Our Target Audience!

As we have collected both Primary and Secondary research we are now able to determine who our target audience is for the genre of Indie Folk. 

As we have collected this information we can know answer the main questions that will tell us plainly who our target audience is. We will then be able to relate it to the 'Young & Rubicam' theory, which will help us further to create a music video that appeals largely to this audience.

The questions needed to answer are:

1. Who is your Main Target Audience?
2. How is our video going to appeal to our Audience?

1. Our target audience is both males and females and appeals the people between the ages of 15-25. From our research most of the audience came from a work class background however it is not uncommon for people of 'higher' social status to like this sort of music. The most part of our research told us that the listeners are very individual and are not always into mainstream things such as other bands/artists, clothing or personality.
2. Our video will appeal to our target audience as we have made it relatable and suitable for our target age range, and it will also be inspirational for both males and females. The video will not determine a class so will therefore not 'discriminate' against other people. We have also kept our video so that it conforms to the individuality that our target audience expresses this will be done through clothing but also certain things like body language, facial expression; which will help project our artists personality through the video

In relation to 'Young & Rubicam's' theory from the information we have collected we will determine what our target audience will fit into.

The different categories that Young & Rubicam have listed are:

The Explorer- Driven by need for discovery and/or challenge.

The Aspirer- Materialistic/care more about what others think about.

The Succeeder- Goal Orientated/Self Confident and Organised.

The Reformer- Values their own Independent judgement and is Anti-materialistic.

The Mainstream- Largest group of people, Core need is security and live in a daily routine.

The Struggler- Seeks escape, lives for today and doesn't plan tomorrow.

The Resigned- Aim to survive and are predominantly older people.

From the simple comments made after the categories it is easy to find out what categories our target audience would fall into.

In regards to what we want to achieve in our video, such as keeping it very conventional so it appeals to our target audience specifically, we would say that our target audience falls into the categories of "The Explorer" and "The Reformer". 

We decided that our target audience fit into 'The Explore' as our video narrative is based around a girl trying to find/discover herself by going on a journey. This could mean that our target audience would be able to relate to our video narrative which then makes them relate to our artist. It is also a very aspirational song that would help people feel motivated and help people get over the challenges there facing and be brave which is what we think being 'The Explorer' is all about.

Likewise with 'The Explorer', we think 'The Reformer' fits very well with out target audience, this is because this category is very much centered around being your won person and not worrying about what people think about you, which is very conventional of Indie people and Indie Folk music listeners. To say that our target audience is anti-materialistic is a hard judgement to make as it is dependent completely on the persons personality, but of the most part our audience fits perfectly in this category.

We have no determined our target audience will help us to not only make our video specific to our audiences wants but also help us to create a video that fits into the 'Young & Rubicam' theory.

Target Audience: Secondary Research

When looking into our potential audience we looked online to help us define what our audience will be. We found various different powerpoints and Prezi's made by other students that was a very helpful resource.

Upon looking at various websites such as different indie folk artist websites, we have collected the following information.

Male listeners of Indie folk music could be from the age son 17-24, this could be because after these ages the male listeners interest in music could become more sophisticated and want to listen to music that have more meaning or a story behind it such as blues music or jazz. Listeners would probably shop at shops such as Topman and Urban Outfitter, as these shops are renowned for being very indie and unique in there clothing style. This means they could wear anything from skinny jeans and a v-neck top to chinos and a patterned shirt. They could be of any social class however from common knowledge they might hang around in places such as Portobello Road or Old Camden Town in London as they are very indie, cool places to hang about plus they have a very big music scene. Males would probably be more interested in listening to artists such as Mumford and Sons, as they are all male and don't sing about such serious topics.

Female Listeners could be anywhere from the ages of 13-25, this could be because females are more interested in the soothing nature of a lot of Indie Folk songs and females can relate more to the story being told through the lyrics. Likewise with the males, they would probably shop in Topshop, Urban Outfitters and other shops such as American Apparel and even Vintage/Charity Shops. Again this is because these stores sell unique clothing that attracts people of the indie style. It is common that they were wear clothes such as floral shirts/skirts, vintage pattern blouses, cigarette style trousers, frilly socks and brogues  Music videos of the indie folk genre provide females with there inspiration for fashion so it is important that females like the indie folk music videos. In regards to where females may spend there time is unknown but it would probably in the same locations as males interested in this genre. Females are more likely to be attracted to artists such as Birdy, Daughter and First Aid Kit as there lyrics are more emotional and strike more of a common interest in females.

