Research into target audience

For my music video production I am going to have to research into my target audience to see what their expectations of an “indie” music video should be and what they would like to see in it. I will research into the codes and conventions of the indie genre. The target audience for my music video is between 15 and 25. This particular demographic is the one that tend to consume music the most.

Conventions of an indie music video – Most indie music videos tend to be quite obscure and sometimes the narrative structure of them is quite confusing. Indie videos use a lot of live band shots or corporate the performance side into the narrative of the video. i have noticed that alot of music video within the indie genre are very similar. This could on the basis of they aer just copying each other or some of the shots,camera angles and movements in the video are expectations of the indie genre. Here are some examples of some indie video's







.
i put together a questionaire to give to 20 participants within my demographic to see what feedback they could give me around the indie genre. from my reslults i found out that 70% of my particpants said that indie music appealed to them the most. that 70% of the particpants happened to be all female so from my results i can see that indie is more preferred by the female population rather than the male population. On a larger scale this may not be true but thats what i found within my own demographic. I found that within my selected groups their expectations of an indie music video had a lot in common. 50% of that participants based their expectatons around the perfomance of the band within the music video. they mentioned little things the the movements the band makes like tapping their feet ect... Indie is such a wide genre of music so within my group i found that none of my paerticipants favourite artist was the same.
i wasn't expecting this anyway seeing as in only chose 20 participants to take part in it. i found that all 20 of my participants(100%) watched music channels. but the channels they watched varied quite a lot. From my results i found that the most popular way to consume music was through MP3's of ipods and players. the most popular way to consume music was through the internet and Itunes.

Storyboards

Location Scouting

All of our locations will be chosen to convey a certain type of atmosphere and most importantly reflect the emotions of the girl in the video.

Location 1 - Riverside Road/Norwich Train Station.



We have chosen this location as the train station is where the video will all begin. The inital shot will be the girl stepping on to the train, yet becuase the scene is inverted she is stepping off it as we are taking her back to the beginning of the day.
We have chosen to walk down Riverside Road as a de-tour into the city centre. This is becuase we are trying to convey feelings of freedom and escape at this point in the video and therefore we think that the river does this. It is also and open space and a relitivley unbusy part of the city.


Location 2 - Jennylind area flats (Oxford Street area)



As you can see from the images, this area of norwich is very industrial and lacks any grass or trees and is mainly concrete. It has a palete of greys and browns and isn't the most attractives of enviroments. This is where the journey will all begin and thus where video will end. We chose this area as it is the most bleak and holds the least possiblity and oppurtunity. All around this area is just flats and houses and there means the one thing this location represents is Home and the end of a journey. This is somewhat the oposite of what the first/ending location is; the train station.

These locations are conveying the mood of the song in a way that we're showing that our character is trying to escape this horrible life she's in and we're showing this through the run down flat/ indistrial area. The meaning of our video is that she is trying to escape this life and she just wants to be free so this is where walking along the river come into play. The flats are very inclosed and almost claustrophic and the riverside is very open spaced and this creates a huge contrast. As we learned from our AS Thriller work audiences love claustrophobic atmospheres and it drawns them in so we incorparated this into the video. I have a small concern which is tht because our video is shot backwards the Flat scene is at the end and usually you would have it at the start to drawn the audience in. But in defence to that our video is going to be quite abstract( it being backwards) so hopefuly this should attract the audience.

Shot list for video production

Shot list



Shot 1 – The characters are arguing in their apartment – wide angle shot

Shot 2 – medium to close up shot of the male character smashing a vase as female character walks out.

Shot 3 – tracking shot of the girl walking through the estate

Shot 4 – girl sitting on floor smoking – close up of breathing smoke

Shot 5 – close up of drawing/doodling on the floor

Shot 6 – tracking shot of her walking again

Shot 7 – Wide angle shot of Norwich landscape changing – time lapse

Shot 8 – Tracking shot of girl walking along riverside

Shot 9 – cuts to extreme close up of clock changing – time lapse

Shot 10 – Fades into girl walking, slight overlay of clips

Shot 11 – Extreme close up of mobile phone texting

Shot 12 – Medium shot of girl throwing stones in the river

Shot 13 – panning shot of her walking

Shot 14 – Medium shot of girl walking towards camera. Turn into close up and she comes closer

Shot 15 – close up of putting phone in bin

Shot 16 – The Girl gets on the train

Costumes, Props and Actors

This post has been improved by:
- redoing most of it

Actors
Ronnie Cornell(Me)
Rosie Burns



In the music video, to emphasize the free atmosphere as the main character is escaping her reality, we are going to be using a minimal amount of characters and actors in roder for there not to be anything tying the character down that may confuse the viewer. Also we want primary focus to be on the main character most of the time, as this will enable to viewer to be able to identify and sympathise for the character's situation.
Therefore we are only going to include two characters in our media production. Although there will be extras in some of the scenes in busy areas, however these extras will not e fully introduced to the viewer and are not compulsory to the storyline.

