Questionnaires, Pie charts & Evaluation

Questionnaires are an extremely important part of research when making a music video. The questions which are included in a questionnaire help a director shape a music video and apply the information which was collected in order to target their audience.

In order for music videos to be successful they must include content which will interest the target audience and be memorable. We sent out 40 questionnaires, 20 each, and distributed them to a mixture or males, females and a variety of ages in order to get the best result. 

We created pie charts which made it easier to evaluate the results from the questionnaires. By converting the results into pie charts we could easily read them and decide on specific ideas for our own music video. Pie charts show results clearly by splitting the results into sections of the circle and this is how we decided on how to attract our target audience.

We decided as a group that pie charts were the most suitable way of presenting our results in order to review them. By reviewing the results in the pie charts we were able to make decisions on how to reach our target audience.

After interviewing people and collecting our results we found a mixture of opinions. The pie charts helped us massively as we could easily see the most popular answer and this helped us make key decisions. 

One of the questions in our questionnaire which we noticed gave a mixture of answers was "Do you think that Christina Aguilera is a good role model to teenagers?" A lot of people felt that she was a good role model as she has a strong voice and she works hard as well as the fact that she never has negative stories written about her in the media. Aguilera lives a relatively normal life with her young son and has never publicly been known to have been involved in the use of drugs or illegal substances and she is not a heavy drinker or a party girl. In her videos Aguilera doesn't promote drinking or the party lifestyle in any way, however she does dress provocatively in many of her videos which can present her in a negative light. These opinions helped us make decisions about the costumes which we will use for our own video and the scenes and locations which we include. 

The target audience is extremely important in order for us to decide on key factors about our music video. Artists depend on attracting their target audience in order to build a fan base and secure a place in the charts. Every decision which an artist makes must relate to their target audience and attract them. The target audience is a key factor in the research as they are the main source of revenue for an artist and a record label. 

As a group we carried out our primary research in school in the form of a questionnaire. We included everything which we knew would effect our decisions when filming and editing. As well as interviewing student we interviewed a variety of staff and teachers too in order to get a broader opinion. The vox pops were very successful as I asked the questions and Olivia recorded them. We found that everyone thought Christina Aguilera was a good role model as she had a strong voice and personality and concentrated on what matters most, being her music. Although Aguilera is very feminine in the way she dresses people didn't actually think that she was too provocative and they thought that she was rather tame compared to other recent artists.

Copyright

Copyright is a law which prohibits anyone from using a piece of material, other than the creator. This law gives the owner of the material exclusive rights to it and only they can give permission for other people to use the material or they can sell their rights. The creator is the only person who has the rights to the material otherwise other people can use it for financial gain. Copyright usually lasts from 50 to 70 years, however the United States law states that a creator or publisher must renew it's copyright every 28 years. A record label can sue any person who uses  a piece of material without having permission or rights to it and anyone who obstructs the copyright law may have a fine to pay.

Applying for copyright - 
As a group me and Olivia (Browne) decided that Christina Aguilera was the artist who we wanted to use for our music video and we both agreed that her music showed a variety of emotions and left us many options for creativity. After choosing which song of Aguilera's we wanted to use we had to contact the record label for permission to use her song and reconstruct our own video. 

What we did - 
We found out which record label Aguilera was signed to and then researched until we found their contact details. We then wrote an email using formal and polite language as we wanted to come across as professional to the record label. We explained to RCA Records that we wished to use the song strictly for educational purposes and that there was no financial gain to be made. It was hard to find the email at first so we contacted RCA Records over the phone (+44 207 361 8000) and asked for the copyright department and they gave us an email address for us to contact and request permission. 

This is the email which we sent three times. However we didn't manage to receive an answer. As we attempted three times and no negative emails or emails prohibiting us from using the track were sent to us we decided that we would use the song.

What is a music video?

A music video is a short film which usually matches the lyrics of a song and tells the story. Music videos are used to promote a track and help increase the sales by making the target audience more aware of the song and the artist. The more a music video catches the audiences attention the more memorable the song becomes.

