Evaluation

·       

E    Evaluation

     The research has not only established what our target audience enjoy in a music video, but also, who are target audience is. It is vital to identify who our target audience is so that we can adapt our music video according to their preferences so that it appeal to them. If we weren't to recognise who our target audience were, our music video wouldn't be tailored to their needs and therefore it has little chance of appealing to anyone.

      We carried out 2 pieces of research; questionnaire and vox pops. We surveyed 40 people in total, 20 being male and the other half being female. This gives us a balance regarding what each gender favours to see in a music as what a boy wants from a music video may differ from what a girl wants. We choose to question 40 people as this a an effective representation of our target audience, as our artist appeals to a niche target audience. We then split our sample into 5 categories according to their age; 10-16, 17-21, 22-30, 31-40 and 41-50 so that we had a variation regarding age and therefore a wider range of opinion. Our questionnaire addressed the main components that construct a music video so that our target audience could state their preference regarding each attribute. From the questionnaire we discovered that our target audience favoured the indie genre, solo artists, simplistic music videos, performance and narrative based music videos and also prefer when the artist is present in the music video; in which this gives us a basic outline as to what our target audience desire in a music video.
   
      For our voxpops, we interviewed 5 people on camera in regards to 5 more detailed qualities of the music videos in comparison to our questionnaire. In the interview we asked each person:
   
      Do you like to be able to relate to an artist?
      Where do you like to watch music videos?
      Do you prefer to see the artist in the narrative?
      Do you prefer a simple or complex video?
      Have you heard of the artist Nina Nesbitt? If yes, do you enjoy her music?

·        Overall, the vox pops were successful in providing us with a more in depth perspective as to what our target audience favoured. We have decided to discuss the first 3 questions in regard to the results we received and how this will assist us in our planning process:

Question 1: Do you like to be able to relate to an artist? 

      Answers: 'Yes, because I feel more involved in the music video.' Mille Cooper
                      'Yes, as it provides and outlet and allows us to become involved.' Karis Myers
                      'Yes, it gives the music video more depth and meaning to the song.' Reggie Clark
                      'Yes, because it makes the artist more down to earth and relatable.' Sam Pearl
                      'Yes, because I idolise people in the music industry.' Dylan Snow

       From the answers we received, it is evident that all of the participants favoured an artist that they found was easy to relate to. Most of them justified this as they felt it involved them more in the music video, in which this suggests that they find such effective appealing, with Karis Myers claiming that this provides 'an outlet'. This is particularly relevant to Richard Dyer's proposal that successful artists appear to be 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' in order to maintain the audience's interest. By having the artist as relatable, this allows the audience to build a relationship with them and therefore keep an interest; however, the artist is also famous and therefore this portrays their 'extraordinary' side. We will create an image for the artist in which the audience can relate to in order to emit such effect; the artist will wear simple clothes and the video simplistic so that the artist isn't portrayed as having a lavish lifestyle in which the audience cannot connect.


     Question 2: Where do you like to watch music videos?

     Answers: 'YouTube.' Millie Cooper
                            'YouTube and Music Channels.' Karis Myers
                            'YouTube.' Reggie Clark
                            'Download them on my phone.' Sam Pearl
                            'Music Channels.' Dylan Snow

     Yet again, there is a clear majority answer in which individuals stated that YouTube was the most common place they enjoyed to watch music videos. Reggie Clark said that he felt YouTube was 'easily accessible to watch whatever you want' for his reasoning as to why he favoured YouTube; in which this a positive. YouTube is free to upload any videos, it is well known by our target audience and evidently is a favoured distributor amongst our target audience and therefore we plan to post our finished music video on to YouTube. This also appeals to people such as Sam Pearl, who claims to download music videos on to his phone as YouTube also offers this and therefore our target audience who download music videos will still be able to do so if we posted it on to YouTube.

      Question 3: Do you prefer to see the artist in the narrative?

      Answers: 'Yes, it shows that they mean what they are singing.' Millie Cooper
                       'Yes, it shows that they are more involved in their art.' Karis Myers
                       'Yes, it makes the music video more realistic and relatable.' Reggie Myers
                       'No, I like the contrast between actors and artists.' Sam Pearl
                       'Yes, I like to see the artist get involved with other actors.' Dylan Snow

      Nearly each of the 5 people interviewed liked to see the artist involved in the narrative, with 4 out of the 5 claiming they preferred this rather than the artist just performing the song.  Karis Myers said that by having artists involved in the narrative, 'they are more involved in their art' and therefore this suggests a short representation of the artist in which the audience can interpret in order to feel like they know them better, deepening their relationship with the artist and in turn is appealing to the audience. However, Sam Pearl said that he preferred the artist to be separate from the narrative as he enjoys the 'contrast between actors and artist' in which this opposed with the majority opinion. Therefore we plan to interpret both sets of opinions in our music video in order to appeal to a wider range of people. We plan to have the artist involved in the narrative as well as her performing the song and therefore disconnected from the narrative at parts of the music video. The artist will be both singing about her relationship and showing the audience her relationship. This also will appeal to Dylan Snow, as he said he likes 'to see the artist involved with other actors', in which there will be an actor to play the artist's boyfriend.

