Advertising Poster

• The target audience for this text is 15-25 year olds, it is more targeted at men, having three of the four characters on the poster being men. The text is targeted towards people within the socio-economic demographic of C through to E.
• This text has many uses and gratifications, mainly the idea of escapism and entertainment, but it also has elements for personal identity and also integration/social interaction.
• A preferred reading would be taken by the majority of people within the target audience, whereas a negotiated reading may be taken by a female within the target audience. An oppositional reading is most likely to be taken by someone above the targeted age range, or within the A/B socio-economic demographic
• This text may appeal to the target audience because it is a comic-boolk action movie with the majority of the actors being the same age as the target range, this may appeal to the target audience as they can personally identify with the characters within the text
• The text may also appeal to another audience, people who view texts because of star appeal, this film has Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Mortez and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, all relatively well-known stars and also stars Nicholas Cage is who is much more well-known actor, this may make the text appeal to people who are fans of said stars.

VALS

• Innovator. These consumers are on the leading edge of change, have the highest incomes, and such high self-esteem and abundant resources that they can indulge in any or all self-orientations. They are located above the rectangle. Image is important to them as an expression of taste, independence, and character. Their consumer choices are directed toward the "finer things in life."
• Thinkers. These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by ideals. They are mature, responsible, well-educated professionals. Their leisure activities center on their homes, but they are well informed about what goes on in the world and are open to new ideas and social change. They have high incomes but are practical consumers and rational decision makers.
• Believers. These consumers are the low-resource group of those who are motivated by ideals. They are conservative and predictable consumers who favor local products and established brands. Their lives are centered on family, community, and the nation. They have modest incomes.
• Achievers. These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by achievement. They are successful work-oriented people who get their satisfaction from their jobs and families. They are politically conservative and respect authority and the status quo. They favor established products and services that show off their success to their peers.
• Strivers. These consumers are the low-resource group of those who are motivated by achievements. They have values very similar to achievers but have fewer economic, social, and psychological resources. Style is extremely important to them as they strive to emulate people they admire.
• Experiencers. These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are the youngest of all the segments, with a median age of 25. They have a lot of energy, which they pour into physical exercise and social activities. They are avid consumers, spending heavily on clothing, fast-foods, music, and other youthful favorites, with particular emphasis on new products and services.
• Makers. These consumers are the low-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are practical people who value self-sufficiency. They are focused on the familiar-family, work, and physical recreation-and have little interest in the broader world. As consumers, they appreciate practical and functional products.
• Survivors. These consumers have the lowest incomes. They have too few resources to be included in any consumer self-orientation and are thus located below the rectangle. They are the oldest of all the segments, with a median age of 61. Within their limited means, they tend to be brand-loyal consumers.

Negative Representation of Ethnicity

A lot of new stories involving young black men as the perpetrators of the crime clearly describe them as a black man. This may not seem problematic but when compared to a news story of a crime committed by a non black person, there is no racial description given. In the majority of these stories, the criminal has already been caught and jailed, so there is no need for such a description, it just furthers the negative representation of black people in the media.

Katy Perry Music Video Analysis

Katy Perry's 'Thinking of You' is a narrative based music video, presenting the lyrics within the video. The lyrics talk about a couple torn apart by war and the female lead trying to move on but not quite feeling right with her new partner. The video features a past and present insight into the woman's life, showing her new failed attempt at a relationship and the funeral of her ex boyfriend the soldier, this is coupled with flashbacks of the couple before the war, including them going on dates such as dancing and picnics.

At one point the video cuts to a panning shot of the female's new lover as the line 'I guess second best is all I will know' is sung, this clearly reflects the woman's feelings about her new relationship and that she has to settle for someone who will never truly replace her first love. Similar to this, when Katy sings 'I am thinking of you' the video cuts to a flashback clip of her and the soldier having fun, symbolising exactly who she is thinking of. The line 'and bust in the door' is sung as the female protagonist closes the door, this creates a direct link between the lyrics and the visuals. It also amplifies the tragic nature of the video as she is wishing for the soldier to return home, we re actually seeing her close the door to attend the same soldier's funeral.

