Target Audience

Target Audience:

Dyer Star Theory

Dyer Star Theory

Richard Dyer developed his star theory based on several traits that cause performers to become stars. These factors consist of: Constructs, industry and ideology, people and culture, character and personality. These traits are required, according to Dyer, in order to become a star in the music industry.

Construct:

This suggest media develops the public perception upon the performer. This is done through several platforms of media such as newspapers, magazines, TV shows, social media. This image helps portray the performs personality whether it be positive or negative. Media platforms can be used to their performers advantage due to them helping gain popularity.  Overall. the theory says public image of a performer is acquired through this concept. Liam Gallagher is doing this at the moment making friends with other music artist relevant and popular with the youth to gain popularity.





Ideology and Audience:

Artist also put forward their views forward on topics within society. This helps influence their target audience to share similar views. They express these issues and opinions on social media. An example is when oasis was invited to 10 downing street by then prime-minister Tony Blair of the labour party. This links to Oasis as they were the face if working class Manchester and the UK as well as being idolised all over the world.

Industry and Audience:

Record labels try to create a likeable artist. They do this in order to create profits for the label profiling the artist in order to suit the target audience. However certain artist’s benefits from these techniques due to popularity of music content or looks. Liam Gallagher of oasis, suits this because when he was young boys aspired to have his attitude and swagger about him and girls fancied him for his good looks at the time. They did this by placing him on magazine front covers and making headlines for the wrong reasons portraying him as a 'real' rock n roll star. 

Character and Personality:

Artists reveal realism and opinions. However, because of their image they promote things as hegemony. Mainstream topics in the world are used as chance to convince fans to share the same opinion as their idol. This tries to promote them as a normal person effected by similar situations. An example is post Manchester attacks with the music community coming together against hate, Liam Gallagher was involved.


Also juxtaposing characteristics are put into place: 

Ordinary and Extraordinary:

This is required so the artists relate to the audience as an ordinary person but they display their talents as extraordinary. An example is Noel Gallagher being able to relate to the Manchester working class as well as being an amazing musician. For example, every album Noel has produced has debuted at number one. His most famous ones would be with his time at Oasis with 'Definitely Maybe and ' (what's the story) morning glory?'.


















Present and absent:

Present meaning being in the spotlight and releasing new music content. Also, being able to be absent and stepping out the spotlight. An example would be oasis who were in the spotlight when their new album or single came out but became absent after until the new album or single arrive. Oasis are now absent due to splitting up but Liam Gallagher has released album 'As you were' and Noel Gallagher's new album 'Who built the moon?'
















Analysis:

All the ideas discovered and put forward by Dyer can be used in my music video. This is due to it helping shape the representation of how to make the performers behave in different circumstances. Circumstances of how to advertise, act, target audience matching and opinions they have. This helps gain fans as well as maximise profits. In the case we want to be able to shape the artist personality to match the genre conventions and behaviour to make it look suitable for the genre and target audience in the final music video.

Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis:

Camera Work:

• 360 degree of camera spinning around the room at pace. 
• Lots of pan movement around main singer.
• Close ups mainly focus on lead singer and others in the band.
• Quite shaky the camera to portray atmosphere in the scene. 
• Close ups on guitar and drums to emphasise usage in that part of the song. 
• Few long shots of band including the crowd showing the atmosphere in the room and how the music makes them feel.
• Crane shots above the crowd in order to record the band. 
• Camera moves out the way of the subject and fades to a new one.

Editing:

• Quick jump cuts to rhythm of upbeat music. 
• Cuts pick up pace towards the chorus of the song.
• Cuts slow down after chorus until they build up again.
• Fades from white to black at the end.
• Fades within some parts fading to a new subject.
• Smooth zoom transition on drummer as he bangs the drum it cuts to a new subject.

Sound:

• Sound is all diegetic with instruments and singing all being natural and in the right place. Possibly added after making it non-diegetic but due to the music video showing them performing it represents its self as diegetic
• Crowd sound edited out in order to hear the song. You can imagine the crowd singing along during the performance and at the end clapping and cheering showing it has been edited out.

Mise en scene:

• Lighting is very vibrant, alive as well as artificial representing the mood in the room to the song and band. Colours match the lighting given off.
• Clothes worn are smart casuals matching stereotypes of a rock n roll band trying to stay in fashion and were casual clothing kind of like football hooligan clothes.
• Objects included are the instruments and speakers which are used by most performers within the music industry. 
• Main singer dominates shots as well as being at the front and centre of the stage. 