      By knowing our target audience's opinion in more detail, this allowed us to understand their favoured attributes of a music video. However, if we were to do the vox pops again, we could improve them by furthering our range of people regarding age. Our sample consisted of 13-19 year olds and therefore we only have deeper understanding regarding opinion in a limited age range. Therefore if we were to ask older people, we would know their preferences as well as the younger people's opinion.
                  

         Subculture

      The Sub-Culture theory is another element in which had to be considered while planning our music video and therefore reflected in our final product. A subculture can be defined as a group of people who are united through a common value system and tastes i.e. clothes, music, politics. It is a group of people who are also positioned outside of the mainstream conventions. The three subculture theories that we looked at were:

      Grant McCracken:

      McCracken proposes the post modern world is full of diversity, dynamism and creativity. he says that if we look at the array of values and ideologies then we can't say all subcultures come from one culture. They are not rebelling from the mainstream rather creating artists and genres that are diverse, dynamic or creative.

      CCCS:
     
      This theory assumes that all subcultures come from one culture as a reaction to the mainstream. They are fed up of listening to mainstream artists and genres and therefore rebel against them and in turn, create a subculture.

      Hebdige:

Hebdige concluded that some people think subcultures only appear to be different but deep down they are the same, if you look deeper, there is enough richness to rename 'subcultures' to 'little cultures' because they have the same values.

     
      The theory that applies to our music video: CCCS

This theory applies to our music video as the genre in which we have decided to use has evolved as a result of people being 'fed up' of listening to mainstream artists and genres. Mainstream genres such as Pop and RnB produce artists that are over the top in order to appeal to the audience. However they fail to have qualities that are easy to relate to, and therefore Indie provides this as artists are typically simple and down to earth.


This post demonstrates a good understanding of the different primary research that you have carried out. You have evaluated your research well, but you now need to start to explain how your research will assist you with planning your music video. This can be achieved by focusing on the style of your video.

You have also explained the different sub culture theories well and have chosen one theory that relates to your music video. However, this needs to be explained in further detail, by focusing on the style and content of your music video.

Vox Pops

Vox Pops

As further research we also decided to create a voxpop, allowing us to interview our potential target audience on more detailed aspects of the music video. Overall, we interviewed 5 people so that we could focus on what each of them had to say individually rather than an overall opinion that the questionnaire provided. Here are the 5 people that we interviewed and what they had to say:

To undertake the production of the voxpop, we created 5 new questions to ask participants. We went to the common room and found 5 available people to interview. Once we had filmed the interviews, we then edited the material we had, in order for all incorrect pauses etc to be cut out, allowing the footage to flow effectively. We then added an effect that allows us to see the person's name and the question that they are being asked, in order for us to be able to reference it quickly.

Overall, the process of filming and editing the vox pop went successfully as there were no issues when carrying this out. However, because we were in a restricted location, our sample was too. It consisted of 13-19 year olds and therefore we did not ask anyone older in terms of their preferences regarding music videos. However we did interview our main target audience and to our advantage, can now recognise what they favour in detail. The vox pop will assist us in planning our music video as it identifies what appeals to our target audience and therefore we can include this in both the planning and production process in order to appeal to them.

Aim to explain how your research will assist you with planning your music video in further detail. This can be achieved by focusing on the style and content.

Pie Charts

Pie Charts

We chose to create pie charts to show the answers we received as this not only showed the majority answer easily, but also allowed us to see what other people said too. Some questions included a requirement to justify an answer, in which we read and discussed as to whether each opinion could be interpreted into our music video. Here are the pie charts and some of the answers:

Question 1: Are you male or female?

We deliberately split our sample in to 2, so that half consisted of females and the other half consisted of males; giving us an equal amount of opinions from both genders. This allowed us to correlate each person's preference according to their gender and therefore, we could have a better idea as to who our target audience was in terms of gender. It allows us to specify our target audience more accurately in order to increase the music video's appeal.

Question 2: How old are you?