As the group of people who listen to Indie Folk music is young they would probably communicate through sites such as Twitter and Facebook as this allows them to connect with the artist themselves and people who also enjoy indie folk music. YouTube is also a a huge part of the indie folk listeners connection to the music, many indie folk artists start there career on YouTube so this is a major part of indie folk fans. In terms of other mediums such as magazines, indie folk fanatics would probably read such magazines as 'NME' or 'Q' which is something to keep into consideration when creating a magazine advert for our Ancillary Task.

We looked more detailed into a Prezi that we found on a past student blog. Which was very informative on the background but not very informative on the audience of today, however had some relevance to secondary research.
http://laurenabbottg324.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/research-into-relevant-music-genre.html

The main points that we took from the Prezi was:

• Indie Folk music started in the 1990's as Indie Rock musicians got influences from Folk artists and country musicians.
• The Indie Folk genre only really got big in the 00's but now it is a huge and very common genre especially with artists such as Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver create music of this genre

Knowing all that we have researched it makes it easier to create our video especially in terms of Mise-En-Scene, as it will help us to make our video more appealing to our audience.

Primary Research: Establishing Our Target Audience

For our primary research we wanted to do something different than the typical Vox Pop or Questionnaire, so we decided to create our own survey on "SurveyMonkey".com. We created a multiple-choice/responsed based survey so we got our basic information but also extra information. We then sent it to about 20 of our friends and family, of all ages and background types, and asked them to answer it as honestly as possible.
From the 20 we sent this too, only 17 people got back to us. Below are print screens of the questions we asked and how people responded.

Link to Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RPY9KLW

From the results we can see who our potential target audience is and what their likes/dislikes are towards Indie Folk videos and genre. We have collected from our survey the following points:

• Our potential audience is mostly Female
• The audience is between 15-20 years old
• The majority of our responders listen to Indie Folk music
• The responders that do listen to Indie Folk music, listen to mostly artists like 'Mumford and Sons', 'Ben Howard', 'Noah and the Whale' and also bands like 'The Vaccines' and 'Bombay Bicycle Club'
• The Majority of our audience watch there music videos on either YouTube and Music Channels
• Unfortunately Indie Music does not really 'inspire' our audience
• Our audience like the calming and creative aspects of Indie Folk music videos
• Finally, they like videos centred around a performance and narrative

Introduction to Target Audience: Our Video

When looking into establishing our Target Audience profile, it important to remember that music videos should be entertaining and intresting as well as appealing to the people we are targeting our music video too, especially as one of the most important aspects of marketing is the target audience.

Before we can full establish who our target audience is we have to think about certain things such as 'What genre our song is in?' and 'What Channel would it appear on?' just so we fully certain on our production.


The song we are creating a music video for is called "Here Before" by Lissie which is in the Indie Folk genre. Some of the conventions of the Indie Folk genre that we are specifically conforming too are:

• Close Ups of the Artists face and there body parts (Hands, face etc.)
• Tilts used often Scenic shots of the location (Forestry)
• Positioning of camera is quite often facing the light so it creates almost a negative of the artist with the background being a positive
• Clothing is very natural and normal which stand out from other genres such as pop as they normally are all dressed up
• Setting is very picturesque and scenic
• Soft Focus is used very often mainly on the artists faces, bodies and the setting
• Fade to Black is used at the end of the music videos

The conventions in the Indie Folk genre that we are going to challenge are:

• The type of video- Most indie folk videos are only Performance but we are putting a narrative in ours too.
• Goodwin's theory in the 'Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals'

Lissie's record label is "Fat Possum records" which represents artists of many genres such as Folk, Blues, Gospel and Rap. As it is obvious this record company is not that big and well known considering there are labels such as EMI and Virgin Records. However "Fat Possum Records" are renowned for producing music of smaller artists that have an individual style of music, such as Lissie and The Black Keys for example.

As Indie Folk is a very new style of music it means that its still quite different and unique, so therefor the artists themselves are fairly unique and individual. When watching such music videos by "Birdy" and "Mumford and Sons" you can see through their videos that they are very emotive and focus more on the song than the presentation of the song. This meaning that they focus more on what there singing rather than how there going to prove there good singers to the world. For example in a pop video, like Rihannas "Who's That Chick?" her video is very focused on her and how she is presented to her audience, such as fashionable, fun, cute and a good pop singer. Whereas when watching a music video from the Indie Folk genre, like Birdy's "Shelter", you can see she is very much believing in the lyrics she is singing and her video is not focused on showing how flashy and amazing her music is, it literally just shows her emotion and connection to the song, therfor she is not shown as incredibly fashionable or fun its just showing the artist as they are, natural and purely driven by there music. As this representation is quite broad for the Indie Folk genre, we are going to try and stick to this representation as much as possible, as well as throwing in some of our own interpretation of the song.

