The majority of people which we questioned watched music videos often or occasionally. This is good as it means that our target audience are likely to see our video once we broadcast it.
From these results we can see that most people prefer a music video to be 4 minutes long. Not too short and not too long.
From these results we can see that the most important factors to consider in order to attract our audience to watch our video are Actor/Artist performance.
From these results we can see that people still often prefer to watch music videos on the television. This result tells me that we should be taking inspiration from the kinds of videos shown on TV at the moment. We will cross reference this result with the preferred music channel results.
A large amount of the people we questioned think that music videos should make use of props. This may suggest that we could perhaps dissect our chosen song until we find an idea for a prop in order to base our video around it.
From these results we can see that our audience prefer a mixture of both studio filming and naturally lit outside footage.
Most people prefer a music video to be fast-paced. We will take this into account when we are writing a storyboard and treatment and also in post-production editing.
These results show us that the majority of people we questioned like music videos to be creative. Absolutely no people said that they definitely do not like videos to be creative. We believe that from these results we should take that our music video needs to be as creative as possible.
It is obvious from these results that most people these days do not like dance routines in music videos. We believe that this result correlates with the result of the preferred genre as most people like Indie and Rock. However, a strong 25% said yes and the other 25% said they sometimes like choreography. This also is shown in the genre results as Pop music and R&B are also clear favourites.
The preferred settings are at a gig/on stage, on the move and at a club. We believe that it will be sensible for us to consider all possible settings and take each opportunity we are given. However, when finding locations we still plan to take our results into account.
Our demographic strongly believes that the artist/band should star in their own video. However, the people who filled out our questionnaires were thinking about the music videos of famous bands and artists when choosing their answers. And getting the real artist to appear in our music video may be difficult to achieve. Yet, we our optimistic about using actors and/or other methods in order to keep our audience happy.
It is clear that our audience prefers a simple plot in a music video with 72% of the vote. We believe that this is again because there is only a short amount of time in which you are able to tell a story and a complex plot can make thing not only difficult for the creators but for the viewer aswell.
From our results we are able to see that our audience prefers to sometimes have special effects or to definitely have them. We plan to take this into account when we make our music video.
From these results we can see that our audience prefer a music video to have direct address. However, the margins are again very close and so we feel that our music video may benefit from including a mixture of direct and indirect address.
These results are very close but our results state that our target audience prefer the artist/actors to appear extravagant. However, as the margins between our results are so tight we believe that in our music video we should have the artists/actors appearing in-between extravagant and normal.
In a music video our results show that a linear structure is preferred. We believe that this is because "flashbacks" in a music video, being shown in such a small time frame, can often get lost in translation. These results tell us that our music video should probably have a linear structure.
In these results it is clear to see that the preference lies clearly with a mixture of both narrative and performance. However, if you do not include the green section of the pie chart you can see that narrative is more popular with 31% of the entire result over the 19% who preferred performance. This shows us that although we should have a mixture of both, there should be more narrative than performance.
According to our research, the most popular music channels are MTV, TMF and 4Music. In order to utilize this research in our project, we should put our music video on this channel so as to reach our audience.
The most preferred genre is Indie music, secondary to this is Rock, then Pop, then R&B. This tells us that, for out music video we should pick one of these genres, as this is the most appealing.
The majority of people who filled out our questionnaire were between the ages of 15 and 18. Secondary to this was 18 to 24 year olds. These results show us that our video will mainly appeal to that age range.
Our results show that our researched demographic is strongly female. This tells me that if we wish to use our results in order to plan our own music video we must take into account that the majority of our results will reflect a female viewpoint.
GENRE: The genre of the music is mainstream pop/rock.
ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE AND MODE OF ADDRESS: The video is mainly narrative - but it also shows the band and lead singer directly addressing the audience when singing the song. There are scenes however, when the band is performing towards the camera - but this isn't an actual gig performed to an audience.
HOW THE VIDEO GIVES THE ARTIST AN IMAGE: The video shows the same man leading alternate lifestyles. The half with the band included is assumed to be the reality. Whereas the half where the man is portrayed as more of a nerd is supposed to be the opposite lifestyle. This contrast highlights the extremity of their lifestyle, as it shows them being carefree, living a rock-and-roll lifestyle (drinking beer in the morning, waking up next to a girl and leaving her to be with the band).