Before conducting our research, we had a brief outline that our target audience would majority consist of 17-21 year olds, second being 10-16 as these age ranges are more likely to relate to a current artist. Therefore our sample consisted of mostly 17-21 year olds, followed by 10-16 year olds and only asking a couple of adults to interpret another's opinion. By asking our intended target audience regarding their preferences when watching a music video, we are able to receive their opinion on a larger scale and therefore we are able to include their preferences to increase the appeal of the music video in terms of what they want.

Question 3: What is your favourite genre of music?

We asked each participant what their favourite genre of music was, so that we were aware of the genre that most appealed to them; which was Indie. Indie is a very current genre, as it is perceived to subvert mainstream conventions in which this is what makes it original and therefore appealing. Indie music videos are typically very simplistic and minimal in diversity and therefore would be an effective genre to adopt in terms of our music video as a successful Indie video is achievable but still challenging. Also, as it was the most popular answer, this will appeal to our target audience and in turn will be a success.

Question 4: Do you prefer to listen to solo artists or bands?

We decided to ask participants their preference regarding bands or solo artists as this gave us an indication as to the types of artists they are interested in and the representation in which they find appealing in order to adopt such opinion in our own works. From the pie chart, we can see that the majority of the sample enjoy listening to solo artists in comparison to bands, in which this suggests that our music video would be more appealing if to use a solo artist as this is our target audience's choice. Also, as it is a clear majority that feel such way, we have decided to use a solo artist so that the music video appeals to a mass audience rather than niche.

Question 5: Do you prefer to see the artist in the music video?

Music videos vary according to artist representation according to the artist themselves, record label requirements and the generic conventions. In order to create an artist representation effectively, it can be argued that the artist must be present in the video in order for the audience and artist to build a relationship; in which this is particularly relevant to our findings.The majority of people stated that they preferred to actually see the artist in the video, in which we also agree with for several reasons. The first being that, according to the Indie genre, it is conventional for the artist to be not only present in their video, but to perform the song in which we have decided to do also.Also, by having the artist present it appears to the audience that they are more involved in their work, rather than a constructed commodity made for consumerism. It creates the impression that they care of what they are doing and who they are doing it for (target audience) and therefore is more appealing. 

Question 6: What style of music video do you enjoy most?

Music videos are constructed upon the basis of 3 main styles; performance, narrative and concept. We asked participants which style they preferred, in order to see which was most popular within our target audience, which we found to be narrative, followed by performance and then concept. Once established that this is what our target audience preferred overall, as a group we agreed that a narrative based music video is effective in engaging the audience as well as giving the audience a deeper understanding of the song itself as they will visually see our own interpretation of the song. On the other hand, by having a running narrative throughout the whole video, this may take the attention away from both the song and artist. Therefore, we decided to have a running narrative throughout the song as well as the artist performing the song between frames, as this allows the audience to see the audience as well as the narrative; in turn appealing to a wider target audience.

Question 7: Do you prefer the music video to be conventional to its genre or diverse? Why?

The results from the first part of the question showed that people preferred a music video that was conventional to its genre rather than diverse in style. Here are some of the reasons they had for their opinion:

'I prefer a conventional music video as they are easier to understand. A music video that is too diverse can be confusing.' 

Karis Myers, 17

'Conventional music videos offer visual appeal without taking the focus away from the song and artist. If there is too much going on the audience is unable to connect to the song and artist.' 

Jackie Jarvis, 18

'Diverse music videos are unpredictable. Because they subvert generic conventions, the audience are unable to guess what is going to happen; therefore keeps them engaged as to what is going on.' Charlie Snow, 16

'Music videos that are diverse gives the artist appeal as their image is different from mainstream artists, it gives us something different to watch, someone different to be interested in.' 

Alfie Reynolds, 17

From the comments we received regarding each individual's preference and why, we discovered both positives and negatives of having a conventional video; it is easier to understand, allows the audience to focus on the artist, however can also become  predictable. A diverse music video also have positives and negatives; they are unpredictable and engaging but can also become over complicated and therefore confusing as the audience are unable to connect with the artist or song. In terms of our chosen genre, we decided that a conventional music video would be most suited as indie artists typically have simplistic videos of which are mainly focused on the lyrics and the effective narrative in which we feel we can create. Also, the majority of the sample of the target audience stated that they preferred conventional music videos for similar reasons and therefore we will be appealing to our target audience more successfully if we were to adopt such style.

Question 8: Typically, how do you watch music videos?

We asked each participant how they typically watched music videos, whether it be YouTube, music channels, on their phones or on the artist's website; in which this gives us a better idea as to how to distribute our final product so that it is easily accessible for our target audience. Therefore, a higher amount of our target audience are more likely to find our music video and in turn, we will have a wider variation of opinion as to how appealing it is, allowing us to effectively evaluate whether the video is successful according to the target audience and how we could improve. The majority of the sample answered that YouTube was the most typical distributor that they used to watch music videos, in which this is how we plan to distribute our product as, not only will the majority of our target audience find this appealing and therefore are more likely to watch the video, this is the most realistic method to make our video accessible by others.