Most music videos follow conventions which are common scenes and features which appear in each genre. 

Pop - 

1. Fun and light hearted 

2. Usually has a narrative

3. Targeted at youths

4. Singing to the camera

5. Colourful

RnB - 

1. Artist always shown

2. Close ups

3. Dance routines

4. Party lifestyle

5. Provocative women

6. Expensive clothes and cars

Rock - 

1. Band on stage

2. Dark colours

3. No narrative

4. Jump cuts

Other Music Video genres:

Rap
Funk
Dance

Electro
House
Grime

Hip Hop

Bhangra

Jazz

Blues

Soul

Latin

Metal

Folk

Country

Which artists fit into which genre:

RnB - Chris Brown & Beyonce

Pop - Olly Murs & Kelly Clarkson

Country - Carrie Underwood & Taylor Swift

Hip Hop/Rap - Tinie Tempah & Eminem

Grime - Skepta &Tinie Tempah

Rock - Linkin Park & Paramore

Music videos are usually of the artist however over more recent years artists have started using other people in their videos either to portray the artist or simply play the characters in the story. 

1) Concept Based
Artists such as Lady Gaga have used a variety of erratic scenes in their videos. This is known as a concept, which is an idea or style which the artist is trying to present to their target audience. A concept based music video rarely relates to the lyrics and isn't dependant on a story line.

These two shots show the different aspects of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" music video. They demonstrate her unique sense of style and her daring behaviour which has made her so iconic in the music industry.

Another artist whose music videos are mainly concepts is Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson's videos became iconic for his innovative ideas and dress sense just like Lady Gaga. 

2) Narrative Based
Other styles of music videos include a narrative, where the artist tells a story and most of the footage either relates to the lyrics or shows the audience a montage of events. "Hall Of Fame" is a song by The Script featuring Will.I.am and is hugely narrative based. The video tells two separate stories about a girl and a boy who each work hard to succeed in their career. The video shows their struggles and how they get there. 

The girl in the video is in fact deaf and as the video reaches the end the audience are shown how she uses the vibrations from the speakers to feel the music and interpret it into a dance. 

The boy is an aspiring boxer and throughout the video the audience can see how he has no support in his home life and he is attacked by a group of boys who live near him. The two shots above show the young boy being chased down the road and beaten up behind a bin.

The narrative relates to the lyrics in the song which are to inspire people to follow their dreams and work hard for what they want to achieve. The lyrics such as "You can be the greatest" and "You can be the best" are aimed directly at the viewers which inspire them and along with the two narratives in the video tell a story which the audience can relate to.

This video follows the conventions of a narrative because - 
- A story is told in chronological order
- Casual clothing is worn to create a realistic atmosphere
- The lyrics relate to the video

Role of the target audience - 
The target audience for this particular song and video can be broad as it can relate to anyone who has an ambition. However it can be particularly inspirational to people who have a big dream in life and a need and want to succeed and maybe have personal issues like the characters in the video. The video shines a positive light and gives hope to people who constantly have people putting them down and struggles in their daily life. 

3) Performance Based
A performance is where the artist sings or dances to the camera. It has become increasingly popular for artists to use footage from their concerts or tours in their music videos. UK rapper Example's "Changed The Way You Kissed Me" is only footage of his concert throughout.

The average cost of a music video varies by artist and how and the idea behind their video. Beyonce's Crazy in Love video would have cost a lot less than her Countdown video which includes computer effects. A smaller artist like Olly Murs would probably make music videos which cost around £100,000 to make whilst a bigger artist like Beyonce or Rhianna could cost £1,000,000 or more. The most expensive music video ever made to date is Michael Jackson's Scream as there was a large amount of CGI involved. 

Music videos are broadcasted on music channels and this used to be the main source of distribution. However as the internet has evolved audiences view music videos more online, using wesites such as Youtube because this means they can watch any video at any time.