Rosie is to play the part of the main character in our production, the character in which the main focus will be following through the whole video. I feel this is a responsibility Rosie is appropriate for as she is a A level Drama Student as well as someone who has worked on our previous productions and therefore knows what is required of her!We are also having rosie because the tracked name(let this white dove sing) and lyrics are based around a girl/woman. Because the lyrics are based on a girl and we're using a female actor it relates to the conventions on the song.

Me and Poppy have decided that i am going to be the second character in our production. When i put my mind to it i am really quite good at acting. Because i am one of the porduction team i will always be present at the locations so we felt i'd fit the male character slot well.

As the artist we are using is 17 years old himself, we felt it would be most appropriate to use 17 year old actors in the video. This was because I think the artist will most appeal to a teenage audience and therefore the audience will most be able to identify to a 17 year old character in the video rather than someone in their mid-30s who might not be having the same life issues as them. The more the audience can relate to the characters the great impact it will have and memorable the video will be.


Props will also be minimalistic to emphasize the character’s freedom. We therefore initially did not want the character to be carrying a suitcase throughout the video as We thought it would ruin the effect of the 'nothing holding me down/back' image that the actor will be giving the audience. We also thought it would ruin some parts of the enigma at the end and make the video seem very predictable. However after second thought We realised that the video may come across as confusing to the audience otherwise and they might not realise she is getting away for good instead of making a simple trip to the train station! we felt brining in the suitcase will make the events more dramatic and final. So overall the suitcase is our main prop because that will be in it the most. We are planning to have close up shots of things happening suck as smoking and thowing a stone into the river. So we will be needing a cigarette and a stone but their will be a stone lying around and rosie smokes so acquiring the props won't be difficult.

The costumes/Clothes that the actors will be wearing will be reflecting the genre of the song. The genre of our artist is Indie/alternative/Acoustic so to reflect this our charactors will be wearing some sterotypical items of indie clothing such as:



Cardigans
Tight jeans
polo shirts( top buttens fastened)
checkered shirts
Pointy shoes/ Boat shoes
Sweaters
Vintage clothing

Let This White Dove Sing - Oscar Laurence

http://www.myspace.com/oscarlaurence

The location in which the final event will happen is going to be in a domestic setting so therefore we are going to simply shoot these scenes in one of the director's homes.





As we are going to be following the character in long shots, we are going to be following her walking through streets to her location. To do this, we are going to be arranging a route throughout the city that we think will include the best surroundings and locations.


Throughout the video we will only be using two characters. We are going to focus primarily on the first character and emphasise that character the most so the audience's full attention is on them. This character will be female. She will showing mostly innocent and run-down connotations. This is because as the song is called 'Let this White Dove Sing', this character is going to be acting as a metaphor for the white dove. As she is the character that wants to be set free and escape. The use of 'White' in the title connotes innocence, and therefore that’s why we are incorporating this into our character.

The second will be a male character. His role will be the love interest or partner of the female character and will be involved in the final climaxing event shots.

