Audience research is essential in order to understand our audience. We are producing a music video and digipak for them so our product needs to be able to attract them and suit them.
Below we interviewed Gurjit who is 17 years old which is around the age group we are producing our music video and digipak for. I have asked Gurjit questions and intended to compare his feedback to when we would ask girl audiences the same questions.
From this feedback we have learnt that rnb love songs usually have the same sort of artist image, according to Gurjit. He keeps refering to American artists which shows he may not notice the differences in music videos by American and British artists. This could mean that the artist image does not give much of an effect on the audience in this sense, so you cannot tell whether they are American or British by their image in some videos. Gurjit mentions that he 'expects to see a male and a female' in the music video. He also give examples of what kind of settings, 'like a car or a park', which could be a date scene. He also mentions that the song 'My Boo' by Usher and Alicia Keys reminds him of 'Breathe Easy', which we have already looked at and analysed.
We then questioned a female audience (Simi and Nikita) with the same questions. Below is the video.
They mentioned that Breathe Easy is a kind of song that they could relate to which shows that girls could understand the song more and be emotionally connected, which could mean that they could have more ideas for a music video if they can relate to the song. The girls also said that they expect to see a music video with a guy and a girl, like Gurjit had said. There ideas suggest that they are on a date or getting ready to go on a date, 'they could meet at the end'. They said that they could relate the song to T2- Heartbroken, which they said is a love song aswell and it is British. The suggest that the artists both should be represented with casual clothes which is very original.
We then has a group discussion of how we could portray 'Britishness' in our music video. We wanted to know how it is possible to portray it through image and location as we delibrately want our music video to look British. We also have trouble on how we portray our male artist. We are a female group and we wanted to know what male audiences would suggest we could do to present our male artist. We have established that our male artist is sort of Grimey through the song as he is rapping in the song. However Breathe Easy is a RnB song which makes it difficult to present our artist.
From this discussion we have established that working on our locations and image could make our music video more British. Locations such as: Bus stops, Famous places like Hyde Park etc. Also through clothes like it wa suggested that a football shirt should be worn to show the artist is British (obviously a British football team). When asking: 'How do you think our male artist should be represented?', a member of the audience said 'like me' as he says he likes the song and the genre of music it fits into. He says that the artist could dress in jeans and a t-shirt which is very casual but according to our male audience, it works. We also established that the fact that Breathe Easy is a love song will not change the character of the male artist and they way he dresses. The reason we asked whether it could was because people usually consider people who are urban and grimey to be associated with the streets and its not usual that you find two people in love and talking about eachother the way the lyrics are in our song.
Questionnaire
We made a questionnaire to get further research on our music video. We believe the more we research our audience the more we will understand them more and create a better music video.
Online Questionnaire
These are the results we got on our questionnaire from the people who did it
Questionnaire Results
We has also created a group on facebook to get people to comment on the song we have chose and answer a couple of questions
Facebook Feedback
Analysing Album Covers and Magazine Adverts
The following are digipak covers from British artist that have music in a similar genre to 'Breathe Easy'. I have analysed them and noticed certian features that are similar on all of them.
Alesha Dixon Album Cover Front and Back
Leona Lewis Album Front and Back Cover
N Dubz Album Front and Back Cover
From analysing these Digipaks I have noticed that the main features seem to be:
1) An image of the artist
2) A title of the artist names, usually big and eye catching
3) The album title
4) Track names on the back of the cover
5) A barcode
6) Some information on the album at the bottom with small text usually stating whats also inside the album and the official website of the artist
7) Possible the artist name and album name on the back cover as well as the front
Below is an advert we have found from an RnB male artist. The artist is American, however it is still useful to look at the advert and deconstruct it. I think this will help my group as when we make our magazine advert we know what to include and how things should be presented. However we need to be creative and consider the fact that our artist is British when doing this.
Chris Brown
By looking at this advertisement I have noticed that the main features include:
- Artist name
- Names of album or track released
- Image of the artist
-'In stores now'
Alesha Dixon Album Cover Front and Back
Leona Lewis Album Front and Back Cover
N Dubz Album Front and Back Cover
From analysing these Digipaks I have noticed that the main features seem to be:
1) An image of the artist
2) A title of the artist names, usually big and eye catching
3) The album title
4) Track names on the back of the cover
5) A barcode
6) Some information on the album at the bottom with small text usually stating whats also inside the album and the official website of the artist
7) Possible the artist name and album name on the back cover as well as the front
Below is an advert we have found from an RnB male artist. The artist is American, however it is still useful to look at the advert and deconstruct it. I think this will help my group as when we make our magazine advert we know what to include and how things should be presented. However we need to be creative and consider the fact that our artist is British when doing this.
