Audience Research
This post will detail the gradual gathering of information starting by analysing the first responses I have collected.
In order to gather adequate amounts of audience research, I utilised an online survey site to create my questionnaire. I chose the platform of an online survey as during this day and age most of the time spent by teenagers (especially my target audience) is online; thus making the process of collecting data quick and efficient.
My survey consists of 10 questions. The reason I stuck to 10 questions was because I wanted to gather precise and accurate representations/opinions of my intended audience demographic, and by having an overly long questionnaire, I lose the substance and information that I need in order to create a piece of moving image that strongly pertains to the audience demographic. In the first day that I advertised my questionnaire to my audience, I received 8 immediate responses. The minimum responses that I will allow is 15, the maximum is 25.
PIE CHART ANALYSIS - FIRST PHASE OF DATA COLLECTION
The first question starts off simple by narrowing down which gender is more likely to be interested in listening to and watching an indie/contemporary R&B music video. I didn't send the questionnaire to anyone directly as this wouldn't have been an accurate way to gather my information; I published it on one of my social media accounts and I happened to receive exactly 50% male responses and 50% female responses. Whether this is due to chance or perhaps indicative of the interest of different sexes, is yet to be analysed.
As for the age, again, it is quite clear that my questionnaire has reached a 50/50 percentile as two age ranges are in exact opposition.
This isn't a concern at the moment as I haven't reached the minimum responses that I am aiming for. Again, because my song is a cover of a song by REO Speedwagon, I didn't expect the age demographic to be above the ages of 21, as the band that have done the cover of the song are a more contemporary band and marketed towards a younger demographic.
With my chosen genre already in mind, I gave my questionnaire participants a variety of genres to choose from, ranging from Folk to Heavy Metal in order to establish a real taste for the audience that are more likely to be interested in engaging with a text that is influenced by the Indie genre. Upon first observation, it is evident that my participants are more interested in the Hip-Hop genre with a 25% response rate with Indie/Indie Rock coming in second with a 12.50% response rate. However, as this is early days and I do not have the amount of responses that I wish to have as of yet, I am not worried in being deterred from creating a music video based around the Indie genre.
As I presumed, the majority of the participants are interested in seeing a music video with a clear narrative instead of being of didactic purpose and purely conceptualised. This is a great start as this is what I intended to do with my music video; follow a narrative that conveys the relationship of a married couple and it's gradual progression.
Considering that the original track is influenced by the Indie genre; I asked the participants which R&B artist and Indie artist they are more likely to listen to.
Not noting the genre of which the artist performs under was somewhat deceitful, but I utilised this strategy because I wanted to see what genre (through the artist) the audience would be more attracted to without any external influences of genre; I wanted their honest opinion, and honest research is the best way to get precise data to use to influence your product, which in my case is my music video. It is interesting to note that there is a healthy balance between R&B and Indie responses with The Weeknd being an R&B artist that gained a 25% response rate and The 1975 also gaining a 25% response rate. I don't put these responses down to popularity of the artist as I included artists that are extremely relevant to the 21st Century music industry. The reason why I included R&B artists was because although I am not using an R&B track, I am however utilising some of the codes and conventions found in their music videos. I am drawing most of my inspiration in terms of filming style and editing style from Bryson Tiller's music video for Exchange, where as I mentioned in a previous post, the music video utilises low-key lighting and a host of frames that are shot and edited in slow-motion: a feature that will be included in my final product.
PIE CHART ANALYSIS - PHASE TWO OF DATA COLLECTION (REACHED MINIMUM RESPONSES)
Compared to the first phase of data collection, it has become apparent that the age range has significantly changed as more responses are from a teenage demographic. This is a great response as my intentions are to market my music video at this demographic.
For my gender response, I obviously appeased more to a female demographic, as the response rate for female to male is 60:40. This will be very influential as my music video is intended to suit more to a female audience based purely on the fact that the song is in itself a love song, and the music video shows the progression of a relationship.
However, with this in mind, it has also become apparent that although females are the demographic that are going to influence my music video, I am not dismissing the possibility that a male audience are going to engage with my product, nor an older male demographic - this then fits with my idea that older audiences are going to interact with my product because of the relation to REO Speedwagon and their already established fanbase.
As I reached the minimum responses of 15, it has become apparent that there has been a shift in interest of genre. It is reassuring to see that the genre that has gained the most favouritism is Indie/Indie Rock, as this is the genre of which my chosen song conforms to. Here, I am specifically looking at the segment of the pie chart that relates directly to the responses pertaining to the genre of contemporary R&B and Indie/Indie Rock.
This is because as I previously stated, the song is an Indie Rock song, whereas my music video is going to be influenced by codes and conventions from the R&B genre. There is a response rate of 40% for Indie/Indie Rock and a 16.67% response rate for Contemporary R&B.
