Processing findings

Medium Evaluation
To begin my project, I researched into what my medium is and essentially why it exists. I
utilised the internet when forming my own definition on what a music video is and then
created a survey on what others think they are. From my own research, I gathered that a
music video is a visual interpretation of the lyrics or mood of the song, usually including a
performance from the artist. As this is a feature seen in almost every music video, it is an
aspect I will include in my own video to fit the criteria. From the responses on the survey, most
said a video which is created based on the song is what a music video is, which is in
essence the same as my definition. The next question on the survey was what they thought
music videos are created for, in which the most responses said, to entertain, followed up by
the second most responded answer being to visually illustrate the lyrics of a song or the
message behind the music. From this, it is clear for my music video to be successful it must
be high in entertainment value and effectively show/deliver the message behind the song,
as this is what people want from it. The third question in the survey asked what type of
footage is used in music videos, to which the top 2 responded answers were footage of the
artist and footage of the artist and narrative. These responses reflect my internet research
into what my medium is/includes so it is even more important for me to implement these
types of shots into my music video for it to be effective. The fourth question was what makes
a music video successful, to which the most responded answer was it maintains audience
attention throughout the whole video, followed up by it flowing well/cutting in time with
the music and making sense as the second most said answer. From these responses, I have
gathered that I need to make sure I focus on visually exciting the audience within reason in
order for them to stay watching, as well as listening carefully to the music to cut shots at the
right time to make the video synchronous to the sound to enhance viewer experience. The
final question was how music videos are used by artists and companies to which used for
promotion was the most replied answer. This tells me that artists utilise music videos to spread
their image to the public, which means I need to pay attention to how I show the artist within
my own music video as it needs to fit the artists style. As companies would also use music
videos for promotion, this is perfect for me to implement the charity into it through visual
advertising in order to help the awareness aspect of my creation.

Genre Evaluation
As part of the genre research, I analysed 2 music videos of the singer-songwriter genre from
which I could take elements from, develop and the implement into my own work. This
research was to help me understand my genres conventions and what to include in my
production and that is exactly what I found. The conventions that I have gathered about
singer-songwriter music videos are that a large portion of the videos are the same length as
the song, there are recurring shots of the artist lip syncing whilst playing an instrument, the
props used tend to be items you would expect to be there e.g. speakers on a stage or chairs
in a room, the artists clothes are very casual, there is mostly never a narrative which results in
the videos being performance based, the camera shots and angles are mainly for
observation purposes and not to create meaning however close up shots of the artists face
are shown to display emotion, the lighting is usually natural too however special lights are
sometimes added to add emphasis to a part of a song, the location is usually set in one
place and the entire mise-en-scene is based in the present. In terms of editing, there is a very
natural approach to the visuals, meaning there are no extreme visual effects used in the post
production. The shots are also cut in time with the music to make the overall package more
fluid and viewing worthy. Almost all the conventions listed above are used in this genre to
help the audience connect to the song and the artist as much as possible, this is due to
singer-songwriter music handling very emotional and touching topics in which a strong
bond is needed with the viewer in order to maximise the songs potential. Including strange
abstract ideas or a story narrative into this genres music videos can hinder the audiences
ability to relate, therefore, this style tends to be avoided unless its for a something more than
the video itself, such as raising awareness for an issue.

Artist Image Evaluation

Due to my artist not originally being from the singer-songwriter genre, I have had to
research into how the band reveal themselves in their other music videos so I can build off of
their taste. Usually in a singer-songwriter music video, casual clothing is worn, however, in this
case, it is different due to the band mainly producing a different type of music and therefore
having a different style. From my artist analysis, I have gathered that I will be including a
black shirt and a white bow-tie to match the lead singers style as he is the singer of the song
in the band. Due to the genre, the actor will be behaving in a manner more conventional to
the singer-songwriter genre to enhance emotion and connection with the audience,
having the actor behave in the manner they did in the other videos will not be functional for
what Im creating and would therefore create an unsuccessful music video. This behaviour
comes across as the band being very strong and powerful in my music video, which would
go against the point I am trying to convey about men being unstable and not being as
mentally strong as society stereotypically assumes them to be. In fact, by having my actor
perform in a visibly vulnerable way, if the viewer decides to research into the band they can
see from other music videos that even those that come across as strong can be fragile,
further helping my message.