In regards to our video type, we have decided on making it a hybrid video with both a Performance and Narrative based video. As mentioned above we will be creating this purely from our own interpretation of the song and how we have a connection to it. Our narrative will be very basic as it is not the full focus of the video, so our video will be performance weighted; this is very typical of the Indie Folk genre so we are therefor conforming to this common trend. Our narrtive is "A girl that has lost her way in life, and is searching for the person she used to be". This will be very subtle but when fully focused and drawn in by the video it will make sense perfectly. As we mentioned it will also be a performance video, this is obvious as the actor will be performing the song as if she is Lissie the artist.

When thinking ahead, if this were a real music video, our video would probably air on such channels as MTV Rocks as although this is branded as a rock channel it is very common to see Indie Folk videos on here as well as genres like Blues. This channel also produced segments such as 'Newest Noise' and 'The 10 Biggest Tracks Right Now', which ranges from all different genres and is literally just anything that is "big" or "popular" right now in the music charts. Other music channels our video could air on is 'The Vault', 'Bliss', 'Kiss' and '4Music' as all of these channels are very general and play most genres of music that appeal to people so that way there is something for everyone.

Key features of music video. 5 Years Time- Noah and the Whale

I am analysing ‘5 Years Time’ By Noah and the Whale. The director was from Wes Anderson film, using the same style as the director typically uses in his films. The genre of my music video in indie/folk. The characteristics that are common in indie/folk are quite simple videos and in this video the acting and scenery are minimal.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals isn’t a great lot. At the beginning the line ‘well in 5 years time we could be walking round a zoo’ and in comedy there is a scene of them sitting in a farm. When the line says ‘i'll put my hands over your eyes but you’ll peek through’ they act out the man doing that to the girl. They use illustration to help understand the lyrics if there is not action to go along with it. For instance ‘there will be sun sun sun’ there stand 4 boys in bright yellow clothing portraying the sun and pointing up towards the sky. This is then repeating in throughout the chorus.  As the next scene approaches and the line opens with ‘ill be laughing at all your silly little jokes and laughing at how we used to smoke’ a guy smoking holds up his cigarette laughing. The man then picks up a bottle of wine and cigarette for the line ‘stupid little cigarette and drink stupid wine’ laughing as he is pitying what they used to do. In the chorus of ‘love love  love’ a boy and girl stand with their hands over their hearts showing the heart beating, the girl also wear a heart shaped ring. When the words ‘5 Years Time’ they act out putting their hands up to signal 5, then making a Y with their arms then making T with their hands.

At the beginning the link between music and visuals is shown by instruments you hear the guitar come in and as it does a girl playing it is introduced, then the same with a man and the violin. Following the flute solo bit a girl gets a flute and starts to play it. When there are lines when the boy and the girl are talking a girl voice speaks over ‘I’m always pretty happy to be kicking back with you’.  At the end of the video when there is whistling and tapping their feet are shown tapping. So the solo instrument scenes are illustrated through the video. The only change of the music pace in the video is towards the end when people think the song is over as it slow down, then the music picks up again for the last chorus.

This track is an easy-listener, its ideal to listen to with friends on a summer’s day. The track is meant to bring people together. I think the image is meant to be a mock of like ‘brownies’ or a summer camp image, of course as they are adults. There outfits are dressed like that. This video to the other video’s of the bands is different, as this video was their first video they kept to simple filming with not a lot of locations. In the other videos such as ‘Shape of my heart’ have different locations and filming shots. In this video compared to other the all interact more, such as actions and being ‘silly’.

In regards to ‘notion of the looking’ there is no reference to any sexual display at all, or any references to ‘looking’.

The only Intertextual Reference is when the boy and girl are standing opposite each other and the line reads ‘I no longer feel I have to be James Dean’ and points to a picture of James Dean.
James Dean was a good looking cowboy in the 1930’s and the man is referring he doesn’t have to feel good looking and outrageous anymore.

