Questionnaires Results for Planning & Research(Music Video)

For my planning and research I created a questionnaire to determine the target and secondary audience for my chosen genre on music. The questionnaires were in-depth and featured mainly qualitative questioning, for example, the sample audience were asked to list things i.e. lifestyle factors and their associations with their chosen genre(s).

When collating the results I have used pie charts when collating results from quantitative questioning, but due to the qualitative questioning and the list style answers, I have opted to display some of the answers given in spider diagrams supported by statistics and analysis. As my music video fits into the Indie/Alternative Rock genres I have focused my presentation around the sample audience of nine people. I have however identified the conventions of other genre’s in order to avoid crossing over in the planning and production of my music video.

From these questionnaires I have been able to narrow down and specifically target the primary and secondary audiences in a way that allows me to question things previously stated in the original questionnaire in a more in-depth manner.

R'n'B

Rock

Metal

Grime

Indie

Alternative

Pop

Hip Hop/Rap

Trance

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

Favourite/most watched Genre of music video?

For this question I only took one answer per questionnaire, but took into account the other ‘favourite genres, in attempt of identifying some links between genres.

9 of the 20 asked, watched and preferred Indie/Alternative music videos, and none stated that they had another ‘favourite genre’ of music video. Whereas the 2 ‘R’n’B’ fans both circled Hip Hop/Rap, and likewise from the 2 Hip Hop/Rap fans. This tells me that the target audience for my music video are people that know what they like and can possibly be guilty of ignoring or blocking out other genre’s. with this considered I have decided that the video should conform to the social ideals and the sub-culture’s own view of their genres.

continued… The ‘Sample Audience’Of the 9, that make up the sample audience, 6 are male, 3 female, 7 are students in higher education, 2 work full time, all enjoy live music, socialise regularly and 6 can be considered as part of a interactive audience as they regularly share music links via social networking sites, promoting new and existing artists.

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

male

female

Higher Educa-tion

Employment

64%100%

5 out of 9 of theSample audience stated that the attitude of the band/lead singer was important. For oasis to be mentioned I feel that this element is important as Liam Gallagher's stance on stage is almost iconic and this can be seen consistently through music video’s regardless of genre or when it was produced, i.e. Serge Pizzorno – Kasabian and Jimmie Hendrix, iconic shots of

his performances are allover the world.

Other than the music. Why do you prefer the chosen genre(s) of music videos?

I asked this question to gain insight into what the sample audience looked for in their choice of music video i.e. attire, performance, role models etc.In the Indie/Alternative categories sample audience of 9 stated the following:

‘the clothes worn in music video’s’ – ‘Dress sense and

style’

84% of the sample audience stated that the clothing worn in a music video is important. This shows that performers are seen as style icons by fans and sub-cultures alike.

‘seeing the band perform’ – ‘the

instruments’

76% of the sample audience sated that they liked to see the band performing and the instruments. This leads to thoughts that in further planning the performance shots should include close up’s of instruments.

‘Attitude, like in oasis

videos’

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

Can you list things that you associate with your chosen genre?

I asked this question to understand the factors that support the music and help define the genre.

Audience Research - Questionnaire Results

‘Clothing ‘

100% of the sample audience said that clothing was important. the clothing worn identifies the genre of music and the sub-culture that follows. When these results are compared with the results from the previous question it can be seen that clothing is a fundamental part of this genre and should be a prominent feature in the music video.

‘Gigs’ and ‘Bands performing’

92% stated that live performance and seeing the bands perform are important for the fans of the Alternative/ indie genres, this can be used in the production of the music video when considering how much band performance should be included.

‘Lyrics about society and life in general’

66% stated that the lyrics in the songs should have meaning and focus on society and life. Although I can not alter the lyrics of the song I can emphasise selected lyrics and their meaning through elements of mise-en-scene.

‘women’ and ‘relationships’

66% stated that the lyrics in the songs should have meaning and focus on society and life. Although I can not alter the lyrics of the song I can emphasise selected lyrics and their meaning through elements of mise-en-scene.