HOW THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE SONG: AMPLIFY, ILLUSTRATE OR DISJUNCTURE: The visual elements illustrate the lyrics to the song in my opinion, because it is a narrative structure. The term "i hope it gives you hell" is aimed directly at the alternate lifestyle of the band, coming from the carefree house. The structure is linear as it contains no flashback and tells the story chronologically.
MISE-EN-SCENE
The costumes used for the band's image are slightly worn out, and scruffy. This is to give the impression that the way they look is irrelevant and it's all about the music. Some scenes show the lead singer topless - this may be to reach out to the female fans or equivillantly to amplify the lifestyle they lead. The lead singer is also wearing sunglasses on one occasion - suggesting it's too bright outside after having a wild night, maybe he is hungover and unable to face the day. The alternate household characters costumes are all perfect however, with props used to show the order in the house, nothing is out of place. The lighting in this household is also more brighter than the other - which is more dark, which suggests that they aren't usually up at the time in which this is all taking place.
SETTING: The sets are both very different. Both are next door to eachother and amplify the clash between the two. One is very neat and tidy - with a housewife character there to ensure everything is in place, whereas the other one creates the illusion of a care-free lifestyle with nobody residing there seemingly bothered by the state it is in. This emphasises the rock lifestyle they are trying to portray.
CAMERA USE: The opening shot is a two shot showing the 'nerdy' characters going to bed in seperate beds at an early time. Just as the lights go out, the lights go on in the house next door. Showing that they live for the nighttime - opposing to the alternate house going to bed early. The alarm goes off at 10:30pm and the opening line to the song is "I wake up every evening" - which is a direct link. Lots of shots are used to show the band members waking up, and a close-up is shown of a beer bottle being opened just as he's woken up. All of the band look a little 'worse for wear' as if they've had a rough day. The scene then cuts to a performance of them singing the chorus. The shots focusd upon the instruments and the band members - the lead singer in particular. A reaction shot is shown of the woman from next door covering her ears as she tries to sleep. The end of the video shows the two couples coming together finally to discuss an agreement. Closeups are shown of the lead singer (in both lifestyles) arguing. And an establishing shot is used to show the crowd of people outside the bands house enjoying the music. Closeups are shown on the two girlfriends as they decide to switch men, then the scene cuts to them after swapping. The nerd-type is shown frounting the band and the scene cuts to the lead-singer with the blonde lady. The final shot shows the original bad performing the final line and the screen goes blank.
EDITING: The editing is fast paced and in time with the music. Wipes are used throughout to cut to other scenes in the video. This is a good way to do it as it highlights that they are living within close proximity to eachother.
Not Good Enough For Truth In Cliche - Escape The Fate.
GENRE: This song would be classified as rock, with a teenage following mostly.
ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE AND MODE OF ADDRESS: The lead singer is looking directly into the camera on some occasions during the performance part. The band put on a show for a small gathering of fans. The other half of the video is focused on a narrative. This tells the story of a young couple reinacting the story of Romeo and Juliet - a direct link to the lyrics.
HOW THE VIDEO GIVES THE ARTIST AN IMAGE TO THE ARTIST: The video gives the band a very specific image. They are portrayed to be slightly emo. The band isn't shown to be glamourous or rich. The sets emphasise this as they are all (some more than others) broken-down.
HOW DO THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE SONG: AMPLIFY, DISJUNCTURE OR ILLUSTRATE: In my opinion, the visual elements illustrate the song. The lyrics relate to what is being shown on the screen - even though they don't completely demonstrate what it's saying word for word. The video is non-linear as the beginning shows what happens in the end - when the girl takes the poison. At the end of the video she is shown again after taking it, while the middle shows what had happened earlier.
