Sunday, 27 September 2009

They said what?!

As you can guess, its no good carrying out audience research if I don't use the findings in a constructive way. In order to work towards what the audience wants I need to first understand what that is. After carrying out my research, this is what I found:

The Post

When I wrote the post I gave people some questions they could answer because I know that sometimes its hard to know what to write.
If you're not sure what to write here are some points to consider:
•What sort of music do you like?
•Where do you usually watch music videos? (music channels, websites etc)
•What do you expect to see in a music video?
•Would you say there is a common theme in music videos today?
•What do you not like to see in a music video?
•What do you think the point of a music video is?

These are some of the recurring responses that I got:

'I expect to see something that refelcts the mood of the song.' -quitefunky
'I think that music videos should definitely reflect the mood/feel of the song.' -laurasaurus
'ideally a music video should have something original and interesting and relevant to the mood of the song.' - jack-wainwright

So, when I make my video I need to make sure that it suits the song. A slow song shouldn't have really fast cutting filming, and visa versa.

'Sex is a common theme' -quitefunky
'the most common theme running throughout the genres is sex' -Adamski
'The most common theme in music videos today is mainly sex/holidays. Basically skinny ladies in bikini's' - Beth Atkins
'I do not particularly like simply girls half naked, dancing around' -TheTitlow
'I feel that it is not about how sexy you look, I find imagination and creativity can be the best'- Guest
'surgically enhanced women dancing provocatively close to the screen' -Guest

Right, so sex is obviously a common theme in current music videos. I have noticed that people tend to dislike this however. As one person said 'i'm fed up [with] music videos of semi naked girls, it makes me look like some kind of perv when i have TMF or The Hits on in the background'-Guest. So when I create my music video sexual appeal is something I should think about, but I don't want to have tall skinny girls dancing around.

'I like it when they tell a story, especially if it's directly relevant to the music & lyrics of the song, because it's more interesting.' -laurasaurus
'I'd say stuff like love, break ups etc are common themes, but that's probably just because they're common themes in songwriting.' -laurasaurus
'I like a music video which tells a story relating either directly to what the song is about, or the theme of the song.' -tom
'I guess the common theme of relationships can get a bit repetative, so something a little different and quirky is cool' -Guest
'Well I like music videos which fit with the song well and don't leave you thinking, 'that was strange' -Guest
'I've always liked music videos that are really unusual and break the mold somewhat' -F.D
'I find that bands who's videos consist soley of live performance shots are quite boring' -JessehRAWR
'(the point of a music video is) To visualise the story of the song, to explain the lyrics, the advertise the band and the song.' -JessehRAWR
'I also like to see some sort of story happening in the video, and this story should link with the lirics of the song' -TheTitlow

It is apparent that people like it when a music video tells a story, especially when its relevant to the song. Despite the fact that most music videos consist of the singer and dance sequences, from reading the comments I get the idea that people actually like it better when they have to think when they watch the video. I think a music video that encompasses this point very well is 'Just' by Radiohead:




I think that this video is the perfect balance of a story, the band and a little bit of quirkiness.

When I make my music video I need to take into consideration the fact that the majority of the people who took part in my audience research said that they enjoy a story and as one person said, they like it 'when you see something new or something differently every time you watch it'.


The Vox Pop

Unfortunately, I have very little vox pop data to look at. From what I can remember on the day I think it is safe to say that people generally had the same opinions as those found from my blog post.

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