Chris Brown
By looking at this advertisement I have noticed that the main features include:
- Artist name
- Names of album or track released
- Image of the artist
-'In stores now'
Artist Image
Now our group have decided on what song we would like to pitch for, we need to create an artist image for the music video. As our song is from the RnB genre, we realise that our image created needs to reflect this. Therefore research must be conducted in order to create our artist image.
The song 'Breathe Easy' is a British song. Therefore we want to create an artist image where the artist looks British. We began by researching artists that had songs that were similar to 'breathe easy', but all of the artist that we chose were American. Our group had decided to research British artists. Also, in our song the main singer happens to be the female singer. We will be focusing more on the female artist image then the maile artist image.
Analysing Artist Image- Pictures
Alisha Dixon
Estelle
Tulisa- N Dubz
From looking at current artist images, it has given me a couple of ideas on the image we want our artist to have. Below are a couple of ideas that we have on the clothes our artist should wear.
Artist Image
After looking at clothes for our artist, we have decided to dress and take pictures of Naina (the girl who is going to be playing our artist). Below is a slideshow of the pictures we took of her in different clothes for our music video.
More about our artist (female)...
Makeup...
Artists wear make-up differently depending on what event they are attending. In this case we are looking at make-up in music videos. We want our artists make up to be neutral but still glowing. This Below are closeup pictures of certian artists that i have been researching such as Tulisa, Alicia Keys, Estelle.
Tulisa Makeup
Above is a printscreen shot of a N Dubz video called 'Ouch'. She is wearing blue eye shadow and black eye liner to make her eyes stand out, especially because the video is shot at night in the dark. She is wearing light blusher and a light coloured lipstick. Her eyes are made to stand out most in this video.
Alicia Dixon Makeup
Here again is a printscreen shot of Alicia Dixon in her video 'Breathe Slow'. The video is edited in black and white. Obviously this means her makeup has no colour. But she is wearing eyeshadow as you can see the light shine of her eye lids. She is also wearing glossy lipstick as you can again see light shining of her lips. Her makeup looks simple, but we are un able to see what colours she is wearing which makes it difficult to judge that.
Estelle Makeup
This is a shot of Estelle in her video 'American Boy'. The video again is black and white. She is wearing black eye makeup, like eyeliner and mascara. She doesnt look like she is wearing any eye shadow. She is wearing a very shiny lipgloss too.
On youtube i have found a video of a makeup tutorial. The girl is showing viewers how to do makeup the way she has done it. I like the makeup in this video because it is very simple but looks good. I think this makeup will be ideal for our music video.
Accessories and Hair
Tulisa
She is wearing gold flashy earrings which go with her skin tone. She isen't wearing any other accessories that can been seen in the pictures. I think the reason for this is because her earrings look very big and heavy and there is possibly no need to wear anything else.
Her hair is curly, which makes her look very girly. Her hair is also blonde/ gold, matching the earrings she is wearing.
Estelle
She is hardly wearing any asseccories apart from bold silver bangles that look abit unusual. She is wearing no earring or necklaces. Her shoes matches her outfit and her hair look abit old fashioned which could possibly match the song the is dressed for (american boy).
Alicia Dixon
She is only wearing earrings that are bright silver and sparkly. Her hair is curly/wavy which again makes her look girly. Her hair is black and her earring are silver which make the earrings stand out more. Also her whole outfit is formal and she is obviously dressed for an occassion so she would have to wear more flashy jewellery.
We want out artist to be wearing simple jewellery like possible hooped earring and a simple pendent necklace. Out artists hair is medium lengthed so she could do a variety of hairstyles but usually leaving it down and straight.
Male Featured Artist:
SAM!
He will be wearing casual street wear clothes and will be wearing typical street accessories like an earring or a chain. He will be wearing trainers from a footwear shop like footlocker or Jd Sports
Picture of our artists together...
Due to some problems with our artists being able to film the video we decided to change both our artists completely. Our artists are now Simi (me) who will be playing the female artist and also Nik santos who will be playing the male artist. We realised it was not much of a problem changing our artists as they will be wearing the same clothes and accessories and makeup that we decided on before.
The song 'Breathe Easy' is a British song. Therefore we want to create an artist image where the artist looks British. We began by researching artists that had songs that were similar to 'breathe easy', but all of the artist that we chose were American. Our group had decided to research British artists. Also, in our song the main singer happens to be the female singer. We will be focusing more on the female artist image then the maile artist image.