MISE-EN-SCENE
The band's costume amplifys their chosen image. They wear dark clothing to give themselves a rock-like edge. The main characters in the video are tattooed and pierced. Which again highlights their image, and consequently may attract the target audience - visually as well as vocally. The make-up put on the girl in the video at the start is very harsh, red lipstick and black eyeliner, this tones down in the middle when she's working in the cafe, possibly demonstrating how she was happier then - feeling less of a need to cover up. The lead singer of the band is also wearing eyeliner. Which again highlights their darker image. The lighting throughout the video is dark and a bit sinister. Which is fitting for the narrative told throughout. The parts in the cafe however, are lighted really well, which could be a representation of better times.
SETTING: The contrast between the cafe in better times and worse is quite dramatic. Seeing it more rundown after her death creates a sad tone on the production. And shows the viewer the impact she had upon the place. The more upbeat, candlelit cafe creates a happier tone to demonstrate the contrast.
CAMERA USE: A number of camera angles are used within the video. The opening shows a close up of the girl's face about to take the posion, and slowly zooms out to show her drinking it. Then immediatley after is a reaction shot of her after it is gone. The scene then swaps to show the band's perfomance in the rundown cafe - an immediate consequence of her actions. Low/high angles and lower-mid-shots are used towards the beginning to show the band and their instruments. With a close up of the girl and her family portrait, which fades out to show an extreme-close up of the lead singer as he starts to sing/tell the story. The scene then swaps again to a flashback of how the cafe used to look. A tracking shot is used to show the customers and the girl soon appears (in the past) for the first time. We then see the band playing at the cafe in more promising times. Everyone within the frame looks considerably more buoyant than before. There is also a high angle shot of the audience at the gig. Towards the end is another extreme close up of the lead singer taking the poison then him kissing the girl then an extreme close up of them holding hands. All these shots are used to demonstrate how much they are in love and willing to die together if they cannot be alive together. An overhead angle is used at the end to show them both lying on the cafe floor - presumably dead together, still holding hands and in love. This faddes out to a completely black screen showing the video/song is over.
EDITING: The editing of the video is quite fast paced. There is alot to take in when watching. And many of the cuts to new scenes are within the musics rhythm. Shots are faded out into new ones throughout and the end is a final fade out to black - possibly a symbolism of death.
GENRE The genre of the music could be described as soulful pop - as it is mellow and relaxing, easy listening music.
NARRATIVE The narrative structure of the music video is non-linear, as it includes flashbacks of the lead girls former life. The beginning of the video sees people on an underground tube, it is suggested that they are all going to work/following their daily routine, as they are all wearing dark shades of clothing and some wearing suits. The middle of the video sees the lead man looking into people's lives, and trying to help them with a good personal attitude; we as the audience see how everyone has problems and the viewer is given a chance to relate. By the end of the video, everyone vacates the tube and walks up a set of stairs towards a bright light. The setting for this video seems to have connotations of heaven and hell, with the lead man playing God. This is suggested because everyone who has problems boards the underground (with their issues), where they are 'healed' through the middle, then at the end feel ready to go back to the real world (or heaven - up the stairs).
AUDIENCE The target audience for this type of music would be 30+. That age group would also feel it was easy to relate to what was being convey in the video - because they are the same age group and have things to look back upon. The band was at it's peak in the 90's also - which means the age group of 30+ may have grown up listening to this band. The radio station this may be put on to reach the target audience may be either SmoothFM or Magic - where it also may be seen on the TV channel.
REPRESENTATION The lead man appears to be of higher class than the other passengers, and he stands out because he's the only one who's wearing a hat on the whole train. His suit is also much more delicately tailored in comparison to the others on board. However, although these things make him stand out - he does blend in with the crowd as he's wearing darker, dismal colours like the rest of them, and people don't see him as a particularly higher being. The blond woman also stands out in the video. Not only is she paler than everyone but it appears as though her skin is glowing (which could imply she's an angel - keeping in the theme of religion). The rest of the passengers look unhappy and dismal as they are on the tube, and their clothes represent that. Towards the end though, after the soul-cleansing, everyone spirits appear lifted.
ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE (MODE OF ADDRESS) The audience (people viewing the video) appear to be invisible, as they aren't directly addressed at many points during the video. The video is fully narrative based, as it tells a story and there is no band-performance included.
