The secondary audience research provides insights into the preferences of music video audiences. It found that the target demographic is 15-20 year olds, with a majority being female. Most watch music videos weekly rather than daily. Preferred genres are rock, indie and pop. Narrative music videos are preferred over performance-based ones. Location, lighting, props and costume are highly valued, while social class is less so. Gender representation is also an important factor. The research indicates that the music video should incorporate cinematic elements like interesting locations, lighting and props to drive the narrative, while appealing to preferences around genre, gender and aesthetic.

1. Research
Spencer Fox

2. Existing Product – “drugs” by EDENLocation
• Urban alleyway – establishes city setting
• Kitchen – shows protagonist’s stressful job
• City streets - emphasises size of location
• Bar – place for protagonist to forget his obvious stress
• Underpass
• City Park/Lake
• Apparent “crackhouse”
Setting
• Present day – afternoon, overcast
• Flashbacks – Sunset, golden hour
Props
• Wedding/engagement rings
• Alcohol shots
• Engagement Ring
• Pots and pans, sponge
• Pay slip
• Black market medical pills in a transparent bag
Costume
• Pot washer uniform
• Flashbacks – light clothing
• Present day – dark clothing
• Backpack in present day scenes
Actors’ Performances
(Protagonist)
• Great at showing distress/displaying stressed life
• Clearly in emotional pain in present day
• Clear change in mood in flashbacks, genuinely seems happy when accompanied by his then fiancé
• Composing himself before entering the room with his wife in is incredibly convincing and realistic, wanting to seem fine for his distressed sick wife
(Supporting Character – Wife)
• Convincingly happy when the protagonist appears at hospital to see her as well as when they’re together
Editing
• Colour grade – cold, washed out and bleak in present time, warm and contrasting in flashbacks
• Match cut from protagonist fidgeting with his wedding ring to when he proposed to his girlfriend (engagement ring)
• Match cut when man bumps into him, snapping him back to the present time, out of his daydream about the past
• Quick montage as he leaves the dodgy building and goes to the hospital bed
• Longer shots when with wife (particularly in the hospital)
Cinematography
• Anamorphic/wide lens
• Shallow depth of field – keeps focus on protagonist while walking down the street, showing that he is clearly not paying attention and has something very obviously
bothering him/something on his mind (& bokeh in the background – considered cinematic)
• Silhouette as he walks through the underpass, referring to walking towards the light as his wife may be doing battling cancer
• Match cut holding hands with the girl in the “crackhouse” to being pulled along by his wife and dancing in the street

3. Interpretation:
• First, the protagonist seems like a struggling drug addict
• Then seems like he’s cheating/broken up with his wife
• Finally we realise that he’s been stressed and panicking the
entire time about how he’s going to take care of his wife when
he cant afford hospital treatment
• Really emotional ending with him breaking down and
composing himself to reveal that his wife is dying of cancer
and that the drugs were painkillers (or other medical pills) for
the wife
What I’d like to implement/imitate:
• The performance is perfect for what I think I want to recreate
in my own project
• The misleading plot lines/expectation subversion/twist may
influence my own story when it comes to writing the
screenplay
• The shallow depth of field to keep focus on the protagonist is
something I definitely plan on implementing into my music
video – it will hopefully “give a more cinematic look” to my
footage, as well as the colour grade being warmer in
flashbacks and colder in the present time
Existing Product – “drugs” by EDEN

4. Existing Product – “oh baby” by LCD Soundsystem
Location
• Large country house
• Garage
• Long driveway
Setting
• Evening
• Afternoon
• Night
Notable Props
• Wedding rings
• Rooster
• Ball
• Gun
• Teleportation devices
• Pencil
• Champagne bottle
Costume
• Light for the female
• Darker for the male until his wife gets shot, where he too wears white showing that they are on the same level
Actors’ Performances
• Characters have clearly been together a long time
• Evidently distraught when wife is shot, so moving when he’d obviously prefer to be nowhere with her, than somewhere without her
Editing
• Opening writing montage cut with holding hands with heavy emphasis on the wedding rings
• Montage slows briefly to let the hand holding resonate, then cut to the male and female protagonists looking pensively at the table of notes
• Slower montage of characters theorising
• Boomerang effect from CCTV of the items going through the teleporter
• Cut to black then fade back in after the Wife gets shot
Cinematography
• Macro lens – extreme close up in the opening montage
• Steady camera movements to keep shots interesting amongst the static shots
• Lens flare and refraction
• Backlit actors
• Silhouetted against the sunset for celebrations
• Canted angle to make the actors the right way up, but the rest of the world on an angle
• Handheld tracking shot as Husband carries Wife to the garage/teleporter