The music video is mainly performance based as the singers interact in the music video a lot as well as playing instruments. They don’t act out the song as there is no story-line but they use illustrations in some ways to show what they are thinking through the lyrics. It’s a mix or narrative and performance. They play an equal part.

In conclusion this music video sticks to the indie/folk genre by keeping to the same mise-sen-scene and camerwork use as other indie/folk video’s. They only challenge the lyrics and visuals, as some lines of the lyrics don’t really go with whats going on in the video.

Representation within Indie Folk

As our chosen artist for our own music video is Lissie, we are going to be analysing one of her music videos, and comparing them to others, to show how artists in this genre are represented.

Questions we will ask ourselves are:
Who or What is being represented?
Is this a stereotypical representation?
Is it a positive or negative representation?
What representations are you planning to conform to or challenge in your video?

In the video "Everywhere I go" by Lissie, she is the focal point of the video, therefor she is the artist being represented in this video. From her facial expressions and actions in the video, it is clear that she is really committed and emotive in the words she is singing, which shows the song has meaning to her, which can make the audience relate to her because theres a clear connection between her and the lyrics. The way she is being represented, as emotive and meaningful, is very stereotypical to the Indie Folk genre as most of the videos show the artist is a very emotional state when performing, this may be because the songs are really personal to them and they don't just have a songwriter to write the song for them. Another way in which the artist is represented, which is also in a very stereotypical way, is through her choice of clothing. In the video she layers a t-shirt, flannel shirt and biker jacket with jeans and boots, this is not a very stereotypical piece of clothing for people to wear every single day, however in some of Lissie's music videos she is shown to be wearing very individual clothing which is stereotypical to the Indie Folk genre. The way in which Lissie is being represented is definitely in a positive light, as it is teaching people that its ok to be an individual and not worry about what people think, but its also showing people its ok to show emotion and be comfortable in your own skin, which again is stereotypical to the Indie Folk genre as a lot of the artists are very unique and individual.
In our own video of "Here Before" by Lissie, we will be conforming to most of the representations that are shown in Lissie's video's, such as the clothing and the emotive facial expressions and powerful actions she portrays in not only this video but her other videos such as "When Im Alone". Along with the representations of the Artist in this video we will also be conforming to the typical conventions of the genre which our video is in.

9 shot Analysis

Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons.

9 Shot Analysis of Indie Folk Music Video.

Below is a nine shot analysis of an Indie Folk music video, which our chosen song's genre. The song i have chosen to analyse is by the Swedish Duo First Aid Kit and the song is 'Wolf'. The video is directed by Johan Söderberg and is of the hybrid type of Performance and Concept. I have analysed the video in 9 shots and commented on the mise-en-scene, editing and camerawork. 

Key Features of Music Video Essay + Plan (Indie Folk Genre)

Above is the plan made for the essay of "Key Features of Music Videos", which is an essay written talking about the key features in a genre. I chose Indie Folk as that is the genre of our chosen song for our music video.

Essay and feedback to follow!

Textual analysis essay (rough cut) with feedback from teacher

Textual analysis on one music video. (plan for essay)

Past Student work- The Coral- Dreaming of you.

The Coral- Dreaming of you.

This is a past student work of an indie/folk video.

The camerawork in this video they used a variety of long shots and close ups. They used mainly medium shots in their video. They didnt use a wide range osf shots they did stick to the main 4 shots.
Long shot
Medium shot
Close up
 Extreme close up or long shot.

Lighting in this video is all natural light as the scenes are in a bedroom, a hosue and at a beach and through a town. In the bedroom they used a lamp to show 'lonely room' and this enhances the emotion on the boys face.

Analysing Past Students Music Video

To get a further understanding of what our video should include to achieve a good grade I have decided to analyse a past student work. I have chosen one off randomly off YouTube according to our genre; Indie Folk. There didn't seem to be many Indie Folk music videos on YouTube so I chose the closest genre which was Indie Rock. The students work I am analysing is to the song 'Sweet disposition' by The Temper Trap. I will be analysing it in terms of Mise-En-Scene, Editing and Camerawork but also relating it to Goodwin's Theory.



Mise-En-Scene

Clothing & Makeup
In terms of clothing most of the people, if not all, are all wearing clothes such as skinny jeans, checkered shirts and hoodies with high top style trainers. The only person in the video that is wearing different if the main singer who wears skinny jeans, a t-shirt, jean jacket, hat and high top trainers. this makes him stand out from the crowd and means that he will be the main focus as he is different to the rest which is important because he is the main singer. This is conventional for the Rock genre in particular as it is very typical "rocker" clothing however it could also cover the Indie genre as they are individual and unique which is very indie.
In terms of makeup, it is hard to determine if they are wearing makeup however it is unlikely because they are men. However it would be conventional if they were to wear makeup as that would be a a common trend to see in a rock video.

