Audience Research

Qualitative research:

We played our track to 5 different people that are into the genre R'n'B. We then asked then a few questions and made conclusions on all the answers we got back.

1. Did you like the track?
    - There was a variety of responses to this particular question. Most people said they liked it, however some did say that it was a little slow or a bit vague in terms of the content of the song.

2. What type of person would like this track?
   - The most common answer to this question was that typically teenage girls would like the track, some said that girls going through break-ups or troubles with relationships would too.

3. Which age range would you typically associate with this song?
   - On average people said between 13-18 years of age - girls!

4. How would you picture the band/lead?
   - All of them obviously said woman, attractive and quite young. Some also said that the lead would seem strong and dominant in character as well as maybe seeming a little bit broken which would link in with the content of the song.

5. What sort of music video would you expect to accompany this track?
   - 'An emotional, reminiscent video' - A women singing about her relationship, fashionable clothing and lots of hand-grabbing!

6. If performance, where and what type?
  - As the song is quite urban, a lot of the participants suggested the artist walking around in places that are in our everyday lives, which would make the lyrics more realistic and help the audience to relate with the artist and her feelings. The type of performance would be simply the artist singing directly to the camera with no instruments as that would suggest that there is a band.

7. If narrative, what sort?
  - When listening to the lyrics, the participants said that it may be hard to make a narrative to this song as she is not singing fully about a break-up. I then asked, if there was a narrative however what would they expect? And they responded saying there would be a lot of scenes of a couple together, fighting and making up.

I have learned that a lot of R&B music videos seem to have all very similar meanings to a lot of the audience and they seem to understand that a lot of R&B songs are about break ups or love which attracts them more as it is a desire in people's everyday lives to find someone that they love. It also helps the artist look more like an ordinary person than a star as the music video makes them look as if love is a weakness of theres as well.

This effects the creative process of ours in a big way as it supports our decision to change using a narrative. Although many R&B music videos have narrative, the people who answered my questions agreed that doing one for this song would be hard. It also means that we are challenging a typical music video and makes ours look a bit different. It has given us encouragement to carry on filming a singer who sings directly into the camera as it links in with the artist connecting with their audience.

Micro Element - Cinematography in our music video

In our music video, we want to use a variety of camera techniques to create an interesting and effective video that will engage the viewer. Also, each camera technique has a purpose to either film something simply in the detail needed, to follow action on the camera and to create meaning. 

Camera shots

For camera shots, we will be using close-ups to film the artists face as it is essential to get close-ups of the artist anyway to make it clear who is singing. Extreme close-ups and big close-ups can also be used on the artist, props or other characters to show high detail for the audience to see clearly. This will focus on particular objects that could have symbolism or  create tension, such as a close-up on an image of a broken heart to symbolise heart ache, or a shot of the artist's eyes to make her glare into the eyes of the audience to make them feel uneasy. 

We can also use medium close-up's, medium shots and medium long shots to view the artist's body as well. This will allow the audience to see the artist's costume and figure, as well as the background where props and setting can be seen to set the mood or create representations. We will also be able to see gestures or body language (made by the artist or other performers) that relate to the lyrics or beat of the music to emphasis or fit the move. Medium shots will also allow more movement with the camera, such as tracking the artist. 

Long shots, very long shots and extreme long shots will be good for establishing a scene or showing the audience more of the background and location that relate to the song. In our video, we are planning to use projections and green screen, which means we will need to use a shot that is further away from the artist to see the images in the background. The images and footage will narrate the couples relationship to convey memories they have had, while the artist is the focus, singing to the camera. 

With these variety of shots, we will also take shots around the artist instead of just one place, so we do not deter the audience by using a dull sequence of shots in the same position. 

