Planning the artist image - Miss Georgiou

Artist image

An artist has the power to influence the way in which their fans dress and behave because the audience often look up to an artist for inspiration, therefore an artist image is essential because they can dictate new trends, and how the younger generation will appear in society. It is easier for an indie artist to be recognised by their image due to the fact that they are often perceived as having their own individual style which usually does not fit into the mainstream. Indie artists are often more relatable because they seem to prefer wearing affordable clothing that their fans could copy if they wanted to. Also, the audience often associate an artist with their style. For example, Lady Gaga prefers to wear crazy, if slightly inappropriate outfits that cause her to be seen as an independent individual who is not afraid to challenge the mainstream.

The old lady character, who will be portrayed by Molly's nan and will be seen at the beginning and end of the video. We plan on using the narrative to explain to the audience that the elderly lady and the artist are the same person, therefore they understand that the narrative is her story, which will give the video a more personal because the audience will feel as though she is sharing a private story with them. In the video, the audience will see the older lady wearing a plain top, cardigan and pair of comfortable trousers, which most people will view as being typical old lady clothes. We want for her to be comfortable and to wear clothes that she would normally wear on a day to day basis, as this will help us to make our video more realistic. Her hair will hang loose in order to show the audience that she does not care too much about her appearance. This is arguably conventional to the indie genre which is often perceived as being old fashioned and vintage, and indie artists will often be shown as having their own style which does not usually fit into the mainstream. The older lady will first appear during the instrumental that plays before the song starts, and she will be seen walking through her back garden towards a wooden chair. The use of this location will help us to create a peaceful and homely setting, which helps us to make our video more realistic due to the fact that elderly people are often perceived as being peaceful and content with life. She will disappear when the lyrics "you are an avalanche" are sung in order to show the audience that the narrative is beginning, which is likely to make them want to watch the video until the end as they will be curious to see how she is related to the story and to the artist. The artist will be represented as being more relatable because the audience can see that she has grown old without having any plastic surgery and that she isn't wearing any makeup to make her appear younger than she is. Due to the fact that they usually have a lot of money and spend much of their time in the public eye, famous people often undergo plastic surgery to make themselves fit into the mainstream and fit into society's idea of what people should look like. The audience may also view the artist as being talented in the sense that she is able to tell show the audience that her songs have a deeper meaning, through the use of a flashback and a detailed narrative.

For both the main male character in the video and artist we plan on changing the way they appear on screen according to what is happening in the narrative. To begin with, when the characters meet for the first time they will both be wearing light colours, such as white and blue. We plan on dressing the artist in a white jumper and white skinny jeans, and the male character in light blue jeans and a white top. These choices of costumes will link into the lyrics "you are an avalanche" due to the fact that the audience will think of snow which is white, and the colour white is often associated with the idea of innocence. The use of light colours tells the audience that this is the beginning of their relationship, and that the two characters are innocent in the sense that they do not know anything about each other. This is conventional to the indie genre because the lyrics are often based on real life experiences about love and relationships, therefore most of the audience will be able to relate to the narrative as many of them will have been in relationships themselves. This will also help them to feel closer to the artist because they will feel as though they are being told a personal story, almost as if they were friends. Through the use of realistic, affordable clothing the artist is represented as being a normal and relatable teenage girl, due to the fact that some of her audience will not be able to afford designer brands. The artist may encourage the audience to dress how they want to because of the idea that in the video, the male character likes her regardless of what she is wearing. This section of the narrative helps us to set the scene for the rest of the video, because we have introduced the artist and the male character, and we have shown the audience how they met.

During the date scene which takes place towards the beginning of the video, both the male and female characters will still be seen wearing light colours due to the fact that it is still early on in their relationship. The audience are seeing them on their first date, which gives the audience the idea that the two characters are still getting to know each other, therefore there is still a sense of innocence within their relationship and within the narrative. The female artist will be wearing a plain white top, light blue skinny jeans and a white jacket, which we hope will look slightly more fashionable than her first appearance in the music video but still just as innocent. We hope that the audience will get the impression that she has made an effort to look nice for her date, and that they will feel envious of her ability to buy fashionable clothes because of the money she makes from selling her music. The audience will associate the idea of a date with getting dressed up in clothes that you would not wear on a daily basis and going somewhere fancy. The artist is represented as being more fashionable but still relatable because, although her clothes look more expensive, she is still not wearing designer brands, therefore she is not rubbing the fact that she has money in her audience faces, as some of the viewers may not be able to afford these types of clothes. The male character will also be dressed in clothes that are considered slightly more fashionable, he will be wearing dark blue jeans and a white buttoned up shirt. The use of contrasting colours could emphasise to the audience that the narrative is about to become more serious and not as innocent as it was in the beginning. It could also foreshadow his death that occurs towards the end of the video, which therefore makes the video more climactic because they know something bad is going to happen but they do not know what or when. Both of these images link into the lyrics “I never meant to fall for you” which could suggest that the artist could foreshadow that their relationship was not going to last.

The final costume that the male character will be seen wearing is an army print outfit, consisting of a top and trousers, in order to show the audience that he in the army, which could help the audience to create an emotional connection with the song because the army is often associated with war, and death, and sadness. The use of this uniform style costume will allow our group to show the audience that the character is part of the army without having to incorporate dialect into our video in order to explain it to them. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie music videos are often narrative based which allows an artist to show the audience that the song has a deeper meaning to it which is often based on real life experiences. Having said that, it is also unconventional to the indie genre in the sense that indie artists are often perceived as having their own individual styles that stand out from everybody else, however, there are a lot of people who own clothing in the style of an army print, therefore it is not very original. The artist is represented as being creative because she is able to use costumes to build on the narrative and draw the audience in. This use of costume will help us to develop our narrative because it shows the male character as going off to fight, which means the audience will not know what is going to happen to him or how their relationship is going to progress, therefore they will be curious to see what is going to happen. This links into the lyrics “the darkest fairy tale” because fairy tales are associated with love and happy endings, however, the idea of darkness suggests that the two characters are not going to have a happy ending, which could also foreshadow the male character’s death at the end of the video. The audience will feel as though they know what is going to happen without seeing the video, but it will also hook them into watching the video until the end to find out if they are right.