Artist/Professionals in the Music Industry Evaluation

As I am creating a music video, I decided on exploring the directors who created some of
my all-time favourite music videos. I did this to essentially gain inspiration and improve the
quality of my production by emulating and developing some aspects of their work. From
Samuel Halleens work, I have been influenced to add a slight grain and faded look to my
video. This is due to the fact it adds another level of rawness within the video which I think
could aid in the emotional impact on the viewer. From Easton Wests work, I have been
inspired to implement a mix of natural and unnatural shots to make my production more
intriguing for the audience. This will hopefully aid in the impact it delivers and will keep
audience focus despite the actual shot being of the same subject. From Daniel Cloud
Campos work, I have been inspired to include set equipment within shots as well as have
smooth flowing transitions in some areas of my video. Both elements are essentially to make
the video more visually exciting, unique and smooth. To summarise, the purpose of me
researching artists was to see how they would use different techniques to keep the audience
engaged. I have located these techniques and will implement theme into my own work but
with development, this is to make it that much more fitting to my music video and it not just
be me copying the directors.

Charity Research Evaluation

The music video I am creating is supported by the mental health charity CALM (which
stands for Campaign Against Living Miserably), for which I have created a magazine full of
research discussing what they do and why they exist. I did this to help my understanding on
what Im raising awareness for, its importance and who I am needing to take into
consideration when it comes to the audience. In summary, what I found out was that suicide
is the main killer of men aged under 45, accumulating to 76% of all suicides in the UK in 2014
being men. Such high numbers clearly show that more needs to be done in order to prevent
further suicides occurring and thats exactly where my music video will come into play. The
charity was set up to get rid of the social stereotype about men being strong as this view
causes many males to supress their emotions and/or keep it to themselves over the fear of
judgement, eventually leading them to suicide as they feel like its the only way out. In my
video, these mental suppressions will be shown physically to show society how much pain it is
causing men all around the world having to keep harmful thoughts to themselves because
they dont want to be judged and be called less manly. It was important for me to research
this charity as I now fully understand the cause I am creating for, as well as its necessity. The
target audience I have located from this research is the male gender under the age of 45 as
they are taking their lives the most, however, due to the topic not being gender restricted, it
will be able to be appreciatively viewed by all genders. In order to meet the specific male
audience however, I will be having an 18-year-old male who looks around 20 playing the
main role in the video as it would help them relate more. What I also will be doing is
advertising the charity at the end of the video so those who need help know that the charity
exists and they can call them without worrying about being judged.

Target Audience Evaluation

To find out my target audience, I conducted 2 pieces of research. The first being secondary
research via the internet and the second being primary research via a survey.

For the secondary research, I used the internet to explore which demographic accesses the
different kinds of platforms there are and who watches music video productions the most. As
my music video is most likely going to be uploaded to the internet, I looked out for stats and
figures which showed which ages visited this the most. I carried this out to help me realise
what audience would be realistically coming across my music video in the first place, and
target my music video more towards them rather than ages which dont spend time on the
internet. From my research, I understood that I should be focusing on the ages of 18 to 49,
this is due to the fact the data showed the most activity of watching music videos was
carried out on a computer and this age range was the most active regarding use of the
internet on a computer, watching videos on the internet and watching videos on a mobile
phone. I will now have to make sure I keep this target audience in mind when creating my
production.

