

When asked about whether they prefer British pop music or American pop music, the results are evidently split in half. Exactly half of the people we asked said British, whilst the other half had responded with American. However, as my group are British, thus having more knowledge on British pop music than American pop music, my group thought that it would make more sense to have our pop artist come from Britain, rather than America.

The results of this graph exhibits that a majority of the people who answered our questionnaire come from Sutton. This will help us to decide where my group's pop artist is from, as we can be able to ask more residents of Sutton how my group's artist would be able to represent Sutton, rather than asking residents of a different area how to represent their area.

Nearly the vast majority of participants who took part in helping with our questionnaire have stated that their ethnicity is White British. Because White British is without a doubt more of a common ethnicity than any of the other ethnicities that has been answered in our questionnaire, so because of this, the ethnicity of my group's pop artist will be White British.

The results of this graph displays the ratio between males and females. 28 males have answered this questionnaire, and 32 females have answered this questionnaire. There is nearly a fifty-fifty split here, which shows that both males and females have enough of an interest in pop music to answer the questionnaire.

 

Images of what my group expect our target audience to look like

Our target audience, based from the results of the answers gathered from the questionnaire, will be a mainly British, adolescent audience.

Our audience will be aged between 16-24 (since that was, by far, the most common age range of people who answered our questionnaire).

Our audience will mostly female (since more females answered the questionnaires than males). However, as the split between male and female participants is nearly even, our group will work hard to appeal to both genders.

Our audience will be mostly white, British people (since a strong majority of the people who answered our questionnaire, stated that they were White British).

Record Label Research

Syco Music

- It was founded in 2002.
- It is based in London and Los Angeles, California (in the US).

- It is affiliated with RCA Records, Epic Records, Columbia Records, RCA Nashville and Hollywood Records

- It has a roster which includes Olly Murs, Cher Lloyd and most successfully, One Direction.

London Records

- It was founded in 1947.
- It is based in London.
- Its parent company is Universal Music Group. It is also affiliated with Virgin EMI.
- It has a roster which includes Sugababes, Holly Valance and most successfully, Dannii Minogue.

Hollywood Records

- It was founded in 1989.
- It is based in Burbank, California (in the US).
- Its parent company is Disney Music Group.
- It has a roster which includes Zendaya, Selena Gomez and most successfully, Demi Lovato.

CD Cover Research

Genre Research 3 (Conventions of Pop Music Videos)

Genre Research 2 (Analysing Pop Music Videos)

Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop (Female Artist)

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are (Male Artist)

This pop music video is very conventional for numerous reasons. Firstly, we see Bruno establishing a rhythm that will be heard throughout the song. Rhythm is very important in music videos, because fans of pop music like hearing music that is both rhythmic, and is perfectly cut to the beat.

We also see a narrative in the video, telling a story between Bruno and an unknown, attractive female. The narrative features Bruno romanticising with the woman, telling her very sweet things. This is conventional because adolescent girls adore the concept of there being a perfect 'gentleman', which is what Bruno Mars is doing; being a gentleman to the woman.

The audience can also see Bruno lip-syncing through the entirety of the video, which is another convention, as it shows the audience who is responsible for performing the song. Also, he is staring into the camera while he is lip-syncing, which makes it look as if Bruno is looking directly at the viewer.

Sugababes - Push The Button (Pop Band)

Like Miley, the three members of the Sugababes are all using their sex appeal to keep intrigue from the male audience, by showing some flesh in the elevator shots. They are also using sex appeal by seductively dancing, which also is an attempt to attract male viewers.

Advertisement Research

Jessie J - Who You Are; Vanessa Hudgens - Come Back To Me; McFly - Motion In The Ocean

Genre Research 1 (Mood Board Analysis)

Theories - Andrew Goodwin 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

Andrew Goodwin's theory about music videos is that there are three types of them: Illustration, Amplification and Disjuncture. These three types of music videos will be explained in further detail below.

Illustration:

Owl City's 'Fireflies' is an example of Illustration. Music videos that are categorised as Illustration music videos always have music that cuts to the beat. For example, in this video, when the pace of the music was fast, the shots focused from one toy to another very quickly, to keep up with the pace of the music. However, as the pace of the music slowed down, so did the pace of the shots. This is evident in the video above. The images in the music video illustrates the literal meaning or feeling conveyed in the lyrics, often with the artist singing and performing (whether that be dancing or, in the case of the video above, playing an instrument).

Amplification:

Rihanna's 'Disturbia' is an example of Amplification. Amplification videos have music that cuts to the beat of the video, but also cuts off the beat to emphasise particular features. The images in music video amplify the lyrics; a specific narrative may be used, but not necessarily picked up from the lyrics alone. The artist also may take up fictional roles in the narrative (such as Rihanna in 'Disturbia', when she played the role of a trapped captive, seen in the video above).

Disjuncture:

Daft Punk's 'Da Funk' is an example of Disjuncture. Disjuncture videos cut completely off the beat. Sometimes this is intentional (such as this case, because Daft Punk are well known for having music videos that fit the role of Disjuncture), but other times this is the sign of a poorly made music video. The images that appear in the video do not relate to the lyrics at all (although there aren't any lyrics to relate to in this video); well-known artists/bands can occasionally use this method, as they can afford to take the risk. The artist/band also takes on an image that is very different from the 'norm' (such as this video, because a dog portrayed as a human is as far from the 'norm' as you could possibly get), or something completely different from their expected image. Another reason that this video is an example of Disjuncture is because the artist doesn't directly make an appearance in the music video, nor do they perform. Below are all the characters (in order of their appearance) that have had at least a minor speaking role in the video, yet none of whom are believed to be the artists.

                     

Theories - Carol Vernallis 'The Kindest Cut'

Carol Vernallis analysed editing in music videos and Hollywood film. As seen below, Vernallis has identified the approaches these two forms of editing takes, and how they are different from each other.


Whilst in Hollywood film, there is a single clear path throughout the film's world, there are many more paths that are incomplete and perhaps even obscure in music videos. What this means, is that a lot of shots featured in music videos will be completely different, and will likely make no sense.


Robin Thicke - 'Blurred Lines' f.t T.I. Pharrell; there are multiple paths in the video that will likely confuse the viewer, and the shots that are shown in the video make no sense whatsoever.

The order of shots are conventional in Hollywood film. There is a typical shot order that films often use (for example; there will more than likely be an establishing shot in the opening of a film, because establishing shots are frequently used in Hollywood films). In music videos, the order of shots are unconventional. Music videos can transition between shots more freely, without the worry of having to deal with continuity.


Miley Cyrus - 'We Can't Stop'; because there isn't a big focus of continuity in music videos, a high quantity of videos (such as Cyrus' 'We Can't Stop') use montage editing instead, making the order of the shots in the video unconventional.

There is a unity of time and space in Hollywood film. In music videos, the time and space are unclear to the viewers, who are unaware of when and perhaps where (if a studio is the main location of a music video) the artist performed the music video.


will.i.am - 'Scream & Shout' ft. Britney Spears; because this video was shot inside a studio, there is no sense of time or space. From watching the video alone, viewers will not know where or when will.i.am and Britney shot this video.

Hollywood film draws viewers into the narrative, whereas music videos draws viewers away from the narrative, focusing more on other elements (such as the lyrics, star, etc.)


Jessie J - 'Domino'; in this music video, there is no narrative. This video focuses on Jessie J lip-syncing and performing to the song.

Low Budget Ideas

The Fix - Just Got Paid

A Ha! - Imogen Heap

Conventions of a music video

Generic conventions of music videos include: