Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Research was carried out in order to try and find out different peoples preferences and opinions of what they would like to see included within our soul genre music video. More specifically, the artists music we have chosen to use for our music video which we will create. I carried this research of 40 people to find out more peoples opinions and to find the most true and accurate representation as I possibly can, through the use of a questionnaire. This allowed me to retrieve more in depth, qualitative data from a range of open and closed questions. Due to finding out factual information, but also allowing the audience to expand upon their answer and give detailed reasons as to why they would want to see a specific aspect included. I then used the results collected in the questionnaire to take into account peoples views of what they expect and like to see in a soul music video in order to keep them engaged in the music video. These are the questions which we asked 40 different people:

What is your gender?

"What is your gender?" was a closed question which was asked. From analyzing the feedback of this research, it can be inferred more females carried out this questionnaire rather than males. Also, that the audience of the soul genre were female however showed males do still listen to this genre of music. From this it could be inferred that females are more inclined to enjoy and listen to the soul music genre than males. Due to topics and subjects that arise through the use of the lyrics which are more likely to relate to a female; This includes topics such as heartbreak and love. The audience find comfort in knowing somebody else is going through a similar situation, and can empathize with the artist as they can relate to the artist. Furthermore, the audience may feel as though they are beginning to know the artist on a more personal level, as they are able to share thoughts and emotions together. The results are beneficial to research as I can then target the music video to a mass audience of females and conventions they would like to see and engage them. 

What is your age group?

Another question which was asked was a closed question. "What is your age group?". This allowed my group to establish what age range we were carrying out our research on, and receiving feedback from. If results were all differentiating this could be due to the majority of the age range being similar, and know that they may not enjoy the soul music genre.  The target audience which we aimed to appeal to based on this feedback is 19-21 year olds. We can infer that the majority of feedback was from people of this age range, closely followed by 16-18 so can estimate our specific target audience would be ages 16-21 to ensure we can take feedback into consideration and create a music video which engages this age range. The feedback of the questionnaire, in which asking how old the people we questioned were was beneficial as we took on board feedback received as we inferred the majority of people we questioned were in our target audience age range.

What is your preferred style of music video?

The third question in which was asked was an open question, titled "What is your preferred style music video?". From the research I found that the preferred style of music video is a narrative based music video, followed closely by performance style video. A narrative style music video usually includes an actor or actress which is acting out to the lyrics. To appeal to our target audience to the best of our ability, it was decided that the music video would be a combination of both narrative and performance style music video and engage the target audience as much as possible. The reason that a narrative style music video is voted in favor of is this allows the narrative to become clearer to the audience, as the actor and actress act out specific shots which have relation to the lyrics.  Performance aspects will also be included to the music video. This is ideal for a soul music video as it does not divert the audiences attention away from the artist and they can pay full attention to the lyrics. Performance style music video will be incorporated into my music video. This is due to the fact performance style music video's usually contain several close ups of the artist which help to show their facial expressions and body language which presents them as down to earth as the artist is willing to show her true and raw emotion for the benefit of the audience. Allowing the audience to feel as though they are beginning to have an insight to the artists personality, and know her on a more personal level as trust is gained. Research of the audience's preferred style of music video is beneficial when creating our media production. It ensures that the preferred style video is incorporated and adapted in order to engage and appeal to my specific target audience. 

What is your favorite editing style, and why?

Question four was another open question, asking the audience "What is your favorite editing style, and why?". In which the most popular answer for this was slow paced editing. I think this is because this style of editing. From quoting my vox pops "slow pace editing matches the style of the song", as the song is powerful and soulful with a slow tempo up until the chorus. Fast paced editing may not suit the video style all throughout the video as serious and emotional subjects are illustrated through the songs. Furthermore, this style of editing does not divert the audiences attention and allows them to focus on the artists emotion and sadness. Allowing the audience to empathize for the artist as they may be able to relate in some way, feeling as though they are beginning to build a relationship with the artist as they are getting to know her on a more personal level. Additionally to this, to cater for the target audience needs and keep them engaged throughout the entire production filters will also be included, such as the use of a black and white filter. Black and white filters are conventionally used in many soul videos as this is used to create an effect which helps to portray the artists feelings and emotions, which can in turn help to build a relationship between the audience and the artist. The connotations of positivity and negativity could be inferred that the artist is reflecting on her positive and negative memories prior to fame. This research is beneficial to the creation of my production as it allows me to incorporate editing styles which will maintain how engaged the audience is and increase the chances of their attention being sustained throughout the entire video. However, also trying to interperate and adapt conventional aspects to create a unique video in which the audience may not have seen before.