At the minimum response mark, audiences, like I wanted, responded to this question by declaring that
they would rather see a clear narrative in a music video, rather than a conceptualised piece or a video with a didactic purpose, however, this follows closely behind.
A clear narrative leads by 6% as a didactic purpose answer sticks at 40%. These responses so far are heading in the direction that I would like them to, as my intention of my music video is to follow a narrative. I believe that as I collect more responses, my audiences will be more inclined to vote for a clear narrative.
The responses that I have accumulated in terms of artists that audiences would rather listen to isn't as surprising as I expected. Considering that I used 21st Century artists to gather my information and all of them are relatively well known, I have concluded that it isn't due to popularity (as I previously thought it could be - further analysis subverts this idea), it is merely due to the audience taste. What is interesting to see is that audiences are more inclined to listen to an Indie/Indie Rock artists than a Hip-Hop artist.
This information will help me when creating my video as I can use this data to influence my final product, in the sense that my video will follow suit to a range of different codes and conventions from the Indie and Contemporary R&B genre. These codes and conventions will be influenced by The Weeknd's brooding videos and The 1975.
Finding out how often my audiences watch music videos will aid me in how to market my final product. Based off the information gathered from the artist that they are more likely to listen to, I will do further research into what music video that particular artist released recently on YouTube, for example. Then, I can gauge which video is the most popular by looking at the total YouTube views.
It is interesting to see that the majority response is that my audiences tend to watch less than 10 music videos a week, nevertheless, this information has a varied range of responses that offer data that can influence my final marketing scheme.
Considering that the 21st Century is ripe with politics and turmoil, I found it only necessary to include a question determining the political stance of my audience demographic. With help from YouGov.co.uk, I was able to see that there is a correlation between the genre of music, the artist and the political views of the audience that determines what music they listen to. The majority of responses gained were from people that live in Ilkley - a town that prides itself on being notoriously left-wing in the younger demographics - I cannot speak for the older generation as I don't wish to falsify findings. Having lived in multiple countries, I have been fortunate to have gathered responses from countries in which I've lived in the past - Bangkok and Dubai. As I can single out responses answered from a single person, it is interesting to note that my friends from Bangkok and Dubai are mostly centre-right and centre, with a few not having any political opinion.
FINAL PHASE OF AUDIENCE RESEARCH ANALYSIS (25 RESPONSES REACHED)
As I reach the final stages of my audience response analysis having gained 25 responses, the responses for the genre of Hip-Hop overtook the responses for Contemporary R&B, however, Indie and Indie Rock still remains as one of the top genres to listen to. With this in mind, I won't tailor the product to suit the codes and conventions of a Hip-Hop video as my intentions are to completely win over the audience that are going to engage with my product through creating a stellar music video for a song that doesn't actually have a music video yet.
My idea still remains the same in the fact that I will utilise codes and conventions from the genre of R&B, even if the song is an Indie Rock song.
As I suspected, my audiences are more inclined to engage with a music video that follows the structure of a clear narrative, rather than seeing a video with a didactic purpose or conceptualised.
However, this doesn't mean that I couldn't explore other alternatives for the narrative of my music video, as I feel that if I limit myself in this way, it would prove for an unsuccessful product - something of which I have no intention of it being.
In a great turn of events, The Weeknd gained more responses as I reached my 25 maximum mark. It leads with a 25% response rate compared to The Wombats and The 1975 both having a 20% response rate. I am pleased with how this question was answered as this is what I wanted to happen, now I am positive in how I am going to market and direct my final product as to satisfy my audience demographic demands.
Using influences from two genres will allow for more scope when exploring the effect of certain elements in my video, I can then evaluate these features in the video through the filming and editing process. As for the other artists, they were merely there to 'test the waters' for other
potential influences - however, they didn't gain enough response rate to be a dramatic influence on my final product - hence, I shall still with the three artists that have been most engaged with.
As my responses progressed, there seemed to be a lull in female responses, however, this isn't a major problem, it does however slightly alter how I market my DigiPack and the overall layout and corresponding themes. This will be done to tailor more to a male demographic, whereas the video is mainly directed at a female demographic, the DigiPack design will be a compensation for the potential lack of interest in the music video from the male audience.
These results don't worry me in the slightest and I'm confident that I will try and reel in a male demographic with the alterations to the DigiPack design.
Gathering responses concerning the political stance of my audience have changed, as although a left-wing demographic still takes the lead, centre-right and right-wing caught up just barely. It is interesting to see that the majority of my audience are left-wing, this correlates well with the genres that were chosen - Indie/Indie Rock, Hip-Hop and Contemporary R&B. These genres are typically associated with lyrics that speak of drugs, sex and misbehaviour, topics of which aren't usually recognised by right-wing political parties, as they tend to promote more "familial values". Left-wing politics and music correlate well as artists that perform under this political stance are more likely to have a creative outlet and speak freely through their songs and lyrics.
