Audience.
I produced two questionnaires as part of our primary audience research section. The initial set of questions, Questionnaire A, was to gain an understanding of the audience, their age, what their favourite music video's genre is, how often they watch music videos and what they find the most appealing elements about them. This was done to create a foundation, on which we would built upon.
The second set of questions, Questionnaire B, focuses on more specific details to help the group understand exactly what the audience likes and to aid us in creating a detailed plan. During this process twenty-two people were asked for Questionnaire A and nineteen people were asked for Questionnaire B.
Questionnaire A - 22 replies
1. How old are you?
The results from this question clearly shows that by far the majority of our audience are between the ages of 16 to 18 years old and therefore we must make the video appeal to young people. At this age we must be careful about how explicit the content of our music video is; drug use or violence should certainly be avoided however this age is mature enough to handle darker themes, which could make the narrative more interesting or shocking.
2. Think of your favourite music video. What genre of music is it?
The results for this question are more mixed. This group prefers the alternative and rock genres, however pop and hip-hop are also liked. I can understand why the first two genres are more popular as alternative and rock music videos tend to be more creative and narrative focused, based on lyrics which are generally better thought-out that pop or hip-hop lyrics, which tend to be very repetitive or artificial. Six of the twenty-two prefer other genres, so it might be of interest to find out what they are.
3. What appeals you most about a music video?
Again, the results here are quite mixed, however it does show that there are many areas on which we need to pay attention to in order to create an appealing music video that our audience will enjoy. From the graph on the right (third down) you can see that th most appealing elements are the storyline and the performance from the band so we will concentrate on creating a detailed, interesting storyline and exciting performance shots. The surprising one to me us the 'flow' reply. Clearly some people find it appealing if the video flows well, making it easy to watch and follow along with.
Questionnaire B - 19 replies
1. What do you prefer in a music video; the narrative, or the performance aspects?
This is a question I wanted to ask in the first questionnaires it is so important and basic but wasn't able to. From the results you can see that audience members prefer narrative over performance. I expected this as a storyline can be far more interesting and appealing to watch than simply artists performing. This certainly shows that we should focus more on a strong narrative however we should not disregard the performance aspects. When discussing this with a class mate they highlighted the fact that the performance is vital to creating a link between the band and the song in the video so the viewer can recognise the song being performed by the band.
2. What factor is most influential in creating a meaningful, realistic piece?
Clearly the acting has been judged as the most important element in creating a meaningful, realistic piece, I agree with this however I am surprised that the importance of props, locations and codes of dress have been so underrated by those that were asked. I believe to create a realistic piece, all elements are crucial and that the more attention you pay to all of these elements, the better the product will be.
3. Should an alternative rock music video focus on telling a story or simply being appealing to the eye?
Telling a story is far more popular and it is obvious why, nowadays almost all music videos are filmed to a very high standard; displaying interesting arrays of shots and using the best editing software however, only occasionally does a modern music video show an effective narrative that matches, the theme, tempo and lyrics of the song. Although we must make sure we film to a high standard, we must spend extra developing a narrative that will be meaningful and memorable to the audience.