Following the date scene, the next costume that we plan on showing the artist wearing is an all-black running costume which will consist of black leggings, a long sleeved black top and black trainers. The colour black connotes darkness and death, therefore we can use it to show the audience how broken and upset she is feeling, which may cause the audience to sympathise with her because the song is based on a real life experience, therefore they feel as though she once actually felt the emotions that she is expressing. The video feels more personal because the artist is being honest with the audience in the sense that she is no sugar coating her life to make it appear better and happier than what it actually is. This is also similar to the final costume that the artist will be seen wearing, which will be black jeans and a black jumper, which will appear while she is scattering the male character’s ashes, suggesting to the audience that she has just come from his funeral. The artist is represented as being upset and in a state of grief which is unconventional to the indie genre which is often associated with happy artists who are content with life and passionate about their music, and who usually wear quirky, multi-coloured clothes that represent their individual styles. These visuals therefore destroy the idea that people who are famous and have money are happy all of the time and have nothing to worry about. All of the darker costumes towards the end of the video will link in with the lyrics "the darkest fairy tale" due to the fact that fairy tales are often associated with love and happy endings, however, the idea of darkness suggests that the two characters are not going to have the happy ending that the audience will expect and want them to. This use of darker clothing for the male character could foreshadow his death which the audience will see at the end of the video, and the use of darker clothing for the artist could be used to show the audience how she is feeling, for example, sadness and the idea that she is broken hearted.

The audience will be able to build a relationship with the audience because they will feel as though they have been with the artist through every step and every development in her relationship with the male character in the video, almost as if they were two friends in real life and she feels close enough to tell them about her private life. They will feel as though they are getting to know more about her, while at the same time the artist is sharing her music with them and exposing her music on a worldwide scale. The audience may also feel as though they were part of the relationship too, especially in the scenes that are filmed up London due to the fact that none of the characters are in the shot, therefore the audience can pretend that they are the ones who are there.

Planning cinematography - Miss Georgiou

Planning cinematography

Cinematography is essential within a music video because the visuals help the audience to understand the lyrics better which may sometimes be quite ambiguous. Also, a variety of different camera shots will make a music video more interesting for the audience to watch, for example, a close up will help them to focus on the most important things within a shot, whereas a long shot will allow them to get a better view of the location, to see which characters are there and what they are doing. Cinematography provides the audience with a mini cinematic experience as opposed to just listening to the music by itself. The audience may sometimes feel as though they are part of the video, which can be achieved through the use of a point of view shot, and the use of a narrative can sometimes make the audience wish they were actually part of the video.

The first camera technique that our group plans on using throughout the instrumental section of the song, around 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the video following the repetition of the lyrics "my salvation" is handheld. For starters, this technique will help our group to create a panicked atmosphere as the audience will see the artist running through Hainault forest, suggesting that she is running away from something. At the same time, the audience will also see visuals of the male character running while holding a rifle, both of which will overlap. Eventually, the audience will see the female character fall to the floor from exhaustion, while the male character falls due to the fact that he has been shot. The audience may feel surprised by the fact that we decided to kill the boy character off, but they may also sympathise with the artist as they themselves may be able to relate to the idea of losing someone. Furthermore, this technique could also be used to foreshadow the death of the male character because this scene appears in the video before the girl character receives the call to find out that he was killed. Handheld may also help the audience to see how the artist is feeling due to the fact that she is running and moving faster which suggests that she wants to run away from the knowledge that he is dead. This technique is conventional to the indie genre because it gives the video a more natural, unprofessional feel, as the quality of the video may look cheaper. The indie is not a mainstream genre of music, therefore the audience will not expect to see high quality camera techniques. The technique also helps us to present the artist as being more genuine and natural because she does not use special effects in order to sugar coat her life by making it appear better than it is. Also, this narrative and musical instrumental both compliment each other because at this point in the video the pace of the song begins to speed up, which coincides with the visuals of the artist running through the forest, both of which help to create a climactic atmosphere because it makes the audience feel as though the story and song are both building up, therefore they will sense as though something big within the narrative is about to happen, which will be the artist finding out that the boy character has died. This will help us to hook the audience into watching the video because they will be able to form an emotional connection with the artist through sympathising with her situation and possibly being able to relate to the idea of losing someone themselves. When the pace of the video and the speed at which the visuals are appearing are in time, it makes the audience feel more comfortable, and makes the video easier for them to watch.

Another camera technique that our group plans on using at the very end of the music video is a shallow focus. The audience will see a blurry visual the older lady holding up a photograph of the younger couple who were seen throughout the rest of the video, therefore shallow focus will help the audience to focus on the photograph, which is the most important piece of iconography in the scene, rather than the older lady. This technique is also often used to connote how important the narrative and characters are, which is beneficial for the indie genre because indie music videos are often narrative based and the visuals are used to show the audience that there is a deeper meaning behind the lyrics and to help them to understand the lyrics better. Indie artists are often perceived as being more focused on selling their music and their story, rather than fitting into the mainstream. Furthermore, the narrative style of video compliments the lyrics due to the fact that the video begins and ends with the same visuals of the older lady holding the photography, and through the use of a narrative the audience will be made to understand that the older lady and the young girl are the same person, therefore it will be made clear to them her attachment to the photo and song. To conclude the video the same way it began will make it obvious to the audience that the video is ending and will suggest to them that they know everything they need to about the story and about the two characters in the video. The use of a flashback and the visuals of the photograph will make the audience feel as though the woman is still in love with the boy even though he is dead, and that the relationship that they had is still clear in her mind. The audience may feel that even though the video is finishing, her story is still continuing.