The Sample Audience

regularly attend gigs

Attitude and lifestyleHairstyle

Inte

rnet

/ Soc

ial

netw

orki

ng

More male than female Clothing

Alcohol

Socialising

Audience Research - Questionnaire ResultsIn the second part of the questionnaire I focused on what audiences would like to see in a music video, the questioning is more quantitative and I have used this to put in place a framework for the planning and production of the video.

Do you like to see an intro in a music video?6 out of the 9 prefer a small intro into a music video therefore I feel that the music video should feature an introduction that conforms with the genre conventions and instantly establishes the genre and the band.

How much artist performance and storyline do you like to see in a music video?7 of the 9 stated that they prefer band performance to storyline, this may be down to the fact that the sub-culture of the genre are heavily influenced by the bands they follow in

terms of appearance and attitude and enjoy live music, showing that the performance is possibly of greater importance than it would be in other genres. I think that the mixture of performance and storyline may be a better option than having a clear divide between the two.

How do you mainly watch music videos?The majority of the sample audience watch music videos via theInternet, only 1 of the 9 watch them mainly on television. When Creating the video and looking for feedback, I will use the internet To gather feedback.

yes no01234567

storyline performance012345678

internet tv0123456789

Audience Research - Questionnaire ResultsFavourite current music video? I asked this question in order to gain a starting point for my analysis of other music videos (product research). I asked for current videos as these will have the current conventions for the genre. I chose the 4 most matched to the music by O.K. Corral and will analyse 1 area of production i.e. camera, per video.

Kasabian – Switchblade Smile

Arctic Monkeys – A View From Kings of Leon – the Afternoon Charmer

Camera Editing Mise-en-scene Representation

Kasabian

Switchblade smiles

High & low angles, zoom, panning shots, group shots, close up, medium and extreme long shots. Varied speed of zoom and panning shots.

Fast cuts, graphic matches, fade. Diagetic sound, synchronous with drum beat and lyrics. Bold red copy is placed in the video to accent the word move and is synchronous with the lyrics

Lighting – the lighting in the video is artificial, high contrast and suits the black and white style well.Props – for the video all of the instruments were sprayed matt black in order to keep the black and white theme consistent.Performance – the bands performance reflects the attitude of the song and hold the audience’s attention.Costume – the clothing is typical of the genre and would appeal to the target audience.

The band are seen to be aggressive, confident and laree. All of this conforms to stereotypes of the genre and the sub-culture that follows. These ideas of aggressive attitudes and confidence are supported by the black and white theme, the band being dressed in black shows power but at the same time unites them in the eyes of fans and audiences, the instruments are given ‘pride of place’ also as they are all black, showing the importance of them. The video as a whole seems to embrace ideologies rather than conforming or subverting them.

Arctic Monkeys

A view from the afternoon

High & low angles, panning shots, group shots, close up, medium shots and master shots. The video features the least in terms of variation of camera shots but was shot on the lowest budget, the video is still effective and is idolised by fans.

The editing that features is, as the camera, quite basic, however the speed of synchronous cuts holds the audiences attention and is appropriate for the tempo of the song.

Lighting – the video features ambient and artificial lighting. There is a change in lighting that almost signals the start of the song and the drum.Props – there is little use of props in the video, instead the location is used for mater shots etc.Performance – a member of the band features throughout and this maintains both performance and narrative at the same time. The video is symbolic and has more meaning in terms of references to society and life than any of the others. The performance in the video is important and is the key feature in the video’s success.Costume – the clothing worn in the video is stereotypical of genre and of the different people seen i.e. The lads that are seen throwing chips are dressed in a way that conforms to stereotypes.