Describe the setting you would usually see in a soul music video?

The next question which the audience was asked was another open question "Describe the setting you would usually see in a soul music video?". The majority of answers answered they would most likely expect to see a stage within the genre music video. Whereas other conventional locations include an isolated personal room, or a bar/pub which is quiet. A stage may be were the audience would most likely expect the music video to be set as this gives a sense of professionalism, and allows the artist to sing with true and genuine emotion, in which they like to see as this is why the originally began to listen to the artist. The stage is a more personal approach to the music video, as this is where presumably the artist will have spent alot of time throughout her career in order to try and increase her fame. So by welcoming the audience into a personal space of hers, this allows the relationship between the audience and artist to grow as they have an insight to the artists personal life and memories prior to fame. This  was beneficial to our research as we have gathered ideas for our music video and using a stage like setting was one of our ideas, so to know that this is a setting the audience would expect to see helps us in deciding our final ideas and is easily incorporated due to the performance based music video we are aiming to create.

Explain what sort of theme you would feel you would like to see in a soul music video?

From analyzing the open question, "Explain what sort of theme you would feel you would like to see in a soul music video?" it is clear that the theme of family is the theme in which the audience would most like to see, with the majority of the audience answering this. Family is a conventional topic to this particular genre as most of the artist like to sing about personal experiences and home life. Which could be inferred that the reason why the audience enjoy this genre as the music is relatable to situations they have been through and helps them to build a relationship with the artist. As the artist is seen to be showing her raw and genuine emotion for the benefit of the audience, to guide them through a particular tough situation and reminds them that they are not alone. This helps with our research into a music video because it helps us to choose which song which is based around the artists hometown, and could include themes of her family and memories prior to fame. Hopefully resulting in an engaged audience as the music video is based on topics in which they can relate and empathize to. 

What is it about Adele that you like?

The questionnaire asked the audience a open question "What is it about Adele that you like?" With a highly answered "Her voice" which is expected as this is her career and the audience are captivated by her meaningful and soulful voice. However, aside from the obvious, the most common answer suggesting the audience like and admire how relatable she is to the audience. Possibly be based on her background as she has come from being an ordinary girl, and following her dreams. This may be relatable for many as they are inspired by the artist and idolize her to push for their dreams in order to try and achieve them. Furthermore, the second reasoning could be that the topics that she is singing about could be relatable to the audience and engages them as they feel as though they are beginning to know the artist more on the basis of common grounds, and are able to listen to each other to get through a situation and feel as though they are no longer alone. This helps with our research into creating our own music video because we can take into account which conventions will use to make this as relatable for the audience as possible as this is what they like about the artist originally. Additionally, including relatable topics which help to build a relationship between both the artist and audience.

What camera angles do you find most effective in the soul genre music videos and why?

The next open question asked to  the audience was "What camera angles do you find most effective in the soul genre music videos and why?" The majority of the audience answered "Close Ups" as the  most effective shot which could be used in the soul music video. Close up shots are both conventional and effective when included in the soul genre music video. Close up shot helps to capture the true and raw emotion of the artist due to the facial expressions and body language. This could in turn help to build a relationship between the artist and audience as the audience feel as though they are able to relate to the artist in some way. Possibly feeling as though they are beginning to know the artist on a more personal level as she is sharing her inner thoughts and emotion with the audience. This also shows the artist as down to earth through the use of a close up as she is willing to show her emotion in order to benefit the audience and reiterate to them that they are not alone in any situation they are currently going through. This is useful feedback when considered camera angles and techniques to use in the music video as we can then target this around our audiences feedback and include the shots in which they find most effective in order to keep the audience engaged throughout the entire music video. 

What is your favourite Adele song?

The next question was a closed question asking "What is your favorite Adele song?". This allowed us to see whether the song we had chosen to create a music video would appeal to our target audience or not. The majority chose the song "Hometown Glory" in which we had chosen for our song to create a music video, suggesting this was a good choice and beneficial to our research as this is something our target audience would want to listen to. The song diverts away from the stereotypical subject of love and heartbreak which most soul music genre artists tend to focus on when creating their music. However, the song which we have chosen is still relatable and engaging for the target audience as this is based around home and family life. This may help the audience to feel as though they are beginning to know the artist on a more personal level as they share common grounds and emotion, helping to build a relationship between the two. Furthermore, portraying the artist as down to earth and caring as she is willing to talk about personal matters in order to comfort and relate to her audience, which not many other artists would do, giving her a unique edge which admirable to the audience. 

