Questionnaire:
What gender are you?
Male
Female
What age are you?
17-20
20-25
25+
What genre of music do you listen to the most?
Rock
Rap
Folk
Dance
Jazz
DnB
What is the most important element, in your opinion, of a music video?
An exciting storyline
Interesting locations
Visual reference to the lyrics of the song
A dance routine
Images of the musicians singing
Images of the musicians playing their instruments
Sex appeal: Attractive people
Use of special effects, cartoons etc
How often do you watch music videos?
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
All the time
I will now email and distribute this questionnaire to the relevant age groups. I will ask 20 people in total to gain a good understanding of what my main target audience will enjoy best about watching music videos by asking the question: What is the most important element, in your opinion, of a music video? The results I receive will influence how I produce my music video; what type of storyline I should create, camera angles, shots, actors and even locations.
Questionnaire:
What gender are you?
Male //////////
Female //////////
What age are you?
17-20 ///////////
20-25 //////
25+ ///
What genre of music do you listen to the most?
Rock ////////
Rap ///////
Folk
Dance //
Jazz
DnB ///
What is the most important element, in your opinion, of a music video?
An exciting storyline /
Interesting locations ///
Visual reference to the lyrics of the song ///
A dance routine ///
Images of the musicians singing ////
Images of the musicians playing their instruments ////
Sex appeal: Attractive people /
Use of special effects, cartoons etc /
How often do you watch music videos?
Never ////
Rarely //////
Sometimes /////////
Often ///
All the time
The questionnaire results, which will help me in creating my music video, have been helpful by highlighting the main features in what people look for when watching a music video. It appears that they want to see the performer performing the track, weather its singing or playing an instrument. They also want references and links between imagery and the lyrics of the song.
After looking at my results, the majority of people said they would prefer to watch a music video to the song "Under the Bridge" by the RHCP so this is my chosen song. Also the age range of people questioned ranged from 17-30 and they all enjoyed the music of the RHCP. This is because the band have been producing music for over 20 years and are still appearing on music channels and at concerts with new and old songs. Therefore they have their old fan base and are still obtaining new fans as the times change because they have adapted slightly as the times change. I will continue further research into the band and their common features after I have analysed the lyrics of both Ray Lamontagne’s ‘Trouble’ and RHCP’s ‘Under The Bridge. Then I can choose which lyrics I can work with best, visually.
Monday 19 October 2009
Audience Research.
Before I go any further I need to do plan who my target audience is and what they like.
I think the main audience that would be interested in watching the music video are obviously going to be people who like rock and hip hop music. Producing a music video is risky as it needs to reflect the music and musicians correctly and also needs to appeal to the correct audience. Like any other medium, music video’s follow conventions which allow the audience to identify what the genre is. For example in a dance music video you wouldn’t expect to see someone shredding a guitar, with long black hair and baggy trousers as it doesn’t suit the music and they would look out of place as this isn’t following the traditional convention for a dance music video. Though if a video was made to go against the traditional conventions of that genre it could be either loved or hated. Therefore it is easier and more certain to be a success if a video is made which follows the conventions of the particular genre.
To attain some secondary research to help me with initial ideas I have posted a questionnaire on my blog, emailed friends, and printed out the questions, covering a range of topics. After collecting the results of at least 20 people, this will help me to select a target audience and to get to know the audience, what their feelings are toward Folk/Rock music and give me a general idea of the types of things their into. I will begin looking at my results when at least 20 people have participated.
Musician Research.
The artist I have chosen to look into and choose one of their songs is Ray LaMontagne, born June 18 1974 in America, is a soft rock/folk musician. Starting out as a poor shoe maker, he was inspired to follow his dreams after hearing a Stephen Stills song, and since then he has never looked back.He has since released three albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black and Gossip in the Grain. In the UK, Trouble was a top 5 hit, and the title track of the album was a top 25 hit. Ray is a known as a soft-spoken person who is known for his raspy voice, LaMontagne has won a number of awards for his music and has performed at several charity events.
LaMontagne began touring in the summer of 1999, he amassed 10 songs for a demo that he sent to various local music venues. Mike Miclon the owner of Buckfield Maine's Oddfellow Theater heard the demo and invited LaMontagne to open for folk acts. A friend and business executive heard LaMontagne's recordings and introduced him to Jamie Ceretta of Chrysalis Music Publishing. CMP recorded his first album, and sold it to RCA Records in the US and Echo Records in the UK.