CAMERA ANGLES The beginning shows a tracking shot leading up to a zoom of the main man - making the audience aware of who they should be focusing upon. There's a cut to a mid-shot of a chef, which leads to an eye line matched point of view shot to a close up upon the pan he was working with and the flames coming from it. During the flashback to the strip club the girl used to work in, there are close-ups upon bodies and her appearing happy. The scene then cuts to a long shot of later that night when she's sat outside it alone looking tired and drained. There are many close ups of passengers to identify that they're suffering from individual problems.
SPECIAL EFFECTS The special effects mainly used in this video are wipes, to transfer from one setting to the next. Dissolves are also used for the same purpose. The special effects are kept simple for the video, and only amplify what's being seen throughout the video.
EDITING The editing for the video is slow paced, to match the beat of the song (which is fitting for the genre). Match-on-action is used towards the beginning when the main girl goes to grab the main mans hand . And an eye line match is used during the chef/kitchen shot as mentioned previously.
Lily Allen - Smile.
ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE/MODE OF ADDRESS The audience are directly addressed through the video, we see Lily looking directly into the camera frequently throughout the video. The seen often cuts however, to an indirect mode of address, where the actors don't acknowledge the camera, making the audience invisible.
NARRATIVE Lily Allen is the main star of her music video, and it shows her reminiscing on events in a past relationship and her revenge. No dance routines are included in it even though it is a typical pop song. The structure appears to be linear, but there is a small flashback of her relationship in better days at the beginning, making it non-linear. The beginning shows the audience that her ex did something bad to her, and the middle part of the music video shows her getting her revenge on him. The end result shows the results of her revenge and her ex being fully dependant upon her. Which shows how the tables have turned.
HOW DOES THE VIDEO CREATE AN IMAGE FOR THE STAR/ARTIST/BAND? Lily appears to be ordinary and a bit of a chav - which creates an image for her, and with her being ordinary and not appearing totally glamorous/airbrush, the target audience can relate to her as she isn't superficial. She also appears as a strong woman, very independent and someone not to be messed with. Her problem concerning her ex is something everyday people experience, and therefore another thing the viewer can relate to.
HOW DO THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE SONG - ILLUSTRATE/AMPLIFICATION/DISJUNCTURE The visual elements used in this music video are amplification and illustration, as the video shows her bad reaction to his actions; but it goes further than the lyrics by also demonstrating the consequences and his punishment.
MISE-EN-SCENE Lily is seen in this video wearing a bright coloured dress - which helps her to be noticed in a crowd, but not so much that she stands out for looking totally different, she still manages to look ordinary.The settings for the video include: her ex's flat, a cafe, the street, an average ordinary club. Nothing extravaggant is seen in the whole video except Lily's actions. Again, helping the viewers to relate.
USE OF CAMERA Extreme close-ups are used to focus upon Lily's face to convey her emotions. Towards the beginning there is an establishing shot which shows hooded youths. As she approaches two older men an over-the-shoulder shot is shown to see them. Later in the video when she brings out the laxatives and a close-up is again used to show them. Two-shots are used in the cafe when Lily and her ex are used to get them both in the frame. High angles are used to show the ex when he goes back to the flat - with the camera looking down on him he appears to be more vulnerable than normal. Point of view shots are used also when the two men enter his apartment to vandalise it.
EDITING Shot-reverse-shot is a technique used throughout the video, particularly at the beginning. A montage sequence is also used towards the end of the video to show everything that has been ruined of the ex-boyfriends in a quicker amount of time. The editing is fast-paced, like the song, and shows a number of choppy shots.
REPRESENTATION Lily Allen is seen as a normal girl, but also one not to be messed with, as the video shows the break up of a relationship, and how she has dealt with it. The hooded youths are paid to hurt her ex - this creates bad connotations of the youth of today.
SPECIAL EFFECTS It is debatable whether or not a green screen has been used in making the skyline bluer on the tracking shot at the beginning. Other than that, no special effects were used.
GENRE The genre for this track is pop; identifiable because of the rhyming, catchy lyrics.
AUDIENCE The main target audience for Lily Allen is teenagers. Although her music can appeal to a vast range of age groups.