Lighting
From what I can see in the video, as all the locations are outdoors its most likely that the lighting in the video is ambient. This gives the video a very natural look and also makes it look quite rustic as in some shots the lighting is obviously behind the actors so its looks more like a shadow and outline of the person so the audience cant really see there face which gives the video a really good look that matches the genre.

Props
There are hardly any props used in this music video which is very conventional for the Indie Rock genre as well as our genre of Indie Folk. The only props used in this video are musical instruments such as guitars, bass' and drums and the other props used are things such as cigarettes and skateboards. The musical instruments are very expected in this specific video as it is of the performance type, so it would be not only unconventional but also odd looking if the instruments were not used. Props such as a skateboard and cigarettes that the actors smoke, this gives the video more of a realism and makes it relatable to teens which is quite a large portion of the target audience of this music, it also keeps the individuality in the genre.

Editing
The editing in this video is kept very simple which is again, very conventional of the genre. The only editing techniques used is slow motion. There are only cuts used in this video which is super conventional of the Indie Folk/Rock genre. The slow motion is used only in the scenes containing the skateboard, this could be used to add an action element to the video, which isn't really conventional but it adds some diversity to a regular performance based video.

Feedback From The Powerpoint Presentation

Positive.

- People from our group liked our location recce
- It was a clear overall vision and well thought through
- It was clear on what we wanted to conform too
-There were good thoughts on post production.

Negative.

-Need to think about going to brighton and make a variety of shots
-It wasnt clear on the syle of genre (Performance/narrative)
-How will we challenge Goodwins Theory?
-Codes and Conventions of Genre were not clear

What we have learned from our feedback?

-In regards to our feedback we have learned that our class is concerned for our location choices as Brighton is quite a fair bit away from Windsor, however we have resolved this as a group and we now feel confident as to how we can accomplish our original plan of being in Brighton but in a cautious way so we get all the shots we need. we have decided to ensure we do how long takes so that we have many different shots to choose from within one take.

-We have learnt that through our video we need to ensure that the type of video is clear (Narrative/Performance)

-By doing the powerpoint it gave us the chance to really think through our ideas and understand them fully ourselves. It also gave us the oppurtunity to create alternative options if things would not work out in Brighton at the beach for example.

Mind Map of Our Initial Ideas

Above is a picture of a quick mind map we made listing our initial ideas for our music video. We decided to just get a rough idea on most aspects of the video including the micro-areas. These are of course just our first basic ideas and they will be established as our research and planning goes on.

Auteur Theory

The french term 'Autuer' translates into 'Author', which means that the directors film reflects their creative vision
The 'Autuers' show signs of excessive use of their vison through the use of signatures. The filmmaker's style is distinctive which helps to create the 'autuer' status for themselves. They have full creative control over their work and show a signature style throughout.
This is very much the case with many music videos

Areas of recognisable signatures cold include:

•  Colour Use
• Transitions
• Use or Absence of narrative
• Location
• Actors

TASK: 1.Pick an auteur 2. Watch two music videos directed by the auteur. 3. Answer the following: What is the signature of the director?

We have chosen the autuer Chris Cunningham who is known for his warped style and disturbing images. Upon watching music videos directed by him we have chosen the music videos of "Frozen" by Madonna and "Come To Daddy" by Aphex Twin.

There are few similarities between these videos because there are the complete opposite genre therefor there are different conventions in each video. We did however notice a few things that are clearly a signature of Chris Cunningham's, the two micro-areas Cunningham's signature style is shown is in the area of Editing and Mise-en-scene.
In Editing it is clear there is colour correction of both videos. The colour Cunningham tend to use is cool blue and grey tones, this is used throughout the videos and could be a representation of the darkness and disturbing imagery behind the songs lyrics/style.
In the Mise-en-scene the clear point made in this video is within the use of characters. It is noticeable in both videos that many of the same character are shown through out the video. In Madonna's video this is only in certain parts and not the full way through, however the Aphex Twins video has the same character the whole way through. This must be used to create a disturbing images because in both videos it creates a shock factor, but on different levels, which is clearly a style that Cunningham likes the stick with.

