Audience Theories

The Hypodermic Needle Model

This theory is relatively dated as it was created when cinema and radio were less than two decades old. The main point is that information from a media text is passively received by the audience and not taken into consideration or understood by them, they have no control of this. The idea is that this information could be used to manipulate the audience, and when research was done on advertising and the Hypodermic Needle model, it was understood that audiences could re-act information that they had been shown. The government understood this and used propaganda after the first world war, this theory was very popular. This is why that it is used to explain why certain groups in society shouldn't be exposed to certain media texts. (comedy in the 1950's and rap music in 2000's) as it was believed that if they were shown sexual and violent behavior, that they would therefore act this out themselves. This theory was seen by media producers for them to have a huge impact on the audience, and the power to influence them in which ever way they please.

We believe that if we took this model into consideration in our coursework, the story line that we have created, wouldn't be the case, as this theory says that audience passively receive the information and will then (as they don't understand it) re-act it. This would result in viewers re-acting the life of a prostitute, which is our chosen narrative. This would then mean we have to change our chosen narrative, based upon how free we feel we are as producers, and whether or not we want to stay within the guidelines of media production, or we want to ignore this theory and rebel against these guidelines. We have chosen to produce a music video that we feel has relevance to feminism, and the fact that media institutions such as FHM perceive women to be sexual objects, we want to bring this to a headline.

Two-Step Flow

This theory is more in depth than the Hypodermic Needle Model, it was felt that a more complicated reason of the relationship between the audience and the media text was needed. The Hypodermic Needle Model was seen as not taking into consideration the audience, and labeling them as "unthinking drones" as they are passive and heterogenous. The Two-Step Flow Model considers the audience to be less passive and gives them more gratification in concern of how they receive information and whether or not they understand it. 

The main idea is that information is not passively or unmediated but it is filtered through "opinion leaders", who then communicate this to their less active associates, over which they have influence over. The "opinion leaders" take away power from the media, and put it in the hands of powerful people who have the influence over others, they can interpret their own ideas and what they believe the media text is telling/showing. This theory takes into account social factors of the time, and not just the media as an influence. 

If we were to apply this theory to our coursework, the way in which people see our product would change in concern of who the opinion leaders are, this is because as the producers, the media product is then shown to opinion leaders, who decide what information they want to absorb, which is important and what conclusion they can get from this. This means our intention of the impact which we want to have on the audience could vary depending on again who is the opinion leader, and also what experiences they may have had in order to change the viewpoint of our media product. This means we would have to choose 

Textual Analysis

We have started to do our textual analysis to find out what sort of music videos have already been made and what they do to try and stand out. We want our video to stand out from the rest of the videos but we want it to reach a mass market of listeners that love great music and a great video to accompany the song. The song we have chosen is Jose Gonzales- Heartbeats. As this song is quite slow and calm we want the video to be a juxta position of the song and have quite fast paced editing and diverse range of camera angles and shots but yet still fit in with the story and melody of the song.

We have looked at videos that have this juxta position or something different that makes them stand out from the crowd. We have decided that we don’t want it to be too different from the song because otherwise the video will become too separate from the song. That is why it is important for us to make sure that the storyline and the actual plot of the video is in keeping with the lyrics of the song. We have printed off the lyrics so that we know properly what the song is all about.

The Knife - Heartbeats 

We have also watched the music video that was made by the Knife to the song Heartbeats that was made before Jose Gonzalez covered it. It is quite a fast version of the song and the video is quite alternative in its style. We decided that we would stick to using the Gonzalez version because it is more slow and will fit with the style of video we want to make.
In the Knifes version the video is quite colourful and uses quite bright colours on a black backdrop. The video is quite eye catching and memorable. It has a completely different message to what we originally thought after first listening to the Jose Gonzalez version. It is more alternative and modern in its style.