Camera movement

For movement, we are going to be using a tripod to get steady shots, but will be also using handheld at times to create tension in the video, and represent the artist's frustration with how her relationship is going. We will also be using handheld for the footage that will be used in the background to represent memories (such as holding hands and hugging) as this will make the camera look like home footage that is personal to the artist: this reflects her looking back on her memories. We can also use dolly movement and tracking shot to follow the artist so the focus is on her, but we also plan to keep the artist in a certain position in the centre of the camera using direct address, with effects in the background to emphasis the narrative of the lyrics and emotions from it. Zoom in's can also be used to emphasis a moment in the video that is important for the audience to notice, or to allow the audience to see more detail of a part of the mise-en-scene that has symbolism or meaning (such as images of hearts to symbolise love). Zoom out will help let the audience see more mise-en-scene in the video to understand what is going on around the artist and relate to the song. In our case, we have a song on heartbreak, so the mise-en-scene will be sad and depressing. 

Camera Angles

For camera angles, we were thinking of using high angles to make the artist look vulnerable as she is wounded from her heartbreak. Dutch angles can also be used to create an edgy look to the video, and communicate to the audience that the audience is feeling nervous and sad. 

Theoretical Study into Audience: Uses and Grafitications

Blumler and Katz argued that audiences are ACTIVE not PASSIVE and approached and use media products for the following reasons:

Diversion (a form of escaping from the pressures of life of every day)

Personal Relationships (where the viewer gains companionship, either with the television characters or through conversations with others about television)

Personal Identity (where the viewer is able to compare their life with the lives of characters and situations on television, to explore, re-affirm or question their personal identity)

Surveillance (where the media are looked upon for a supply of information about what is happening in the world).

Using this criteria - for what reasons would an audience appraoach/use your media product?

1). Are they going to be entertained? 
Editing of footage will work with the music, with cuts been made on the beats of the music to make sure the video flows with the song. We are also thinking of including many effects to make the visual elements of the video engaging. We are also looking for strong performance/acting from the cast we have picked to lip sync the music we have picked. We will include direct address with the artist to make the audience feel involved in the video, and make the emotions expressed by the audience more believable.

2). Personal Relationships
The song 'Love and War' by Rita Ora is about the fights within relationships, which will spark a debate between the audience on whether the artist is actually having any problems with their partner. A lot of artist's express their feelings and their experiences in songs to release the thoughts they have locked in their minds. They share their problems with the audience, and therefore we feel closer to them as they are basically sharing their problems with us like they would to a friend.

3). Personal Identity 
The song's subject matter raises questions on the artist and the issues they are raising. In our video, we will raise awareness of fighting in relationships, which will question the audience on their own relationships and the importance of them. Anyone else who is also facing hardships within their relationship will watch our music video and relate to it. They will feel every word of the lyrics and take it on board to express their own feelings. The video will help to emphasis the meanings of relationships in the song by using different micro elements to create symbolism, mood and representations, such as low angle shots to make a person look vulnerable. The video is also used to show the artist is also in the 'same situation,' which makes people look up to them as they believe that they are facing the same problems they are.

4). Surveillance
The media is hot on many artist's heals to get juicy stories and gossip, but also to find out more about them: whether it would be their musical career or personal life. When the media get news on their personal life, the audience feel closer to them because from this, they can see that they do not have perfect lives either like everyone stereotypes them to be. When it comes to their musical career, the artist has their own unique image that the audience can recognise them by and take inspiration from to influence their own style (therefore, advertising the artist's image). In our music video, the artist's image will be casual, but fashionable to attract a teenage audience: the fact that the artist is female will attract males. The issue of relationships is also similar to those faced by teens, so they will listen to our music video as the subject can relate to them.

Using Final Cut once we have shot the footage with the Green screen

From thinking about possible ideas when we use the green screen to film our music video. I was wondering how we can actually turn our ideas into our music video. On Youtube I found these Final Cut tutorials on how to change the green screen into a background colour or how to add a photo/film footage as a form of layer.



The tutorial above shows us how to change the background colour using final cut and the tutorial below shows us how to add images/ photos into the background.

Theoretical Study into Audience

b) Focused and Ambient Audiences

David Beckham explains that some audiences are not as deliberate or active in their consumption. He believes that it is essential to situate young people's media use within the context of their other social media use within the context of their social activities and experiences due to the fact that many people are using the media as a wallpaper: a wall of noise to fill up 'down time' or just to pass the time due to boredom. That many of their interactions with the media are not contrived, committed or concentrated but fleeting, visceral and meaningless.