There is a strong connection between the music and the visuals shown through the order and timing of the cuts, that work perfectly in time with the beat of the track. The cuts are smooth and run evenly, without becoming jumpy or unnatural in the slightest because they are guided by the beat of the song. There are a range of close-ups of Katy perry singing the song, this helps establish Katy as both the artist but as the female lead, separated from her lover by the war. This promotes Katy as a singer but also an actress, and fans love it when their favourite musician isn't just as musician. The close-ups also bring the audience closer to the artist, they also enable us to see the raw emotion in this song, which gives the music and visuals an even more coherent link.

Within the music video, the male gaze of the new lover is used a fair few times, this is to encourage the audience to indulge in similar behaviour. the character looks at Katy in a very sensual and predatory manner, this results in the sexualisation of the artist and makes her more appealing to the audience. The mise-en-scene, regarding clothes, backs this up in that it is very scant, aside form her funeral outfit, Katy is seen in either her underwear or very little clothes, this has probably been done to portray Katy as sexually desirable, which would promote her as an artist, especially to male viewers, but it also makes her seem a little elegant as although she is dressed scantily clad, she is still presented as a classy woman. Although, she is presented in very little clothes and the camera does take on a voyeuristic approach, the main focus is on Katy's eyes and lips rather than breasts, legs or bottom. This is probably due to the nature of the music video being very tragic and the over sexualisation of Katy would ruin this, so the filming technique and style creates an impression of elegance and attractiveness but certainly not promiscuity.


There are slight bits of footage featuring Katy and her new lover having sex, but they are short and modest, so as not to make it a highlight of the video, but rather presenting it as sad and emotive, particularly as it is evident that Katy is not truly interested. 'Thinking Of You' is primarily narrative based because the footage does follow a storyline; a soldier and his girlfriend torn apart by war, her attempt at replacing him but failing and also the revelation of his death in her preparing for his funeral, coupled with shots of their time together pre-war. However, the music is also partly performance based because it features Katy singing snippets of the song in character whilst also acting as the female lead in the video.

Research Findings (500 Words)

The research of my production consisted of a questionnaire on Survey Monkey and the textual analysis of some music videos. This has helped me with what I should be aiming for when making my music video. Following the release of my survey I collected thirty-five responses, most of these being female. This means I will have to be targeting my video slightly towards females. I found that my music video should be aimed at the 14-24 year old demographic and between three and five minutes this is because the majority of the people who answered my survey fell into this age category and would only watch a music video of a maximum of five minutes.

The majority of people who took my survey listened to rock the mot, so I will be incorporating this into my music video. The other responses included alternative, indie, metal and grunge, again all sub-divisions of rock. Therefore the track I shall be choosing for my music video will be a rock due to popular demand. The majority of people would like a storyline alongside the music as part of the music video which is understandable as a just music would be boring, I will have to try to create a short story that works with the music and the rest of the shots in my video. A narrative based music video shouldn’t be too hard to achieve and it would be a lot more enjoyable than one without any narrative in the slightest.

The music videos I analysed were very different from one another. The first being Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood, this was a very intricate music video, it didn’t really contain much narrative but more focused on the use of camera work to make the everyday things such as driving and sitting around more interesting. The best thing about the music video and what probably makes it a popular one was the editing used perfectly in time with the music. This will be something I will be trying to replicate, as I really liked the way it was executed in this video.

The second music video, What I’ve Done by Linkin Park, had elements of a plot, but it was more of a general plot stretched across the video, the whole video is about pollution and man’s relationship with nature. It is a very symbolic music video, containing very little exposition; this is designed for much more of an active audience. This could be because Linkin Park both wanted to get across their view on pollution but have done it in a subtle way because they know that only true fans will actually pay attention and interpret it correctly. These subtle signs, in my opinion, are an interesting concept used in music videos and one that again I will be trying to replicate.