Although there were only two noticable signatures in these two videos, there are still similar visions shown through both videos. This makes Chris Cunningham clearly an Autuer with a clear vision.

Our Chosen Track, Why We Chose It + Lyrics

As a pair we have decided on an Indie Folk song by an artist called Lissie, the song is called 'Here Before'. We have chosen this song because the Indie Folk genre is starting to get big in the music industry especially with artists like Mumford and Sons releasing songs and albums. We also chose it because Indie Folk is not extremely popular and we gathered that not many people would be doing this kind of song in our class. The song has a narrative already running through it so it's a great song for a narrative type video but also great for a performance because its a very emotive song that has a lot of power behind it. We also liked this song because it had a very ethereal and it gives us a lot of opportunities to go out of our comfort zone and be creative in creating something equally as emotional and dreamlike, which the song carries on its own.

Below is the song and lyrics.

FYI: Upon emailing the uploader of this video we found that this video is a personal/fan made video to the song and has nothing to do with the artist. However it is the only full version of the song that is not live or terrible quality.

Lyrics

Oh, what a gray and hopeless day
I've got a worried mind
The sun's behind the clouds again
And so am I
I ask the sky
Tell me which way to go, how will I know to shine again?

I've been here before, I've seen it all
And I can't take no more, I mean it
I'll go

And this is the time, the time to change my life
Yeah these are the times reaching up to find

A window out of doom and doubt
A remedy for agony oh, hush that shout

I've been here before, I've seen it all
And I can't take no more, I mean it
I'll go
You heard it all and more, heart beating to hard

And these are the times, time to change my life
Yeah these are the times reaching up to find

Whoa-oh-oh-oh
I took the wrong way home
Whoa-oh-oh
I took the wrong way home
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
I took the wrong way home
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

I've been here before, I've seen it all
I can't take no more, I mean it
I'll go
What's this screaming for?

And this is the time, the time to change my life
Yeah these are the times, reaching up to find
Reaching up to find
Reaching up to find
Reaching up
Reaching up

Mind Map of 3 Genres + The Codes and Conventions

 Below is the 3 different micro-areas of 3 different genres. Within these 3 genres I have analysed the codes and conventions of the genre depending on the micro area. I chose the Indie, Pop and Rock genre and took 'stills' of the video to illustrate what I have written in regards to the codes and conventions.

Goodwin's Theory: Applied to a Professional Music Video

Above is a picture of a worksheet I completed comparing the 7 areas of Goodwin's theory to a professional music video.

Goodwin's Theory: Explanation of 7 Areas

Above is a picture of a worksheet I completed in relation to Goodwin's Theory of music videos. Next to each area of the theory is an explanation in my own words of what the area means.

Types of Music Video's Worksheet

Above is a picture of the worksheet I completed it regards the a Narrative, Performance and Concept type of music video. We had to choose 3 music videos from each of those types and then analyse them!

Mind Map of 3 Genres

Goodwin's Theory- Applied to Music Video

Goodwin's Worksheet- Explanation

Textual Analysis of Music Video from any Genre.

Below is the textual analysis of a music video in the pop genre called "We Are Never ever getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift. I was given corrections from the teacher which we changed.

In this textual analysis the music video I will be analysing is “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by country/pop artist Taylor Swift. Although Taylor Swift is mainly a country artist her music often is mixed with the pop genre, however this video is only within the pop genre. The type of video is a hybrid, being both a narrative and performance video. As Taylor Swift has a very large fan base of both genders and a wide range of ages (roughly from around 8 years old to adulthood) it is easy to say that her potential target audience would be both male and females from all over the world and also of all ages.

To explain how the above areas I have mentioned are conducted in this pop video I will be focusing on three micro areas, Camerawork, Editing, Mise-en-scene and also the special effects used. I will also then compare the video to Goodwin’s theory to show if the codes and conventions match up to what o have mentioned in the above paragraph.

The camerawork in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” has a very complex look in the video; however the main camera work is very basic. A stedi-cam is used to get around the set of the video; this is evident as it is very smooth camerawork. The movement is sometime quite natural and some minor shakes are obvious in concentration. There are a wide range of shot types in this video; however the most common shot used is a medium shot. This is typical of the pop genre as in many pop videos they use many different shot types because they are usually happy and fast paced songs so the audience gets a better view of what’s happening.

