My Target Audience

My Target Audience (The perfect Viewer)

Fredrick Williams
Age: 21
Occupation: University Student
Job: Part-time restaurant waiter
Enjoys: Performing arts, Social media & pop music

About him: Fredrick enjoys his Uni life, and pursues him ambition to become a performer on the West End. Some may categorise Fredrick as a 'typical teenager', sharing his life on social media, going out with friends and a freunt listener to alternative pop music. Fredrick however pays less attention to music charts such as the UK top 40, and actively seeks to discover sound of the indie pop genre. He often shares his musical interests via his instagram account, where he interacts with others around the world with similar music tastes, and follows the bands he has an interest in.

Fredrick is the perfect example of the audience I am targeting with my media text. Specifically, my target audience lie within the 15-25 year old age range. I am targeting younger people with an interest in indie music and broadening their range or musical interests. My DigiPak, magazine advert and music video will all be centred around appealing to these people and encouraging them to engage in the media texts I have created.

Uses of Media Text

A look into how audiences use and engage with media text, including a look at uses and gratification, and the media effects theory.

Digipak Conventions

What Goes on a Digipak?

Front Panel
Artist Name (Bigger)
Album Title
Artists Face
Captures the genre
Appeals to target audience

Back Panel
Song names
Barcode
Production company and copyright info
Website
Record company logo

Spines
Artist Name
Album Name
Record company logo

Inside Panels
Related images
Thank you message
Images spread over multiple panels
Lyrics (or possibly in a booklet)

CD Tray
Image

Digipak Template

Music Video Director - David Fincher

Fact File
Name: David Andrew Leo Fincher
Age: 52 (2014)
Born in: Denver, Colorado, United States of America
Date of Birth: August 28th 1962
Height: 6'0"
Occupation: Film Producer, Film and Music Video Director

His Career
In early life, David Fincher moved to ashland in Oregon, where he started making short movies with his 8mm camera at the age of just 8, inspired by the works of 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Fincher was later employed by Korty films, then Industrial Light & Magic, where he worked on a number of films like Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. His big break came when he created a commercial for the American Cancer society, featuring a smoking fetus, which soon caught the eye producers in Los Angeles who gave David Fincher the opportunity to direct The beat of the Live Drum in 1985. From this point onward he went to make commercials for the likes of Pepsi, Levi's, Nike, and also went on to explore the world of directing music videos. Fincher is a critically acclaimed music video director, picking up two grammy awards for best music video and three MTV awards for best music video director. Now recognised as an established and highly regarded music video director, he has worked with internationally popular artists such as Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson. Amongst the vast collection of popular films he has directed, David Fincher has joined the likes of Spike Jonze to become one of the most awarded music video directors of all time.

His Work
David Fincher has worked with a variety of renowned artists. Below is a shortlist of some of songs he has directed music videos to.

• "The Way That You Love Me"  -  Paula Abdul   (1988)
• "Straight Up"  -  Paula Abdul   (1989)
• "Forever Your Girl"  -  Paula Abdul   (1989)
• "Cold Hearted"  -  Paula Abdul   (1989)   
• "Express Yourself"  -  Madonna   (1989)
• "Oh Father"  -  Madonna   (1989)
• "Vogue"  -  Madonna   (1990)
• "Bad Girl"  -  Madonna   (1993)
• "Janie's Got a Gun"  -  Aerosmith   (1989)
• "Freedom '90"  -  George Michael   (1990)
• "Who Is It?"  -  Michael Jackson   (1992)
• "Love Is Strong"  -  The Rolling Stones   (1994)
• "Suit & Tie"  -  Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z   (2013)

His Style

Despite focussing on David Fincher's filming styles in direxting movies, tge following video lists some of his most iconic directing styles that are very relevant and visible in his music videos too.

 

His Influence on the industry
David Fincher has made a huge impact on both the film and music video industry with his crittically acclaimed award winning directing. Winning 55 awards and 53 nominations including 2 oscars. This is just a small sample of the level of impact he has and still is making on the music video scene. Iconic music videoas like Maddonas Vogue has set the standard for music videos and music video directing, which has been set extrodinarily high by David Fincher. I can take plenty of inspiration from his variety of his expertly crafted work being one of the worlds best directors.

Music Video Conventions

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin's music video theory is based on the universal elements that make a music video and comes in the form of 5 key points:

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
• There is a relationship between music and visuals
• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
• There is often intertextual reference to other works
• Frequent references to notion of looking (Particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body)
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist to create a 'Star Image'

Here are some examples of Andrew Goodwin's theory in practice within both the song 'Rude' by canadian band, MAGIC! and R&B Classic Low by Flo Rida.

1. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

The song is about the artist asking his girlfriends father to have his daughters hand in marriage, only to be constantly rejected. The music video portrays this story, showing the artist asking the father wether he can marry his daughter, only to be rejected and have the door shut on him during the chorus. This is a great example of the relationship between lyrics and visuals, as they are both telling the same story, following Goodwin's second point of his music video theory.

2. There is a relationship between music and visuals

The relationship between music and visuals is also clear in this particular in this video, particularly as we see lead singer Nasri's eccentric dancing to the beat of the music. Goodwin's second point isn't hard to find within the performance aspect of this piece, as we see the band playing the song on their instruments and their subtle gestures like the nodding of the head and tapping of the foot complimenting the soundtrack.