We plan on using a low angle shot during the time lapse scene, which will appear after the lyrics "was buried underneath" are sung. The lyrics and visuals will compliment each other as a low angle is often used to make something appear bigger and more inferior in comparison to something else. Our group wants to create a claustrophobic, vulnerable atmosphere by showing the audience visuals of London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye, which will suggest to the audience that the characters are just two small people in a big world. This technique is not conventional to the indie genre because the characters in an indie music video are often portrayed as being equal. The genre is all about the promotion of being your own person and not comparing yourself to anyone else because no one is inferior to anyone else. The use of a time lapse makes the visuals appear rushed, which could be used to suggest the idea of 'rushed love' because as the narrative develops, the boy character gets deployed into the army, and due to the fact that the characters are both young, it shows that they have not spent that much time together. Furthermore, when compared to the pace at the beginning of the song, the audience will notice that the artist is singing at a much faster pace towards the end of the video. Due to the fact that the pace of the song keeps in time with the speed at which the visuals appear, the audience will feel more comfortable watching the video because the music and visuals compliment each other. The use of this low angle may also help the audience to feel as though they are part of the video due to the fact that there will be no characters in the shot, therefore the audience may see it as being more of a point of view shot that they are living.

Our group plans on using a panning shot towards the middle of the video, during the scene where the audience can see that the girl character's car has broken down. The audience will then begin to see the car moving forward with the artist sitting in the drivers seat, followed by the boy character who will be the last thing to come into the shot, which suggests to the audience that he is pushing the car. This visual will coincide with the lyrics "my salvation" which will suggest to the audience that he is saving her and her car, which is conventional to the indie genre because the panning shot gives the audience a better view of the location and what is happening in the scene which will help our group to make our video more relatable because the audience will be able to see that the artist is always in an easily accessible area, therefore she does not live such a lavish lifestyle that the audience will expect her to. The audience may view the artist as being a down to earth, normal human being because her car has broken down, which destroys the idea that nothing bad ever happens to famous people, and that they have the perfect life. In our video, my group wants to show the artist as being the damsel in distress and the boy character as being her hero because we feel that this will make the video feel more like a cinematic experience due to the fact that in most romantic films the female character almost always finds herself in a situations that requires her needing to be saved by the stronger, male character. This will also help the narrative to link in with the lyrics "my salvation" because in the video he is being portrayed as her hero through the use of visuals that show the audience that he is 'saving her' by pushing her car to safety. The audience may feel as though the song is a love song that was written for the male character featured in the video, due to the use of the word "you" which suggests that the song is directed to someone in particular. This will also cause the audience to feel as though the song is based on real life experiences that she wants to share with them, and due to how much detail the video goes into, it will suggest that the artist has lived through these experiences herself, which helps to make the video more realistic and relatable. Having said that, the lyrics could also relate to the visuals of the male character being deployed into the army, therefore he is a hero in the sense that he is fighting for his country.

The final camera technique that our group plans on using in our music video is a zooming in shot, which will be seen towards the end of the video when the artist finds out that the boy character has been killed in the war. The audience will have already seen visuals of the boy falling to the ground, therefore they will know what has happened before the artist does. The zooming in technique will eventually end up in a close up of the artists face, which is conventional to the indie genre because it helps to give the audience a clearer understanding of how the artist is feeling, which also helps to make the video feel more personal because it appears as though she is sharing with them an experience that she has actually been through. The audience may be able to sympathise with her if they have been through a similar situation themselves, however, the idea of death is often used to make the audience feel more emotional. The artist will show sad facial expressions and will have a slumped body position that we hope will make her appear broken hearted, therefore the audience will focus on her emotions which will give them a clear idea about what she has just been told on the telephone without needing someone to actually verbally explain it to them. Also, the artist being portrayed as vulnerable and broken hearted will compliment the narrative because the boy is dead, therefore her emotions will be realistic to those of someone who may be able to relate to the idea of losing someone. The video will also come across as being more realistic because it will destroy the idea that people often have that artists have the perfect lives, and are always happy, and do not have to worry about anything. The visuals will match the lyrics "I never meant to fall for you" because the audience will see both of the characters running towards each other and then falling just before they meet. We hope that through the use of iconography, specifically a rifle, and the army print costume the audience will understand that the boy character is in the army, therefore the most obvious reason for him falling is due to the fact that he has been shot, which will help the audience to form an emotion connection with the song because everybody can relate to the idea of death. This then links into the lyrics "all that I could see was white" as it relates to the idea that he is now in heaven, and that he is a hero because he fought for his country.

Each of the various camera shots will allow the artist to build a relationship with the audience in different ways, because cinematography can be used to connote different meanings and emotions. For starters, through the use of a zooming in and close up shot, the video will be made to feel more personal as the audience are shown a clear visual of how the artist is feeling, and because she looks so sad the audience will sympathise with her and can maybe relate to the situation she is in. Through the use of a panning shot in the video, which shows the boy character pushing the car, the audience will be able to relate to the idea that everybody needs help once in a while, even though artists are often perceived as being independent and in control of their lives. The use of a low angle helps to create a sense of vulnerability, and the idea that the artist is feeling scared, which the audience will be able to relate to because everybody is afraid of something, therefore the audience may appreciate the artists honesty and how open she is being with them through the use of her music. The use of handheld will show the audience that not everything is as perfect as it may appear, and that social media or media in general only shows us what they want us to see, even though it may not be the truth. Furthermore, the use of a shallow focus will direct the audience to focus on the key image in the shot, which will help them to understand the love story narrative better, and make them feel as though the artist is sharing a personal story with them. The use of cinematography helps an artist to represent themselves as being more relatable and realistic because it shows the audience how they are feeling, which is often similar to emotions that the audience themselves feel.

