Initial Target Audience

Initial Target Audience

      Now I have chosen the song I wish to do: "Nina Nesbiit - Glue", I need to decide on my core target audience so I can produce my media texts to target the correct people. I have initially  decided to target males and females aged 15-20. I have decided this target audience because this is the audience who would listen to the song I have chosen. My target audience will primarily be females because of the female lead singer. However some males would also enjoy the music so I will try to make a effort to target them too. The target audience I have chosen at this stage will be the same audience across all of my media texts; a music video, a digipack and a music magazine advertisement for a new album by my artist.

    As well as my target audience, other audiences would be existent for my media texts. Those below the age of 15 which is the bottom limit of my target audience may enjoy the style of music, indie, so may listen to my artist and purchase her music. Those above the age of 20 may also enjoy the music as they once belonged within the target audience and their like for the style of music has continued as they have grown out of the target audience.

    To investiagte my target audiences wants and expectations from music videos, digipacks and music magazine advertisements I am going to create two questionaires which will be filled out by people within my core target audience and also those out of the target audience age range. The first questionaire will be based upon generic questions about how people view music videos, listen to music and their purchasing habits. The second questionaire will be more focused on the audiences expectations of a indie genre music video and their viewing habits so I can include their expectations in my planning for my music video.



New York Video School - How To Shoot a Music Video

 On the 10th of July in the media lesson, we looked at a video on YouTube. It came from the New York Video School and was titled"How To Shoot a Music Video"

There were several notable things I learnt from this video.

• The male in the video began by suggesting the first shot in a music video, the establishing/,aster shot should be a wide angle long shot of the location and the band/artist. The purpose of the establishing shot is to introduce the artist/s featuring in the video and to start establishing a narrative along with a location. Therefore the idea of using a wide angle long shot works well and I may incorporate it within my music video
• After the establishing shot he suggested that there is single shots of each band member at a time. These shots should be mid shots and close ups to introduce the band member. As I am using a solo artist this is not relevant to my music video. However the idea of mid shots and close ups being used is very important and something I already plan to do within my music video as it is one of Goodwin's generic conventions from his theory.
• There are two types of lighting which can be used within a music video. Natural lighting and pictorial lighting. Natural lighting is wear a shot is naturally lit by the sun for example or lit with lights to make it seem natural. Pictorial lighting is where you light a scene with maximum drama and expressionistic lighting. I learnt that using both these methods of lighting within a video can create a dynamic look to the visuals making it more interesting for the audience to watch. I will consider these types of lighting when filming my music video.
• There are two types of shooting. The first is using a tripod to create a steady shot and the other is hand held camera. Hand held camera can be effective to create a more naturalistic documentary real life feel to a music video. It can also be used to highlight the pace of a fast song. In my music video, to achieve top marks I know I need to be able to show that i can create a steady shot so using hand held camera all the way through wont be viable. However I may try using the technique in parts of my chosen song: "Nina Nesbitt - Glue" as it will fit in well with the lyrics.

Nina Nesbitt Lyrics

"Nina Nesbitt - Glue" Lyrics

Verse 1

1,2 open up the door                                 

3,4 Answer your phone but you don't do any of those things do you

5.6 I deserve more

7.8 we've flown to the floor you’re sliding down my ladder of priorities         16.12 seconds

Chorus 1

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now the waters coming in we're sliding apart

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now we're not sticking we've gone dry                                                       14.84 seconds

Verse 2

It was all suspicious, on the edge wondering what you were doing

when the back of my head was showing, and your two faces were looking

When will you ever come around, no wait it’s not the right way around

Cause it was all always my fault wasn't it just                                                  15.53 seconds

Chorus 2

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now the waters coming in we're sliding apart

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now we're not sticking we've gone dry                                                       14.84 seconds

Verse 3

And I don't want to be a bore

But I'm telling you this aint happening anymore

So please sit down and we'll have a chat

But whatever you put on your hat you think you cool

Don't let me fall down the same ropes that you did do

NO don't let me fall down the same ropes that you did do                                31.69 seconds

Chorus 3

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now the waters coming in we're sliding apart

I, I, I and you-ou went together like glue-ue-ue

But now we're not sticking we've gone dry                                                       14.84 seconds

Verse 3 Repeat

And I don't want to be a bore

But I'm telling you this ain’t happening anymore

So please sit down and we'll have a chat

But whatever you put on your hat you think you coool  
You think your cool.                                                                                            19.39 seconds

2.21 Minutes in total

Nina Nesbitt is signed to the Universal Music Group. This is one of the big four recording companies in the world. Therefore to use these lyrics I will need to write to Universal to try gain permission as they own the copy write.

Music Choice

Now I have deconstructed music videos of different genres and have a better understanding of the generic conventions, I am going to start work on my own music video for a brand new artist.

I have decided to focus on the Indie genre. I have decided this genre because of the creative style of the genre which I discovered in my deconstructions. With this style I could use all my creativity and all of my skills such as animation techniques to create a interesting, visually pleasing music video.