Analysis:

The Music video here is a great example of what we would be looking for in terms of piecing shots together in the future, timing sounds with relevant parts of the song like in Goodwin's theory (relationships between visuals and sound). When to pick up pace of shots and the continuity of shots used as well as corresponding to particular sounds. Also we can capitalise on the use of fashion and equipment used to also help inspire the music video we're to create.

Music Video Analysis-Location Aspect

Music Video Analysis-Location Aspect:

Lyrical Analysis

Lyrical Analysis:

"Some Might Say":

Some might say that sunshine follows thunder

Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine
Some might say that we should never ponder
On our thoughts today cos they will sway over time

Some might say we will find a brighter day
Some might say we will find a brighter day

Cos I've been standing at the station

In need of education in the rain

You made no preparation for my reputation once again

The sink is full of fishes

Cos she's got dirty dishes on the brain

It was overflowing gently but it's all elementary my friend

Some might say they don't believe in heaven

Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell

Some might say you get what you've been given

If you don't get yours I won't get mine as well

Some might say we will find a brighter day

Some might say we will find a brighter day

Cos I've been standing at the station

In need of education in the rain

You made no preparation for my reputation once again

The sink is full of fishes

Cos she's got dirty dishes on the brain

It was overflowing gently but it's all elementary my friend

Analysis:

The song, some might say, first starts off with contradictory lyrics saying the opposite. This juxtaposing technique infers that there is a sense of doubt here. Oasis and many Brit-pop groups tend to address issues with young people as well as help motivate them due to depressing songs in the charts at times. These lyrics contradicting themselves displays that you shouldn't doubt yourself and should do what you like. This is a convention of Brit-pop trying to motivate the younger generation. 

The next verse in the song a clear message of motivating. This is because it suggests that say one day hasn't gone so well but a better one will come soon just embrace life and keep going. This message helps keep the audience happy to as they will take it in. The beat being off a happy and cheerful vibe also helps put across the message of enjoyment of life. 

The chorus shows how the Brit-pop bands can relate to target audience as they came from a similar state and faced similar problems when they were younger. This motivation helps people get through tough times. It infers that he is under a lot of pressure of doing work such as school and chores. 'In need of education' suggest school pressure as they might not be doing as well as they want to. 'She's got dirty dishes on the brain' puts an impression of chores to do. Overall, feeling like you’re under a lot of stress and pressure. The final line of the chorus, 'It was overflowing gently but it's all elementary my friend', is basically saying that its natural but you’ll overcome this predicament and it will come back round again.

The next verse is the same structure as the first part with it contradicting itself putting a message across about doubting when you shouldn't ('Some might say they don't believe in heaven

Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell'). Then motivating the target audience telling them they can do it. After it then gives some examples and how you can fight it as well as being a natural occurrence for everyone in life when growing up.

The narrative the song follows is Todorov's equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium. This is because before the song it was probably all fine, the situation now isn't okay and the song is basically saying you'll get over it and you'll be back to normal again. You could also apply Bathes' codes too. This is because enigma can be suspected as it would make the audience question what is the hidden meaning behind the song what is motivated them to make it. Action would be applied to as it makes people wait and keep thinking what is the purpose of the song. This then mainly links to semantic as all the word choice can help people create conspiracy theories and think even more depth why it was produced. Finally, symbolic is used with various different binary opposites with in the lyrics i.e. 'Some might say they don't believe in heaven, Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell'.       

This can be equipped into the music video in order to come up with the narrative (as well as applying Goodwin's Theory actions) to think about the meaning of lyrics and apply them to mood of narrative as well as location. This would be useful to help portray the message of the song to the audience.

Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's Theory:

Relationships between the lyrics and visuals:                                                               Events of video match the lyrics of the song, to put across the meaning of the song. An example is blur Parklife when they sing 'hand in hand' and tow hands are on the screen shaking each other. skip to 3 minutes 5 seconds to see.