Analysing Artist Image- Pictures
Alisha Dixon
Estelle
Tulisa- N Dubz
From looking at current artist images, it has given me a couple of ideas on the image we want our artist to have. Below are a couple of ideas that we have on the clothes our artist should wear.
Artist Image
After looking at clothes for our artist, we have decided to dress and take pictures of Naina (the girl who is going to be playing our artist). Below is a slideshow of the pictures we took of her in different clothes for our music video.
More about our artist (female)...
Makeup...
Artists wear make-up differently depending on what event they are attending. In this case we are looking at make-up in music videos. We want our artists make up to be neutral but still glowing. This Below are closeup pictures of certian artists that i have been researching such as Tulisa, Alicia Keys, Estelle.
Tulisa Makeup
Above is a printscreen shot of a N Dubz video called 'Ouch'. She is wearing blue eye shadow and black eye liner to make her eyes stand out, especially because the video is shot at night in the dark. She is wearing light blusher and a light coloured lipstick. Her eyes are made to stand out most in this video.
Alicia Dixon Makeup
Here again is a printscreen shot of Alicia Dixon in her video 'Breathe Slow'. The video is edited in black and white. Obviously this means her makeup has no colour. But she is wearing eyeshadow as you can see the light shine of her eye lids. She is also wearing glossy lipstick as you can again see light shining of her lips. Her makeup looks simple, but we are un able to see what colours she is wearing which makes it difficult to judge that.
Estelle Makeup
This is a shot of Estelle in her video 'American Boy'. The video again is black and white. She is wearing black eye makeup, like eyeliner and mascara. She doesnt look like she is wearing any eye shadow. She is wearing a very shiny lipgloss too.
On youtube i have found a video of a makeup tutorial. The girl is showing viewers how to do makeup the way she has done it. I like the makeup in this video because it is very simple but looks good. I think this makeup will be ideal for our music video.
Accessories and Hair
Tulisa
She is wearing gold flashy earrings which go with her skin tone. She isen't wearing any other accessories that can been seen in the pictures. I think the reason for this is because her earrings look very big and heavy and there is possibly no need to wear anything else.
Her hair is curly, which makes her look very girly. Her hair is also blonde/ gold, matching the earrings she is wearing.
Estelle
She is hardly wearing any asseccories apart from bold silver bangles that look abit unusual. She is wearing no earring or necklaces. Her shoes matches her outfit and her hair look abit old fashioned which could possibly match the song the is dressed for (american boy).
Alicia Dixon
She is only wearing earrings that are bright silver and sparkly. Her hair is curly/wavy which again makes her look girly. Her hair is black and her earring are silver which make the earrings stand out more. Also her whole outfit is formal and she is obviously dressed for an occassion so she would have to wear more flashy jewellery.
We want out artist to be wearing simple jewellery like possible hooped earring and a simple pendent necklace. Out artists hair is medium lengthed so she could do a variety of hairstyles but usually leaving it down and straight.
Male Featured Artist:
SAM!
He will be wearing casual street wear clothes and will be wearing typical street accessories like an earring or a chain. He will be wearing trainers from a footwear shop like footlocker or Jd Sports
Picture of our artists together...
Due to some problems with our artists being able to film the video we decided to change both our artists completely. Our artists are now Simi (me) who will be playing the female artist and also Nik santos who will be playing the male artist. We realised it was not much of a problem changing our artists as they will be wearing the same clothes and accessories and makeup that we decided on before.
Music Videos that Inspire our Ideas for a Music Video
This video is in the same genre as the song we have chosen. It is the same sort of style aswell, the couple are on a date at a fun fair and they are singing about each other. The girl is singing and the guy is rapping. It is like a typical teenage date at a fun fair where the guy wins the girl a teddy bear.
Ja Rule and Ashanti- Mesmerize
In this video below they are singing about eachother and you know this when the camera cuts to their faces from time to time. They are getting ready to meet eachother after a long time. The last time they saw eachother was when they were younger.
Usher and Alicia Keys- My Boo
Ja Rule and Ashanti- Mesmerize
In this video below they are singing about eachother and you know this when the camera cuts to their faces from time to time. They are getting ready to meet eachother after a long time. The last time they saw eachother was when they were younger.
Usher and Alicia Keys- My Boo
Inspiration for music video
Below is an inspiration board of every image that comes into my head when i listen to this song. These images inspire me for the music video
Mood Board
Below is a powerpoint presentation of the sort of images i think this song creates which should be made obvious in the music video.
Images
Mood Board
Below is a powerpoint presentation of the sort of images i think this song creates which should be made obvious in the music video.
