Focus group analysis

• For my focus group, I chose three teenagers that like rock music as I found from my questionnaire that this is the audience I should be targeting to. Therefore, by interviewing my target audience I get an insight into their expectations of a punk music video, giving me ideas of what I should include within it.

• I also showed them two videos which have helped me while developing ideas for the video in terms of the band members themselves and various videos they create.

1. What are your favourite rock music videos and why?

• Two stated that their favourite rock music video was Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day as they like the emotive narrative within the music video.

• Another said that they like the Paramore video Now due to the artistic use of colours that make good visuals.

• These videos differ in purpose, however are similar in that they manage to pull emotion from the audience in which they can relate to.

• Such as the Paramore video makes the audience feel empowered through it’s use of metaphors of overcoming challenges, while the Green Day video consists of a love story. This is shown through the narrative which has a focus upon the army, in order to portray a battle in which Billie Joe himself went through when he lost his father at the start of September. Being consequently about the loss of a loved one it is inevitable to touch the audience emotionally even if they cannot relate to it.

2. What are your expectations of a music video?

• To be unique through their use of imagery in shots, which helps the audience to discover more about the band through their creativity.

• Another of my interviewees said that they want the lyrics to match the visuals within the music video in order to help understand the storyline and make the imagery more effective to watch.

• The expectations of my audience informs me of what to include within my video, such as lyrics to match the visuals along with effective visuals that will represent the artist/band effectively.

3. What elements of rock music that you disagree with?

• “The way they dress” was one of the statements made, as she implies that she doesn’t like the lack of thought put into the outfits people in bands usually wear.

• From this I can infer that my audience finds it important to have a certain unique sense of style as stated later that Hayley Williams has, making her interesting.

• Another said they prefer rock music videos with less more of alternative sound such as pop punk which has less guitar solos.

• This suggests that teenagers prefer a more subtle version of punk in which is more upbeat.

4. Would you prefer to watch a rock music video with a narrative, performance or a mix of

both?• From this question they stated that they enjoyed

music videos without a story in, instead live performance are found to be more interesting as they let you discover more about the band.

• However, some did say they like story telling and narrative within a video as long as the plot isn’t boring.

• This shows me the importance of including both within my music video in order to please the audience so that if they don’t particularly enjoy narrative, they can watch the band perform instead.

5. Do you expect to see the band/artist of the song in the video?

• To this they simply answered that they do expect to see the band/artist within the video as they want to know more about the creator of the song to give them an insight to what they are like as people.

• Significant importance is therefore held by the band members themselves as they attract the audience to watch the video.

6. Do you believe the lyrics have to match the visuals within a music video?

• One person said that sometimes this is necessary as her favourite video which she mentioned was Waiting All Night by Rudimental. I looked into this video and found that there is no particular theme to this music video apart from a man who loses his leg yet overcomes this challenge.

• She likes this video as it emphasises realistic issues which this video portrays are able to overcome if you have determination. Also stating that the video matches the song in mood and therefore it works.

7. What emotions did you feel while listening to this song?

• After showing them the Paramore video Now, I asked them questions upon it.

• For this they answered that they felt “hyped” and empowered due to the way the song builds up, leaving the audience feeling positive.

• This tells me the importance of song choice in order to rightfully represent the metaphor I’m expressing.

8. How did it feel watching a music video without any performance in?

• “I liked how the band was still in the video, even though they went performing”

• “Through the video they showed their creative side”

• These comments tell me that it was better that they didn’t have a performance within the video as a performance wouldn’t of represented the story well, detracting from its message.

9. What was your favourite part of the music video?

• They mostly agreed that the use of colour was the most effective aspect of the video, though some did like the metaphor of love vs hate and negativity as it brings more to the song, the visuals supporting this metaphor throughout.

• Use of colour against a plain colour such as black or white is effective which I will be using in my video.

10. What emotions did you feel whilst watching this music video?

• After showing them the music video for Desolation Row I asked them questions.

• They stated that they enjoyed it as they were able to see what the band were really like live if they wanted to see them in concert.

• They enjoyed the fact that they got to see the realistic side of the band instead of a thought out and processed performance, making it more realistic.

11. How did it feel to watch a music video without a narrative in?

• “Boring as you can watch that live” this comment tells me that a narrative is necessary to hold my target audience’s attention.

• Another said that they would enjoy the video more if they knew the band better as if they did they would be excited because they would want to be in the crowd –making them want to see a live show.

• This suggests that live performances can be effective if the band has released popular music before so that their audience already knows them and will therefore find the video exciting as it shows what they are like at concerts.

12. What are your favourite aspects of this video?

• Katie stated that her favourite part of the music video was the song as when it built up the passion was shown by the band members and they performed.

• The importance of a passionate performance to match the lyrics is popular from my target audience as the genre of punk usually has passionate songs, so it’s better if the performance part of the video matches the songs mood.

13. Which music video did you prefer? – And why.

• All of my interviewees all agreed that the Paramore video for Now was the most effective as they enjoyed the song more and they felt the narrative was interesting due to the metaphor that was portrayed through a battle of colour.

• As the development of my video has taken many ideas from this particular colour in terms of visuals it’s helpful that my target audience also feel the same way.