Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Music Video Questionnaire - Results

So overall, I collected results from 22 people. Here are there age ranges and genders:
In my survey, I collected quantitative data. Here are the questions I asked and the responses given:

These results show that music videos are still a popular form of media, especially with young people. However, the way we view them is clearly changing.
People like the music video to be related to the song. If it doesn't, then people become confused and may instantly dislike the song. However, they don't have a preference when it comes to the tone of a music video. I'm guessing as long as it is good quality music video, it doesn't really matter.

Majority of people think that the pace of the video should be in sync with the pace of the song. Too fast or too slow may again instantly put people off the video or even the song and artist. I will have to consider this when creating my video as the song goes at a medium pace. They also like the idea of a hidden moral in the music video. This is good as my music video has a hidden moral, which is that you should think of yourself as perfect and not let the bullies get you down.

As well as collecting quantitative data, I also collected qualitative data in my survey by asking what were peoples favourite/least favourite music videos and why. Here are the general reasons I was given:

Favourite video:
  • Good location
  • Humourous storyline
  • Awesome dancing
  • Beautiful cinematograhy
  • Shows emotion
  • Makes you think
  • Highlights current issues
  • Good props
  • Interesting theme that relates to the lyrics
Least favourite video:
  • Lame visual effects in the background
  • Innappropriate and crude
  • Over the top
  • Too weird
  • Overrated
  • Just dancing-boring after a while
  • Just hate the song!
This has helped me see what generally people like and dislike. I therefore will take all of these answers into consideration when I am creating my music video.

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Target audience

The target audience of my media project would be teenage girls.  They are probably from the socio-economic groups of B, C1 or C2. They're also most likely to be school students too, hense why one of the main locations is a school. 


Plus, the storyline will be relatable to teenage girls because, in this day and age, there a large proportion of teenage girls who feel insecure about the way they look. This song is about feeling perfect, so therefore it will relatable to teenage girls, even empowering. 

Of course due to the penumbra effect, we cannot presume that all of the audience will fit into these categories. For example, teenage boys may also like my music video as well.

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Digital Technology

The digital technology I will be using in order to create my music video are shown below:

Obviously, I'll be using this to film the scenes. It will be my own camcorder from home.



The tripod will support the camera so it is easier to film without any shaking in the film.



I also used a miniature tripod to have a steady camera from low angles. It could also be handy to use when/if doing any hand held shots, just to make the film look steadier.


I'll be using iMovie 09 on the school's iMacs to edit the whole music video.









I will be using the internet to blog my work on blogger. I will also use it to use search engines. 








Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Music Video Questionnaire

I have just made a questionnaire about music videos to help me collect more research about what my target audience want to see in the music video. My target audience will teenagers and will probably be mainly for a female audience. I created the survey using surveymonkey.com

Here is a link to it:

Click here to take survey

I have also posted links to the survey onto Facebook and an internet forum, The Student Room, as most people on these websites are in my general age range (in terms of target audience).

Storyboard with audio commentary



Above is the storyboard for my music video, "Perfect" by P!nk.

Camera work: Variation of close ups, mid shots and long shots throughout the whole video. Birds eye view for when the envelope comes through the door. Some point of view shots from the view of the conscience and the girl.

Mise en scene: The girl will be wearing dark clothing to show that her personality/mood is dark as well. The conscience though will be wearing lighter clothing to show a happier, more angelic personality/mood.

Editing: Cloning will be used to show the girl not seeing the conscience.

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

A Brief History of Music Videos



In 1964, The Beatles starred in their first feature length film "A Hard Days Night", which set the stage for what later became music videos. Two years later, Bob Dylan released a promotional video for his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". This kicked off a new wave of promoting songs through the medium of video.



Top of the Pops was important for promoting bands and their music videos during the 1970s. A good video would increase the sales of the song as viewers hoped to see the video again. For example, in 1975, Queen ordered Bruce Gowers to produce a promo video for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be shown on Top of the Pops, which is noteable as it was entirely shot and edited on video tape.



In 1981, MTV was launched and the song "Video Killed The Radio Star" is the first to be broadcasted on the channel. This sparks a more sophisticated approach to making music videos with added storylines, such as the infamous "Thriller" (1983).



In 2005, iTunes is launched and once music videos could be downloaded from the site, 1 million were downloaded within 20 days. Not only that, internet site Youtube was set up, allowing music artists such as OK Go to become more successful through the ability of viewers watching them online.

Tuesday, 6 September 2011

More ideas I have come up with

So, at the moment, I am currently stuck between three main ideas for my video project. I have decided to write down the pros and cons of them all in order to help me decide.

Raise Your Glass - Pink

The theme for this music video is going to be about being a teenage outcast. In the video, there will be a gang of outcasts called the "underdogs", terrorising the school and defeating their bullies.
I like the theme of this music video because it follows the current tropes of todays music videos. Plus I think it would be a fun project to do. However, my concerns are props, costumes and locations for the video.

Perfect (clean version) - Pink

The theme for this music video is about a typical teenage girl only her insecurities gets the better of her. She's bullied at school, feels that she has to make herself skinnier to feel prettier and has turned to self harming (not sure whether to keep that part in though). However, her "conscience" is trying to tell her that she is perfect but can't seem to get the message across.
I think this will be quite challenging to do in terms of editig because I was thinking of doig some cloning in the video which I learnt how to do with the video tutorial below. However, as the video says, I need to get the lighting exactly right in each clip. Also, the storyline may be a bit confusing or chessy for some people. But then again, it is a music video!




Jar of hearts - Christina Perri

The theme of this getting over a heart break. Typical scenario of a typical break up-girl finds out she's been cheated on (several times?) and is now coming to terms with it.

Again, this may be challenging in terms of editing as I have an idea of having the events where the girl isn't singing in the video in reverse such as the music video below. Then towards the end of the song, the lyrics are "I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed", which gave me an idea that at the end of the video, she could prevent herself from dating him. (it makes sense in my head, don't worry). Only trouble I'd have is with casting really.




Short film (undecided title)

The scene starts with a mother leavig a message on a girl's mobile phone. The girl is the room but doesn't answer it. Her mother says that she's sorry for fighting earlier and that she's looking for her. The daughter grabs a pen and notepad and writes a letter saying how she is sorry but ends the letter with "but now you won't have to deal with me anymore." During the film, it looks as if the girl is suicidal but there's a clever twist at the end (well I think it's clever).

This is a tricky one. As much as I love the idea of it, I think it may be a bit to depressing for me to do this time around. Maybe I could do it in my own time one day.
So overall, I think I'm settled with doing a music video. Now all I need to do is decide which song I'm going to use. Wish me luck!