• Relationship between the music and visuals:                                                              The cuts and videos of the video of the song match flow and tune. Such as specific drum beats and notes. An example is Wonderwall by oasis with camera shots focusing on lone parts played on an instrument. 
• Music video genre characteristics:                                                                                Due to demand of record labels close ups of artist are seen in music videos to portray them as important. This helps the record label promote the act and make them relate able to the target audience. Liam Gallagher is the example of this dominating the shots in the Wall of glass music video.         
• Emphasis on looks:                                                                                                        Male gaze is often used to attract a male audience. The male gaze is a focus on presenting things that appeal to men. An attractive girl is an example of this as males would watch because of their looks. Florence from Florence and the machine portrays this due being only female in genre and showing herself off to the audience. 

           Inter-textual references:                                                                                                 Music videos often refer to other forms of media. Rupert Grint, Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, appearing in Ed Sheeran's Lego house backs this up.                                                             

I can use most of these theories used by Goodwin in my music videos to my advantage. Relationships of lyrics and visuals can be used in the song we pick easily by picking out key verbs and acting them out or having a specific object in display. Relationships between music and visuals would be simple concept to by using someone playing a guitar during a guitar solo or drums etc. Music video genre characteristics also a straightforward thing to include by making the artist dominate most shots in the music video. Emphasis of male gaze may be a restriction depending on the song we pick because if we are a using a male singer it would be hard to appeal to mainstream males as they wouldn't be attracted to a male. However, if we use a female vocalist we can use them for this theory. Intertextuality would've hard to include due to us not having access to any celebrities in other entertainment industries however we could include some reference in narrative with newspaper headlines or TV in the background etc.

Narrative Analysis

Narrative Analysis:

Narrative: using media to tell a story. 

Theories:

• Hero – seeks something 

• Villain – opposes the hero

• Donor – helps the hero, often by providing a magical object 

• Dispatcher – sends the hero on his way 

• False hero – falsely assumes the role of the hero    

• Helper – gives support or help to the hero 

• Princess – the reward for the hero 

• Princess’ father 

• The narrative starts with an equilibrium (controlled situation)

• An action / character disrupts the equilibrium

• A quest to restore the equilibrium ensues 

• The narrative moves to a confrontation / climax

• Resolution / equilibrium is restored

Propp- Proposed that there are 8 different character types in a narrative. He also identified 31 different events this theory can fit into. This very rare to see in a music video as it is too short a time to follow this narrative.

Todorov- Suggests that there are two narrative structures linear and circular structures. This is where events are caused by a cause and effect format. (Equilibrium – Disequilibrium – Equilibrium). Stand by me is an example as the girl is fine then she is hospitalised then she gets out of hospital. However, the crime still continues and is out of control.

Barthes- Infers that narrative works with different codes which the reader tries to make sense of. This like little clues that need to be solved and the audience try to solve it. This leads to stuff being solved to a bigger problem. He had 4 codes for this which were:

• Enigma- Refers to mystery within the text. Clues are given throughout the music video and is clear to the audience.
• Action- Used to add suspense to the video.
• Semantic- Where additional meanings are added and the audience make suggestions about it and conspiracy theories. 
• Symbolic- Binary oppositions within the music video.

Examples displayed in oasis- little by little. Enigma used as people would question why the Noel is homeless and who the other man is in the music video and what is he doing. Action is the man going on a walk and coming across Liam helping him through the crowd and a tough time leading to him to end up in a place of happiness and freedom in a field where it is calm. Semantics is oasis trying to say the rich aren't doing anything for the poor helping them out (also the binary opposition) and the audience being able to see this message clearly as Noel is ignored. 

Levi-Strauss- This theory concludes that binary oppositions are used when contrast occurs such as conflict i.e. law and outlaws. An example here is at the start of What a life video the girl is in a bad place and then she ends up in a better place.

These theories listed above can be applied to my final product. This would help me gain a good narrative matching the genre and using the best suited and most appropriate theory to construct the narrative. The ones I am most likely to include is Levi Strauss binary opposition as it is a simple concept for short music video or Barthes by solving a mystery throughout the song. Maybe I'd be able to make a circumstance using Todorov's theory in a short time along to the music using specific lyrics to act it out and the whole situation the song is about. I won't be using Propp's as its too many characters for a short video if it was a movie it would be a suitable concept.

Genre Conventions

Genre conventions:

Representation:

The appearance of most britpop artists are casual clothing. This helps them associate with their audience by wearing in fashion clothes and not top end. Their hair tends to be long length and scruffy. Damon Albarn is an example wearing casual clothing such as Fred Perry and respected for his fashion choices and looks. He was seen as a role model for young boys as girls adored him and they wanted ton replicate him.

