Target Audience - Mood board

Target Audience - Males 21 to 25

The target audience that our group has decided upon is male individuals from the age of 21to 25. We believe that our concept for a music video would appeal greatest to this audience due to its many distinct characteristics. These characteristics include slow motion, modern scenery, a stunning lead artist, exceptional dancers and video effects. First of all the display of dancing and paint being thrown around in slow motion is a distinctive visual spectacle. We feel that our target audience would especially be amazed by this type of act due to it being filmed in a unique way. Furthermore our target audience is young and explorative meaning they would be intrigued by filming technique and the paint being displayed in slow motion. Continuing our music video would be filmed in contrasting white and black settings with vivid colour being present in the form of paint and costumes. Once again our group agrees that males of this age would be most pleased by this type of artistic setup and other such types of setups. Moving on our target audience consists largely of individuals that dance as a form of entertainment when going out or meeting with other people. Considering this we know that our music video concept will incorporate an astonishing dancer and we therefore feel that our audience will truly appreciate viewing a professional dancer performing at different speeds and in distinctive ways. Additionally our lead artist will be a striking young female that will attract the attention of many men when watching our music video. Therefore our target audience is the perfect fit as in most cases it consists of people that have just about finished puberty and who’s attention will be maintained throughout our music video by viewing our lead artist. In general our concept for a music video possess many qualities that we feel will especially attract the attention of male’s aged 21 to 25.

Target Audience - VALS and Jicnar Scales

Industries and researchers achieve audience segmentation demographically and psychologically by using the VALS and Jicnar scales. An audience is segmented demographically according to significant social criteria such as gender, class race or sexuality. One common demographic approach is associated with the Jicnar scale that takes into account an individual's salary, skill and education. Essentially the scale is divided into categories termed social grades that state the social status and general occupation of the collection. For instance the upper middle-class has Social grade A and its occupations are described as being high managerial, administrative or professional. On a different note the working class is labeled by social grade D and the class members are described as being semi and unskilled manual workers. This type of demographic approach aids the industry in being able to create or market a product that appeals specifically towards a certain audience based on their occupation and social status.

The industry is able to achieve psychographic segmentation through the use of the VALS scale. Psychographic segmentation is conducted through lifestyle profiling. In other words psychographic segmentation combines the psychological profile of the consumer with ideas of how the consumer conducts their life within the general market. The VALS system is a psychographic scale (The Values, Attitudes, and lifestyle classification scheme) that is sorted into a number of distinctive categories based on values, attitudes, and lifestyle. The VALS scale categorizes people into categories such as believers, strivers, makers and strugglers. A believer for instance is a conservative and conventional individual with concrete beliefs based on traditional values. A teenage VALS scale also exists which is most often applied to young audiences. Teenage VALS are segmented into categories such as trendies, puritans, innovators and rebels. A rebel is for instance an individual that wishes to remake the world in his or her own image. By utilizing the Jicnar, VALS and teenage VALS scales the industry is capable of appropriately segmenting their audiences and thus creating media and marketing it in a more effective manner. Although at this point the Jicnar scale is slightly outdated due to its categorization not applying as much to todays society it once did it still in some ways applicable to the general public. Therefore in general both scale systems are effective at aiding the industry and others in the process of audience profiling.

Second Creative Meeting

During our second creative meeting our group was able to clearly establish our idea. We agreed upon three elements. Element one would be the lead singer singing on a white background. Before our lead singer would begin performing on this set she would be hit with black paint in slow motion. I agreed with my group here that this would look appealing and would sure grab the attention of the audience. The second element which we agreed upon will be the lead singer shown on a set of old televisions surrounded by a black background. At first I thought this might not work well with our song and the other elements which we have agreed upon but my group member hav convinced me that if done right it could look interesting and represent a number of ideas supported by the song. Simply I can say that they have won me over. The third element that we agreed upon are three performances displayed by three separate dancers. Each dancer will dance in a different style, altogether the style shown will be hip-hop, break dance, and ballet. Continuing each dancers will be hit with one paint colour which we will decide upon at a later time. After this has occurred within our music video the performers will throw of the paint and begin dancing. Our group agrees that these three elements intertwined correctly will create an appealing music video. Moreover we are all happy with this renovated idea for our music video. In this way we have concluded our second creative meeting and agreed upon a new structure for our project.