Coldplay-Fix You

Coldplays music videos are always exciting and a signature style always follows through. This video is no exception. The band usually always features in their music videos either in the background or as the leading parts.
Fix you begins with Chris Martin walking down a dark street under a bridge, the lighting is dark in places but bright highlighting his face in others. Furthermore a bright spotlight is used in the background which catches the cameras lense at time and creates a good effect of the streetlights or cars, this would look very effective in our video as the girl is walking down dark streets. At the beginning of the video a yellowy fleshy tone is given to the video which then contrasts to the later half which uses tones of reds and blues showing the change in mood and action in the video.
Although he is singing to the words he is almost slowed down as he is walking. This is very effective because it matches with the pace of the song. As the song begins to pick up and get more of a pace so does he and gradually he runs.
The angles used in the video begin with just medium shots but then progress to worms eye view where the camera is slighlty tilted. A combination of closeups and mdeium shots are used to show him moving with the camera and singing to the song. In addition he is rarely ever completely central to the video and stays either on the first or 3rd lines. The camera pans around him at times, showing him from different angles.
At points in the video it flash to clips of him in the stadium, they are short and snappy leaving the viewer wanting more, wanting to know how he is going to get there. Match on action is then used as the song builds and the pace is quickened, showing different locations and shots. The rest of the video is of the band performing in a stadium to thousands of people. It is a simple concept and not hugley excting but is lifted by using a variety of different shots-closeups, medium, long and birds eye. But it is complemented by the lights thats blur the video. The mise en scene is simple and no real props are used, he is dressed in black. The video is stripped back and easy to follow allwoing the viewer to concentrate on the music and as the band as performers.
We chose to analyse this video because we liked how it isnt too complicated and some of the effects used are very effective, such as the red lights and the contrasts of the slow to the fast shots. However we want our video to be a bit more exciting and to create a subtle story.

Paloma Faith-Stone Cold Sober
A much faster paced song than Heartbeats but a very interesting video with a variety of different effects and creative ideas.
The video starts slowly allowing for slower shots and low light colours. By editing some parts of the video and making them balck and white its creates a softer edge contarsting to the brighter colours used in other shots. Bright lights are used in other shots which are almost too bight making the contrast very high, this adds to the alternative edge on the video make it very interesting to the viewer. However when the bright reds are used this makes them stand out more and look more dazzling and exciting. A filter is used in some parts which gives the whole shot a red effect- we would like to use this technique in our video.
A variety of different shots are used in this quick paced manner. The video really fits with the song as they are both fast paced and energetic. On the other hand when the slower parts of the song happen the video slows down and the colours become more muted and strip away all the other parts so you concentrate on just her.
The props and the costume used create this fun almost humorous mise en scene. However the video becomes very different because of all the different props and the way she works around them and makes them work together.
We really like this video because it gels together so well with the song and with the quirkyness of the singer. The tonal range of colour and shots is really effective and we would like to use the bright reds in our video to portray the prostitues lippstick and shoes etc. Altough we want to create a juxtaposition in our video between the song and the video we do want them to gel well together. We think by using the slowed down parts and mixing them with some faster paced parts it will be really successful.

Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

We chose to analyse Hey There Delilah, by The Plain White T's, we beleived the video was quiet simple but beleivable to the song and lyrics. Due to the split screen, we felt this was the only factor that made it stand out to other music videos. A hand held camera is used alot to give it the natural feel, as though we are actually watching the woman in the shot, rather than her just being there. Arieal shots are used alot to show the location and the feeling of being alone, which is what the song tries to portray. There isn't a huge variety of shots, which makes it simple and easy to understand, which is paired well with the song and lyrics. The colour of the shots vary from black and white to muted and then high contrasted, depending on the environment.

This has showed us that the lyrics of the song has a great impact of the narrative of the video, and we want to follow in their footsteps. The variation of the colour and contrast depending on the environment, we found as a group that this had impact and more meaning to the viewer, giving a greater understanding, we also wanted to follow through with this idea. However, what we want to do different is to have more impact on the viewer, as the narrative of this song is fairly simple and boring, and nothing really happens in the shots used, other than a woman walking around New York.