Focused Audience can be catered for with.....

• innovation
• strong narrative
• clever use of effects
• detail
• use of meanings 

Ambient Audiences can be catered for with.....

• non-linear editing
• quick editing
• strong performance
• multiple costume
• location change
• simple narrative
• superficial effects

How are you accommodating for these two audience types?

For a focused audience....

To accommodate for a focused audience we are going to use objects that link and symbolises the meaning and lyrics of the song. For instance, we are going to include heart shaped lights or an animation that we will place behind the artist, which will be added after using Final cut. We will also film the male and female artist holding hands to symbolise their relationship. If we use an animation or image of a heart we could make it explode to symbolise the  title 'war' to represent visually a bomb exploding however this could also represent the shattering of their heart for fighting with their loved one and representing their heart ache.

As we are going to film using a green screen we can add lots of effects including overlaying - such as overlaying images or film footage using symbolism. We can also use a range of coloured filters to appear more engaging for the audience. In addition, we can practise with a range of depth of fields to add a different insight.

We decided not to use a strong narrative as we want to focus on using effects, however we are going to include symbolism for parts of the lyrical narrative.


For an ambient audience....

To accommodate for an ambient audience by filming a range of different angles, close-ups, mid shots etc. We will link all these different footage up and cut them in appropriate places to form lots of quick edits.

We have chosen two people who we believe will be perfect for our music video in terms of performance. Both people are reliable, confident, but serious which we hope will make a strong performance.

As we are going to use a green screen we thought would be great as we can change the background to whatever suits our need, and if it doesn't work we are able to change this. We might in a couple of shots film without the green screen in real location.

At first we were focusing on a narrative for our music video but have now decided to change to a simpler performance, but with lots of effects. We will use simple narrative by using props and footage that symbolises and represents the lyrics such as the ups and downs of relationships. In addition, we will include a few symbols that represent the title 'War' in 'Love and War 'however these will be subtle as we believe war=fighting e.g fighting in a relationship.

Booking the Camera and Green Screen

We have booked the Conference room (D3) from 12.20 to 2.40 on Wednesday 17th October. We have booked the green screen, lights and camera so that we can film our music video.

Lighting Ideas Inspired by other Music Videos

Due to changing our plans on the style of our music video, we have had to think of alternative ideas. We discussed that we didn't want a narrative, so we are going to create a video that has more effects and focus on the artist.

I have had a look at many different music videos that do not have a direct narrative. Last lesson, we discussed that we liked the ideas of using a lot of lighting in the music video, so I tried to get videos that had effective lighting effects. I came across 3 videos that I thought had effects that could be good to use in our music video:

We Found Love - Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg

In this video, a projector has been used to project filmed footage in parts of the video throughout on top of Rihanna. The footage is of clouds, buildings falling and isolated land which connotes the idea of feeling depressed and breaking down. It reflects well off Rihanna and creates a unique way of using lighting to connote furthur ideas and emotions of the artist. We could use this to achieve the same effect.

Airplanes - B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6-c223DUU

In the video, lighting is used to create silhouettes of Hayley Williams, the artist who features in the video. This makes her figure stand out, but the dark lighting also hides her identity like she doesn't want to anyone to see the state she is in. However, it could connote that she is in a dark place as well, which is similar to the mood we want to express in our music video.

There is also overlays used in the video of lightning over the top of footage which I thought would be effective to create a dream-like feel that represents the artist is being thoughtful and thinking about her relationship.


There is also flashing lights in the video to create tension with different light filters. This picture shows a blue light filter over the artist to make the atmosphere look sad and cold.

Ring the Alarm - Beyonce 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_mrU8MPfI

In Beyonce's video, she also represents herself as hurt and broken as her partner is cheating on her with another woman. They use red lighting in this video to represent her anger. The light moves like a search light, which could be good for our videos as search lights are used in war, and could reference the war aspect in 'Love and War.'

Beyonce is also filmed in the corner of a room with only a little light. It looks similar to a spot light which would also be good for the war reference. The location of film in this picture makes her look cornered and vulnerable, which is the macro element we would like to express as the song has depressing lyrics.