Audience Research summation

The audience research I carried out help me tailor a music video to my target consumer audience, a mid to upmarket, 16-25 demographic. In terms of my first product (the music video) I have concluded that perfectly fitting my shots with the tempo and matching the general feel of the song, will be much more impactful than a complex narrative or fancy visuals. However, this does not mean that I will not nor should not use these aspects as they can add more to the experience of music video and entice revisiting of the product. Within my second product (the companion website) I have a deeper understanding of the importance of digital convergence and cross platform marketing, with most teenagers using social media and are more likely to get news about their favourite artists through their social media accounts rather than their websites. From what I have learnt, a clear and interesting brand image will be crucial to the success of the second product (on a consumer basis).

Planning: Initial Ideas

Branding and Image

Music Video

I have really terrible drawing so I will supplement my storyboard horror thing with better plans. From this I can, however, create a shot list and can therefore go and take test shots in order to properly plan for the full video.

Wix Address

https://14-fcam.wixsite.com/chensu

Statement of intent

GENERIC RESEARCH: INDUSTRY CONTEXT

In order to meet the brief set by OCR, my product will have to abide by the conventions as if the artist of my music video, is produced by the Warner Music Group (WMG). WMG is an american transnational company, third of the big three within the music industry, trailing Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.

WMG describes themselves as a record label and entertainment conglomerate, meaning that the company is involved with both the managing of their artists and their music, but also the production of the music videos, merchandising and advertising. For my product, therefore I will have to create not only the music video but advertisement for it and merchandising for the band.

When researching I found a report by WMG from 2007. It is clearly outdated at points but some points, especially the points I highlighted, are still useful to attain knowledge of the company's perspective on themselves, in order to produce a more authentic end product.

2007 Strategic Report by Warner Music Group.

The main things I learnt from this report is around the specific targeting of mobile phone users over general use of the internet. I think this is still a key part of what I could do in order to target a 16-25 mid to upmarket demographic. In addition the importance of advertising encourages me to make mock 10 second advert similar to ones that are on YouTube. 

WMG has a repertoire of over 38000 artists across all genres, from country to metal music. Therefore I feel like my choice of artist would effectively fit into the context of WMG and in particular ADA a conglomerate label, which promotes both musical artists and those of whom work within other mediums. This is because ADA is made up of a vast amount of small independent labels. In particular Sub Pop Records would be the best fit for my artist, being the label who managed bands such as Mud Honey and more famously Nirvana. This fits with the more artsy, moody, 90's inspired narrative of my music video, the song and the artist themself, allowing for a more believable product abiding by the conventions of the industry. 

The final thing I noticed is that WMG music video all are stamped with their logo at the bottom of the video thumbnail, therefore I intend to do the same.

Research into intertextuality

Why is intertextuality used in music videos?

Intertextuality is the reference of other media in order to borrow meaning from said text. In a short form media, like music videos, this is highly impactful, being able to provoke meaning and emotional response from a 90+ minute film into a 3 minute video. In addition, intertextuality plays of the cultural competency of the target audience, making them feel special and smart, increasing the enjoyment by the viewer.

How will I utilise intertextuality?

Currently, there are two scenes which I am considering utilising to borrow meaning from the respective texts:

Braveheart

This scene is from Mel Gibson's Braveheart, where William Wallace is visited by his dead father in his dream. This is used as a 'coming of age' scene in the film and acts as an internal reflection on Williams role as a leader, Scot and a man. He is no longer bound to the politics between the clans or the pressure to follow in his father's (Malcolm Wallace) footsteps, he can do what is truthful and right in accordance with himself. Malcolm therefore puts this very succinctly and even poetically with the line "Your heart is free have the courage to follow it". This zoom in shot itself is not just iconic but so is the movie, having strong links with masculine identity and, of course, freedom. I could pay homage by using a similar camera movements, but instead of a dead body, use a reflection of my protagonist in order to mirror the two sides to them and ultimately reject the side that tries to be conventional. This is very appropriate within the second verse of Drunk Walk Home, where the lyrics talk about a lack of freedom in addition of the harm, strain and frustration of society's norms.

Fight Club

Fight Club is an immensely popular movie and is quite polarising, being championed by 'bro' culture, whilst being a satire of the same thing. This makes it perfect for intertextual reference, in my opinion, as the social context and meanings it invokes juxtaposes each other. This Duality is complimented by the film as a whole, but especially the final act where Tyler Durden is revealed to be the same as the nameless narrator and him subsequently killing the projection of Tyler and, in turn, this hyper-masculine figure. referencing the imagery  within the closing scene of the narrator and Marla holding hand, could then provoke the closing end of a journey through masculinity and coming to terms with one's inner turmoil in a really unpretentious way. This could even close the duality created from the Braveheart intertextuality and therefore work really cohesively. This reference will also be very easy to decipher due to the popularity of the film, therefore being effective towards my young 16-25 audience, despite being released in 1999. 

Statement of Intent

Music video:

I intend to create a music video to the song Drunk Walk Home by Mitski. This will conform to both the genre expectations of a protest video and the context of being produced by the Warner Music Group, while entertaining a "mid to upmarket 16-25" demographic. The video will explore topical issues surrounding the LGBTQ community and gender expectations, in particular masculinity and the effects of toxic masculinity. The narrative will follow a young, male lead, who dresses in drag, on a night out when he comes face to face with how society views him and, subsequently, his own inner turmoil whilst under the influence of alcohol. We will follow our protagonist on a journey through his home-town and throughout the night following a similar structure to the music video for "Space and Time" by Wolf Alice. It will utilise a dark, unsaturated aesthetic (possibly monochrome) in order to meet the tone of the song and narrative, whilst providing a enticing imagery for the audience, by juxtaposing the modern use of bright, pastel colours. A repertoire of camera techniques will be used to create scenes, utilising a plethora of shot types and layering of effects, creating darker imagery (but still not dark enough that it be cut by the Warner Music Group or alienate my target audience) in order to raise awareness and challenge societal norms. Intertextuality will be used to borrow meaning from texts such as "Braveheart" and "Fight Club" and the social context surrounding them in order to create more developed ideas within a three minute music video.

Website:

I intend to create a companion website in order to act as promotion for the artist. Along with this I will build a brand image around the aforementioned imagery and aesthetic of the music video in order to create digital cohesion. The audience will be treated as an active audience and will promote interaction through social media, easter eggs (probably contain more references to the music video's intertextuality source material) and other gimmicks such as lyrics pages. In addition to this I will create short videos interview with the artist, explaining meaning behind the song, whilst homaging the immensely popular genius interviews. The page will appeal to a young audience by being accessible using mobile devices and being the place to buy merchandise, whilst also holding giveaway competitions.