Question 9: Do you prefer a simple music video or one that includes special effects? Why?

We included this question to establish the style in which our target audience preferred, whether it be simplistic or complex; one that included special effects. This allowed us to see what they preferred to have in the content of the video in much more detail rather than just the overall style. We found that 75% of the sample preferred to have a music video that was simple rather than complex. Here are some of the comments in which participants wrote in justifying their opinions:

'Simple music videos provide entertainment for the audience without having to concentrate on the video in order to understand it. It works with the song rather than competing it with it.'

Jack Earl, 17

'I prefer music that are simple because they represent the artist as easy to relate to. By having a complex video this presents the artist as extravagant and over the top rather than showing their love of music, a much easier quality to relate to.'

Daisy Tuson, 18

'Complex videos are exciting and more engaging. They attract people's attention more because there is more too look at.'

Charlotte Watt, 18

'Special effects gives the music video something out of the ordinary, a attribute that other music videos don't have because special effects can be used in different ways, meaning that even if two videos use special effects, both will still be different in content.'

Ryan Drinkwater, 17

These comments provided an outlook as to why our target audience preferred either simple or complex music videos and through this, we were able to establish positives and negatives for both. Simple music videos are complimentary and provide an artist easy to relate to but can appear boring. Whereas complex videos are more engaging and can appear divers, however can appear over powering for some viewers. In order to compliment our chosen genre and representation of the artist  we have decided to do a simple music video, as this is also conventional to the indie genre. Not only this, but the majority of our target audience are more appealed to simple music videos.

Question 10: Have you heard of the artist Nina Nesbitt?

  

Nina Nesbitt is an individual Indie artist, in which we planned to do our music video to one of her songs. We wanted to see if our target audience had already heard of her, in order to see if they had existing perceptions of her. The majority of the sample had not heard of Nina Nesbitt, which could be perceived as an advantage as this allows us to represent the artist effectively through our own interpretation of her. It allows the audience to see a short representation of her, encouraging them to build a relationship with 'her'. In turn, this gives the artist more publicity and more people are aware of her.

Question 11: If yes, what is your favourite song of hers?

Participants who answered that they had answered of Nina Nesbitt, were then further asked what their favourite song of hers is, too see if our target audience had a song in which they already found appealing. Findings suggest that the song 'Stay Out' was most popular as it reached number 21 in the charts. However, this songalready has a pre-existing music video, in which our would been seen as competition and therefore the audience would be constantly comparing. The next most  popular song was 'Noserings and Shoestrings' with 3 people claiming it was their favourite song of Nina Nesbitt's. This song doesn't have a music video and therefore would be most suitable to our project. 

How how this research assisted our planning for our music video?

Each question addressed a detail within the music video, with each answer providing us with the majority preference regarding the detail, and each pie chart allowing as to quantify each individual's opinion. By identifying the overall preference, this allows us to make our music video more appealing to our target audience. From this particular piece of research conducted we have found that:

• Indie genre is most commonly liked amongst our target audience, in which we have decided to adopt this genre in our music video as a result.
• Our target audience prefer to listen to solo artists rather than bands, and once again we have decided to involve this in our music video as this allows a more intimate relationship between artist and audience as they only have one person to focus on/be interested in.
• It is preferred to see the artist present in the music video as this indicates that the song is much more personal to them, and that they are more involved in there work. This suggests that they are also more bothered about their target audience as they want to fulfil their interest. We have decided to have our artist present in the music video so that our audience can connect with them.
• Both narrative and performance based music videos are the most liked in comparison to concept. This style is most conventional in the indie genre and therefore it would be suitable to adopt such style.
• Conventional music videos are more popular than diverse music video among the target audience as they are easier to understand and allows the audience to focus on the song/artist; an effect in which we wish to create and therefore creating a conventional indie music video.
• YouTube is the most popular distributor in which our target audience go to to watch music videos, and therefore when the product is complete we will put it on to YouTube for the majority of our target audience to watch and determine whether it is appealing or not. This will in turn, give us details as to what went right and what went wrong.
• Our target audience prefer music videos that are simple, in which this is a convention of an indie music video we will be including to appeal to our target audience as this compliments the song rather than competes with it.
• The majority of our target audience havent heard of Nina Nesbitt, however this allows us the create our own representation of the artist. People who had heard of her most commonly liked 'Stay Out' and 'Noserings and Shoestrings'.

