When i was your man audience research

 By looking at the original music video for the song i am using for my courework i was able to look through the comments to try and distinguish the target audeince for the song/artist. I was able to see that the majority of fans of the song were female with a large portion being teenagers. I was able to gauge the general age of a commenter by looking at their profile picture, the ages were somewhat assumed but i am aiming for a general audience than a specific age group.

These comments demostrate the type of people who enjoy and comment on the song. As you can see they are mostly females who are praising the song for its content rather than its artist - although there were several comments directed at the performance of the artist.




There are however some exceptions to this fan base as shown by the next comment.

Here you can say that a fan of the song is actually a middle aged man - the complete contrast of the majority of listeners. This shows that even though the music is intended to please a certain demographic, it is still somewhat a "pop" song and therefore can and will appeal to the masses. It is the not same level of pop adopted by artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen in which it aims to be catchy enough to gain thousands of hours on music channels and radio stations. Instead it has a main target audience with the potential for other people to enjoy the music who would not normally associate with the song.


By looking through the comments i was also able to see that some fans liked the song because of the personal connection they felt with the lyrics. This shows a seperate fan base in those who can relate to the song and its lyrics. Because of this i will need to reflect this in my video so that it appears more personal and not just a performance video (even though the original video is like this and proves very effective).

I will use the information gathered here to shape my music video and ancillary products to best appeal to this target audience which mainly consists of teenage females.

Digipak Research

 

Spiritualized is a British rock group who released the album "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space". They focus on produced more "alternate" and "space" sub-genres of rock. Because of their unique artificial style they have designed a digipack to compliment this. The digipack for the album is designed and presented as packaging for a type of medication or tablet. The box art contains all the expected details for the packaging of a tablet including dosage, warnings, ingredients and various dates of expiration. The main colour scheme of the digipak is that of white and blue. Both of these are very "medical colours" in that they are the colours that are associated with the likes of hospitals as well as sharing the same house style with real life medicine packaging.

More interesting however is the packaging of the CD. Once the box is open the CD is presented in plastic case covered in a layer of foil, representing that of a pill. To access the Cd requires the person to break the foil in order to extract the disc and is therefore not just for the appearance. This type of packaging offers more interaction for the consumer as it is also further compliments the theme of the album and digipak design. So it is here that it provides advantages as it offers a more engaging experience for the consumer opposed to a standard plastic case with the disc inside. The design of the packaging help it to attract more people as it stands out from other album cases. It also helps to identify the artist as the digipak is as abstract as the music produced by the band. A disadvantage of the digipak however is the fact that once the foil is breached you can never seal it again, this leads to the potential of damaging the disc as it offers no real protection, therefore on a practical level there are flaws - these are however largely outweighed by the advantages offered by the style and design of the digipak.








The next digipak hugely differs from the one produced by Spiritualized. This is the digipak is for the album "AM" by "Arctic Monkeys". Compared to the previous design it is quite simple in appearance but this may make it more effective as the cover is used to establish a link between the album and the song. The leading song for the album is titled "Do i wanna know" which was released as a single prior to the album. The video features several lines which wave in correspondence to the playing of the various instruments. In the video the image of the cover is often present and this therefore acts as a link between the album and the song. This helps to add an identity to the song as well as construct a house style in which the band can then use for their other products.

The digipak is otherwise pretty standard in that on the back it contains the names of all the songs included in their running order as well as the name of the band. When opened it also contains a photo of the band members together, further reinforcing the connection between band song and album. Although a lot simpler this digipak relies more on the already established fanbase and the assosiation between the house style "logo" and the products.








The photo of the band also matches the style of the album cover by being in black and white and fading into the rest of the cover. It shows all the band members clearly and together so easy association can be made.

When I Was Your Man Lyrics Analysis

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now	Experienced a break up – is now alone
Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same	Used to bring happiness as it was “their” song Now she’s gone it doesn’t hold the same meaning
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name	Feelings of sadness when she’s mentioned
It all just sounds like oooooh. Hmmm... Too young, too dumb to realize	Lists his flaws – why she left him
That I should 've bought you flowers	Needed to buy her gifts
And held your hand	Needed to be more intimate/loving
Should 've gave you all my hours	Needed to use all his free time with her
When I had the chance	The chance is now gone – she’s gone
Take you to every party Cause all you wanted to do was dance	Do things she wanted to do, try his best to please her/make her happy
Now my baby's dancing	She’s finally able to go to parties
But she's dancing with another man	But now it’s with someone else
My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways	Lists his flaws
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life	Such a good thing to happen to him has left him
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ooooooh	Doesn’t have a chance to make things better – get her back
And it haunts me every time I close my eyes	Thinks about it constantly  - regret
Although it hurts	Doesn’t like to admit it
I'll be the first to say that I was wrong	Admits the breakup was his fault
oh, I know I'm probably much too late To try and apologize for my mistakes	Too late to stop her from leaving
But I just want you to know
I hope he buys you flowers I hope he holds your hand	Accepts that she’s gone and that she deserves better than him
Gives you all his hours When he has the chance Take you to every party Cause I remember how much you loved to dance Do all the things I should 've done When I was your man	Repeats what he said he should’ve done but relates it to the new boyfriend. Saying he should treat her like she deserves to be treated.