Group Treatment - Response To Feedback

In response to the feedback that our group has received yesterday we assigned a task to each member of our group that would allow us to improve upon our concept. I looked into the slow motion and paint within our group’s music video while the two other member of my group looked into all other aspects of the idea. Listed below are the individual responses of our group’s members to the feedback.

Mateusz Pasynkiewicz (Me)

At first I examined in what ways could the slow motion within our concept for a music video be extended upon. I personally feel that by constantly yet gradually changing the speed of the film the paint that will hit the dancer will appear more interesting. Furthermore through this the speed of the film could be matched to fit to the pace of the song and would therefore become more pleasing to watch. Subsequently I thought about the possible camera models that our group could rent to shoot the slow motion sequences. Through this research I came by the phantom camera models that are capable of shooting high quality footage at ultra-low frames rates. In addition to this I looked at possible rental companies and educational facilities that would aid us with understanding how to operate the phantom. Although I think that further research is required in this area as the prices for both rental of the phantom and learning how to operate the phantom that I have found are at the moment to elevated for our budget. Lastly I looked into paints and have found that water soluble paints are the most appropriate to be used with humans. The paints low viscosity and liquid like behavior allow us to easily clean it of and chuck it at our dancer during the shoot. Moreover I thought about extending the usage of paints throughout the video and personally felt that it would become too monotonous to utilize the paint in the same way throughout the video. In general I feel like that the research that I have conducted and some of the personal opinions that I will later on share with my group will allow us to further develop our music video.

Group Treatment - Feedback

Today our group was able to present our treatment to one of our lecturers and our educator. Throughout this process we were given feedback on the concepts within our music video that might be difficult to realize and what parts of our music video we should alter to improve upon the overall idea. Our lecturer began by stating that because we are hoping to film at extraordinary levels of slow motion we should conduct research into what cameras would be capable of the task. Furthermore we have been told that only certain cameras are capable of shooting at such high frame rates, and that at least one of us should take the time to sign up for an educational course on using the camera we choose to rent. Subsequently our lecturer noted that our narrative is poor and that the way in which we would present it in our video could possibly look weak and amateur considering the equipment and actors we would have access to. It has been proposed that instead of displaying problems and bullying in the way we were planning to, that we instead screen said problems over the dancer using projections form a projector. On a different note our educator indicated that when preparing to chuck paint at our dancer we must make certain that said dancer is not allergic to the paint as well as that the paint is safe to use with humans. Once all of this has been said, both of our spectators were surprised that we would use the paint for only 1/3 of the video and have suggested that we somehow incorporate the paint into the rest of the video. The last issue that our lecturer had with our concept was that the dancing performance was to simplistic and that we should develop upon it in a way that incorporates more effects and actions as to not bore the audience. As for the rest of our treatment both our educator and lecturer were pleased with it and stated that with the right type of idea development and research we should be able to create a captivating music video as a group.

Group Treatment - Naomi, Oly, Matt

First Creative Meeting

A number of days ago our class was split into music video production groups. During my group's first meeting we discussed our different concepts for music video and the types of songs that we were interested in utilizing. By listening to each other and seeing what type of music and music video style each of us affinity for we began thinking about how we could possibly combine our ideas. At first this seemed like a good idea but eventually I think we understood that it would be better if we took out concepts of what each of us would like to see within our music video and combined them to create an original idea. Through this process we debated for a long time and noticed that we simply do not agree eye to eye on certain matters. However we continued talking onto the point at which we gradually began closing down on an outline for our concept. By then end of our first creative meeting we established our music video would consist of 3 elements. The following elements would be a performance by a lead singer, a dance performance and a narrative that would intertwine with the two.