   There is literally no editing in this video. It was clearly shot in one continuous take so there is no use of cuts; however the transitions come naturally with the set design which helps the video to run smoother than it would if there were transition edits. However colour correction could have been used to make colours more vibrant to stand out more which is again typical of the pop genre. In the pop genre the shot duration is usually short as pop is quite upbeat and fast paced however because this is a continuing shot it is obviously the opposite which is long shot duration which challenges the codes and conventions of the pop genre. The obvious point of editing however is where the post productions team put together the image and sound, so that it is unclear the artist is lip-syncing.

  The Mise-en-scene for this video can be talked about very widely especially in the areas of costume, makeup, location, props and performance and movement. The costume used in this video varies for the different scenes displayed in the video. There are a total of five costume changes in the music video and they are all changed in between scene changes. It is obvious in some parts of the music video that the artist disappears to ensure she is in time for her costume change. Various costumes are again very typical of the pop genre as there can be many different scenes in a pop video which obviously require different costumes. The makeup in this video is simple and very typical of the artist as that is her usual look even to the public which could have been chosen to reach out to her fan base/target audience. It is kept the same the whole way through the video as there is no time to change the makeup because it is a continuous shot video. The location in this video changes very often but the most used location is the house area. This could be stereotypical of the pop genre as it again shows many different scene changes and a different side to the narrative. The props used in this video are kept simple as they are only really used when it’s necessary for the music and lyrics, for example when the artist is talking on the phone on her bed the music changes to talking and it is slightly muffled showing the difference in scene. And finally the performance and movement in this video is kept very upbeat throughout the whole video as that is how the music is, so when the music changes and slows done so does the performing and the amount of movement the artist does. This could also be quite typical of the pop genre but also how the artist is portrayed to her target audience.

  The special effects used in this video were kept quite minimal as it seems however there was an obvious use of green screen when the scene changed to the car. It is clearly obvious when the ‘woodland animals’ are dancing in the boot of the car, the green screen is used to make it seem as if they travelling down the road still as there performing in the car which they obviously aren’t. Another special effect used was on the TV screen to show the artist performing but on the TV. That could have also been green screen and then the effect of her actually being on TV was added in post-production.

In response to Goodwin’s theory there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals, music and visuals, also shown through the music video are the genre characteristics, performance and narrative side of the video and finally the demands of the record label.

  Goodwin’s idea of the relationship between the lyrics and visuals suggests that all videos have some relationship with the lyrics and the visuals on screen, is shown quite clearly through the video. One of the main places it is seen is where the artist picks up the phone and immediately sings “You called me up again tonight” this is a clear link, it also shows that its night time as the man on the other side of the phone is in a “dirty” club which people obviously visit at night-time.

  Goodwin also suggests there is a link between the music and visuals; this is also seen in the video in the scene I mentioned before, when the artist is lying on her bed talking on the phone. The voice clearly changes in that particular scene as it changes from singing to talking but also sounds echoed and muffled as it would if you listening in to a phone conversation. As it is only one take, the visuals and music are complimented by the use of Mise-en-scene such as the set design and the use of smooth transitions to each ‘scene’.

  The next part of Goodwin’s theory is the genre characteristics which suggests that all music videos have the same characteristics according to their genre, in this particular genre, the pop genre, it is quite clear from watching the music video that a lot of the pop characteristics are very similar to other videos in this genre. It is especially clear in the movement as energy levels displayed in the video are very high which is typical of the pop genre, also (as mentioned before) the many costume and set changes also are major characteristics to the pop genre. But there are also elements of this video which could oppose the genre characteristics especially because there is no major and evident editing and it is a long shot duration which is the opposite of the pop genre.

   Goodwin also mentions the type of music video, in this case it is a hybrid of a narrative and performance video. The narrative of this video is clearly a teenager that has been in a serious relationship that has broken down and now she is telling the story of how the guy won’t take no as an answer and keeps coming back to her then braking it off again so she is telling he they are ‘never ever getting back together’. This narrative is very typical of Taylor Swift as basically every one of her songs is about a relationship she has been in and all comes from personal experience so it represents her as being very open and honest with her fans in giving them the message that even her life isn’t perfect even though she is a big award winning, famous singer. The performance side of the video is very good at representing Taylor’s personality as she is viewed as a very sweet and all around happy girl. The performance is also quite exaggerated especially because many hand movement are used which makes it seem very melodramatic but also still shows the upbeat personality of the artist and almost how she is completely over this guy she’s singing about.