Questionnaires

Questionnaire

The target audience of a music video plays a significant role in how the video is produced, as the substance of the video must be deemed appealing by the audience in order for it to be a success. A music video that doesn't consider it's target audience will result in being unappealing, as it hasn't focused on how to keep the audience interested. Before producing our music video, it is vital that we first establish the target audience we intend to appeal and then, how to make the video appealing in general. To do this, we have decided to ask 40 people to answer a questionnaire we have created, which addresses the main components that make  music video; asking them which they prefer. By doing so, we will begin to understand what our target audience want and therefore how we can incorporate this into the video in order for it to be appealing.

Here is an example of our questionnaire:

We decided to survey 40 people as this provided us with a variety of opinions in which we have to consider. By asking a limited amount of people, we would not get an accurate sample of what our target audience wanted. Therefore, by asking more people, we have a higher chance of appealing to our target audience as we know what they prefer. Millie and I came up with the questions included in the questionnaire, making sure that we focused on individual components that make the music video overall, so that we knew what our target audience preferred both individually and therefore overall. Once the questionnaire was made, each of us handed out 10 questionnaires to people ensuring that participants varied in age, gender, race and music taste to enhance the variety of our sample. When the answered were collected, Emma and Daisy created pie charts to visually show the answers to each question, allowing us to see what the majority wanted.

Research into Chosen Music Genre

For our music video, we have decided to use Nina Nesbitt's 'Noserings and Shoestrings', a song that belongs to the indie genre. Indie as a genre can be defined as an artist or group which does not belong to a major record label. Therefore such artists are considered to be 'alternative' to those appealing to a mass audience. Their fan base is typically niche, as many feel that once such artist has become well known and liked by the majority, this exploits their originality and uniqueness.

Artists considered to be indie include:

Nina Nesbitt, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Passenger, Laura Marling, The Kooks, Two Door Cinema Club, The Kooks,  Arctic Monkeys, Alt-J, Bastille, Bombay Bicycle Club, Of Monsters and Men, Kate Nash, The Courtneers, Mumford & Sons, Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Kate Nash, Noah and The Whale,The Lumineers , Just Jack, Jack Pente, Daminen Rice, and The Wombats.

Passenger

Mike Rosenburg, better know by Passenger, is perceived as an indie artist. Rosenburg started a band called Passenger many years ago and they released music to a niche audience. However, the band split and Rosenburg decided to continue as a solo artist. He released a few albums as a solo artist including, Wide Eyes Blind Love, Divers and Submarines, Flight of the Crow, and his latest album All the Little Lights which features his internationally famous song, Let Her Go.

In the interview below, 'Passenger' reveals how for years, he lived his life busking and writing songs in order to get to where he is now. He then goes on the speak of his tour with Ed Sheeran, his latest album success and festivals he intends on playing:

Busking is a conventional way in which an indie artist will eventually become successful; it shows their dedication and focus on the music rather than the fame that comes along with it. For example, in comparison Rihanna, who became famous by an audition on front of Jay Z, the amount of time it took Rosenburg to become well known was much longer than Rihanna's climb to fame, who was discovered at 16. Rosenburg states it took him around 10 years to get to where he is by 'doing something constructive everyday' conveying his focus on music; conventional in indie artists.

Passenger - Let Her Go

The original music video for 'Let Her Go' by Passenger

Throughout the music video for 'Let Her Go', they are many close ups on the instruments being played. including a guitar and piano. It is conventional for a guitar to be included in an indie video as it connotes the origin of the artist as they probably started busking in order to be better known, in which this is specifically relevant to 'Passenger'. By zooming in on the artist playing an instrument, this emphasises their talent to the audience and the depth of thier dedication to music in order to learn how to play such instrument, portraying them as authentic in their ability. Such use of cinematography, appeals to the target audience as this gives a short representation of the artist, allowing them to further their knowledge on the artist and therefore build a relationship with them. This will effectively evoke their interest in the artist and consequently encourage them to continue listening to the artist.

Further in the video, there is a long shot to show the audience watching the live performance, the context of the video. A live performance is very much conventional as an indie music video, as it portrays the artist's attitudes regarding the importance of the music as this becomes the focus. A live performance conveys an artist's true talent as it hasn't been altered by a recording; therefore conveying a raw talent as well. The long shot allows us to see the entire audience, in which this indicates the intimacy of the performance, suggesting the artist's niche target audience. For example, in comparison to Rihanna's 'Cheers' video, there are short previews of a live performance she has done, however we can assume this was from a concert on her tour as the amount of people in the frame convey that she is an artist appealing to a mass audience. The shot reverse shot reinforces the intimacy between artist and audience.