Location

We have now decided on the location for the majority of our music video. We want the location to enhance what our current ideas are about the video. 

The location is hugely important and can very easily make or break a video. It is important that our location is quite neutral so that we can easily change it and adapt it to our theme and style. 

Here are some shots of our location:

The majority 

of the video will be set in this bedroom. 

We want the bed and the other surroundings to create a simple mise en scene which lets the 

filming and shots do the talking. 

The bedding is red, blacks and white, which will fit the theme quite well. We don't want the viewer to think that the prostitute is rich we want them to know that she has littlemoney and doesn't live in luxury so we may have to change some of the props in the room to achieve this. 

Album Cover Research

We have researched what type of music we want to make our music video on and now we need to research what kind of album cover has the most effect on the viewer. We want our album cover to be attention grabbing and make the viewer want to pick it up and buy it. 

After looking on the internet at various websites we found a survey that Q did on the top 100 album covers.

This list has helped us to focus in on the most memorable and popular covers. Furthermore because the list has been made by such a popular music magazine it helps us to really focus in our target audience and what they want and find the most appealing. 

In particular our favorites were :

38. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, ''Electric Ladyland''

This is a very iconic album cover, the simple image shows the emotion and passion in Hendrix. The colours are vibrant and exciting. 

There is no text used on this album cover, this makes it even more simple and allows the reader to just concentrate on the image. However because Hendrix is a more established artist he is able to do this and still enable the reader to know who the album is by. 

On our album cover we will try to use the reds to highlight certain parts of her, such as her lips and lipstick. 

The effect used on this image could also be really effective on ours by creating this sketchy look as though the image has been sketched. 

82. Bruce Springsteen, ''Born To Run"

"Born to run"s main appeal is the composition. The simple black and white colouring make the image simple but the composition of Springsteen standing to the 1st and 2nd line of the image make the cover iconic. 

The mise en scene for this image is key because it makes him seem stylish and sum up the idea of "rock-star" therefore reinforcing our stereotypes of male singers. The guitar enhances this further. 

The text is also extremely important, the larger font highlights his name. The slim font used in the text looks simple and effective. 

The colours used are all very similar and dont stand out too much. This makes its subtle and not as vibrant as the Hendric cover. They both use different techniques to create their covers. 

1. Radiohead, "Ok computer"

This was chosen as the number one album cover. Its a very unique cover because it uses multiple images and blends them into each other. The colours are all perfectly matched and create this blurred result leaving the audience wondering what they are looking at, almost creating an abstract piece of art. 

The roads blur into each other as though the traffic is moving as you are looking at it. The effect used is like a sketch. 

The text used is simple and doesn't overcome the image. The title of the album is larger than the band. The font is a simple block text in bold that doesn't make too much of a statement it just highlights to the reader who it is by and what it is called. 

90. Cure, "Disintergration"

This album cover is really effective because it provokes a feeling of sadness, confusion which is what the title is all about. The image is very complex in what it may mean and what is happening however it is simple in its composition using an overlay of two images and just the title and name of the album. 

The colours used are of a similar palette with a mix of teals, pale blues and deep oranges. When mixed with the black they create this idea of confusion and decay. 

We particularly like this cover because it fits on with out idea of loneliness and the overlay of the two images creates a really interesting outcome. 

Our Progress

We have completed our story boards, on the basis we know some shots will be difficult to produce, and some shots will be changed and worked upon. We understand that this isn't our final product, however, we believe we have created a basis which we can work upon and develop.

This also applies to the shot list, we don't know our own limits in filming, as this is a new experience for our team, so this will also be edited and changed as we go through filming, this is completely understood by the group. 

We still need to complete textual analysis parts for our research, also the podcasts of people's opinions of different music videos that we feel have relevance and similarity to what we want. The questionnaire is still waiting to be sent out to participants who are willing to help us in our research. These tasks are important to us and need to be done as soon as possible.