Research into Target Audience - Miss Miller

Questionnaire

Our research was carried out because we wanted to find out what tastes and preferences people of different genders and ages had regarding the genre of music that we plan to work with during our final media project. The purpose of asking 40 people was to allow our group to gather information from a wide range of ages and genders because we hoped to end up with a variety of opinions based on the indie genre so that we could try to appeal to, not only our target audience, but people outside of our target audience as well, due to the fact that will give us more of an opportunity to be successful. We will use our results to create a music video that embodies the answers that we collected regarding music genres. For example, the majority of the 40 people asked were females, therefore we will be able to create more of a feminine video, for example, the narrative being a love story is often associated as something that will appeals to females more than males, who prefer videos that include the idea of wealth and women. However, we do not want to completely isolate our video to a niche target audience, as this will make it harder for the video to be successful, as less people will be interested in watching the video, and less views and likes means less money. If the finished music video does not appeal to our target audience, there is no chance of it appealing to an audience who does not like the indie genre.

Questionnaire results

We asked the 40 people what their favourite genre of music was and why because we wanted to see how many people within our target audience regularly listen to the genre of music that we have chosen to base our final music video on. The pie chart shows us that 5 people said they enjoyed the hip-hop genre because the artist often raps about things that the audience aspire to have, for example, wealth. 10 people said they favour the pop genre because it is the most mainstream genre of music and it is easier just to go with the flow regarding the type of music that the people they associate themselves with listen to. The remaining 25 people said that they prefer the indie genre, which is the genre that my group has chosen to work with, due to the fact that the songs from within this genre usually have deep and meaningful lyrics, and storylines within the music videos that make them much more interesting for them to watch. After seeing the results from the questionnaire, our group has decided to take on board and include some aspects from the other genres of music that people regularly listen to. For example, we can dress the characters in the video in costumes that are considered materialistic and mainstream, for example, the visuals of designer brands such as Hollister and Jack Wills which will appeal to the avid pop music listeners who prefer to go with the flow. Furthermore, towards the end of our music video, during the repetition of the lyrics "my salvation" our group plans on including visuals of the artist playing the piano which we believe will appeal to our indie target audience because they felt that the use of musical instruments allowed them to see how talented an artist is.
 

For question number two we wanted to find out the age of the people who were answering our questionnaire. We believed that our music video had more chance of being successful if the results that we received came from a variety of age groups, because this would allow us to collect a variety of opinions and help our video to appeal to a wider group of people who may like the same genre of music but for different reasons. It could be argued that the younger audience will be able to relate to a more modern music video because they are living in a world that is materialistic and technologically advanced, compared to the slightly older indie music listeners who will be able to relate to the more old fashioned aspects of the video..
Our music video will include a mixture of elements that are both old fashioned and modern, for example, black and white editing effects to make the visuals appear as though they are from a flashback. The use of both modern and vintage aspects within the video we will be able to differentiate our video from other indie songs and it will help our group to appeal to all age groups.

Similar to question number two, the purpose of the third question regarding gender was to allow us to see if there was a particular gender that preferred the indie genre compared to the other. Due to the fact that indie is often perceived as being a more feminine and emotional genre of music, and the fact that indie artists often have a vintage style, most indie music videos only appeal to people who have a style that is similar to that of the genre. As the results suggest, the majority of the audience that we will be targeting our music video at will be females. The indie genre is considered to be quite feminine, which means that its more likely to appeal to woman due to the fact that the narratives are often based on love stories, and the lyrics are often deep and meaningful.

Our group wanted to find out who the audience's favourite indie artist was and why, and as the pie chart shows, the most preferred indie artist was Ed Sheeran, due to the fact than in his music videos and through the use of media, Ed Sheeran is represented as being down to earth, and as well as this, most of the audience were attracted to his soft voice and style of music. The audience felt as though they could relate to Ed Sheeran because most of his earlier music was based on real life experiences, and in his music videos he always wore casual clothing and never overused special effects. In our music video, we can make our characters more relatable by showing the audience visuals of them doing everyday activities, for example, going to school, hanging out together or even walking the dog. Because the indie genre is so diverse, indie artists appeal to different audiences for different reasons. Our group has chosen a Gabrielle Aplin song for our final product, due to the fact that we felt as though we would be able to relate to her and her music more than Ed Sheeran because we are an all girl group, and we all often listen to her music, therefore we feel as though we will be able to make a better music video if we like and understand the song. The pie chart also shows us that Ben Howard and Birdy were the lower favoured indie artists, which is arguably due to the fact that they are less known or do not stand out as much in such a diverse genre of music. It will be beneficial for my group to chose an artist who is well know because it usually means they have a bigger following, which suggests that they are successful within the music industry, and therefore people are more likely to have heard and like their songs.

Most indie music videos are located in outdoor settings, because the genre is known for having a cheaper budget and for filming in places that are easily accessible to the audience. This is arguably why 68% of the audience wanted the video to be set in the countryside as they felt as though they would be able to relate to the video more because typically the countryside does not connote the idea of wealthy or luxury, which is often associated with the music industry. We have decided to create a video that is set in a mixture of the city and countryside. It will be easier for our group to film in the city because we live close to London city centre, therefore in our music video the audience will see visuals of iconic London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye during the montage that shows the progression of the relationship between the girl and boy in our video. Having said that, because our results clearly show us that a large number of the audience would prefer for the video to be set in the countryside, our group will be able to use a green screen or film in areas that look similar to that of a countryside, for example, the park or a forest, large areas of grass and trees as opposed to landscapes. The audience will be able to see this in our music video when we show the girl character's car breaking down by the side of a field, and the boy character pushing the car from behind.