  One the final parts of Goodwin’s theory that is seen in this music video is the demands of the record label, which is obviously how the record label want the artist to be viewed. As Taylor Swift’s audience ranges from 8 years old to adults she has to be an example for everyone but especially the younger fan base. In most of her videos and especially this one she is very happy-go-lucky and charming throughout the whole video which could be a demand as they want her to be viewed as a positive role model for young fans. Another way this is shown particularly in her music videos is the way her clothing is always modest, showing her morals and how she wants to be viewed by other people. Even the music she writes could be viewed as a demand from the record label as they might want her to be viewed as a very strong person that can be an example or role model to girls who, for example, are going through a break up after a long relationship.

  Other parts of Goodwin’s theory are intertexual references and notions of looking; however neither of these occurs or are extremely evident in this video by this particular artist.

To summarise this textual analysis it is clear that through all that has been analysed including Goodwin’s theory’s and the micro areas, that this music video by Taylor Swift has hit a lot of the codes and conventions that go with the pop genre, particularly in the Mise-en-scene and special effects however it is also clear that this video also challenges the pop genre especially in the micro-area of editing. However it is clear that from the video it is not obviously a regular video and there aren’t many like it which is why the producers may have felt that going against the typical codes and conventions of the pop genre would be a good choice.

Codes and Conventions of the Indie folk Genre!

There are a very wide range of music genres and with that genre there are particular codes and conventions that the music genre follows in their music videos. I have decided to analyse the codes and convention that fit in the genre of Indie Folk. Some Indie Folk artists include: Ellie Goulding Iron and Wine Bon Iver Birdy Ben Howard Mumford and Sons I have decided to choose two music videos from two of the artists mentioned above. I have decided to choose the songs "Shelter" by Birdy and "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons. From these two videos I will summarise what the typical codes and conventions are for the Indie Folk genre.

Below are the two music videos.


The typical codes and conventions for this genre are:

Camerawork:

• Close Ups of the Artists face and there body parts (Hands, face etc.)
•  Long shots of the artists in motion or play instruments
• General shots of artists playing an instrument
• Tilts used often Scenic shots of the location (Forestry, interior design etc.)
• Establishing shots are used to determine the setting
•  Positioning of camera is quite often facing the light so it creates almost a negative of the artist with the background being a positive

Mise-En-Scene:

• Varied lighting shown through either ambient lighting or the use of fairy lights/lanterns
• Depending on mood set by song the lighting matches (Mumford and Sons song is upbeat so the lighting is warm, whereas the Birdy song is sadder and haunting so the lighting is cold)
• Setting is very picturesque and scenic
• Clothing matches the setting nicely can can help the viewer determine the season.
• Clothing is very natural and normal which stand out from other genres such as pop as they normally are all dressed up

Editing:

• Shot duration depends on the pace of the song (Birdy song is slow tempo so shots are longer, whereas the Mumford and Son's song is fast tempo so the shot duration is shorter)
• Soft Focus is used very often mainly on the artists faces, bodies and the setting
• Fade to Black is used at the end of the music videos

 From finding out the above conventions it will make it easier to decide whether making a music video to an Indie Folk song would be easy and also give me a better understanding of what goes into a music video and how similar music videos in the same genre are.

Codes and Conventions of hiphop/rap

Mirror- Lil wayne.
Lil Wayne is an artist who very raely has a storyline in his video, he is very about the image
and trying to put across his record labl 'Young Money'

-Long shots on full body to show off the '6 pack and tattoo's'

- By having the top off and wearing sunglasses, shows a 'bad boy image'

-Having close ups on the artists face shows his teeth showing his diamond grills'

-Showing his tattoos and extreme close ups on them to show the different
tattoos and also if those tattoos have a certain meaning.

-Doesnt follow a storyline, the video just shows a warehosue with red and white paint being thrown around and the singer in the middle singing.
-Lighting stays very simular throughout quite dim and dark. The lights get brighter only a little when its close up in his face.

Other Examples Simular to the video.

Usher-Climax, this only uses 2 scenes and dimmed lights.

Tyga-Rack city this uses explict scens of poles dancers to show off woman, then the singer wearing lots of diamond jewelery and showing again the tattoo's.
Chris Brown ft Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne- look at me now
Based in a warehouse and no storyline that relates to the lyrics and shows off the bad boy image again.

I can transform ya- Chris Brown ft Lil wayne - Shows off the 'body' which is the girl appeal and also 'bad boy image' The video has nothing to do wih the lyrics either, its just the singers interpretation of how he see's his lyrics.