For the music video, I have thought of two possible narrative ideas that I could use. I asked some members of my target audience what they thought of the storylines and in this part of the blog, I am going to record their opinions.
Below are the two main ideas that I came up with for the narrative of the video:
The first person that I asked who was in the target audience was my brother, who is 21: "I prefer the first narrative to the second narrative because the first narrative seems more interesting. I also think that the first narrative will keep the audience interested in the video for longer."
The second person I asked who was in the target audience was my close friend, who is 16: "I think the second narrative is better than the first because it is less complicated. The first narrative seems too complicated and could confuse the viewer."
The third person I asked in the target audience was my sister, who is 23. She said, "To me, the first narrative seems like it would suit the audience more. This is because there appears to be more happening in the first narrative."
The fourth and final person I asked in the target audience was my friend, who is 17-years-old. She said, "In my opinion, the second narrative seems too generic. I've seen a lot of music videos where people are just at a party dancing."
In summary, it seems that based on the feedback from my target audience, I should consider using narrative #1 for my music video.
For this section, I created a questionnaire which I then handed out to members of my target audience. (Based on the Internet research, I have put the target audience for my music video at between the ages of 14 and 24).
Below is the questionnaire that I asked people to fill out and then hand back to me.
The first question asked was if my target audience listened to music that was in the charts. Out of the 10 responses that I had, 7 people ticked the box that said 'yes' - this tells me that members of my target audience usually listen to the music in the charts, apart from the few who may not like music that is in the mainstream.
The second section of the questionnaire was asking about music videos. The first question in this section asked 'what draws your attention to a music video?'. Out of 10 responses, there were a mixture of answers.
2 people ticked the box about being drawn to a music video by costumes and make up.
3 people ticked the box about storyline.
1 person ticked the box about editing.
1 person ticked the location box.
3 people ticked the box about performance.
Based on these responses, the majority of people said that they are drawn to music videos by the storyline and the performance. This tells me that these are the two factors that I should focus on when filming my music video if I want to appeal to the target audience.
Besides Joseph Kahn, another director who has inspired me is Sophie Muller. She has inspired me because she has directed music videos by some of my favourite artists such as Maroon 5, Rihanna and OneRepublic. The videos that Sophie has directed always include different camera shots. This impresses me as it means the audience are never looking at the same shot of the artist so they do not get tired of the video. Therefore, the audience will keep watching the music video until the end.
Maroon 5 - 'She Will Be Loved'
I am impressed with this video because it has a clear narrative and a range of different camera shots are used. The narrative of this video is that the lead singer of Maroon 5 - Adam Levine - has a girlfriend but is in love with someone else and does not know how to tell his girlfriend.
The narrative of the video - both girls are on Adam's mind.
The camera shots used in this video include several close-ups, extreme close-ups and long shots.
An example of a long shot used in the music video.
OneRepublic - 'Love Runs Out'
With this video, I am impressed with the many different camera shots and the way that the mise-en-scene is used in different shots. The camera shots that appear in this video inlcude close-ups of the different band members, a number of a mid shots and many long shots.
A mid shot used in the music video.
One of the things that I am very impressed with in this video is the background lighting and how it is used in different shots. For example, in one shot the background is light blue to possibly symbolise the possibilities that are out there when it comes to love and sometimes, the background is dark blue, possibly showing the anger that love can sometimes bring.
This is the part of the blog
where I have researched about the kind of target audience that would be
interested in pop music. I am doing research into pop music because this
is the genre that I would like the music video that I make to fit into.
A number of videos have been released in the past few years that have inspired me. While some have inspired me through their use of camerawork, others have inspired me through their use of editing and mise-en-scene.
Who is a director who has inspired you?
One prominent music video director that has directed many of my favourite videos is Joseph Kahn. In recent years, Joseph Kahn has directed many videos for Taylor Swift, including 'Blank Space' and 'Wildest Dreams'. With both of these videos, a lot of emphasis is put on the narrative and the mise-en-scene. This makes the videos interesting to watch as the audience become captivated by the narrative and want to watch until the end of the video to see how the story portrayedwill end.
Taylor Swift - 'Wildest Dreams' In the video for 'Wildest Dreams', the narrative centres around an actress - played by Taylor - who is filming a movie in Africa. While in Africa, she begins secretly datingthe actor who is the co-star in the movie. Once the filming of the movie is completed, the two actors go back to America and they have stopped dating each other. From then on, it centres around the two of them still having feelings for each other but not being together. This video impressed me when I first saw it because of the use of mise-en-scene. The video is set in the era of Hollywood glamour and this is evident from the costumes, make-up etc.
The representation in the video of classic Hollywood glamour.
A range of camera shots are also used throughout the video. These camera shots include extreme close-ups and long shots.
An extreme close-up used in the video.
A final thing about this video that impresses me is the editing. I am especially impressed with the editing at the beginning of the video because the shots all dissolve into one another and this creates a sense of suspense.
The montage of shots at the beginning of the video.
The fifth and final music video that I am going to be analysing is 'Drag Me Down' by One Direction.
Conventions of a general video from the genre of pop music include it being set somewhere bright and shows people having a good time in the summer. This One Direction video does fit the stereotype of a typical music video from the pop genre as it is filmed in a location where the sun is streaming in. Not only that, but, the four members of One Direction appear to be having a good time.
There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. The line in the chorus "drag me down" can be heard as we see the group training to become astronauts. This fits the theme of the lyric and the whole song. This is because the group are training to become astronauts and so, are preparing for a lack of gravity. This tells the audience that the members of One Direction are so in love that can nothing can drag them back down to Earth - not even gravity.
As well as there being a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, there is a clear relationship between the music and visuals. The video is edited so that it cuts to the beat. One clear example of this during the first 14 seconds. On the sound of a guitar chord, the video cuts from a close-up of One Direction member Harry to the narrative of other One Direction member Niall training to become an astronaut. This tells the audience that the narrative is important asthe group get closer to singing the chorus of the song. An example of the video cutting to the beat. Another example of the video cutting to the beat is at 55 seconds into the video. A clear beat of a drum can be heard multiple times and when each one is heard, a quick montage of a variety of shots of the members of the group can be seen. This tells the audience that each member of the group is of equal importance.
Throughout this video, there are several close-ups of the artists throughout this video. This creates the impression that all of the members of One Direction are of equal importance. It looks like the record company are showing the audience that the track is about being in love and being 'on top of the world'. This is clearly shown through the group members and the expressions on their faces.
Examples of close-ups used throughout the video. In this video, there is approximately 50% narrative and 50% performance. For the narrative aspect of the video, the members of One Direction are training to become astronauts. This is shown to the audience by the fact that the boys are training at NASA and can be seen putting on the uniform for the astronaut in the very first shot of the video. For the performance aspect of the video, all four group members can be seen singing in what looks similar to an aircraft carrier. This shows the audience that the group are dedicated to the narrative and the performance being related to each other. Narrative in video. Performance in music video.
In conclusion, this One Direction video is a usual music video from the genre of pop because it is set in a place where the sun can be seen streaming in.