The visuals of artists playing musical instruments is conventional to the indie genre because it helps the artist to show off any other talents besides singing that they might have, which relates to Dyer's Star theory and his belief that an artist must be extraordinary. 19 people asked felt that the use of musical instruments aided the performance element of the music video because it allowed them to see that the artist was producing every musical aspect that they could hear. They felt as though this portrayed the artist as being more talented and committed to their music as learning how to play an instrument often takes a lot of time and effort. In our music video, we plan on showing the audience visuals of the artist playing the piano at various points throughout the video to break up the sections of narrative with performance. For example, towards the end of the video there will be a repetition of the lyrics "My Salvation" which is where we plan on showing the artist playing the piano. Furthermore, 16 people said no, while the remaining 5 said they did not notice whether musical instruments were used in the video or not. Those 16 people felt that the use of musical instruments was too samey-samey in the sense that in pretty much all of the music videos that indie artists produce include musical instruments. Our group does plan on using a piano to break up the narrative with performance, however, the video will not be performance based therefore we will not include too many visuals of musical instruments. We want to keep the video interesting, and the use of instruments allows will allow our group to use a variety of camera shots to show, not only the artist, but the piano as well.

The pie charts shows us that 28 out of the 40 people enjoy watching music videos that have a storyline due to the fact that narratives help to make the video more interesting to watch because it gives the audience something to focus on while they are listening to the vocals. Furthermore, a narrative is often used to explain the lyrics of the song to the audience which can sometimes be quite ambiguous, helps them to understand the deeper meaning of the song. The audience do not have to focus on the lyrics as much because the visuals do all of the explaining. However, the remaining 12 people said they would prefer to see the artist performing. Most indie music videos are a mixture of both, due to the fact that performance allows an artist to show off their talents, both vocally and usually with a musical instrument, which links into Dyer's Star theory that an artist must appear extraordinary to keep the audience envious and interested. However, narrative is often used to break up the sections of performance because the use of a variety of, and change in camera shots makes the more interesting to watch. The majority of our music video will be narrative based, which will be evident through the use of visuals of a boy and girl character which will show them when they first meet, to him going off to war, to when he dies. We will also include performance towards the end of our music video when the audience will hear  the repetition of the lyrics "my salvation". This use of performance will help us to show the audience how the artist is feeling at that specific moment in the video.

The pie chart shows us that 20 out of the 40 people asked said their favourite aspect of the indie genre was the vintage style of clothing that the artists and characters in the video are often seen wearing due to the fact that this gives an artist an individual style and helps the audience to recognise who they are. Indie artists are often perceived as having an old fashioned dress sense and as not fitting into the mainstream, which is arguably why the genre only appeals to a niche group of people. In our music video, the characters will be seen wearing clothes that makes them feel and look comfortable wearing, whether that be skinny jeans and a jumper, because the indie genre usually encourages its artists to dress in their own personal style, rather than what everybody else thinks looks good. 16 people said they enjoyed watching music videos that had a storyline that was based on a love story because it gives the video more meaning and makes it more interesting to watch, because it makes the video feel more like a mini cinematic experience instead of a music video. The narrative for our video will revolve around a relationship between a girl and a boy, who during the video gets sent off to fight in the war. The video will begin and end with the visuals of an elderly lady, who the audience will come to realise, through the use of flashback and editing, is also the younger girl from the video. It could be suggested that the fact that most indie music videos are based on a love story is why the genre is often associated with being more of a feminine genre of music. The remaining 4 people said they favoured simple locations, because they found it easier to relate to these videos as the audience cannot use recording studios or green screens on the daily, however, they can visit locations including the park or a café. Our group have planned to film our music video in various different locations, for example, in one of our group members house, the park and on the London underground. This relates to the idea in Dyer's Star theory that an artist must be ordinary because this helps the audience to relate to them.

The indie genre is often perceived as being quite feminine because the narrative behind the lyrics are often based on a love story between a girl and a boy, which will appeal to girls more than boys. 14 people asked said they found the love storyline more entertaining to watch because it was more relatable and realistic to their own lives, and that it would feel more like they were watching a mini film, rather than just a music video. Music videos with obvious storylines are easier to watch because the audience are not required to do any thinking, therefore they can just focus on enjoying the video. Having said that, the pie chart also shows us that combined, hate and war were chosen by 20 people, due to the fact that people enjoy watching other people fight and view music videos that have climaxes more attention grabbing. The idea behind the narrative of our group music video will be the progression of a relationship between a girl and a boy, from the first time they meet, until the boy gets deployed into the army, which links the love and war storylines together.

  

The pie chart clear shows that the results for the final question were pretty close, 19 people prefer every aspect of the video to appear modern due to the fact that they would be able to relate to the video more because society today is dictated by current fashion trends and fitting into the mainstream which is considered modern, while 21 people prefer more of an old fashioned style of video . The indie genre is often perceived as being quite vintage and as only appealing to a niche audience, therefore it could be argued that the people who prefer modern are the same people who prefer the pop and hip-hop genres, which when compared to the indie genre are much more mainstream. The results are beneficial for my group because it suggests that we will be more successful if we were to create a video that incorporates both old fashioned and modern aspects. The video will appeal modern through the use of settings, such as the visuals of the build up London city, including the Shard and the London Eye. The audience will be able to relate to these as places they may have been to already, or places that if they wanted to, they could go and visit. It will be easier for my group to create a modern looking video because we live in a time where being materialistic and fitting in are seen as important. Furthermore, we cannot say for sure what the audience will class as old fashioned, due to the fact that current trends are always changing, and older trends, such as tartan print clothing and boyfriend style jeans are often perceived as being more fashionable. Having said that, in our music video my group will be able to use special effects, such as coloured tints of orange and brown to make the video appear more vintage and worn out. The use of a black and white effect also helps to suggest that the video has gone back in time and that the visuals that the audience are seeing is from a past event, rather than having been filmed for the purpose of the music video.

