xxxx

1. The media production I am going to discuss in relation to audience is my music video which was my favourite
piece of coursework:
To determine my target audience I looked into the different age groups and their interests and this suggested
that my target audience was females and males aged between 14 and 24. Due to the genre and dance
elements in my music video I found that this style of music video was more appealing to females. Also my music
video focussed on the female more than the male, on screen it is orientated towards women so the audience
are able to identify with our female protagonist. Our protagonist is aged 17 and she falls in the category of a
student and so our audience mirrors our music video as they are students themselves possibly going through
the same situation.
To attract my target audience I created a magazine advert and a dig-pack. In both of the products I used a
close up image of my protagonist; this was so my audience were able to create a connection between the video
and the products. The magazine poster included a fair amount of writing which consisted on album reviews and
when the single was going to be released, I had this at the bottom of the poster in large bold text so that it
would entice the audience to read the information and therefore want to purchase the album. My products
relate to Dennis Mcquail’s uses and grafications theory as I am presuming my audience have chosen a music
video as their main form of media and are interested in the product as they are able to identify that potentially
the actor is in the same position as they are. Additionally I also made sure my music video entertained the
audience allowing them to gain some enjoyment from viewing my video. The uses and gratifications theory can
be put into place with my music video as it demonstrates how the audience choose my form of music to full fill
their particular needs, by watching my video it can also create social interaction as it will allow my product to
be discussed in friendship circles between the varied audience.
I tried to meet the audience’s expectations by following the typical codes and conventions of attempting to
make my video into a short film and make it look as realistic as possible to create verisimilitude to allow the
audience to connect with the narrative. This links to Todorov’s theory of equilibrium which allows the narrative
to flow and hold the audience’s attention. My music video includes a period of disequilibrium which leaves our
audience confused and wanting to find out more.
With my music video I will allow the audience to be able to comment below and discuss their ideas / opinions
on the product, this relates to Clay Shirky’s “end of theory” which states how society has changed due to the
development of the internet and this has allowed groups to express their views on products more than ever
before. Clay’s theory reads that the changes in media allow society to communicate together as a group rather
than one on one making it easier to have conversations, for this reason I will be focussing on placing my music
video online so that there will be a larger discussion on the product rather than if I was to publish the music
video onto a TV channel.
To please my audience I wanted them to be able to interpret the narrative in their own way. This is similar to
Hall’s reception theory where he suggests an audience can read a text in three different ways. I made my music
video so it could be “negotiate reading” this is where the reader partly shares the narrative but reflects it in
their own way. To make sure my video was “negotiated reading” I made my actress have a variety of
characteristics so that she was relatable for a wide audience and people could place themselves in her
situation, I also finished my music video on a sudden cut which allows my audience to interpret their own
ending. This allows the audience to get enjoyment out the video and then go on a discuss with their friends (
uses & gratifications theory )
I believe my music video was successful and aimed at my specific target audience as it includes all the
conventions that would interest someone of my chosen age group.