5. Existing Product – “oh baby” by LCD Soundsystem
Interpretation:
• This music video is extremely tragic, and builds a strong connection
between the characters and the audience in a six minute time frame
• The classic “he wasn’t shot, she was” is still surprising because we see
more of the man than we do his wife, shocking the audience
What I’d like to implement/imitate:
• The gorgeous cinematography is something that I would absolutely
love to be able replicate using the C100
• The colours within the sunset scene are gorgeous, which I hope I can
add, either in camera by shooting at sunset or by some post-
production trickery
• Cutting on the action/beat of the song adds punch to the edit that I
plan on implementing
• The performance from the actors were also impeccable, most likely
due to the experienced actors and accomplished director, but is
something I hope I can replicate by hiring professional actors from
outside of college

6. Existing Product – “SAD!” by XXXTentacionLocation
• Dark studio
• Church
• Small alleyway
• Bright studio
External Audio
• Miscellaneous crowd chatter
• Eerie low gibberish mumbling
• Heavy breathing
• Tension building stings
• Creaking chair
• Ticking clock
• Punch swings/fight sounds
Setting
• Day (late morning/early afternoon)
Notable Props
• Coffin
• Dyed hair/lookalike
• Stool
Costume
• Long black hooded cloak
• Suit
• Casual polo neck w/hat
• No shirt
Actor Performance
• Not that deep in terms of emotional acting, but fight scene is good
Editing/VFX
• Blacked out everything other than eyes for opening shot
• Subtitles talking directly to the audience
• Subtitles between the hooded figure and X
• Pocket watch floating through artist’s head
• VFX series as camera passes through X’s eyes
• Long build up before the song begins, cuts to and from the song to the hooded scene where the music stops
• Sudden cut of the music when X stomps the previous version of himself
• VFX crack on wall where old X slammed into
Cinematography
• Close up on the eyes at the beginning
• Digital zooms into the eyes
• POV shots of dead version of artist
• Stop motion rocking on the chair
• Lots of movement in shots, either with the camera itself or with the subject
• POVs from above during fight from spectators

7. Existing Product – “SAD!” by XXXTentacion
Interpretation:
• I feel as though, as it was written and directed by the artist
themselves, the subtitles at the beginning (the scene with
the eyes and then the hooded being) is the artist’s inner
creativity incarnate talking to both the audience, but more
importantly directly to the artist himself
• The mixture of the fight scene/real life is where
XXXTentacion himself talks with his inner consciousness
and fights his “old self” that he wants to change
• The beating that X lays on his old self is a metaphor for him
being a better artist, but also a much better person than he
used to be
What I’d like to implement/imitate:
• The blend between short film and music video is very
impactful, a blend I hope to capture for my own music
video
• The locations within the video are very much crucial to the
video and really added to the final production – since I
haven’t had the best luck with locations, I’m planning on
securing any location I need long before I shoot

8. Existing Product – “Mercedes Marxist” by IDLES
Location
• Office building
• Car park/car
• Pub
• Supermarket
• Dark studio
• House
External Audio
• Head banging off of desk
• Head banging off of car horn
• Head banging off of pub table
• Office room tone
Setting
• Afternoon mid/after work
• Dreary overcast
• Rain
Notable Props
• Steering wheel
• Beer/glass
• Office work
Costume
• Office-wear (suit and tie)
Actors Performances
• Committed
• Make up for a red mark where he was banging his head
• Clear emotions in drunken sleep montage
Editing
• Old film look/grainy with rough border
• Giant title screens with the band’s name and the song
• Wake up slaps coincide with people bumping into him in his drunken dream state
Cinematography
• Slow pan to reveal noise and protagonist
• Framing through the head banging against the wall (cold visuals) to see wife(?) sat on the sofa (warm visuals)
• Canted angle slow zoom into face
• Montage - strobe effect & slow motion & speed ramps
• Silhouette shots as he runs towards the large bright light in his drunken sleep