SUBCULTURE THEORY

A subculture is a group of people who are united through a common value system or tastes, for example, genres of music. Sometimes a subculture can be a group of people who are positioned outside of the mainstream, meaning they go against what is popular. In the music industry, pop is considered to be the most mainstream genre of music, while indie is not. The theory that I have chosen to apply to my questionnaire and music video is Grant McCracken, who believes that not all subcultures come from one culture, that they come from various cultures and are able to stand without the mainstream cultures. Pop is considered to be one of the most mainstream genres, seen through the way the artists often dress in revealing clothing and use extravagant props and locations when filming. The indie genre is arguably in no way similar to the pop genre, indie artists cannot afford to make their videos appear expensive, and most of them dress with a certain style that only appeals to a niche group of people, therefore it cannot be considered that the two genres come from the same culture. My group will not be able to film in expensive locations because we, like most indie artist, do not have the money to spend on a producing a music video. Our indie music video will be relatable and will not include conventions that are typical of the mainstream genres of music, for example, the characters will not wearing revealing clothing, there will not be a dance number, and we will not use a large amount of special effects over the footage. The CCCS theory assumes that all subcultures come from one culture in reaction to the mainstream. I do not think that this theory can be applied to the indie genre, when comparing it to the pop, hip-hop, dance or rap genres, for example, because indie artists do not wear fashionable clothes, or expensive accessories, and they often film in cheap locations, all of which has the effect of making the genre more relatable. On the other hand, the pop genre often focuses on materialism and entertaining their audiences through the use of extravagant props and special effects. CCCS groups together all of the subcultures to be the same, the theory does not consider the fact that over time music listeners will change between subcultures as their preference in music changes, or that they will mix and match subcultures, rather than just sticking to only one. The mainstream is changing all of the time, which therefore means that there is nothing for teenagers to specifically react against. Furthermore, Hebdige believes that if you look deep enough, there is enough evidence to support renaming 'subcultures' as 'little cultures' because no two genres of music are the same. This theory is fairly similar to that of McCracken, as neither believe that all music is the same. It should also be taken into account that the audience is very unpredictable, therefore record companies will never be able to come up with a set way of targeting them. My results and music video will show this subculture theory through the combination of the past and present, for example, the past is highlighted through the use of a flashback at the beginning of the video when the audience see the elderly lady morph into the artist, which suggests that they are the same person. The use of a flashback is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie is often perceived as being old fashioned due to the fact that the genre does not fit into the mainstream like the pop genre does, and the flashback itself connotes the idea of the past and suggests that the video is going to be a memory from the artist. On the other hand, the use of visuals of a mobile phone and modern London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye helps to give the video more of a current and modern feel, which is often associated with the mainstream and is therefore subversive of the indie genre. The combination of both past and present will help the video appeal to the typical indie music listeners as well as a more modern audience who will be able to relate more to the modern aspects of the video.

VOX POPS
 

The purpose of a Vox Pop is to provide evidence of the public opinion to back up the results that we have collected and analysed through asking those 40 people our questionnaire. It proves that the information from the pie charts has not been made up, and that our music video will be created based on what the audience want to see and not just what we think they would want to see. Also, they will be beneficial to our group as when we are in the process of creating the music video we will be able to look back at the Vox Pops to make sure we are including the audiences opinion.

 

In conclusion, it was very useful for my group to research to find out what people want to see in a music video because, at the end of the day, their opinions are what matter most. The target audience are the ones who have the power to determine the success of something, and in this case, the more views and likes that a video gets will result in more money for the artist and the record label that they are signed to. Successful artists will create more exposure for themselves and their record label because newer artists will view them as someone worthwhile to work with, and the audience may be intrigued to look into the label to find out which other artists are signed to them. There are many different ways in which our group can incorporate our results from the questionnaire into our music video. For example, for the first question, most of the 40 people also enjoy the pop and hip-hop genre because they are more current and are listened to on a regular basis. To appeal to these genres, as well as the indie genre, our group could dress the characters in our video in mainstream, fashionable clothing, for example, skinny jeans or brand clothing such as Hollister or New Look, which the audience will be able to relate to, and will appeal to the idea of wealth that is often portrayed in the hip-hop genre. Furthermore, the majority of the 40 people want the video to be set in the countryside, however, our group does not live in the countryside therefore it will be difficult for us to film our music video in this location. However, through the use of a green screen, our group will be able to show the audience what they want to see without having to travel very far by making it appear as though the characters are in the countryside. Also, the 40 people were pretty much split on question 5, which asked them whether they preferred the video to appear old or modern, therefore as a compromise our group has decided to produce a video that is a mixture of both. An old fashioned looking video is arguably more conventional to the indie genre because this will not fit into the mainstream, which is often associated with designer brands and vibrant colours. However, it will make the video appear more authentic and original which the audience may find more interesting to watch. We will be able to make our video appear old fashioned through the use of special effects, for example, colour tints of brown and orange to make the footage appear vintage and worn out, which will add a more personal, valuable touch to the video because it will look as though it was produced a long time ago. Having said that, a more modern video will make it easier for the audience to relate to because they currently live in a materialistic world, therefore a way of appealing to the modern target audience will be through the use of brand clothing such as Jack Wills or Forever 21. The music video will also appear modern in the sense that it will be set in the 21st century, evident through the use of visuals of new landmarks such as The Shard and Big Ben. If we were to carry out the research again, I would ask more questions that are specific to our chosen music genre and artist so that we can establish how they really feel about every aspect of the indie genre. I would also incorporate more questions that are based on the idea that my group has come up with so far to see, firstly if they actually like our war themed idea, or if there is anything we need to change before we start filming. Once we start filming, there will be no time for us to gather anymore target audience research, therefore we cannot guarantee that the audience will like our finished product. We should also consider asking the questionnaire to the same amount of people from each gender, as this will help us to keep our results fair, and to ensure that we do not conform to the stereotype that the indie genre is a female genre of music.