3. The music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

Flo Rida's video demonstrates an array of genre conventions for R&B music, and is the perfect example for goodwins third point. First of all we see it is set in a nightclub, a typical scene for music videos within the genre. The most noticable convetion it clearly portray however is the use of women, particularly surrounding the artist. This is a very typical shot for the R&B genre with rappers in particular, as women are used as eye candy with their suggestive dance moves and clothing... or rather lack of it. This video proves many stereotypes surrounding R&B music, not to mention the Lamborghini sports car, and plays to almost every genre characteristic there is going.

4. There is often intertextual reference to other works

The video and soundtrack for Flo Rida's was in fact made for the film Step Up 2, which was released in 2008. For this reason, the music video shows various clips from the movie, and shared the whole club vibe as Step Up 2. Due to this, the video contains multiple intertextual references to other works, in this example the music video relating to the Step Up franchise.

5. Frequent references to notion of looking

The music video also gives a good account for another of Andrew Goodwin's points, this time of the frequent notions of looking, here shown by the artist looking down at his mobile phone. It is only one example of many that are found throughout, another being where the lead singer is looking at the father at his front door whilst in conversation. Despite often being unnoticed, the notion of looking is very common in any genre of music video and usually related to voyeourism or usually partnered with a close-up of the person looking like the example shown in the first point above.

6. References to voyeourism (Particularly to Women)

As previously meantioned, Flo Rida's music video has more than its fair share of intreguingly dressed women, with their very suggestive dance moves. The song and video seem to revolve around the female body, and we certainly get a sense that we are meant to be lavishing in the womens sexual behaviour. We are invited to watch on as these women show off their toned bodies and their boderline raunchy dance moves in order to capture the straight male's interest.

7. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist to create a 'Star Image'

MAGIC!'s Rude is riddled with close ups of the lead singers face, and its clear to see that the record label wants you to remember the face. The band is not currently very well known, and this is likely to be a ploy to get them recognised. Nevertheless it plays to Goodwin's 7th point that is the presence of many close ups of the artist(s) to create the 'Star Image'.

These are all of Andrew Goodwin's points within his music video theory. As we can see, these are applicable for various genres of music whether it be old or quite recent. It is important to note these theories and conventions both to analyse existing videos, and to develop my understanding in producing a music video, gathering ideas of what to include in my own. 

Taking Inspiration from the Previous Year

As apart of my research and analysis leading up to the production of my own music video, I watched a collection of the last years work to see what they came up with. Overall I was greatly impressed at the standard of music video they produced, and I can only envy there efforts in creating a professional, unique and creative video to an existing song. Here is a look at my thoughts and first impressions of the previous year work.

I will start by looking at a music video which achieved full marks. This is an astonishing achievement and upon watching the piece there is now under as to why it was awarded the entire amount of marks. Due to this, it serves as a great example of what it takes and the quality of work that needs to be produced in order for it to be successful. I believe that this particular video shares many qualities with that of professional music productions. The video is given a very sinister feel right from the outset, with its lack of colour, sense of entrapment and signs of insanity. The fact that red is the only colour we ever see really contributes to these sinister themes, as the colour often represents danger or even associated with blood. I especially like a collection of very brief shots within the video, much like the girl whipping her hair back, as it was played in reverse. Again I believe that this shot really added to the themes being portrayed, as it is evidently unnatural and almost paranormal. The shot reminds me of Loreen's Euphoria music video, which also took advantage of reversed shots to create a sense of a her being superhuman. I may use this technique in my own music video depending on what themes I am trying to create. Finally it is a prime example of quick shots and fast editing required in creating a visually interesting music video. All shots within the video were no longer a couple of seconds long before moving onto the next. In conclusion, I can take plenty of inspiration from this work in how it has generated its sinister feel and created a visually captivating sequence of shots. The only criticism I could possibly make is that some shots were so brief that at points in the video it felt like looking at a strobe light. Despite this, I admire the effort and attention to detail that has gone into creating the video and evidently so does the moderator.

The second music video I looked at was very hit and miss. Although I do not know the final grade of this piece, it will almost certainly be less than the previous video. Although it is evident that it is not as impressive as the previous video, this does not mean I cannot learn something from the production. What initially struck me was how much slower the editing was and how much longer some of the shots lasted. I found that the longer a shot lasted, the more it took away from the appeal of the music video. In contrast from the previous video, it was not as fast paced nor visually interesting. Ultimately I was surprised at how much the pace of each shot can add to or depreciate the viewing experience and feel to the end product. Despite its faults, I did enjoy the role of the little girl with the red balloon. The way that she was used to connect all of the characters toward the end of the song I found was an intriguing end to the video, acting almost as a symbol of innocence and happiness in a world of gloom. Overall, I don't think I will be taking much from this particular video apart from the effect that the pace of editing has on a music video.

The final music video was of Lady Gaga's Applause. The video demonstrates a good pace, visual effects and even the use of a wind machine! The work experiments with various effects, one of which involves blending two or three shots into one. This adds a new element to each shot, as their is no longer one point of interest in each frame, yet multiple shots overlaid on top of each other. This is definitely an effect that I intend to include in my own music video, as I believe it makes for a much more interesting result opposed to consistent unedited footage. Despite being a good display of multiple video effects and filters, I sense that it lacks in variety of camera angles, as I found myself noticing the same shots constantly repeating themselves due to the lack of filming locations. I also didn't like the fact that the camera was almost always focussed on the singer, and we saw little else rather than her face. This made the video at some points somewhat uninteresting. I enjoyed this music video regardless, and found that the editing complimented the song well.

With the help of these three examples and many other previous work I have analysed, I can gather some ideas and inspiration to take with me into planning my own music video.