From the primary research, I created an infographic to display the data in a more readable
and understandable format. From the infographic, we can see both genders almost equally
took part in the survey as well as a wide range of ages (16 46). This is important as it makes
the results unbiased as it isnt one age group or one gender taking part. 8 people out of the
15 who took part in the survey listen to Singer-Songwriter music all the time and 4 people
occasionally listen. This means most of the responses given about who my target audience
should be and what I should include to meet their needs is from viewer experiences, making
it more trustworthy as mostly fans of the genre are giving their opinion. Both genders were
most voted to be interested in the music video, which is excellent as I wanted my idea to be
open to both genders. The age range most voted for in terms of who my video should be
targeted towards was 20 29 with 14 votes. Looking at the graph, it is clear that my target
audience should also consist of my video being targeted towards ages 12 to 49 due to those
ages also receiving a large number of votes when compared to the other age ranges
available. From the charity research, suicide was the second leading cause of death
between people aged 5 to 19, which could mean the upper end of this age spectrum
should be considered more due to it becoming the leading cause for those aged above 19
and under 49, hinting at rates increasing as age progresses. From this, I am going to start the
target age at 16 rather than 12, firstly due to the fact the campaign is mainly for young
adults, therefore I should produce something viewable by the elder audience as it would
impact the issue more. Secondly, my idea would not be seen fit to be viewed by the younger
viewers and tailoring it more towards the younger ages could reduce its impact on the main
group I am creating this music video for, and thereby cutting its effectiveness on raising
awareness and making a change. Most of the respondents supported my idea about
constructing the music video on visuals as this was the most voted answer for what my video
structure should follow, therefore I will not be needing to change aspects of my production.
The element which was suggested most to be used was visual stimulation such as colour
flickering, colour changing, filters etc. I will take this on board and implement it into my work
by having it aid in creating atmosphere and emotion. The second joint most suggested
element was including an actor of a similar age range, using interesting shot types and
having the mise-en-scene fit the present to make it more relatable to the audience. From this
advice, I will be including an actor who looks around 20 and will make sure in the planning
stages I have unique shot types included into the storyboard/shooting script. My plan
originally was to set the mise-en-scene in the present to help the audience relate anyway so
this suggestion has already been included. The responses to whether I should make the video
explicit or not had an explicit majority, with reasons including it could be more impactful
than a tame video, it fitting to the just because you cant see it doesnt mean its not there
concept and the videos point is to show the pain that men are hiding in a physical format
so it would only make sense to go down the explicit route. Some of the reasons for keeping
it suitable for all ages included it being able to spread awareness to a further audience and
that awareness can be promoted to everyone and not be restricted to an age range if it
wasnt explicit. I do understand how these suggestions make sense and could increase
awareness among more ages, however, looking at the data in the magazine and the
statistics, my focus should remain on the ages that the data says are most vulnerable, which
is an age range that could handle the explicit content and may need impact visually to
spark change. In terms of what other media my target audience consumes, the most voted
for was social media. Following this, the respondents also voted for social media to be the
most likely platform for my music video to be consumed on. From this, it is clear I need to
research into what social media site I should upload my music video onto as the site where I
will receive the most views and ratings from the audience will also be the source for raising
more awareness for the issue.

Platform Evaluation
After completing my target audience and analysing those results, I had to find out where
they would most likely be viewing my music video. From the survey, It was clear I had to
explore social media as it was the most voted response, so, I decided to film a focus group
on which platform would be most suitable for me. All members of the focus group directed
me to using YouTube as my platform, this is mainly due to it being a social site which
interconnects with other social sites allowing the video to be easily shared to increase its
popularity. They all view music videos on YouTube and as I myself am creating a music video,
it would only be fit to also upload my work on it. Also, after being shared on YouTube, the
music video can be then viewed on Facebook or other social sites, whereas if it was
uploaded on other social sites, it wouldnt be viewable or able to be shared onto YouTube as
this is a feature YouTube doesnt have, therefore, to gain traffic, the best option is to go for
YouTube. The reason why I chose to do a focus group is because I had peers around me that
are included in my actual target audience, so, them having first-hand knowledge on whats
watched where was perfect for my research.