Research into record labels - Miss Georgiou

Record labels

A record label is a large company within the music industry that could potentially own other smaller record labels. The purpose of these record labels is to pay for the production of music, and distribute the music produced by the artists that are signed to the label. The record label are responsible for the advertising, marketing and promotion of music.

Syco Entertainment

There are two different types of record labels, major labels of independent ones. An example of one of the major labels in the UK currently is Syco Records. Syco Records is a subsidiary company of Syco Entertainment, which was founded in 2002 by Simon Cowell and has since gone on to sign artists including One Direction, Leona Lewis, Little Mix, Olly Murs and Labrinth.

Syco Records focuses mainly on the production and marketing of music, films and television programmes. Syco music artists have been highly successful over the years, selling more than 2 million albums collectively and delivering more then 180 No. 1 records worldwide. In particular, One Directions worldwide success has not only strengthened Syco Records global exposure, but also their reputation as well. Furthermore, Syco records can be linked to several different aspects of the media. For starters, many of the artists signed to the label are found through television programmes including Britain's Got Talent and X Factor which Simon Cowell is closely associated with because he helps to direct and produce them. The best example of a band who started out through television is One Direction, who Simon Cowell put together on the show and signed after they were eliminated. Syco Records has also been associated with the film industry. For example, One Direction's "This Is Us" film was released in the UK in August 2013 which allowed fans of the band to get to know more about them and what they do when they're not on tour. The high sales from the film could help the label to appeal to more artists because it shows them that the label can be just as successful in the film industry as well as the music industry.

Virgin Records

Another example of one of the UK's major labels currently is Virgin Records, established in 1972 as an independent label, but has since gone on to be part of EMI, which is the third largest record labels in the world. Artists signed to EMI records include Bastille, Rihanna, Kanye West, Avicii, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, American Authors, Pixie Lott, The Vamps, Justin Bieber, Naughty Boy and many other well known artists. The Warner Music Group is the parent company of Virgin Records, which has subsidiary companies including The Gramophone Co. Ltd., Columbia Gramophone Company Ltd., and Parlophone Record Co. Ltd. Artists signed to these companies include Gabrielle Aplin, The Beatles, Queen and Tinie Tempah. It could be argued that part of the reason behind the success of Virgin Records is due to the fact that the EMI company owned some of the major shops associated with selling music, for example, HMV, which is the parent company to The Gramophone Company. The Virgin is a brand is a multinational conglomerate company that is probably best know for its airline services. Virgin subsidiary companies include Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic and Virgin America. The company also has other links to the media, including television channels which can provide the audience with a different ways of listening to the music.

Parlophone Records

Another well know major record label in the UK is Parlophone Records, which was originally founded in Germany in 1896, however, the British section of the label was formed in 1923. In 1926, Parlophone merged with The Gramophone Company which later became EMI. In 2013, the company joined the Warner Music Group family, which is one of the largest and most well known music companies worldwide. In the early stages, Parlophone Records identified itself as one of the leading jazz labels, but nowadays the company produces a variety of modern music genres from the likes of Gabrielle Aplin, The Beatles, Lily Allen, Conor Maynard, Tinie Tempah and Pink Floyd. The Parlophone company is a subsidiary of the EMI record label, which is one of the most successful multinational recording and publishing companies in the UK. The EMI company worked alongside the BBC and ITV television channels during its earlier years, providing them with camera equipment, for example, the EMI 2001 colour television camera.

Independent

An independent record label is a music label that operates just one or only a few music labels, which means that it will be smaller than the major record labels such as EMI. However, independent record labels can be just as successful as the bigger labels, they just operate from a smaller company base and are known for offering more 'organic' music rather than that considered manufactured for the mainstream, the most popular being music from the pop genre. Similarly, independent labels also pays for the production of music, and markets and promotes the records produced by the artists who are signed to them, however they do not distribute the music directly, they often go through distributors or a major record company first. Examples of independent record labels in the UK include National Anthem, Abbey Records and Candid Records.

Cooking Vinyl

The first example of an independent UK record label is Cooking Vinyl, which was established in 1986 by Martin Goldschmidt and has since gone on to develop a reputation as one of Europe's prime artist-focused and artist friendly independent labels, which is what draws different artists into signing with them. Another attractive quality of Cooking  Vinyl is that the label offers innovation services-only deals which means they claim no stake in an artists' copyrights, therefore an artist has full control over what happens to their music once it has been produced. Artists signed to Cooking Vinyl include The Pretty Reckless, Marilyn Manson and The Prodigy, whose 'Invaders Must Die' became the UK's biggest selling independent record in 2009. Cooking Vinyl is responsible for the management of a production, and seeks to expose the sales and distribution for its artists music on a worldwide scale through the help of different booking agents. When the label was first established in 1986, Goldschmidt attended a folk festive and recorded a live performance of the song ' The Texas Campfire Tapes' by the singer Michelle Shocked. After releasing the song through the label, it went on to sell 250,000 copies worldwide, a success which created great exposure for the newly set up label. Cooking Vinyl was the first independent label in the UK to make a deal with the MP3 download site eMusic, which helped them to develop the ways in which the audience of their artists could listen to the music. The label also set up its own online distribution company, Uploader, but later sold it on to the independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA). The Cooking Vinyl record label is a subsidiary of the Cooking Vinyl Group, and other subsidiary companies include CV America, Essential Music and Marketing, Cooking Vinyl Australia, Cooking Vinyl Publishing and DoubleCross Records.