When doing my deconstructions I came across a song which I believed had high potential to be the song I use in my music promo video to launch my new artist. The song I found was "NeverShoutNever - I Love You 5"

    The reason why I thought this song had potential was because of the clear lyrical story within it which would aid me to create a music video keeping to the generic convention of the shots matching the lyrics for the song. Since discovering the song I have been keeping a look out for a person who could become my new artist and star in my video. Originally I looked for a male since the song is sung by a male. However after listening to my peers comments about how Christofer Drew, the lead singer, sounds almost female I looked for a female. I did not have any success finding a person to star as my new artist which would fit Christofer Drews voice. I then took the alternative path of looking for covers of the song so I could still use the lyrics to influence the music video. However after browsing Youtube and Myspace it quickly came apparent that none of the covers on the Internet were good enough quality to use for my music video.

    I therefore had to find a new song, preferably with a female artist as I have many more female peers willing to participate in my coursework meaning I have more options about who I pick to match the voice of the song. To find a song I used YouTube to browse through many unknown artists. I eventually came across a song by "Nina Nesbitt" called "Glue".

    I liked this song because of the similar feel and style to my original choice "NeverShoutNever - I Love You 5".  The music video for the song is also very simple and repetitive with simple drawings which links to the lyrics of the song being drawn on lined paper. Because of the simplistic video, I can create my own version and it be unique.  The video has only been seen by a relatively small amount of people with the music video having 71,300 views to date(4th of July 2012) since its posting date of 15th November 2011.

Animation Work Shop

On the 21st of June 2012 I was lucky enough to be part of a Animation workshop run by Mark Charlton. At university he had studied animation as he had a interest in it from when he was a child. In the early 2000's he set his company called Blue Star animations. His first projects that he was commissioned to do was some music videos. For example "GOLDEN THREAD - Passenger featuring Matt Corby"

In the morning of the workshop we tried out 3 different methods of  stop motion animation. These were:

1. Pixalation
2. Stop motion animation using pictures and using drawing
3. 3D animation

Below are our try outs as a group using all three of the types of stop motion annimation.

In the Afternoon we were then given the task of creating a opening to a music video using a pre-existing song using the animation techniques we had experimented with in the morning. We chose to do the song "Beastie Boys - Intergalactic". We chose this song because of its long music introduction and its retro style.  We decided to use stop motion animation because of the futuristic sound of the song.

Our example:

I am considering using some of the animation techniques I learnt in the workshop within my video to make it stand out and attract many different target audiences. 

Video Deconstruction Analysis

Deconstruction Analysis

Throughout deconstructing 6 different genre music videos, I found several generic conventions that all music videos keep too. I also found genre specific generic conventions which were unique to each genre music video.  Andrew Goodwin put forward several generic category  that music videos all follow.

    The first category is: "Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics". I found this in all the music videos i deconstructed. In each video the clothing of the artists represent their genre style. The music video "Gotye - Somebody I used to Know" subverted this generic convention as the artist wasn't wearing any clothes. However the purpose of his nudity was represent the creativity within the Indie genre which then helps this music video fit into the above category.

    The second category is: "There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals". I found this in all of my music videos. For example in the music video "Eminem - When I'm Gone", during the lyrics: "Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for? Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?" Eminem lifts up this sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal a tattoo on his arm. Another example in one of the music videos I have deconstructed would be in the music video "Kanye West - Stronger".  There is a jump cut during the lyrics:"You can be my black Kate Moss tonight". The music video then cuts to a medium close up of a Asian young woman. She is pretty just like Kate Moss therefore representing the lyrics of the song.

     The third category is: "There is a relationship between music and visuals". The best example of this within the music videos I have deconstructed is in the music video "Hollerado - Americanarama" This music video is one long continuous shot of a group of people in a grid holding up different visuals throughout  the song to make it look attractive and creative. The different images and patterns they create happen to the beat of the music, lyrics or guitar chords. This is to help represent the 'rocky' beat within the song and creates a relationship between the music and the visuals

    The forth category is: "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. The use of the close up camera angle is evident across all of the music videos I have deconstructed despite their genres. This use of close up shots helps to sell the artist using their appearance and clothing to the target audience. A example of a artist who has developed motifs within their work is Gotye. He only became very well known worldwide with the release of his song "Somebody I Used To Know" which was the one i deconstructed. The second most watched music video on YouTube by "Gotye" is "Gotye - Hearts a Mess". This music video uses animation just like in the music video of "Somebody I Used To Know" that I deconstructed.

    The fifth category is: " There is frequently reference to the notion of looking and a particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body". The first part of the statement I did not find much evidence to support. However the second part about the voyeuristic treatment of the body I did find in some of the music videos I deconstructed. However the representation of women did seem to vary from genre to genre.  In the R&B genre music video I deconstructed, "Beyoncé - Run The World (Girls)", the woman within the music video are dressed provocatively throughout. Generally in the rap genre woman are represented in a similar way to the R&B genre. However the rap genre video I deconstructed " Eminem- When I'm Gone" this wasn't the case and it subverted conventions. The reason for this is because even though he was singing about a female he was singing about his daughter.

    The sixth category is: "There is often a interextual reference". I found evidence for this in the pop genre deconstruction of the music video " Carly Rae Jepson - Call Me Maybe".  From my own general music knowledge I identified a music video which was very similar to "Call Me Maybe". This was the music video: " Bowling For Soup - 1985". It had a almost identical location to Carly Rae Jepson's video; a suburban  street. The chorus for both songs was also preformed in a garage.