9. Interpretation:
• Protagonist is stuck in boring, depressing life
• Feels like he’s in an endless loop (repeatedly banging
his head
• Breaks in head-slamming are moments of realisation
that his life is dull, then continues to bang his head in
frustration
• When he’s drunkenly passed out, the white light is
death that he’s trying to reach, just to get away from
the boring and depressing life he has
What I’d like to implement/imitate:
• The canted zoom was very impressive and stylized
• The action’s to the beat of the song (head banging) is a
technique I plan on adding
• The contrasting colour grade (warm oranges, cold
blues) etc.
Existing Product – “Mercedes Marxist” by IDLES

10. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– Cinematic colour grading
– Solid cinematography/camera work
– Uniquely approached twist/deeper meaning
– Each of them contain a silhouette against a brighter light
– Canted/Dutch angles
• What aspects of the research will you include within your
own production work?
– I’m planning on incorporating canted angles within my music
video
– I’d like to include a silhouette against the sunset, similar to the
silhouette’s in these existing products
– Shallow depth of field and film grain is a must to achieve the
aesthetic I desire for my product, making it seem like some of
EDEN’s other music videos, such as “isohel” and “love, death,
distraction”
– A good colour scheme and grade is vital to getting a filmic look

11. Audience Research

12. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: Those between 15-20 are the biggest age group that
answered this survey
• The majority of music video audiences in this day and age are young
• The music is by a young artist who’s not far removed from this age group,
and the video will be about something that a lot of young people go
through in this stage of life: break ups

13. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: The 55% majority that answered this survey are female
• My audience may end up being very similar, in that there may be more female
music video viewers. This will be confirmed when the results of my survey come
in.
• I will tailor my music video to appeal to the female audience, since there appears
to be more of them watching music videos. I’ll do this via making the protagonist
female/story revolve around female issues/emotions

14. Secondary Audience research
• Observation: those who like music tend to also watch music videos.
• This shows that my audience (music lovers) will most likely also watch music
videos regularly. This is useful, and means that my ideal product appeals to the
right people.
• My product will appeal to this audience through the use of classic music video
conventions (such as cutting to the beat, etc.), but also elements of short film to
encapsulate their obvious lean towards visual storytelling.

15. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: The majority of people who answered this survey don’t
watch music videos daily, but do listen to music every day.
• My audience are more interested in the song itself, rather than the visual
music video, however they still end up watching them weekly.
• I will cater to my audience via making my product visually
unique/memorable or very aesthetically pleasing, making people want to
re-watch it multiple times, rather than purely listening to the song

16. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the genres of choice for this audience are rock, indie and pop
(all of which are in my own survey)
• This shows that the more popular genres with this particular audience are
rock and indie, which are some of EDEN’s genres with his music
• The music that I have chosen to make a music video for has elements of all
three genres within, appealing to my audience.

17. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: Narrative music videos are the preferred style of music video
• This says that my audience are more partial to short film-like music videos,
disregarding the importance of performances almost altogether.
• My product is going to be a music video that does not have a live
performance within it, due to not being able to shoot with the artist
themselves, as well as fitting my style of short film while still being similar
to some of EDEN’s other music videos.

18. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the survey participants value location highly
• Setting and aesthetic are vital part of music videos to my audience,
playing an important part in the narrative and overall feel of the
product.
• My product can appeal to this audience by including a variety of
linked locations that conform to the same colour scheme

19. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: The slight majority (25%) of respondents value lighting with the same
numeric value as location, but all respondents value location at least a 5
• The pie chart indicates that lighting is very important to my audience, showing that
they prefer well lit, interesting lighting configurations to not being able to see the
subject correctly. It also shows that they like music videos that are technically
solid, rather than badly made, quickly produced music videos.
• I am going to attempt to light the scenes within my music video well and
interestingly to the audience’s eye in order to appeal to their survey responses.

20. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the majority (35%) value shot types as a 5, being less important than lighting and
location
• What this says about my audience: This shows that my audience isn’t consciously bothered by the
shot types used within music videos (although I think subconsciously they will be affected by it and
just be unaware).
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I am going to create my product using a shot list that
will subconsciously effect my audience in such a way that they will not notice. I can do this using
the old editing technique known as “invisible editing”, used by editors during the “Golden Age” of
Hollywood (widely considered to be 1913-69)

21. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: Props are considered extremely important by audience,
rating it of higher importance than location, lighting and shot types
• This shows that my audience is motivated by plot points regarding props,
e.g. a phone, a key etc.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My music video will cater
to this audience by including props of importance within the narrative,
perhaps a phone being the most obvious choice

22. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: 10 and 9 being tied at 20% of the votes each
• The majority of my audience value costume fairly highly, even more so than
lighting, location and shot type, which may mean that a performance section of
the song is actually important to the viewer.
• The music video I plan on creating will appeal to this audience through the
costume and set design all fitting together and being relatable to the general age
range of the audience (which from this survey suggests that they would be 15-20
years old).

23. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the majority of voters on this survey said gender was of
upmost importance, with 25% of them choosing an importance rating of
10 (highest so far)
• This means that my audience may also value gender representation
extremely highly, wanting each gender to be represented equally
• How will your product appeal to this audience: To appeal to this audience,
I plan on utilising a female actress, despite using a male artist’s song

24. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: social class was voted a majority value of 5 by 35% of those
participating
• This shows that my audience are not particularly interested in how class is
presented within music videos, most likely due to how many rappers, for example,
“flex” their worth, but many other artists do not, and are thus more popular.
• I can make my product appear class fluid, not particularly revolving around any
class in particular, sticking to a narrative that can be related to regardless of social
class.

25. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: The audience are torn between the ratings 10 and 7 (25% of
respondents each)
• This suggests that sexuality and its representation is important to my audience and
that it should be equal, much like gender representation.
• I can include sexuality representation into my product by not making it
obvious who the protagonist is in a relationship with, e.g. using a gender
neutral name for the partner of the protagonist, not showing them on
camera etc.

26. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the majority vote was that age representation is a 5 (30%)
• This would suggest that age representation is not important to my
audience, comparatively to gender and sexuality, perhaps due to the
typical younger age of music video viewers.
• My product will not have to include a wide age range, and instead will
revolve around characters of a similar age to them.

27. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the small 15% majority prefer the grunge aesthetic to
any other listed
• It would appear that my audience likes urban, dark and dirty
locations and costume.
• I can appeal to this audience by shooting in locations that could be
described as “grunge”, e.g. alleyways, underpasses, city streets etc.

28. Secondary Audience Research
• Observation: the vast majority of the audience are fine with seeing
cigarettes, alcohol and reckless behaviour appearing in music videos
• This depicts my audience as being mature enough to handle more adult
content, showing that they are towards the older end of 15-20 years old
(18-20)
• To appeal to my own audience, I can add more adult themes into my
music video, possibly including violence or alcohol.

29. Primary Audience research
• Observation: The response to this survey is mainly from women (56.52%)
• This shows that, similar to the secondary research I collected, my audience is
mainly female, with male of course being 2nd, but with 39.13% of votes. The final
5% preferred not to say for their own personal reasons.
• I can target this audience with my product by casting a female protagonist to relate
to and focus the story around, contrasting against the male singer’s vocals,
creating an interesting dynamic.

30. Primary Audience research
• Observation: The largest age range is 18-24
• This data shows that my audience, again similar to the secondary research I
collected, is 18-24 years old. This would mean that more adult/mature themes will
be appropriate within the final product.
• I can appeal to this audience within my music video by refraining from using any
childish themes, instead focusing on things that 18-24 year olds have all
experienced at some point in their lives, or at least something they understand.

31. Primary Audience research
• Observation: Rock is the genre of choice for the majority of participants (20.5%),
with alternative being a close second (17.95%)
• This shows me that my audience will be partial to the song that I am creating my
music video for, “rock + roll” EDEN, if they have not already heard it, or of EDEN
before.
• The song itself is one of his most alternative rock-like instrumentals, already
directly appealing to this audience. It also helps me to create a music video with
the rock genre conventions in mind in order to hit this demographic in a way that
will interest them. I could also possibly include some sort of reference to other
rock and roll songs or legends.