There are many reasons why I chose this artist and his song Trouble for my music video. Firstly this is a favorite song of mine and I personally think folk music is under-rated. Secondly I knew noone else would be doing folk music as their genre as it isnt as popular as other genres such as rap and rock. Therefore i knew what i was going to make would be original and will stand out compared to other peoples in my class. Thirdly I wanted a song which meant somthing within the lyrics so i could interpretate them how i wish.
I have also chosen to look into the band the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as I am still undecided about which song to choose.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983. The band's current line-up is Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), Chad Smith (drums) and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar). Their musical style has fused traditional funk with elements of other genres including hip hop, punk rock and psychedelic rock.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik was a significant record for the band; having sold over thirteen million copies, it provided the group's initial mainstream commercial success. Frusciante grew uncomfortable with this new found success and left abruptly in the middle of the tour for the album in 1992, descending into heroin addiction. After recruiting guitarist Arik Marshall to finish the tour, Kiedis, Flea, and Smith employed Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction for their subsequent album, One Hot Minute (1995). Although fairly successful, it did not match the critical acclaim of Blood Sugar Sex Magik and sold less than half the copies of its predecessor. Shortly afterwards, Navarro departed the band due to creative differences. Frusciante, fresh out of drug rehabilitation, rejoined the band in 1998, at Flea's request. The reunited quartet returned to the studio to record Californication (1999), which went on to sell fifteen million units worldwide, becoming their most commercially successful album to date. It was followed three years later with By the Way (2002), which continued their success. In 2006, the group released the double album Stadium Arcadium, giving them their first American number one album.
From the information I have researched I get the idea that the band and band members where typical rockers, with the 'sex, drugs and rock n roll' attitude. This should definatley be reflected in their music videos and posters etc.
Ideas....
Here i have just simply bullet pointed some of my initial ideas for what genre and which musician i can use for my project:
- Few of my favorite artists: Dan Le Sac, Evanescence, Flobots, Chemical Brothers, Ray LeMontagne, Santogold, Micheal Jackson, Kings of Leon, Theory of a Dead Man, Tenacious D, No Doubt, RHCP, Weird Al Yankovic, Bob Marley.
- My 3 favorite artists: Dan Le Sac, Flobots, Ray LeMontagne
- My number 1 favorite song by each of the 3 artists:
- Dan Le Sac - Thou Shall Always Kill
- Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge
- Ray LaMontagne - Trouble
Dan Le Sac - Thou Shall Always Kill -
The genre of this song is rap, and has a drum and bass background to it. If i where to make my music video to this song it would be easy as there are many lyrics which can be interpreted and i could easily make links between the lyrics, images and editing, as i could make the cuts to the beat.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge
The genre of the band is indie/rock therefore, the music video could include a musician Micky mousing as this in conventional to the genre. Also Hull has a Bridge which it could be videoed under, so it related to the title. It would also have to involve friendship and romance, as the lyrics refer to this.
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble -
I think this song would be perfect to make a music video to as currently there is no official music video for it so in no way can i copy whats already been done. Secondly there are visuals which can be linked to the lyrics, and also there could be a narrative structured added to make it more interesting.
Analysis of existing materials: Folk.
Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records and has three released albums from 2007–2009, The song The Good Life was released in 2008. He is described as a modern fusion of folk/ country/ rock musician.
As the beat begins there are 7 cuts to the beat showing different establishing shot locations. This sets the scene and the walking pace for the piece. As the lyrics say' well since you've left iv had no place to be, I'll spend most every day doing as I please' visually we are shown two long shots of a man smashing up his guitar and one of a man walking down a train track (which was one of the establishing shots shown at the beginning) and back to the artist Justin playing and Micky mousing the lyrics. So straight away we know that the there will be a strong relationship between the lyrics, visuals and music. Another example of this is the lyrics "Iv got pockets full of money" and we are shown a long shot again of Justin picking up some money, then a cut so a close up, showing his walking as the lyrics "here it jingle as i walk" are played.
Throughout the video there are references to the notion of looking. For example 1.53 we feel like we are one of his friends/ band members in his room as a hand held camera is used and he interacts directly with the camera and smiles into it. Again at 2.08 the camera is following Justin down the road, and he looks over his shoulder, smiles and welcomes the camera forward like we are his friend.
The performance itself is concept and performance based as there are lots of shots of his playing/ micky mousing and shots of him doing other random things, but they don't follow/ create a story they just follow the lyrics.
From looking into the video I have discovered the conventions of this genre's way of being presented. So when planning mine I need to include:
- Micky Mousing
- Live Performance
- Lyrical interpretation
- Relationship between the music and editing
- Relationship between lyrics and visuals
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