This accumulation of research has been imperative as it has aided the direction of which I will market, produce and complete my final product, based off audience demographic research. Overall, I have determined that my target audience based off this research will be:
- Targeted at 17-20 year olds, whilst also trying to target older audiences that may engage with a cover of the song, originally performed by REO Speedwagon
- Targeted at both male and females, but altering the DigiPack design to reel in more of a male demographic
Video Production:
- Influenced by codes and conventions that conform to the genre of Dream-Pop/Indie
- Follow a strong, clear and concise narrative to meet the demands of the audience
Although I have no reason as to why they wouldn't allow me to use the song, it is always best to be safe and double check. I will wait for a response and upload it if they respond in due course. Considering that the band don't have any music videos and I haven't found anybody that has done one, it would be interesting (in terms of the creative process) to see how my video reflects the attitudes and emotions of the song, as seen from my perspective. 
However, the only set back that I see from using them as my actors, is that my father is an International Manager and Owner and actually lives in New York and in some cases, Bangkok. So I have asked for his flight schedule so I can tailor my own schedule around the time that he is away. He is in the process of compiling this together, so once I get it, I will evidence it on my blog to show my time management. Although this can be seen as a hindrance, I always aim to see the positive in these situations. Whilst my father is away on business, I aim to complete all of the frames that just have my mother in them, this will help my filming process as I am not dependent on my father being here to film this footage. When he is back, I will then film the scenes with him and my mother. 
The first question starts off simple by narrowing down which gender is more likely to be interested in listening to and watching an indie/contemporary R&B music video. I didn't send the questionnaire to anyone directly as this wouldn't have been an accurate way to gather my information; I published it on one of my social media accounts and I happened to receive exactly 50% male responses and 50% female responses. Whether this is due to chance or perhaps indicative of the interest of different sexes, is yet to be analysed.
Considering that the original track is influenced by the Indie genre; I asked the participants which R&B artist and Indie artist they are more likely to listen to.
Finding out how often my audiences watch music videos will aid me in how to market my final product. Based off the information gathered from the artist that they are more likely to listen to, I will do further research into what music video that particular artist released recently on YouTube, for example. Then, I can gauge which video is the most popular by looking at the total YouTube views.
Initially, we asked the band to perform twice; once to record the audio, and second to record the visuals that were accompanied by the audio that we had just recorded. Considering that we had recorded the audio, we were then able to ask the band to perform individual shots lip-syncing to the song. To effectively re-create the video, we used a myriad of shots ranging from profile shots, mid-shots and wide angled shots, much to simulate the shots featured in the actual music video. Whilst changing the angle of the shots, we also had to consider the lighting position as to draw exact influence from the video; for example, for a profile shot of the lead vocalist, we situated the light in front of the performer so that the features on his face would be illuminated, casting shadows behind him. The lighting featured for the profile shot was low-key lighting, whereas the rest of the band were filmed predominantly in high-key lighting also to capture all expressions of the band members. In order to capture the right shot, there was a lot of messing around in terms of positioning the camera in order to fit each band member in frame; this process was imperative as it would make pre-production editing a lot easier.
Once we had all of the footage that we needed in order to successfully and confidently re-create the music video for 'Seven Nation Army', we each took to 'Final Cut' (an editing software) and aptly prepared short clips in the style of the original music video. In order to re-create the video perfectly, we each went through a step-by-step process outlining the steps of editing ranging from 'keying', 'masking' to colour correction and alteration. The first steps were to overlay the video clip with a 'keyer'; a tool that selects and erases a large area of colour, which in this case, was the green screen. This process was important as it was used to isolate the band members, allowing us to transfer any image to the back of the video and in keeping with the theme of the original 'Seven Nation Army' video, we transferred different colour '.png' triangles onto the background. The reason why the triangle image had to be a '.png' file was because a file with this format, is saved with a transparent background, making post-production editing easier. Once we had 'keyed' the video clip, it was important to undertake a 'view' check in order to make sure that once the 'keyer mask' was applied, the edges surrounding the band member was as slick as it could be, and if not, we could alter it to make the clip sharper.
Once the 'Threshold' mask had been applied, it was now time to move onto the 'colour mask [ing]' process. This process allowed me to target any feature that I wanted to change, keep or isolate its colour; in this case, it was the tie. Adding a colour mask to the tie allowed me to keep the original red colour, this creative technique of stark colour contrast (i.e. the cyan colouring with a bold red) was featured within the original White Stripes music video.