Chemical Brothers - Hey boy, Hey girl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64szVQugrAo
ASPECTS OF PERFORMACE/MODE OF ADDRESS The audience appears invisible through the video and aren't directly addressed at any point. There is no element of performance, but there is a storyline - making it fully narrative based.
NARRATIVE The structure the video follows is linear, with no flashbacks. Although it does flash forward from the girl becoming a woman. The beginning shows the young girl on a school trip being bullied by a boy in her class, she is portrayed to be a stereotypical geek. The middle of the video shows her transformation to an adult and she visits a club/rave night. The end shows her leaving alone and going home in a taxi.
HOW DOES THE VIDEO CREATE AN IMAGE FOR THE ARTIST? The setting of the club would usually see people taking drugs or drinking - but everyone in it appears to be drinking only water. This gives the impression that the Chemical Brothers are breaking the mold and of the moment. The video represents the culture that identifies the genre.
HOW DO THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE? What is seen on the screen amplifies the lyrics as the images and the music relate. The narrative can become confusing though as it doesn't fully relate. Intertextual links have been incorporated with the museum/skeletons appearing throughout.
MISE-EN-SCENE The clothing worn by the people seen in the video are very casual, which is a direct link to the illegal raves that were held often in the 90's. The settings relate to this - with the club being dark with rave-coloured lighting.
GENRE The genre of music featured in the video is rave/techno/dance. This is easily identifiable because of the repeatative lyrics/beats that are easy to dance to.
AUDIENCE The typical target audience for this type of music would be around 15-30 - a large selection, but mainly targeting 18/young adults, the typical people who would go to a club of that style.
MUSIC CHANNEL Typically, this video would appear on music channels such as MTV Dance or even Kerrang! to reach the target audience.
USE OF CAMERA Alot of the time, the camera shows a personal perspective from the girl. Other than that the camera follows her around so we can see everything she's doing when she's doing it. Close-ups are also used, for example, when the man starts talking to the woman at the bar, a close up is used on his face to show how intoxicated he is.
EDITING Match-on-action is used in the video. The editing pace gradually builds up. By the time the end of the song is near it picks up though and becomes quicker.
Music video's are always very varied so there's nothing in particular one should expect.
However, they are usually based around either on narrative, or performance. The performance aspect would usually see the artist(s) performing their song - this could be recorded in a number of settings. The most likely, however, is at a gig; but it always depends upon the genre of music and fan base they are reaching out to. A narrative based music video will tell a story through the dong. Actors may be brought in to portray the characters needed to get the message across. Sometimes the storylines seen in music videos can relate to the lyrics and fit with the theme. But other times, what is seen visually will not link to the lyrics in the song.
Music videos can also be used as a marketing device to promote the artist(s). People may enjoy the video aspect and therefore like the song or the message they are trying to get across. And therefore download the track. All of this combined can create a solid fanbase and lead onto success.
It was around the 80's that music videos became mainstream. However, The Beatles used film inserts to be played along with their music earlier than this in the 60's - which could of been seen as the original music videos. It wasn't until 1981, when the channel MTV was launched, that the music video industry became so popular. The first music video ever to be shown on there was 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles. It's debatable whether this is to be considered the first ever music video or The Beatles earlier attempts should be.
Over the years, music videos have been developed immensly and now use special effects frequently. Slow motion is not unusual to be seen in music videos today, along with more fancy, sophisticated, interesting camera angles. Technology has also developed - we commonly now see the use of the croma key (shots fading in and out), and the blue screen is used often to create the illusion of an intersting backdrop/setting.
Cencorship is also something to be considered. It is a job left up to the British Board of Film Classification to montior and cencor music videos in order to make them appropriate for the people expected to be viewing them. In 1991, Michael Jackson's video for 'Black and White' was cencored as he was considered to be 'touching himself' throughout. Other recent videos which have been cencored are: 'Rock DJ' - by Robbie Williams, and 'Smack My Bitch Up' - by The Prodigy.