Images
Songs That I Like
There were 4 songs out off all the possible songs that I liked. Below are brainstorms of the Music Video ideas that I have for each of the songs.
Breathe Easy
Castaway
Super Girl
sure shot
Breathe Easy
Castaway
Super Girl
sure shot
Songs for Music Video
We were given songs that we could use for our coursework. We listen to them all, analysed and commented on them whether we liked them or not. Below is a document of my views on the songs. The one that are bold and pink are the ones that I liked the most along with my group.
Possible Songs for Course Work
Possible Songs for Course Work
What Have I Learnt From Analysis Of Album Cover and Music Video
I have learnt that there is always some kind of relationship between album covers and the music video. So when making an album cover i should make sure there is a relationship to the video.
Album Cover Analysis: Beyonce: I Am Sasha Fierce
Front Cover:
- Similarily to the Michael Jackson album cover, the artist image is the main focal point.
- The colours are simple
- Not much editing done, there is just an image of the artist with the artist name and album name text in the left and right corner.
- The artist looks seductive through her facial expression (eyes), she is a male gaze
- Artist has a religious cross hanging from her hand, shows religion. This could be reflected in her songs ('Halo' being an example)
- 'I am...' is written at the right corner of the album, makes the audience turn over to see the end of the sentence.
Back Cover:
- She is again the main focal point ( through her image)
- Her pose and clothes is sort of extreme, questions her being religious.
- Colour scheme is simple again, black and white
- She is wearing one of the outfits she wore in her video ( single ladies)
- Track names are very small and plain text
- 'Sasha fierce' is written at the back left corner, after 'i am' on the front cover.
- Similarily to the Michael Jackson album cover, the artist image is the main focal point.
- The colours are simple
- Not much editing done, there is just an image of the artist with the artist name and album name text in the left and right corner.
- The artist looks seductive through her facial expression (eyes), she is a male gaze
- Artist has a religious cross hanging from her hand, shows religion. This could be reflected in her songs ('Halo' being an example)
- 'I am...' is written at the right corner of the album, makes the audience turn over to see the end of the sentence.
Back Cover:
- She is again the main focal point ( through her image)
- Her pose and clothes is sort of extreme, questions her being religious.
- Colour scheme is simple again, black and white
- She is wearing one of the outfits she wore in her video ( single ladies)
- Track names are very small and plain text
- 'Sasha fierce' is written at the back left corner, after 'i am' on the front cover.
Album Cover Analysis: Michael Jackson: Bad
The pursose of analysing album cover was to help us understand the features on album covers that make them stand out to the audience. This would help us when we would create our own covers as part of our coursework.
Michael Jackson- Bad : Album Front Cover
- The colour scheme on this album cover is simple and plain
- The cover does not look complicated
- The artist shows attitude through his facial expressions, also by showing his fist clenched.
- It is obvious that the artist is the main focal point in this cover as everything else included does not seem to stand out as much as he does, apart from the name of the album 'Bad' which is shown in a different colour to the rest of the text.
- I thought that the possible reason for the album looking very simple could be because the artist is already a well known artist. Therefore it is possible that he does not need to focus much on presenting the album cover to attract audiences so much, the artist is what makes the album cover and attracts the audience.
Back Cover:
- The back is even more simple the the front
- White and black colour scheme is used
- Another picture of the artist, main focal point
Michael Jackson- Bad : Album Front Cover
- The colour scheme on this album cover is simple and plain
- The cover does not look complicated
- The artist shows attitude through his facial expressions, also by showing his fist clenched.
- It is obvious that the artist is the main focal point in this cover as everything else included does not seem to stand out as much as he does, apart from the name of the album 'Bad' which is shown in a different colour to the rest of the text.
- I thought that the possible reason for the album looking very simple could be because the artist is already a well known artist. Therefore it is possible that he does not need to focus much on presenting the album cover to attract audiences so much, the artist is what makes the album cover and attracts the audience.
Back Cover:
- The back is even more simple the the front
- White and black colour scheme is used
- Another picture of the artist, main focal point
What Have I Learned From The Assessment Criteria?
I have learnt that i will need to make sure i keep my music video interesting throughtout so that the people watching will not get bored easily. I will do this by trying to edit well with a variety of camera angles and shots. I need to also focus on lip syncing making sure it matches the lyrics well. I need to focus on the setting and lighting aswell and make sure the environment will be suitable for shooting.
Coursework Assessment Criteria
In this lesson we looked at music videos made by other students like we will be doing for this coursework and we analysed them.