The main editing style used in the video consists of a very simplistic approach regarding the techniques used. The editing lacks variety, often using straight cuts to transition from one frame to the next as well as adopting a consistent pace of editing, each frame appearing for a similar time until the next. By having slow paced editing, this compliments the song, allowing thereto be substance in the video without taking the focus away.This style is conventional within the indie genre, as it emphasises their independence as an artist; they lack the requirements in which a big record label demands, highlighting their originality. The lack of complex editing allows the audience to focus on the song, again emphasising the short representation of the artist in order to build a relationship.














The mis en scene in the music video appears conventional to an indie music video. The video lacks outrageous lighting, and rather adopts a simple approach, highlighting the small production as a result of their originality rather than an overpowering range of effects in order to emphasise this. There appears to be a recurring motif of small fairy lights that are seen throughout the video, in which this appears to look similar to the album cover of the artist. This effectively promotes the album through the music video as it is called, 'All the Little Lights' in which these are evident in the music video. The only other lighting that appears in the video is the stage lighting, further highlighting the live stage performance by the artist; the spotlights appear on both the artist and the audience in which this focuses on the artist as well as signifying the audience's importance in regards to the artist.

The artist also appears to be wearing clothing considered to be indie in style; denim shirt and chinos.

By adopting an image that is considered to be indie, this will increase the appeal of the target audience as they will like and show interest in the artist's clothes and image in order to become more like him. An image of an indie artist is conventionally similar to Passenger's, typically wearing chinos, denim, converse, baggy tops and hats, portraying an everyday, relaxed image. This type of image can be related to the audience as it is simple, original and affordable in which case allows the audience to adopt a similar style and therefore be influenced by the artist, increasing recognition and popularity.

Overall, the artist is presented as an everyday, talented and dedicated person in which his target audience are able to easily build a relationship with as a result of his personal and intimate videos. His image portrays him as a relaxed artist who is focused on the music rather than a false image created for him in order to appeal to the mass; subverting Richard Dyer's proposal that all artists are commodities created in order to be consumed. Such originality appeals to a niche target audience that appreciates talent rather than image, typically female because the artist is a male, their age ranging within the teenage to young adult spectrum because the artist speaks of love, a subject new yet experienced by such ages. Because indie artists are typically known by a small amount of people before becoming well known through distribution of product, the artist has a strong and loyal fan base; however because his lyrics and music can be related to by such a huge proportion of people, the artist has universal appeal.

To develop this post, you need to analyse a second music video and then aim to include the summary points, to explain how your research will assist you with planning your music video.

Copyright

Copyrights are a set of boundaries in which legally protect any material that are covered by them. They protect material from being copied or stolen in attempt to remain individual in their idea, so that there doesn't become many of same concept, using the uniqueness of the original. In regards to music videos and songs themselves, artists will ensure their material has been copyrighted so that others do not copy and therefore the artist's image becomes more frequent and therefore their target audience become less interested as there are many people like them now, losing their exclusiveness.

Therefore it is vital in our situation to ask the record label in which our artist belongs to for permission to distribute a music video to her song so that they comprehend the innocence of our project rather than portraying ourselves as trying to 'steal' her song. The artist we have chosen to use is Nina Nesbitt. We identified after conducting secondary research that she belongs to Universal Record Group. After this step, we had to conduct further secondary research to gain a contact form. The method of contact we decided to use was e-mail.

Below is evidence of the exact e-mail I sent to the following address to apply for copyright: info@umusic.com

I sent this e-mail 27th September 2013 12:55pm as proved below:

We are still waiting for a reply

Initial Group Planning Ideas (changes made)

Initial Group Planning Ideas

My group consists of Daisy Morecroft, Millie Cooper, Emma Harris and myself. I chose  to work with these people as we had similar ideas regarding genre, style and representation of artist; in which we came to an agreed idea from a previous discussion.

First Meeting: 25/09/13

We have chosen to make our music video to the song 'Nosestrings & Shoestrings' by Nina Nesbitt because she is  an alternative artist appealing to a niche audience in which we are hoping to expand. This particular song doesn't have an existing video in which our audience can compare it to, favouring us as a group. In our first meeting, we discussed 10 main points which we then transferred in note form onto an A3 sheet of paper:

the A3 piece of paper containing all of our original ideas regarding the content of our music video, further discussed in the text below:

Location ideas

We wish to shoot at a quirky seaside location with traditional romantic beach shots and also an arcade, possibly in Southend on Sea or Brighton which is fuelled by young people, also appealing to our target audience. The narrative regarding the relationship between the two will be based in this location as it is particularly romantic, showing them in their happier days. 

We aim to capture a raw performance in regards to our artist. We have initially planned to shoot the artist miming to the song in front of a blank white wall; this then does not draw too much focus onto the artist but the lyrics and narrative of the couple.