People interested in musical theory may argue that music videos have superficially made pop music based on image. It has been considered whether or not pop songs would be enough on their own to make a meaning to the audience alone, without the visuals going along with it. Andrew Goodwin stated that "A good music video is a clip that responds to the pleasure of music, in which that music is made visual, either in new ways or in a way that accentuates existing visual associations." (1992) meaning the video should be linked with the song - but not take away the song.
Content. Music videos usually demonstrate the genre characteristics of the music, for example - pop music videos may see all boy/girl dance routines. The relationship between lyrics and visuals either contradict or illustrate the lyrics in the song - so sometimes things may appear to be completely random or out of the blue, but this is simply what the production team were going for. The relationship between music and visuals will either illustrate (show visually what is being said in the lyrics), amplify (intensify what is being said in the lyrics), or contradict what is being said in the lyrics - contradiction will seem to make no sense. The appearance of the artist(s) will be left to the responsibility of the record lable - they may wish for lots of close ups on the artist or the invention of a personal motif for them which the audience would be able to identify as theirs in more than one video. Another thing commonly seen in todays music video's is attractive members of the opposite sex (according to the artist) - this re-occurs commonly in r'n'b videos on a regular basis; usually with partial nudity. To involve the audience more, intertextual references may also be included, this technique was used in Eminem's video "Without Me" - where a number of headline stories were incorporated.
It is rare that a music video will take longer than 2 week to finish recording and editing. The idea will originially come in for a music video from different directors proposing a pitch for possible ideas - it's up to the artist/record lable to decide upon the most suitable offer for the target audience/image.
The majority of people which we questioned watched music videos often or occasionally. This is good as it means that our target audience are likely to see our video once we broadcast it.
From these results we can see that most people prefer a music video to be 4 minutes long. Not too short and not too long.
From these results we can see that the most important factors to consider in order to attract our audience to watch our video are Actor/Artist performance.
From these results we can see that people still often prefer to watch music videos on the television. This result tells me that we should be taking inspiration from the kinds of videos shown on TV at the moment. We will cross reference this result with the preferred music channel results.
A large amount of the people we questioned think that music videos should make use of props. This may suggest that we could perhaps dissect our chosen song until we find an idea for a prop in order to base our video around it.
From these results we can see that our audience prefer a mixture of both studio filming and naturally lit outside footage.
Most people prefer a music video to be fast-paced. We will take this into account when we are writing a storyboard and treatment and also in post-production editing.
These results show us that the majority of people we questioned like music videos to be creative. Absolutely no people said that they definitely do not like videos to be creative. We believe that from these results we should take that our music video needs to be as creative as possible.
It is obvious from these results that most people these days do not like dance routines in music videos. We believe that this result correlates with the result of the preferred genre as most people like Indie and Rock.
The preferred settings are at a gig/on stage, on the move and at a club. We believe that it will be sensible for us to consider all possible settings and take each opportunity we are given. However, when finding locations we still plan to take our results into account.
Our demographic strongly believes that the artist/band should star in their own video. However, the people who filled out our questionnaires were thinking about the music videos of famous bands and artists when choosing their answers. And getting the real artist to appear in our music video may be difficult to achieve. Yet, we our optimistic about using actors and/or other methods in order to keep our audience happy. 
It is clear that our audience prefers a simple plot in a music video with 72% of the vote. We believe that this is again because there is only a short amount of time in which you are able to tell a story and a complex plot can make thing not only difficult for the creators but for the viewer aswell.
From our results we are able to see that our audience prefers to sometimes have special effects or to definitely have them. We plan to take this into account when we make our music video.
These results are very close but our results state that our target audience prefer the artist/actors to appear extravagant.
In a music video our results show that a linear structure is preferred. We believe that this is because "flashbacks" in a music video, being shown in such a small time frame, can often get lost in translation. These results tell us that our music video should probably have a linear structure.
In these results it is clear to see that the preference lies clearly with a mixture of both narrative and performance. However, if you do not include the green section of the pie chart you can see that narrative is more popular with 31% of the entire result over the 19% who preferred performance.
According to our research, the most popular music channels are MTV, TMF and 4Music.
The most preferred genre is Indie music, secondary to this is Rock, then Pop, then R&B.