Fantastic Six
Good things in the video:
- The camera shots and angles were good
- The editing was also good
- The lighting looked professional
- The group was creative with their video, it was different and unique
Possible Improvements:
- Some of the shots were blurry, like in the super market. It looked like different cameras where being used. Group could have reshot.
- lip syncing was slightly slow, could have reshot or edited better.
My Neighbours House
Good things in the video:
- Good editing and special effects
- Good lip syncing
- Camera was still
- High angle shots of guitar was different and good
Improvements:
- Sometimes the camera was in one place which got boring after a while, they should move the camera and the shots around quicker.
- The zooming in and out was not that steady
Powers
Good things about the video:
- There were many special effects in the video
- The screen was split into 4
- It was different to other videos made
- The lighting was good
- Enigma codes
Improvements:
- The use of split screen made it confusing at which screen to look at
- The use to text on the screen made it even more confusing
Fantastic Six
Good things in the video:
- The camera shots and angles were good
- The editing was also good
- The lighting looked professional
- The group was creative with their video, it was different and unique
Possible Improvements:
- Some of the shots were blurry, like in the super market. It looked like different cameras where being used. Group could have reshot.
- lip syncing was slightly slow, could have reshot or edited better.
My Neighbours House
Good things in the video:
- Good editing and special effects
- Good lip syncing
- Camera was still
- High angle shots of guitar was different and good
Improvements:
- Sometimes the camera was in one place which got boring after a while, they should move the camera and the shots around quicker.
- The zooming in and out was not that steady
Powers
Good things about the video:
- There were many special effects in the video
- The screen was split into 4
- It was different to other videos made
- The lighting was good
- Enigma codes
Improvements:
- The use of split screen made it confusing at which screen to look at
- The use to text on the screen made it even more confusing
Music Video Analysis: Super Furry Animals- Golden Retriever
My first impression of this music video was that it is a rock video as the music instruments such as the electric guitar was shown. The video looked upbeat and loud, aswell and the music.
The camera work is based in a certian setting throughout the video. There are closeup shots of the main band artist when he is singing and also of other members of the band. Long shots and medium shots are also used with a range of angles. There is alot of editing put into this video as it is easy to tell that special effects are used.
This is a performance based music video as the band is performing. Editing and special effects along with the camera work is used alot in this video to make it more interesting rather then just another music video of an artist performing.
Impressions of the artists is that they seem rather unusual and 'weird'.
Music Video Analysis: Geri Halliwel
The first impression of the music video was that it looks different as it does not begin with music playing like normal music videos. Throughout the first couple of seconds of the video i was unsure of what it was going to be like as you see a women dressed in revealing clothes and the camera reveals her body. I then realised she was going to dance infront of judges sitting down who looked rather smart and sophisticated. This lead me to guess that the video was going to be based in the pop genre.
The camera work includes long shots, medium shots and close ups through out the music video. The editing is fast and sometime cuts to the beat of the music. The camera work can represent certian things in the video. Such as there are low angle shots of the artist to make her look more superior. Also, there are shots of her legs and stomache to make the artist look seductive.
There are many music video conventions displayed in this video. The lyrics match the visuals throughout most of the music video. Also the artist is featured in the video and she is mouthing the lyrics and dancing.
This music video seems to be based on the movie called flashdance. The reason i think this is because at the beginning of the video she is dancing infront of judges, trying to impress them.
Britney Spears Video Shoot
We were given a task to produce a music video to the Britney Spears song: Hit me baby one more time. We had to shoot the first minute of the song. This video was based in a school as there are shots in a classroom, school corridors and a gymnasium (sports hall). This made it easy for us to make the video in school. By doing this task it allowed us to practice on apple imovie on how to edit so when we would do our main coursework task we had some experience. We also learnt camera shots and put these to use while filming our music video. We planned the shots we would use, making them similar to the real Britney Spears music video.
I feel by doing this task it has made me more confident to use imovie so when i am doing the main coursework task i have more experience and i know where the tools are. This will allow me to work more confidently with my coursework.
I feel by doing this task it has made me more confident to use imovie so when i am doing the main coursework task i have more experience and i know where the tools are. This will allow me to work more confidently with my coursework.
Coursework Brief
Our coursework Brief is:
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
-a website homepage for the band;
-a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
-a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).
We have the opportunity to work in groups of 4, but will be marked on individual contribution to the project. We will be making the cover and the advertisement for the digipak.
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
-a website homepage for the band;
-a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
-a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).
We have the opportunity to work in groups of 4, but will be marked on individual contribution to the project. We will be making the cover and the advertisement for the digipak.
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