Mise en scene ideas

In regards to clothing, we want to capture a vintage vibe; our female character dressed in a floral skirt with a baggy band t-shirt, a studded leather jacket, polished brogues and tights topped with messy hair, simplistic natural looking make-up and a beanie. Furthermore, we picture our 'misguided' male character to be dressed in a vintage shirt, a denim jacket, chino trousers, rugged trainers in order to capture an indie style which will appeal to our target audience.

Iconography will consist of alcohol bottles/drinks in order to portray our male character as corrupt by rebellion. He will be seen to be drinking throughout the video to correlate with the lyrics for the audience to have a further understanding of the song; that the relationship is almost broken because of his issues. Props like cigarettes and lighters will also create a similar effect, but also that is dependent on such things in order for him to feel in control. Props such as cards and skateboards will be used to convey his street orientated life, lacking sophistication and manner that may be seen as desirable. He has no motive in life other than drink, drugs and being on the street; the artist's concern.

We picture our artist to dress very plainly in a white t-shirt or floral dress with eyeliner and a faded lipstick to establish her image; typical of an indie artist in order for the audience to be able to relate to thier simplistic style and therefore possibly adopt it to become more like them. Iconography for the artist will only include the guitar she is playing, also conventional to the indie genre as it shows pure talent and originality.

Editing ideas 

Editing will begin in the video as being slow, in order to harmonise with the song. We will typically use straight cuts and jump cuts in order to successfully show and establish the narrative rather than using complex editing to take the focus off the story. Slow editing is conventional in the indie genre as artists feel the music is more significant than the music video; it establishes an image of themselves as being dedicated to the music rather than the fame that comes with it, a relatable image in which appeals to the target audience. Rihanna's song 'We Found Love' has inspired us to use a time-lapse to exaggerate the couple arguing over his alcohol consumption. The time lapse will portray how the male is feeling; disorientated and all over the place as a result of his alcohol/drug consumption. It will also emphasise their issues as their appear to be stuck in the same position while the world around them is moving forward. Fast-paced editing at the chorus which is only slightly faster than the verses to engage the audience and encourage them to remember the chorus and therefore this makes the video and song more memorable.

Cinematography ideas

Cinematography in the video will be very simplistic in order for the audience to focus on the narrative rather than the complex cinematography. However we aim to use a range of shots including; mid shot, long shot, panning, tracking etc in order to engage the audience through the use of a variety of shots without boring them through lack of range of shots. 

Music video theory we wish to apply

We will follow Goodwin's theoretical point of the relationship between the lyrics and visuals as that is what our narrative is based on; the lyrics speak of a couple who are having issues as a result of the boyfriend's problem with drink and drugs, in which there will be an illustrative relationship with the visuals as we aim to show such relationship to the audience in order for them to understand the song more.

Artist representation

Style of music video: Our video will be divided between a high narrative percentage (70%) and a performance element too (30%) A concept element is not necessary because we are not aiming to sell/promote our audience an idea or theme. Our narrative consists of a deteriating relationship between a male and female actor due to the males alcohol addiction. It will support the lyrics "He's just misguided I think" and "He wears a bottle inside his vest"

The artist will be in the relationship, telling the audience of her problems and therefore will be presented as concerned and no longer happy with her relationship now, in many people can relate to as it is likely that they have similar emotions and therefore she will be easily related to. At the beginning of the video she will be happy with her relationship to show the stages of her relationship; from happy to no longer happy with her relationship as this is effectively portrays the stages of a breakdown of a relationship.

Target audience

Although our artists target audience is rather niche as she has only just started in the industry as an Indie artist, we aim for people within the teenage to young adults range (particularly females who can relate to the song lyrics/our video content) to be our audience.

Codes and conventions of our music genre

By watching other videos of the Indie genre, we have noticed certain genre characteristics appear regularly including artist representation; an everyday but talented individual who is focused on the simplicity of their music rather than 'sugar coating' it to make it more complex and 'exciting'. There is a conventional significance of the emotion in their music as it is based on the song, not their image, in which we will adopt when representing our artist in order for her to be easily related to.

Also, there are key iconography pieces conventionally used in indie music videos including guitars, typically played by the artist. This conveys to the audience that the artist is in fact talented and not a 'commodity' to be consumed by the audience, proposed by Richard Dyer. Guitars suggest that this is how the artist first became interested in music (typically starting by busking) which shows dedication and realism, rather than a quick climb to fame. Our artist will be seen playing a guitar as our target audience are more likely to be able to play guitar than be able to sing as well as the artist themselves, allowing them to build a relationship with them through similar interests/hobbies and feel more like them.