Lyric Sheet Annotation

Initial Planning

In our music video, we are going to adopt a more abstract and alternative concept of a music video. Instead of a straight forward narrative/storyline we are going to invert our footage so all our shots are backwards, including everything in them such as people walking or cars driving. As a result of this the viewer will initially be confused towards the start of the video, posing a lot of questions however as the video goes on and reaches the end, it is revealed to the viewer the reasons behind all the previous actions the character has taken throughout the video.
The reason we are using this ‘inverted’ idea is to create an enigma within our video to secure the viewers interest. The use of showing all the events in reversing order makes the viewers question “why, what, how and when” which will therefore encourage them to watch the whole video through.
The storyline will consist of following a female character over a 24 hour period. The use of a central character in the music video gives the viewer someone to focus on and identify to, helping them understand why she has taken her chosen actions in the video.
As the song is called ‘Let this white dove sing’ it connotes possibly ideas of waiting freedom, wanting to be set free to do something you are currently restricted. Therefore I want to emphasis this in the narration of the video, and the climaxing event at then end of the video will be of the character setting her free from some kind of situation.
Other lyrics such as “you take my breath away” and “When you’re with another man I can’t bare” suggests that the song is centred on a love interest or relationship situation, we I think would be good to involve in the final event in the video.
Some other lines in the lyrics have given us more ideas for the video, such as the words “This reality ain’t right” which appears in the building up towards the end of the song. The use of the word ‘reality’ has given us the idea to make the climaxing event in the video very disorientating, using shot sharp shots and abstract angles with the camera. As well as this, because we are inverting all our shots, in these final scenes we would like to use a lot of actions that will look very effective in reverse such as throwing objects and smashing cutlery.
By using effects like this to disorientate the viewer, it will build up more anticipation and confusion in the reader to make them more involved in the video.
We have the idea of using a lot of other shots that will look very effective in reverse to give the video more dimensions and detail. Shots such as clocks put in fast motion in reverse, as this will emphasise the time shift in the video; Similarly, we are going to film the sky above a city landscape at the times of around 5pm-8pm, in order to catch the sun going down. This will also be put in fast motion. I think this would look especially effective as it will capture the movement in clouds, the turning on of some city lights as well as the movement in the sun. This again will represent the time shift as well as acting as a metaphor for changing times, as the girl is going through a change in her life.
We are, however slightly going against the conventions of music videos. This is because we are not going to involve the artist in the video, neither performing or him being a character. This is because we want the viewer’s biggest focus to be on the narration and storyline instead of what the artists looks like.

Videos we have analysed for inspiration are the following:

Modest Mouse - Little Motel.
The main inspiration we got from this is the effectiveness of the inverting and reversing of the storyline. This Video captures the journey of a woman travelling from the hospital with her son to a motel. As the video goes on, the ending reveals a shocking revelation to the audience. I think that this method of impact at the end of the video is extremely effective in capturing the audience.
Another aspect of the video that we liked was the use of padding shots that really give the video more depth as well as effective detail in reverse. These are shots such as when the woman is drawing and writing, the backwards swinging of the keys, driving and traffic in backwards. This all really catch the audiences’s eye as its something out of the norm and looks very interesting.
Finally, similar to our video, it is following one female character which leads all the narration and is the viewer’s main focus. As a result of this, the viewer begins to sympathise and relate to the character.

Coldplay - The Scientist.
This is also a video that uses inverting to create enigmas within the video. The main thing I like about this video is how effectively the climaxing event is. The use of a car crash is pretty conventional and doesn’t hold a lot of imagination, however I think it works especially well afterwards when you see the running up shots of the crash and Chris Martin and the actress laughing and joking, as they have no idea what’s coming, I think this adds the most impact and emotional involvement for the viewer.

Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve
This video does not include any inversion however the whole video is just one big long shot following Richard Ashcroft, I like this idea as it just follows his short journey and how it affects the people he’s walking alongside. I like how they use a dolly camera to follow his pace when he’s walking as the viewer’s total focus is on him and it’s the kind of shot type I would like to use when following our female character in our video.

Conventional and Unconventional Music videos

Conventional - Set your goals - Mutiny





I think this is conventional because this video follows a narrative of two people from a record company looking for the band to sign them. When they find the band the turn the offer down. At the start of the video it consists of the band in a car park dressed up as pirates which relates to the title of the song. The narrative side of this video makes is conventional as well at the shots of the band playing these two conventions crosee over when the men find the band and are watching them in a room.





Unconventional - The White Stripes - Fell in love wit ha girl




I feel that this video is unconventional because it doesn't contain a narrative structure or shots of the band, Theres is no conventional lighting that would fir the genre of the band or any other conventions that would fir the genre of this video

The Online Age is enhancing the music industry

i think that the online age is enhancing the music industry because it allows easy instant access the thousands artists and information about all sorts of music and improves the bond between the artist/band and the audiences. Sites such as Last FM allow the audience to listen to artists without having to go out and purchase the items and with features such as playlists you can easily group your favourite artists together. File sharing is becoming very popular in this age and a lot of people are complaining that it is destroying the music industry. I don't agree with this because file sharing is just like sending a song to your mates but on a greater scale. a lot of people including myself who use file sharing software such as frostwire still go out and but band/artists merch etc.. so i fell that this doesn’t not contribute to destroying the music industry. This online age also allows you to buy merch, CD's posters etc.. off the bands website making it easier to get hold of what you want.

