Quantitative Research

Question 1 - What is your gender?

So from the data that we have here, we can see that there have been more Male participants compared to Female. This could heavily sway the type of music video we create, as it may contain lots of Mulvey’s Theory of “Male Gaze” and what is considered to be pleasing for a male orientated audience. Such things could be the use of cleavage, or male dominance. For the genre we aim at, this could be shown through the use of a “damsel in distress” and making a Male lead look to be Muscular and take the lead in saving this woman.

As their still seems to be a considerable amount of females who have taken the survey, we can then assume that what information we take from the survey, cannot be totally biased towards a more male dominant video. We will need to find certain conventions that will link in to a mixed gender audience. Examples could be having a band shot that contains both male and female musicians to show that they are both equal in the presence of music.

Of the participants of the survey, the large majority of them are 17 or younger, this will affect the type of music video we create, as in the song, the word “Fucking” in the chorus would need to be edited out, or we put a cap on the music video. However if we were to put an age cap on, the large majority of the chosen target audience will be unable to watch the video, therefore we cannot connect with the audience, and they cannot relate back to it. We can also see that the next big group is 18 to 24 year olds, this means that the viewers would be mature enough to watch and understand meaning in the music video, it also means that the sort of people/things included in the music video need to appeal to them.

Question 2 - What is your age?

An example of how we can relate it to them, is introduce some form of father figure, that will be the dominant one in all scenarios, but we can also include fashion connotations of the genre, that will relate back to the viewers, who will be wearing the same kind of clothes, and will listen to this type of music. We have some older people who have taken the survey, so that means we can also add some forms and conventions that can be associated with older viewers, it also means that possible viewers will be older than the main bulk of a target audience.

Question 3 – What is your Nationality?

From the answers we received, all of the participants were of English or British Nationality. This then means that all of our target audience will be able to speak English, and if there is any dialogue on the video, it should be in English, so all of the viewers are able to relate and understand the video.If we were to include parodies, or stereotypes linking to the English Nationality, we would be able to use that, and the consumers of the video would be able to understand certain stereotypes of English/British culture, such as Drinking Tea.

With this, we could also use all English actors/actresses, as knowing what they look like, and the trends that are noticed over in the UK, we can take that and incorporate that into the music video.

Question 4 - How do you access music videos?

From this, we can see that most people are going to watch music videos on a desktop platform, this means that we should make it easily accessible for desktop users. This also tells us that our participants are likely to use the internet, so will use social networking sites, that allows the viewers to share the video all over the internet, so helps with publicity, and will reach out to other people that have common interests, and can associate with the video.

With a large amount of people saying that they access videos via TV or Mobile, it means that we could impliment the following into the music video (and or ipods too). As many of the viewers will have these devices on hand. It also means that we should make the video available for playback on mobile devices, so we can widen the medias on which can watch the video, thus allowing more people to view it.

Question 5 - How often do you watch music videos within a month?

There are two clear leaders of answers, and both are contrasting ones. As most people say that they will watch a music video everyday, that means they will be heavy internet or Television consumers, so will be able to understand most of what will happen in a narrative, and are likely to share any new videos that they find, with friends or on the internet, thus allowing more people to view the video, and possibly relate to it.As there is also a peak in people that will only watch music videos once a month, this means that they are unlikely to share or pass on the video, so tells us that they may be quite secluded and secretive about themselves. We can relate to that as the Rock Genre looks around social independence and how to look over that. It also tells us that within the narrative, it needs to be memorable so that they can remember this one video until they watch another one.

We can also see that some people will watch videos every couple of days, and some once a week, that tells us that some people will only watch videos rarely, and will prefer to spend their time out and about, so for relatable purposes, it would be good to have the narrative out in the open, where most people are likely to be. However for those who are always on the internet, we can include parts that can relate to people who will use the internet heavily.

Question 6 - When it comes to Rock videos, what particularly appeals to you?

We had a range of different answers, these ones here are the most common ones. We can see that people like to see a different and unusual side of a music video, this can be through the area that it is filmed in. As the target audience seems to be very young, we would have to make the location around somewhere that would appeal to them, an example would be “woods”, the reason behind this, is that young people use the application “instagram” quite frequently, and it consists of taking pictures and blogging them. As woods are a high point of the blogging, young people are likely to go to those locations. For interesting, it could link a narrative completely unrelated to the genre, but have certain connotations that allow them to work in parallel universes. One answer suggests that we represent people in a certain way, so linking to the target audience of young people, for this we could include the typical clothing for someone of that age, and interested in the rock scene. This would be a heavy use of black clothing, most of which will contain a band logo. We could also include the use of instruments, as they are heavily used by young people now, especially those who wish to create their own bands.