Rough Trade Records

Another example of an independent UK record label is Rough Trade, which was established in 1978 by Geoff Travis and became known for its signing and selling of music from the punk genre. As well as being a record label, Rough Trade has also opened several shops around the country where people can go and socialise with other people who listen to the various genres of music that Rough Trade are associated with. The Rough Trade label prides itself on being imaginative, high quality and musically diverse. Artists signed to Rough Trade records include The Smiths, The Fall, Go Betweens and Arcade Fire. Although they may not be the most well known artists, Rough Trade Records takes the time to establish the audience that each artist will appeal to, and allows each artist the opportunity to produce their music in the way that they want to.

It could be argued that the major labels have worked hard for the success that they have. The Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Group and Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Warner Group were known as the "Big Four" majors. Any other labels that weren't part of the Big Four were referred to as independent labels. The majority of artists aim to be signed by one of the major labels, because there are many pros to working with them. For example, major labels have more money to spend on the promotional aspect of the industry, either of the music or the artist themselves through videos and photo shoots. Also, major labels tend to be much bigger than the independent labels and have more established connections that can be very beneficial to an artist. However, the independent record labels may find the fact that the music industry is dominated by four companies unfair because it means that artists may not take another look at the independent ones because they are not as well known. Although there are some pros of an artist being signed to an independent label, rather than a major one. For example, artists signed to a major label will have to fight for the attention of the label because they usually have a lot more artists signed to them, but there is only the one label, therefore the more successful artists may be of a higher priority than the newer ones, due to the fact that they will be more likely to make the label money. Also, major labels tend to have a high employee turnover, which may affect an artist in a negative way because if the person who liked the music that a specific artist was producing is laid off, the new person who replaces them may not be as interested, therefore the artist may suddenly find themselves not producing or selling much music. Another drawback are artist unfriendly deals, some of which can result in an artist having little flexibility within the industry and a loss of creative control. Furthermore, within major record labels the passion of the employees may be questionable because most people who work for the label will only be in the job for the money. From a music point of view, artists usually aim to have a major record label sign them to their label because of the money and connection advantages they would have when starting out in the industry. This will affect the industry because it will mean that there will be more competition between the artists to get signed to the major labels... there will also be competition between the artists who are already part of the label to gain the attention of the managers within the label, this is due to the fact that artists from within the same music genre want to be the best at what they do, which means selling more music than their competitors, and making a bigger name for themselves. Although it will be harder, it is possible for independent labels to be as successful and major labels due to the fact that they usually have less artists signed to them, therefore more attention can be given to selling an artist and their music that they do have signed to the label. Success is mostly judged by how well known an artist is, because an artist with more fans is more likely to sell a high amount of albums compared to an artist with a smaller following, and they will therefore make a larger overall profit. It could be argued that the music industry is very money orientated and that the major labels are seen as being more successful than independent labels because they make more money. Independent labels will offer artists a more genuine service because it is more likely that the major record labels will have more artists signed to them, therefore they will only have a limited amount of time to spend with each artists, and it is likely that they will be more interested in working with the artists who are higher up in the music industry, therefore newer artists are at risk of not being seen, and consequently not having their music produced. Furthermore, artists signed to an independent label are more likely to be encouraged to do what they want to do in regards to the type of music that they want to produce and the way in which they want to appear to their audience. This is due to the fact that, unlike the artists signed to major record labels, independent artists will not have to worry about fitting into the mainstream.

There are some drawbacks to the music industry being dominated by major record labels such as Sony BMG due to the fact that this label does not promote all styles of music genres, for example, they mainly focus on pop and rap artists such as One Direction and Tinie Tempah, due to the fact that these are two of the most popular genres of music, which will therefore mean that the label will be more likely to make more money from the sales because there are more people who listen to and will buy into these genres. This also means that independent labels, who usually promote indie and country artists which are not the most popular genres of music may miss out on the chance to reach a mainstream audience, due to the fact that the bigger labels do not promote these genres as being part of the mainstream. Furthermore, it could take an artist who starts out on YouTube several years to break through into the music industry, for example, Gabrielle Aplin and even then they are not guaranteed to. A reason for this could be due to the fact that they struggle to compete with artists who are represented by the major labels such as Syco records due to the fact that they will rely solely on their fan base to continue listening to and buy into the music that they produce, rather than having money given to them by the record label. Also, these artists will not make a lot of money, therefore it is harder for them to promote themselves within the music industry and attract an audience that they can target their music to. This also means that they cannot make expensive music videos, whereas the major labels and the artists that they represent, such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande are always in the media due to how popular they are and therefore how many people want to know more about them. Furthermore, a record label such as Sony BMG has a lot of money behind the label that can be used to promote their artists without having to worry about whether or not the artist is going to be a success within the industry.
The main ways in which the success of an independent label can be compared to that of a major label will be through analysing the sales of albums, records, tours and festivals for the artists that they represent within the label. Through these sales, the record labels will make money, therefore the higher the sales, the more money the label will make, and success is usually judged based on how rich a label is, as with this money they will be able to spend more on promoting their artists and creating expensive music videos for the audience to enjoy.
A benefit of an independent label is that they are more likely to take the time to get to the know the artists that they represent and the style of music that they produce. They often create artists that they believe an audience will want to listen to, instead of seeking to change an artist in order to help them to fit into the mainstream. Major labels, on the other hand, primarily care about how much money their artists are making them, therefore if an artist is not as popular as they were expecting them to be, and is not making the label enough money, they will easily drop them from the label, for example, the Sex Pistols were dropped by both EMI and A&M, to then go on to be picked up by Virgin records.