Polydor Records

Today we had the opportunity to meet two members of the Polydor Ltd. subsidiary based in London. Polydor Ltd. is a British record label that operates as a part of the Universal Music Group. The two members of the company offered us insight into the process of designing and producing a music video within the industry. The company has utilized this process in the past to create music video for artists such as Years & Years, 1975 and Jax Jones. Furthermore the company works with VEVO to promote their artists through television YouTube and more and other types of websites. This allows for Polydor records to gain publicity for an artist or artists that they are working with which in turn results in greater sales.

At first when an artist or band is signed to Polydor Records the company directs them to their marketing team which then discuses with them what type of image would fit him/her or them. During this time the artist or band collaborate with the marketing team to compromise on an image that will be achieved through the release of the music video and other types of promotional advertising. Once the marketing team has decided on an image for the band or artist they will work together with other departments of the subsidiary to produce a brief for a music video. The brief will contain the name of the artist, track, and budget and information on what kinds of elements are to be represented within the project and in what way. The types of elements used within music video are narrative, performance, animation and conceptual, and are either used in combination with each other or not, depending on the project. When the brief is complete Polydor Records supplies it to the adequate directors and in hope of hearing back from them. At one point some of the directors that have been supplied with the brief will send back a treatment to the Record Label describing their ideas for the music video. The treatment will often times involve visual images, written notes, references and videos. At this point Polydor records will hire the director who they believe has come up with the most suitable idea for the project or one that will direct the project in the finest manner. Subsequently the record label will work with the director and artist or artists to further develop the idea for the music video and resolve any issues. Afterwards the idea is given a green light and within usually a month a music video is created. Out of this month 1-3 days are spend on shooting, while the rest is spent on editing and delivering the final projects. The budgets for music videos within Polydor records range from $5,000 to $150,000 with certain exceptions. The two members of the company presented to us some of the music videos which they have produced, as well as the treatments and briefs for them which gave us a further understanding of the whole process.

Within this process the two members of the subsidiary have also talked about the difficulties that come up over time. For instance it is difficult to create a music video for a new artist or band as this will lead to primary impressions of who the artist or artists are. Furthermore due to the amount of different opinions and visualizations certain situations become emotionally heated and are at times demanding to deal with. Also, although the studio provides new directors with opportunities to film their short videos, it disallows them and/or challenges them to visualize how the final outcome might possibly look like. However even though the following problems to appear at certain times they are always dealt with in some way.

Overall by being given the opportunity to see and analyze how a fragment of the industry that is responsible for creating music videos works was an amazing experience. Additionally I feel that this will allow me and my music video group to further improve upon the way in which will approach creating and designing our music video throughout the next couple of weeks. 

Music Campaign Concept 3 - Feedback

After receiving feedback from my class about my second music video concept I've have come to understand that there are  a number of ways in which I must alter my concept. First of all I think I could potentially display situations within my idea of the main teacher interacting with other average teachers in the educational facility. By doing this I could place emphasis on the peculiarity and abnormal behaviour of the teacher who dresses like a pimp. Second of all I now understand thin that the song I chose may be difficult to lip sync to and will either pick a song with more gradual lyrics or might attempt to find someone who is able to lip sync to the tempo of the song. Furthermore I also understand now that my concept may be displaying some controversial ideas and that I need to make certain that I represent it in a  way that is non offensive but rather comedic. I now also possess a clearer image of the main actor that I could possibly cast. At first I was thinking of someone young and cool looking, but as I have heard my classes feedback I now think that using an older actor would create a more interesting atmosphere within the music video. Lastly I might also cast one of the students within the lead teachers classroom as the lead singer of the song and portray him singing within that classroom while in some ways being affected by the behaviour of the teacher. Ultimately I think that I was able to develop upon my idea through the honest feedback of my close together with my  openness towards changing certain aspects of my visualisation of the project.