Attitude:

There are one or two things the people of Britpop can be like. One is a cool and calm attitude. This is due to them wanting to look like a hard man and make them unapproachable. However, if you annoy them they I’ll turn very hostile and aggressive. This helps them associate with the audience too as many of the working class act the same to and they too would've originated from there. For example, an older Liam Gallagher is very calm and cool guy with a lot of swagger to him. However, a young Liam Gallagher was wild and out looking for trouble and trying to show himself as a 'proper' rock and roll star, where he regularly tried cause a scene arguing, fighting and be in the public eye.

Mise en scene:

Areas in which in what music videos are set is typically an urban inner city surrounding. This is in most music videos too as well as liver performance being involved too. This is done as the audience can relate to the streets which they’re recording on and also the atmosphere of the liver concert. An example would be the Verve's music video, Bitter Sweet Symphony, where they use a man walking down the street for the duration of the song. 

Instruments:
Typically, in bands there are obscene amount of instruments involved. In Britpop, depending on the song, the majority instruments used are electric guitar, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, drums and vocal. However, in other songs there are use of other but aren’t a band member. All band members/ instrument players are included in the video. This links with sound as well particularly diegetic as it is used in music videos to match what is played for the tune of the song. Non-diegtic is sometimes included when instruments aren't in shot or in the music video at all. This is in most britpop music videos as they try to include band members as much as possible.


Lighting:

This tends to vary between mood of the song. If it happens to be a song with a negative mood it tends to consist of low key lighting. Similairly,colours are like this but they tend to be dark. On the other hand, the lighting for a positive song is high key and the colours are more vibrant than a negative mood song.

These genre conventions are useful for the time being summarising the main aspects of Britpop and what is expected in order to conduct a professional and an equivalent music video to those that did it in the past.

Genre Research

Genre Research:

Britpop is a type of alternative rock that started in the United Kingdom. Britpop came out of the British music scene of the 1990s and came about because of British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 70s. This kind of music began due to some trends in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as grunge from the United States. After American grunge bands such as Nirvana came to Britain, many British bands acted as opposites to the American bands, and wrote about only British topics and concerns or motivating people from troubles. One of the things that was key to most Britpop bands was the roots of where they came from. They always acknowledge their upbringing and mention it within their songs as well as staying faithful to local identity and accents.

Britpop bands did not have one type of sound, but the media called them first a 'scene', or short-lasting trend. Later, the media called them a national importance. This was key with them being associated to the working class Britain and creating Lad Culture. Blur, Oasis and Pulp have been called the most important bands. Some bands were able to become popular overseas, but Britpop was mostly gone by the end of the 90’s.

This research helps me gain insight into history of the music genre Britpop. This helps my find out and an insight into what happened, where it came from etc. By this I can help replicate a suitable music video matching the times it was around, fashion, location, vocals and look into those aspects in the future.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths Many different opinions within the Hollywood demographic to give opinions on music and help us put forward ideas to our final product. Being part of the Hollywood demographic keeping up to date on what’s trending and using it to my advantage. Experience in editing and recording due to as level. Creativity within the group in order to get it to the best of our ability.	Weaknesses No singer available to us. Not a professional camera only IPhones available so quality could be let down.
Opportunity Lots of options available to choose from. Make conventions really strong and relatable to the genre.	Threats Other commitments could get in the way of working together Copyright on the song Music videos been made in the past could be similar.

Brief Statement:

The task I have chosen is designing a music video. I believe this was the best option to me as I can create a narrative which is an important thing. This will be useful as every song has a meaning and a good narrative will back it up. This would be learnt from the last task at AS level using techniques from there which are required. these are editing, camera shots and research. It is very important to use these in order to make it professional like the last task. 

My Target

A2 Predictions:
To use different techniques & various formats with in my blog consistently. I will do this by using applications to display my work such as Prezi, Emaze and Slideshare as well as many other applications to help display this.

AS summary:

I believe my AS went well but certain aspects didn't go so well. Next time I will learn from these AS mistakes and take on board resolutions to improve upon them for my A2 coursework. This would involve doing more blogs and better organisation in recording the final product. However, I will also take on board stuff I learnt along the way making an opening sequence to a film such as editing techniques, camera shots and in depth research.