Why do you think Adele is conventional to the soul genre?

Our last question which was a close question, we asked "Why do you think Adele is conventional to the soul genre?" Most of the audience believed Adele to be conventional due to the relatable topics which her music includes. Mainly including conventional topics which the target audience can relate to such as love, heartbreak, and family matters. This important for the artist to discuss relatable topics as this is what will engage the target audience, as most want somebody else to describe what they are feeling. Also, to feel as though they are not going through a situation alone and find comfort in this. Another frequently given answer that they believe Adele is conventional to the genre due to the close ups she includes in her video's. This is a conventional aspect as it helps to portray the genuine emotion from the artist, which in turn captivates the audiences attention as they sympathize for the artist, and feel as though they are beginning to know her on a more personal level. This feedback is beneficial as from analyzing the close results we can incorporate a combination of both relatable topics and close up shots to increase the captivating and engaging effect on the audience.

Youth sub-culture is a group of people who are united through common values and tastes, this includes clothes, music and politics. In addition to this, the group are also positioned outside of what is considered to be mainstream, going against what is expected. Values of a subculture usually included conformity to other members of the subculture and rebelling against the mainstream. They have a negative attitude towards capitalists and communism as they are materialistic. Grant McCraken believes modern world sub cultures come from various cultures but are self sufficient as they can stand up to what is considered mainstream. Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies, otherwise known as CCCS ignores this as they believe that all subcultures come from one culture in a reaction to the mainstream. In contrast Hebdige believes that there is a deeper meaning within the subculture. If you look deeper there is enough richness to warrant renaming subcultures as little subcultures. The theory in which I will apply to my music video is Hebige which I have previously discussed, which he believes if you look deeper, there is enough richness to warrant renaming subcultures into little subcultures because what they consider to be mainstream is different to another. He states this as the subcultures goes against typical conventions which makes them diverse. I think this applies to my music video because I think that the soul genre is not necessarily considered mainstream to many, whereas a genre such as Pop and Rap would be.

Vox Pops are interviews from members of the public which provide a snapshot of the public's opinion. Throughout my vox pops in which I have recorded on a media device enables me understand what the audience would like, and expect to see in my chosen genre music video. Open questions are questions in which the audience can expand their answer on in further depth and detail. Whereas closed questions are questions in which the audience will give a simple answer to which could be one worded or yes or no. An example of this could be asking the audience what is your gender or age. This allows us to find out information on who we are questioning which helps us to also narrow down our information to find our target audience and what they specifically enjoy most. The questionnaire and vox pops are beneficial to me as it allows me to gather information about what my target audience enjoy, and expect to see in  soul music video so I can try and incorporate these aspects and engage the audience as much as possible.

Vox Pops

        This research has been beneficial and useful to my research on what my target audience enjoy to watch in the genre of music for the video I will be creating. I asked the people that I questioned the questions and they wrote their answer down onto a piece of paper so that they had time to think of their answer and would be able to say it easily when I recorded. This overall allowed me to collect valid information as the audience had time to think of their answer instead of on the spot which can be quite daunting and for people which are not media students allows them to understand the question fully. It enables my group to see what the audience are expecting and what they believe is conventional to the genre and will overall hopefully engage the audience. Within my music video I will attempt to incorporate my results which I have collected throughout the use of my questionnaire in order to try and make my music video successful and be engaging and interesting for the audience to watch. An example of what I am going to include in my music video is slow paced editing as this allows the audience to focus on that particular scene as this could be an important key scene that helps to show the narrative and explain the lyrics. Another is the song choice in which the people I surveyed suggested which was their favorite Adele song, the most common choice was "Hometown Glory" so we managed to narrow down our song choice to 3 different options in order to appeal to our target audience. In addition to this I will ensure that I will included camera angles and techniques in which the audience finds most effective, so hopefully this will engage them and help them to understand what is happening within the music video and be able to relate more. If I was to carry out my research again I would asked a different variety of questions which enabled me to specifically find out which elements the target audience would like to see in my music video.