Focus Group

Focus Group

For research into what to include in our music video , we created a focus group made  up of our 'typical' target audience and ask their opinions on a set of questions. Their answers will help shape how we create our music video.The video of our focus group is embedded below:


                                      

From the focus group we have learned that a performance based video was preferable due to the lyrics of the song. The focus group believed that it would be hard to have a narrative due to this. The best location for our music video would be a party , studio or dance hall and make sure we include a dance routine embedded throughout. Their favourite music videos were Katy Perry's videos as they found them fun , Jessie J's Who's laughing now because of the bright colours used ,Beyonce's music videos as she always have a strong dance routine and finally Michael Jackson's music video's also due to having dance routines. 

We found that our focus group dislike when pop videos don't have a variety of shots and when they only focus on one member of the group throughout the video. Also they claimed that they disliked it when the main artist remained stationary throughout the majority of the video. Finally they stated that they didn't like it when the video doesn't have any relevance  to the song.

So therefore looking at these results we believe our video will be performance based and will revolve around a party scene. During this scene we intended to embed dance routines throughout. Additionally as the use of bright colours were perceived as important we will enhance this by using green screens. We intended for our video to be fun and lively , this will be achieve by using a variety of shots and cuts. In addition to this we will have our video artists moving frequently and avoid being stationary for long periods of time. Lastly we will try to the best of our ability to make sure the video is relevant to the lyrics and song.

Conventional music video analysis

Six freeze frames analysis

For research into the pop convention , individually I went on to research Katy perry and her pop conventions. Katy Perry is conventional within pop music as she has very up-beat songs and the use of bright colours in her music video. My more in depth analysis is shown below.

This screenshot portrays many aspects that are typical in pop music videos. The bright colours are a typical convention of pop and these are presented through the costumes that are worn and the streamers that are hanging over the banners. The colours used have connotations of fun, happy and excitement. The lyrics in the background “we’ll do it all again” implies to the audience that they are having a great time. This implies to her audience that by listening to this song that you will as well have the time of your life and feel like you are at a crazy party for the duruation of the song.

This second screenshot represents a typical convention of pop genre music videos. This is a close up of Perry, this portrays to the audience that she is still the focal point of the video even through a large number of people are present within the video. Additionally the background is blurred which supports this idea as Perry is fully in focus. Perry does this to remain in control and remind the audience that the party revolves around her, she is the life and soul of the party.

This third screen shot follows the typically convention that pop music follow a far fetched storyline. This music video follows a typical love story and this is shown through this long shot. It is very far-fetched as the male is portrayed as a knight in shining armor and Perry appears to be princess awaiting her prince. Pop culture tends to take a rose tinted view at most aspects of reality. Additionally this portrays the idea that if you listen to perry's song that you will escape reality for a while and enter a fairytale land. 

This screenshot portrays a typical convention of pop music videos. The majority of pop music videos include a dance scene which typically includes quite a few people. Perry uses this convention throughout the video as dance scenes are included throughout. This is a convention as pop music has originated from dance music which means that artists intend to use this in their videos.

This wide shot shows a lot of Perry’s star motif’s . As shown in ‘Tgif’ and this shot from ‘California gurls’ it portrays that Perry is very well known for bright colours. In addition to this her video’s tend to be quite far-fetched as in this shot she is walking through a forest made of sweets and is wearing a candy dress. Perry does this to stand out from the crowd , she wants her music and video's to be different and interesting. She want to keep her audience interested and make them believe that anything can happen. In the majority of her videos she appears to be in another world and this is how she therefore portrays this to her audience.

Lastly a convention of pop music videos is the artist presenting themselves in a sexual manner. This is used to try and lure the audience in. Perry in the screen shot is only covered by a ‘Cloud’. Additionally she has a direct mode of address while winking which portrays that she is aiming it directly at the audience. This is appealling to the 'Male gaze' , due to her childlike candy theme video , she want to appeal to all genders and ages. By appearing naked she appeals to male's sexual sense and therefore draws them in. All of the aspects she includes in her video is to maintain her audience and even attract new people to listen and buy her music.