Audience Research - Questionnaire

After carrying out product research I have come up with some good ideas for what types of things we should include in our music video, digipack and magazine advertisement. Before making our final decision we have decided to carry our some audience research ion the form of a questionnaire:

Questionnaire – Music Videos

This questionnaire is designed to research viewer preferences in music videos. Please answer truthfully and complete as much as you can. Many Thanks.

(1)    Please select your age group.

Under 16 [  ]  16 -25 [  ]  26-35 [  ]  36-45 [  ]  46-55 [  ]  55+ [  ]

(2)    Please select your gender.

Female [  ]  Male [  ]

(3)    Where do you purchase your music?

Internet Downloads [  ]  High-street [  ]  Other (Please state) [  ]

_____________________________________________________________________

(4)    How much do you spend on music per month?

£0-£5 [  ]  £6-£15 [  ]  £16-£25 [  ]  £26-£35 [  ]  £36-£45 [  ]  £46+ [  ]

(5)    What genre of music do you prefer? (Please tick multiple options)

Rock [  ]  R&B [  ]  Indie [  ]  Pop-Punk [  ]  Pop [  ]  Drum and Bass/Dubstep [  ]  Hardcore [  ]  Acoustic [  ]  Hip-Hop/Rap [  ]  Other (Please state) [  ]

            

           _____________________________________________________________________

(6)    Do you watch music videos? If yes, where do you watch them?

Yes (Please Select) [  ]  No [  ]

                

            Television [  ]  Internet [  ] 

(7)    How often do you watch music videos?

Daily [  ]  Weekly [  ]  Monthly [  ]  Rarely [  ]  Never [  ]

(8)    Do you prefer music videos that show the artist perhaps performing or actors/actresses telling the story?

            Actors/Actresses telling a story [  ]  Artist Performing  [  ]  Both [  ]

(9)    Do you have a particular favourite music video? If yes, what is it?

            Yes (Please State) [  ]  No [  ]

_____________________________________________________________________

(10) Who is your favourite music artist? And how do you recognise them? (For example logo or photograph)

_____________________________________________________________________

Thank you for filling out this Questionnaire.

Filming Techniques - The Steadicam

After carrying out our product research we noticed particular filming techniques that created interesting effects in the videos that we looked at. One technique we picked out in a number of the music videos we looked at was the use of the 'Steadicam'. We decided that this particular technique would be very useful in our music video and would be very appropriate for our video. We looked at some videos of the 'Steadicam' on YouTube and this video showed us some other uses of the Steadicam and also how to make one.

Product Research - Magazine Advertisements

To complete the magazine advertisement we will also need to use band images, they may be the same as the album cover or they may be different to advertise a particular gig, single or album. To get ideas of what types of images bands use in their advertisements I have carried out some product research in this area:

Two Door Cinema Club - Tour Advertisement

This poster is similar to the album cover that just uses a photograph of the band/artist as the center of the poster. The name of the band and the name of the album/tour that is being advertised is also present. This is a possible option for us to use a photograph of the band as the image for our magazine advertisement.

Sonic Boom Six - Album Advertisement

Some bands/artists use logos or symbols to advertise themselves and a way for fans to recognize them. These are often used on posters and advertisements so people can quickly recognize bands/artists. Also sometimes bands/artists use other images or photographs that sometimes relate or sometimes don't relate to the album/tour for the primary image on their posters. These options are all possible ideas for our magazine advertisement image.

The Cribs - Tour Advertisement

Similarly to the album covers some bands/artists use software to maniluate photographs of the band/artist. These images can be used on posters and magazine advertisements. This is again is an idea we could use for the image on our magazine advertisement.

Product Research - Album Covers

To complete the digipack we will need to create an album cover; whether it be a photo of the band, an edited graphics image or a picture relating to the album. To get ideas of what types of images bands use on their albums I have decided to carry out some product research in this area:

The Libertines - Time For Heroes

This album cover displays a photograph of the band, the name of the band and the name of the album. It is a fairly simple idea for an album cover and is a possible option for us to use as the idea for our digipack photograph.