Summarising my research I have decided my music video should be aimed at 14-24 year olds, the genre of music should be rock; my video should be between three and five minutes long and contain a little narrative. I also wish to use some editing in time with the music and possible include some subtle messages too.

Linkin Park Music Video Analysis

This music video is shot in the Californian desert. The idea that this video wants to portray through this song is the sins of humanity or what they define as a 'bad things' humans have done such as war, world hunger, stem cell research, terrorism, etc. Emphasis on life is shown in various parts of this video by using colors of life such as blue and green as shown right at the beginning of the video, with the grass reversing into the mud, while this aspect is reinforced at the end with the grass growing out of the mud itself. Elements of plot advancement or otherwise create a sense of motion is used through time scheduled movements such as the appearance of clouds over time, or in a pollution clip, the movement of cars.

A sense of slow motion is created after the instrumental segment after the second chorus by slowing down the movement of the band members while implementing the collapse of the World Trade Center. A small amount of ocean of life is used when Chester Bennington sings "and wash away..." Another interesting thing I noticed was how camera angles were used, the camera is almost always shot from underneath the band members to give them a sense of importance. The sun is always behind to create a washed out/shadow scene, possibly the way the band sees the world today in general.

The beginning with  the grass effects and time-movement scenes were nicely implemented, but things such as a binary opposition of world hunger and the fat individual chomping down a burger, show that this is very literal music video. The way how everything was literally put into the video to give an image of this and that is something that Linkin Park has not previously done; and in an artistic point of view something more symbolic would be better than this, but perhaps the band considered this and thought lets cuts to the metaphors and just show them the truth, delivering a much harder hitting message. All in all, Linkin Park have a good mix of performance and narrative within this music video, which is all that can be really asked of any music video.

The Neighbourhood Video Analysis

The start of the music video is of a blank screen with the letters THE NBHD, clearly meaning The Neighbourhood, this fades out and we are presented with the band sat in their house, before the title of the song is shown on screen there are various cuts that all happen at the same time as the drum beats. The first shot is that of the sky and palm trees whilst the car moves, this quickly cuts back to the original shot, cuts again to a vinyl record, back to the original shot and then to a close-up of a girl's face, not particularly in focus, this again cuts back to the original image, cuts to a shot of the band silhouetted against a city skyline, these simple and quick cuts create an enigma code, we gain more interest in the video and want to know what all these shots mean.

When the title of the song appears, we are given a shot of the band in a car, this is probably the longest shot of the video so far, this allows us to see who the band is and is also a shot that the video comes back to. the basic premise of the music video is that the band are traveling through the city, aiming to have a good time, it follows them however both at night and during the day, suggesting, their lives are pretty much a cycle and that everything do is a repeat of something they've done before. There is also a lot of shots of a particular women, whenever she is seen the lighting is very low-key, adding a sense of mystery to the women, perhaps a hint at why Jesse Rutherford is interested in this girl. Another interesting point is that the whole video is shot in black and white, which adds quite a gloomy feel to the whole thing, which makes sense as the song is about it being incredibly cold outside, this could also be why the every time the girl is seen, she is seen indoors.

We are also presented with The Neighbourhood's logo an upside down house, we first see it the right way round but then the whole shot is flipped upside down, probably a statement from the band meaning that they are going to reinvent the music industry or perhaps it is simply the band claiming that since their success their world has been turned upside down and they don't know what to make of it. The camera slowly zooms into the house as we see various shots similar to the ones seen before but of course instead being upside down, once the house takes up the majority of the frame, a quick cut and the video now cuts between upside down and normality causing even more of an enigma code, I interpreted this as it meaning the band really don't care, they're hear to have fun and make music if you can get down with this, you'll enjoy The Neighbourhood. At the end of the music video, we are presented with the opening shot of the band sat down in their house, as we zoom towards them, the screen fades to a white background with the logo present once more, this then fades to black as the video ends. This is simply the band making the best use of the end of the song which is simply instrumental, nothing needs to be seen here, show the logo, make a statement, be remembered, The Neighbourhood have got this covered.