32. Primary Audience research
• Observation: the majority (34.7%) of those who replied to my survey
answered this question with a comment about visuals being what makes a
music video special
• This would suggest that my audience is more concerned with
cinematography and the visual quality than any of the other intangibles
that come with music videos, such as star performances, originality etc.
• I can focus on making my cinematography the best it can be, now that I
know that it appeals to my audience the most. I can put more of my effort
into the visuals, through camera work and then the colour grade, than
other sections that my audience are less concerned by.
Comment
Answer
Categories
Visuals Feel/
Emotion/
Meaning
The
Song
Itself
Story Originality
/Unique
Star
Performance
Number of
Votes
16 6 4 9 5 5

33. Primary Audience research
• Observation: The majority (36.9%) of people who answered my
survey think that bad technical skills are what make a music video
bad
• This proves that my audience value visual quality and all that comes
with a good looking music video more so than things such as a bad
story. It also shows that they are more likely to notice errors within
the production and post-production stages while creating my
product.
• I can target this audience by putting a lot of effort into making the
music video visually appealing, cinematic and natural, rather than
overly exerting myself trying to make the story Oscar-worthy.
Comment
Answer
Categories
Bad
Technical
Skills
Unoriginal Unrelated
Content
Too much
added
footage
Bad
Story
Number of
Votes
17 12 7 4 5

34. Primary Audience research
• Observation: Cinematography is what the majority (47.8%) of respondents feel makes a
music video memorable
• This further solidifies my audience’s apparent love for the visuals within a music video,
showing that cinematography really is the most important section to get right during this
project of mine.
• As I have mentioned previously, I can target this audience by putting a large amount of my
overall effort into making the visuals of my music video the best I can possibly achieve. The
shots will need to be good in terms of technical quality (in focus, not too shaky etc.),
aesthetically pleasing (interesting composition in terms of rule of thirds, decent framing etc.)
and so on.

35. Primary Audience research
• Observation: 67.3% of people who answered this survey believe
that the song’s lyrics and the music video’s visuals have to be linked
in some way in order to make a “good” music video
• This shows that my audience prefer music videos that tonally fit the
song, as well as having it almost being a form of narration for the
story within the music video itself.
• I can interest this audience by writing a story based on the lyrics
written and sang by EDEN himself, fitting within the same tone.

36. Primary Audience research
• Observation: Most people (2/3 of all that answered this question) think that music
videos shouldn’t include a performance from the artist/s themselves
• This further shows that my audience does not particularly value star power (as
shown in the answers to Q4), and prefer to have a story play out with its own
characters, rather than centring around a performance.
• This suits me perfectly as I will not be able to contact and work with EDEN himself
due to the lack of budget for this project and distance that he would have to travel
in order to be a part of this product in particular. It also means that I can target this
audience by creating a visual story out of his lyrics, which is something my
audience would like, judging by the answers to my survey.

37. Primary Audience research
This question had no particular relevance to my
research other than to keep the audience
invested in the survey and also see if any
particular music videos pop up more than once.

38. Primary Audience research
• Observation: the slight majority have not heard of the artist, “EDEN”
• I am actually very surprised by how many people have heard of EDEN, I was
expecting a much bigger deficit than two. This shows me that almost half of my
audience will know and understand what EDEN and his music is about and will be
familiar with his style. It also tells me that over half of my audience have not heard
of him before, allowing me to explore his track with my own style and creativity
whilst introducing his music to more and more people.
• I can appeal to this audience by adapting some of the other EDEN music video’s
styles to fit my own, while adding my own spin on each shot, making it feel more
“me”. Additionally, I can explore the song with my own creativity in play without
offending anyone, or copying previous work.

39. Bibliography

40. Bibliography
1. Spencer Fox (2020) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on
13/02/2020)
2. Alice Leeman. (2020) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
14/02/2020)
3. EDEN. (2016). EDEN - drugs (official video). Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjZ75qI5BOk. Last accessed 2020.
4. Emma Weeks. (2016). Analysis of Music Video Survey. Available:
https://www.slideshare.net/EmmaWeeksMedia/analysis-of-music-video-
survey-pdf?qid=6cce67b7-a907-4619-bcb6-
cacb49c82a4b&v=&b=&from_search=1. Last accessed 2020.
5. IDLES. (2019). Mercedes Marxist. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W6zK9givao. Last accessed 2020.
6. LCD Soundsystem. (2018). oh baby. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gIhrPGyu6U. Last accessed 2020.
7. XXXTentacion. (2018). SAD!. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAeYPfrXwk4. Last accessed 2020.