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

This album cover is completely different from the previous one. It doesn't have a photograph of the band, but instead just has an image that doesn't include the band members. Sometimes albums like this display an image that relates to the album and other time the picture on the front of the album is completely irrelevant. However the idea of using an image that doesn't include the band is a possible idea for our digipack image.

Sonic Boom Six - Rude Awakening

Lastly some album covers use images of the band that have been manipulated using photo editing software. They don't just use a standard photograph of the band, but they use effects and sometimes other images to create a final album cover. Again this is another possibility for us to use as our idea for our digipack image.

Product Research - Music Videos

For our main task we are creating a music video for my band 'The Basement People'. The original song we will be using is titled 'T.Y.P.I.C.A.L'. We have been discussing possible ideas for the video as a group and have come up with a few initial plans. We thought of possibly doing a video with just the band themselves performing or a video with actors/actresses telling the story of the song. We decided to research music videos that showed the bands performing, videos with actors/actresses telling the story of the song and videos mixture of both. These are some of the videos we looked at for our product research:

The Cribs - Our Bovine Public

This music video just shows the band performing this song at various different venues. There is no 'storytelling' in this video you just see the band at gigs. This is a possibility that we are considering for our own video because we could stage a gig and film the music video in one location.

The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun

This video on the other hand shows a mixture of 'storytelling' and the band performing at a gig. Again this is a possibility we are considering for our own music video, but this would mean staging a gig and filming as well as using actor/actresses to film a 'story' side to the video.

Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

Finally this music video just tells the story of the song. You do not see the band performing in this video it is just actors/actresses telling the story of the song. This again is a possibility we are considering for our music video; this would meaning in a few locations, but we would not have the organisation of a gig for example to worry about.

Media Studies Advanced Production - Choices of Main Task and Ancillary Tasks

When it came to choosing the main task we were given a list of briefs. As a group we came up with a short list of two tasks that we wanted to do. These two tasks were the music video and the film trailer. The reason we shorted listed the film trailer is because last year we did the opening sequence to a film and we did very well so we knew we would be able to do well with this task; the reason why we short listed the music video task is because two members of our group are in a band so original music will be easily accessible and it will be a challenge to do something different. However looking at the negative side to both tasks the film trailer will require actors which may be difficult to find and the music video will require a lot of planning to ensure that the final piece is to a high standard. After much deliberation we decided to choose the Music Video as our Media Studies Advanced Production Task. This is mainly because 2 members of our group are members of a band and we decided it would make sense to take advantage of this opportunity that others may not have. Also we have easy access to original material and the band has a practice area we have already began discussing ideas about using this area as a possible filming location. For this task we had to choose 2 ancillary tasks from a list of 3 possibilities. The choices were a website homepage for the band, a digipack for the album’s release and a magazine advertisement. We decided to choose the digipack and the magazine advertisement as our ancillary tasks because for our GCSE Media Studies project we had done similar tasks so we have experience in this area. Also unless completed to a very high standard a website can look very unprofessional so we thought it would be difficult to do the website homepage.

Media Studies Advanced Production - My Group

I have decided to work alongside Sam Baily and Ed Barnes for our Media Studies Advanced Production. This is because I worked with both Sam and Ed last year for our Media Studies Foundation Production and we worked very well together. I get along very well with both Ed and Sam and we know we can work well together as our project last year was a success and we achieved good marks for our work. Ed is very knowledgeable with camera work and has experience in the media industry; as he has worked on local film projects and currently works for a radio station. Sam is a great asset to the group as he studies Drama, so his acting skills are very useful to the group; also Sam is very imaginative and comes up with some great ideas. As for myself I have a great interest in the subject and it is something I would like to continue after I finish sixth form, also I have worked on my own projects and taken park in local film projects as well, so I have experienced film making and working with cameras, etc... Lastly I and Sam are also both in a band together so this may be useful when it comes to choosing our tasks. I know I will work very well with both Ed and Sam and I am looking forward to creating something that is of a high standard with them.