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Second meeting: 30/09/13

Following our previous meeting, in this discussion we have decided to alter a few of out original ideas in order to make our video more appealing and conventional to the genre. We also started to draw up a rough storyboard as to how we intend the video to start. In order to do this, we also started to annotate the lyrics of the song in order to maintain the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals for the audience to understand more of the song.

Changes we have made and why:

Location Ideas:

Instead of using the beach at Southend/Brighton, we have decided base the video in London as it much more diverse in what we can film. There is more location where we can film the couple having fun including the small beach by the River Thames, Brick Lane which consists of several bars/restaurants and also skate parks by the south bank to show the male's street and rebellious side. The time lapse will be much more effective as well as London is much busier and therefore there will be more people going around them emphasising that they are in such position alone.

Other Changes:

We have also decided against our original idea of including the artist in the relationship.  Richard Dyer proposes that a successful artist will be both present and absent in order to maintain the interest of the audience in which we feel is relevant; therefore the artist will performing throughout the video in order to be 'present' but will also be 'absent' when the narrative is being shown. We have decided to use two separate actors to play the couple that the video is based on in order to create such an effect. It allows the audience to focus on the artist and narrative separately, which may be less confusing for them to understand and focus on the image of the artist rather than their acting skills. 

Storyboard:

Rough storyboard to show how our video will begin

We intend to start the video with photos of the couple throughout the relationship to convey to the audience that they were in fact happy, in which this begins the portrayal regarding the breakdown of their relationship; from good to bad. The frame will then transition to the artist singing to show the audience the image of the artist. allowing them to begin to build a relationship with them. The audience will then see a 

photo of the couple at the beach, which will be zoomed into to transition the frame to a beach scene as this portrays the couple as happy and romantic. The video will continue with the couple in various locations in London. You can see the finished version of our storyboards on the blog post: Storyboards

Annotated lyrics

We began to annotate the lyrics of the song in our second meeting in order to develop our ideas regarding how the video will develop. We intend to have a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and therefore, by annotating them we began to discuss how we could effectively do so so that the audience can understand more of the song. For example, we discussed an idea for the lyric 'He goes out till the lights up, he doesnt care for the day mmm' in which this would consist of the couple being on a field when the sun is rising, showing that he is out at all hours of both the day and night, presenting his rebellious nature. By having them both there, it suggests that the girl is 

effected by his attitudes, that she is also out because she loves him and attempts to accept the way he is; however later in the video we intend to show that she is no longer willing to accept such behaviour. You can see the finished version of our lyric annotation on the blog: Lyric Analysis

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Third Meeting: 11/10/13

In this meeting we discussed other existing music videos that are significant in inspiring the content of our music video as well as the structure. 

Katy Perry - Thinking of You

This particular video was inspirational in terms of how our video will be structured as it has a similar storyline to our narrative. Katy Perry performs within the narrative as well as being the girlfriend in the video, identical to our idea in which this gave us a inspiration as to how we could also effectively achieve this. The video begins with a distressed Katy, suggested to be because of the loss of a former boyfriend, however the audience are unaware why he has gone, where he has gone etc. The video continues by showing the old memories between the two which is juxtaposed with her current state to emphasise her loss and discontent. When portraying Katy as unhappy, she is performing the song which is included in the narrative, as she is in a bedroom with another man. While performing she looks out the window and metaphorically and literally looks back on her old memories. The audience then find out that her former boyfriend dies in the war as we see him get shot in a war like environment. 

The structure of this video is similar to the structure in which we wish to achieve as it addresses similar emotions such as loss and unhappiness. As a result of watching this video, we have determined how we are going to structure the video as there being a contrast of happy times and bad times, much like this video achieves. It will consist of not physically looking back on her memories but will be mentally. Also there will be a performance from the artist to convey emotion for the audience to relate to, much like the artist does in this video. 

Rihanna - We Found Love

This video is inspirational in terms of our music video as it shows a conflicted relationship between two individuals who have lost each other because of it; much like the narrative of our music video. This video in particular influenced the motif of light in which we have chosen to have in order to represent the relationship as being out of control form the use of lighters, sparklers and fireworks. 

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Fourth Meeting: 18/10/13

In our fourth meeting, we annotated the lyrics of the song as a group, in order to get a deeper understanding of the song and interpret this into our music video so that the audience also understood the song in more depth. We first annotated the lyrics in terms of the hidden meaning behind each lyric so that our interpretation was more imaginative rather than simply illustrative. We then annotated the lyrics once again, in terms of how we wanted the music video to be structured in order to correlate with the lyrics. To see our annotations go to Lyric Analysis blog as all ideas that we had, can be found there.

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