There is very little representation of the band themselves in the video. But the audience can draw from the video that the band aren't afraid to point out the cracks in society and that they will make music about social circumstances, this in a way conforms with the genre whilst subverting social ideals. the video is subtly rebellious and symbolic of the problems that appear in the lower classes and deprived areas of the country. Examples of this symbolism can be seen throughout the video, the wheel running over the cracks in the pavement, possibly reflecting cracks in society. The use of master shots on a sign that states ‘do not throw sharp objects into the children's playground’ with the ‘not’ scrubbed out shows another aspect of living in a deprived area. The song title has a literal meaning and the video shows ‘a view from the afternoon’ on a council estate in Sheffield.

Product ResearchKings of Leon – Charmer.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCd1vXsvkV4&ob=av2n

This video is entirely performance based, however the song has little in terms of storyline when the lyrics are analysed. The performance is however shot in a way that interests audiences and features multiple camera and editing techniques. Mise en scene is used in a way that supports what the sample audience were saying in terms of clothing and props, i.e. the instruments and the live performance style video. The camera supports the sample audience also as the low angles and fast cuts create a idealistic view of the band and their importance.

Analysis – Kings of Leon (Done more in-depth due to this being the closest match to O.K Corrals style of music)

As with the Kasabian video, songs with few lyrics tend to have little or no narrative in the video. This may be due to the lack of narrative within the song, or to leave the song open to interpretation to a sub-culture that clearly have strong opinions. This performance based video allows for the image of the band to be portrayed clearly and this is evident in this video as in the Kasabian video. The representation of the band as a whole is stereotypical in terms of attitude, the lead singer is seen to have presence at the front of the stage and as in all the videos can be seen playing to the camera and is separated from the rest of the band by his clothing, the two guitarists and the drummer are dressed in dark clothing whereas he has a red shirt on, supporting the attitude displayed. The video features editing techniques that ‘shake’ the camera in time with the lead singers voice, this creates a visual impact and generates yet more impact when used in conjunction with the lyrics. The use of fast cuts and varied camera shots and angles create more intensity within the video and this is suited well to the actual song. The low angles and panning shots accent the lead singers presence and bring about a sense of importance and power to the audience. Finally in terms of lighting, as with the Kasabian video and the Arctic Monkeys video, there is a shift in lighting in a section of the video, this change in lighting almost breaks the video up and adds another element to the video when there is no lyrics to keep the audience’s attention, it’d almost as though the video uses a change in lighting to shift the emphasis from audio to visual.

I feel that the video is successful and has many positive areas that conform within the genre. In terms of camera and editing I feel the video has got everything right and when looking at camera, I feel that using this video would in terms of inspiration would be more appropriate than any of the other videos based on the fact that of the three videos, this is the closest in terms of sound and tempo to O.K. Corral’s song.

CONVENTIONS OFTHE GENRE

LightingAll of the video’s feature artificial/

enhanced lighting, this is a common trend within the genre and will be featured in the O.K. Corral Video.

CostumeAttire worn in the videos is associated with the

genre in all 3 videos. When looking back at audience research it is evident that costume is

important as it acts as an inspiration to the sub-culture that follow the genre.

PerformanceThe band performance should reflect the

attitude of the band and the overall feeling of the song as this is what can be seen in the 3

videos I have looked at. So when looking at the lyric analysis for ‘Victor’ I feel that themes of

confidence and intoxication should be generated and portrayed to the audience.Props

In terms of props, all 3 videos use the instruments as these are a huge part of the genre and appeal to the fans in a big way. Q

magazine described Kasabian’s music as ‘real music’ i.e. they play their instruments and

write their own lyrics, a crucial part of gaining appeal to the core fans of this genre. A large percentage of the audience like to see the

bass guitar as much as the lead singer.

Editing The use of editing across all 3 videos shows that cuts match the tempo of the song throughout and are used to

emphasis certain parts of the song i.e. where there is no lyrics, faster

more erratic cuts are used in conjunction with lighting to generate

more visual impact.Camera

The use of camera shots in the 3 videos are pretty standard, from

my product research it is the editing and how the shots are

compiled that gives the video’s the sense of disorder not the use of

camera .