Music Investigation

Informtation acquired from wikipedia

Last FM

Last.fm is a UK-based Internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. It claims over 30 million active users based in more than 200 countries.[1] On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140m ($280m USD).[2]
Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of all the songs the user listens to, either on the streamed radio stations, the user's computer or many portable music devices. This information is transferred to Last.fm's database ("scrobbled") via a plugin installed into the user's music player. The profile data is then displayed on the user's profile page. The site offers numerous social networking features and can recommend and play artists similar to the user's favourites.
Users can create custom radio stations and playlists from any of the audio tracks in Last.fm's music library, and are able to listen to some individual tracks on demand, or download tracks if the rights holder has previously authorised it



How could this affect the future of the music industry?

Last Fm could affect the future of the music industry by enhancing it. This could relate to the easy and instant access to all genre's of music. Last Fm offers free downloadable songs to you aslong side the full tracks it provides. It can also help promote the band by having band/artist profiles and information on the band. Some say sites liek this ruin the music industry because if the yare offering free downloads its costing the bands more money and noone is buying their CD record etc... and with instand acess to thousands of songs tere is no need to buy music. This is an easy way for audiences to consume the music they like so i feel that it affects the music industry ina possitive way



Spotify

Spotify is a proprietary peer-to-peer[1] streaming music program that allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums. Music can be browsed by artists, albums or created playlists as well as by direct searches. Although it is not possible to save the streamed music for use outside the application, a link is provided to allow the listener to directly purchase the material via partner retailers.[4] The program/service in its free version is only available in parts of western Europe during the ongoing beta programme although the subscription model should be available in almost all countries.


How could this affect the future of the music industry?

spotify is similar to Last fm with the instant access to thousands of artists although with spotify it doesnt offer free downloads so you cant only listening to music. Spotify allows music to be played with almost no buffering. i think that spotify also possitivly contributes to he music industry




Urban Tribes and Subcultures


Urban tribes are groups within subcultures.It may be difficult to identify certain subcultures because their style (particularly clothing and music) may be adopted by mass culture for commercial purposes. Businesses often seek to capitalize on the subversive allure of subcultures in search of cool, which remains valuable in the selling of any product.[citation needed] This process of cultural appropriation may often result in the death or evolution of the subculture, as its members adopt new styles that appear alien to mainstream society.[citation needed] This process provides a constant stream of styles which may be commercially adopted.

Music-based subcultures are particularly vulnerable to this process, and so what may be considered a subculture at one stage in its history—such as jazz, goth, punk, hip hop and rave cultures—may represent mainstream taste within a short period of time. Some subcultures reject or modify the importance of style, stressing membership through the adoption of an ideology which may be much more resistant to commercial exploitation.[citation needed] The punk subculture's distinctive (and initially shocking) style of clothing was adopted by mass-market fashion companies once the subculture became a media interest










(Quotation taken from Wikipedia. What does it mean, and what does it tell us about different ways of thinking about subcultures?)


“Subcultures [can be seen to be] symbolic or ritualistic attempts to resist the power of bourgeois hegemony by consciously adopting behavior that appears threatening to the establishment.[On the other hand, other theorists argue that] youth culture is inherently consumerist and integral to the divide-and-rule strategy of capitalism. They argue that [youth culture/ subculture] creates generation gaps and pits groups of youths against each other (e.g. mods and rockers), especially as youth culture is the dominant culture in the west.

Favourite Music Video and analysis of video

Analysis of video

The genre for this band is rock/metal and the genre characteristics of this are shown through the stage presence of the band and their movements. The movements are quite heavy and reflect the mood and genre of the band. There is some relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in the piece but the video does not base its visuals on the lyrics word for word because they would be far too cliché and expected. There are some connections between the music and the visuals for example at the melodic parts of the song the mood of the visual calms right down and the speed of the members movements calms. At the heavy parts the visual becomes more heavy and the members show this through head banding and quite " harsh " movements. Although there is some narrative structure in the video and sort of follows a story there and a lot of shots and the video focus' on the band members this could relate to the record label the band are on the close-ups and different camera shot help to the promote the band and their label. In this video there is a lot of reference to the notion of looking. As the narrative side of the video progresses and the female in shot is walking around there are several posters around the city with the band moving and playing in the posters as if they were a screen themselves. From what i get from this video is that it doesn’t have intertextual references to films, programmes etc.. and consists of a random storyline which you don't particularly follow.

Conventions of a music video

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Music i like

Everytime i die
Deaf havana
Atlas&i
Bring me the horizon
many things untold
comeback kid
brides
Ghotsts on pegasus bridge
Enter shikari
Lower than atlantis
the eyes of a traitor
los campesinos
the horrors
neils children
the fall of troy
set your goals
taking back sunday

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