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now	Experienced a break up – is now alone
Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same	Used to bring happiness as it was “their” song Now she’s gone it doesn’t hold the same meaning
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name	Feelings of sadness when she’s mentioned
It all just sounds like oooooh. Hmmm... Too young, too dumb to realize	Lists his flaws – why she left him
That I should 've bought you flowers	Needed to buy her gifts
And held your hand	Needed to be more intimate/loving
Should 've gave you all my hours	Needed to use all his free time with her
When I had the chance	The chance is now gone – she’s gone
Take you to every party Cause all you wanted to do was dance	Do things she wanted to do, try his best to please her/make her happy
Now my baby's dancing	She’s finally able to go to parties
But she's dancing with another man	But now it’s with someone else
My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways	Lists his flaws
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life	Such a good thing to happen to him has left him
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ooooooh	Doesn’t have a chance to make things better – get her back
And it haunts me every time I close my eyes	Thinks about it constantly  - regret
Although it hurts	Doesn’t like to admit it
I'll be the first to say that I was wrong	Admits the breakup was his fault
oh, I know I'm probably much too late To try and apologize for my mistakes	Too late to stop her from leaving
But I just want you to know
I hope he buys you flowers I hope he holds your hand	Accepts that she’s gone and that she deserves better than him
Gives you all his hours When he has the chance Take you to every party Cause I remember how much you loved to dance Do all the things I should 've done When I was your man	Repeats what he said he should’ve done but relates it to the new boyfriend. Saying he should treat her like she deserves to be treated.

Bruno Mars -"When i was your man" Lyrics

Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now
Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same
When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear me down
Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name

 

It all just sounds like oooooh.
Hmmm... Too young, too dumb to realize

 That I should 've bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should 've gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party
Cause all you wanted to do was dance
Now my baby's dancing
But she's dancing with another man

 

My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life
Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, ooooooh
And it haunts me every time I close my eyes

 

It all just sounds like oooooh
Hmmm.. too young, too dumb to realize

 That I should 've bought you flowers
And held your hand
Should 've gave you all my hours
When I had the chance
Take you to every party
Cause all you wanted to do was dance
Now my baby's dancing
But she's dancing with another man

 

Although it hurts
I'll be the first to say that I was wrong
oh, I know I'm probably much too late
To try and apologize for my mistakes
But I just want you to know

 

I hope he buys you flowers
I hope he holds your hand
Gives you all his hours
When he has the chance
Take you to every party
Cause I remember how much you loved to dance
Do all the things I should 've done
When I was your man
Do all the things I should 've done
When I was your man!

Digipak Research from Pieter Jollans

Final Concept for Coursework

Music Video - When i was your man

 I have decided for my final idea to create a music video to accompany Bruno Mars' song "When I Was Your Man".


This video will include performance and narrative elements as well as an electronic shaman. This will be conveyed by various shots of the artist singing the song whilst playing the music on an electronic keyboard as well as the narrative elements being demonstrated by cut-aways to footage of a couple breaking up. The electronic shaman will be included through the use of the artist being an omniscient narrator in which he will appear in the scenes which include his ex girlfriend with a new boyfriend, he will however be invisible to them but visible and audible to the audience. This also adds to the narrative element as the audience can then see how the situation is affecting him.


It will be filmed in a house using places such as the bedroom and living room for the sets for the various "scenes", this is to ensure that the product connects tot eh audience on a personal level and that they then will be able to connect with the song as it appears more realistic.

Concepts for coursework

Concept 1 – Music video (Boy band)

For this idea I would take a cover of any generic boy band as the audience is very easy to pinpoint as well as visual matches in the video. It would belong to the pop genre and be aimed mostly at preteen females. The song would contain lyrics indicating relationships and other likeminded content. The video would include all of the band members singing together as well as a dance routine performed during the chorus. This would appeal to my audience as it would share many other traits with other videos – see any one direction videos to understand these conventions (i.e looking into the camera, “messing” about, being with other girls, dancing and intimate looks/displayed emotions).

Concept 2 – Music video (World Cup)

I would use the cover of a popular world cup song as it’s quite topical seeing as the world cup is this year. In my video I would use several clips of people playing football, with the main footballer being the lead singer in my song. As the world cup is a symbol for diversity and the coming together of nations I may have several shots of people of varying nationalities playing football with each other. Cuts to the beat could be incorporated through when the ball is kicked. The song would most likely be of the pop genre as it should be enjoyed by everyone and pop songs are very mainstream orientated. Although my audience is practically everyone to infuse the spirit of the world cup within my song my narrower audience would be males aged 10+. This is because the majority viewers of football are males and a music video such as this would play alongside advertisements of the world cup. To reflect and cater for my audience the majority of the people in my video will be male. My audience will predominantly be middle class. Other texts like this include: Baddiel and Skinner – 3 lions and K'naan - Wavin' Flag.

Concept 3 – Short Film

The plot will revolve around a boy who discovers that he can use a video game controller to control other people. This is used as light-hearted comedy as he uses this ability to pull off simple pranks on people. However as he realises the severity of his power he starts to abuse it in order to cause harm to others. The climax of the film is when the boy starts getting chased by someone who is trying to cause him serious harm. It is then revealed that the person trying to kill him is being controlled by another child with a similar controller. The audience for this film would be predominantly male, given the concept of video games becoming blurred with real life. However unlike music videos this would prove to appear more “artsy” in that it challenges the ideas of influences on video games on children. For this reason I feel the demographic of the audience would be of a more middle-class background as it would offer the opportunity for debate and controversy.