Another answer says that they like lots of lighting and effects added. Though this would not be very stereotypical to the genre, the use of effects could generate a greyscale, to show that the area is devoid of life, much like the rock genre, or it could be used as a way to generate flames, another stereotype associated with Rock. With lighting, or the lack of, we could create a narrative that could progress. So it seems like whatever is happening, will take time to do so, or we could make it look like everything is happening in a very short space of time.Many people said that they like the use of a band within the music video, this means that the viewers who potentially wish to be in bands can associate themselves with the band and follow certain traits of their persona, such as the type of guitar they have, or the hairstyle they choose.

Question 7 - Do you prefer to see a staged live performance in the music video?

The graph here tells us that people prefer to see some form of live performance within a music video. The reasons behind this could be different, ie, the band themselves are a form of iconography, as all viewers who follow the Rock genre, will be able to identify the band and then link the music video to them. Also the use of the iconography, is that it becomes a selling point, as if somebody has only seen the music video and liked it, they are likely to go and listen to more music of the same artist, and then possibly go out and purchase their music.Another good aspect of a live band, is that we can see the emotion of people who clearly enjoy the genre of music, and allow viewers and listeners of the genre, to also understand the love and devotion put into their music.

Having a live performance within the music video means that we can have a separate storyline running alongside it, and in some way or other cross them over together, this can be through the song itself, or the way certain lyrics fit well together. It also means that the viewers can relate to the band itself, and seem to fit themselves around the band, and stick to conventional stereotypes such as darkness and seclusion.

Question 8 - Do you prefer music videos with a narrative? Please explain why.

We received some very contrasting results in this part, as many people would prefer not to have some form of narrative going on, as it may detract from the music, and it may not be relevant to the song itself. However on the other hand, some people would prefer to have a narrative running along side, as it becomes more visually pleasing, and could also bring more to the song, and add a deeper meaning. With adding a narrative alongside, we would use it as a way to strengthen the relationship between the band and the song, but also to see the song in a new light, as then we can allow people’s imaginations to go wild, and then see what they make of the video, and how it can link back to the select genre.

We know that for the video, we aren’t always going to please everybody with what we include in it, so with people not wanting a narrative in there, having a whole song on the band may become abit tedious and boring, but with adding a narrative, this viewers may not wish to view the video. However, using both of them to coexist alongside one another may work nicely, as it brings in aspects of both sides, and is likely to attract most people.

Question 9 - What sort of narrative would you associate with Rock videos?

Different ideas for what should be in the narrative of a music video, but all of which seem to relate to the stereotypes of the rock genre. Referencing older rock bands is common amongst more recent and up to date rock bands, this can be with certain clothing that they choose to wear, or certain actions they may do within the music video. The use of a dark room would be very stereotypical to the genre, as darkness is seen to be an ally of rock artists. A comedic side for a music video would be very interesting, as “Infant Annihalator” use humour in their screaming video, as it shows that the band can have fun as well as being serious through their music, and example of which is when a member drinks lots of blue milk and projectile vomits. Doom and Gloom, is a pretty good summary of what is expected for a rock video, as it can contain traits of death, and use eerie backing to help emphasize a gloominess.Rebellion and violence is similar to music videos in Rock genre, such as SOAD – BYOB as it shows robots as rebelling against their owners.

Having life relatable situations would be fighting against certain stereotypes, as within rock videos, they tend to show people how not to live their life, and use that as a “rock lifestyle”. However it could work in contrast, as the effects could show to be a nightmare for the viewer.Promoting the band as a whole would boost their iconography and help make them more marketable worldwide, so having a heavy influence on say a band tour would be good for boosting their iconography, and their marketability.

Question 10 - Would you prefer to see a male or female actor in a music video?

We can see here that the majority of people have said that they wish to see both a male and female in the music video, this tells us that we are able to follow typical conventions of clothing style and of the rock genre, to be associated with the male and female viewers of the genre, rather than just basing all of the style towards the males. It also means there is a potential for a “love” story as a narrative, however as it would be completely against conventions of a rock music video, it would seem to distant to be able to use effectively.We can also use this information to set a narrative up, as the members of Avenged Sevenfold are all males, keeping with the conventions, we will make all the band members as males, so then we can allow a female to take a lead role in the narrative side of the music video.

With the next one just being a sole woman in the video, that would allow a good point for the woman to relate to the male gaze, so for this they could be wearing minimal clothing, and portrayed as very weak and in danger, as a stereotypical rock music video would show a woman in danger, and danger is often a message that they send across through the music and the actions in videos.