Research

The Hoosiers: A sadness runs through him

This is the song I have decided to do for my FMP. My overall idea is to make a story about a man who is suicidal and goes to his friend for help. The friend pushes him away and the man ends up committing suicide and throughout the video it shows the mans friend regretting not helping him and showing flashbacks of them together. In the end, it shows him waking up and realising it was just a dream, and he wakes to the sound of his friend at the door like he was at the start and instead of turning him away, he lets him inside to help him.

The scenes of his friend in memories will be in yellow to show that it was a happy time, and when it flashes back to the present it will be in blue to show sadness and regret with the situation.

I will be analysing a few different videos to see how others have made them as well as getting inspiration and ideas for my own.

The first song I will be analysing is Carry On by the band Fun.




This video shows various different shots of the band singing, playing instruments, and walking through streets and buildings and eating and drinking various things. It also shows them at one of their own concerts performing on stage; the crowd is obviously loud and cheerful and the overall atmosphere in the room is very energetic and happy, which fits with the song as its full of energy and life. In some scenes, the band are performing round a piano whilst other people are around them singing along which gives off a very friendly vibe. The song is bringing people together of all genders, ethnicities, ages, etc.

For the first 50 seconds of the video, there is music playing that is similar to the song, but it's not the song itself. The video shows the band getting ready to go on stage as well as performing and getting themselves ready. It's in slow motion which could show the nerves of the band as people always think that time slows down when you're nervous. This shows that the band is down to earth and are just like regular people by getting nervous before a show, and makes the audience feel connected to them in a way. 

The song itself starts after the show they're performing at as they're leaving the venue, and shows very quick multiple scenes of the show they just did. They are then walking around the city, getting food and drinks and having a good time together, whilst the lead singer is occasionally lip singing to the song. Scenes of their show keep popping us as well as them just sitting in various places with the world just going on around them. This could show that although they are known to their fans, to the rest of the world they are just normal every day people who just blend in with everyone else around them and don't stand out from the crowd. It comes across that the band like being able to go out and do what they want without being followed by people constantly.

Overall, the video is about friendship, music and spreading joy to people through their music. It also shows 2 different sides of the band;the loud, energetic side when they perform, as well as the calm and friendly side when they're just walking around and having fun together.

The next video I will be analysing is Goodbye Mr A by The Hoosiers

This video is by The Hoosiers so will give me a better idea of the bands style and how I could go about making my own video. 

The start of the video show a record playing saying the band and songs name, then changes scene to what looks like an opening to an old 80s' style cartoon. The video itself is about a superhero whom the band has kidnapped because he was self centred and they wanted to replace him for the greater good. Throughout the video, they are seen making their own costumes and being called upon by people to help them. At one point, a phone rings and a sign above it says "Hoosier gonna call?" which is a clear reference from The Ghostbuster films ("Who ya gonna call?")by adding this into the video they're using pop culture to attract people to the video and to hint that the video is somehow related to the films. One similarity is that in the video, it looks like they are in an old abandoned building, just like the Ghostbusters were, and they too have a fireman's pole to slide down when a call comes through for them to go to.

The video shows that Mr A has gone missing; it is obviously clear to the audience where he is but you don't get a lot of context as to why The Hoosiers kidnapped him in the first place in the video itself. He is first seen tied up and hanging over a pit of smoking acid, and at the end is seen in a cannon that gets shot up into space. They obviously planned to kill him, but the final scene is of him in space opening his eyes, and then the video ends on that cliff-hanger, making the audience wonder what ever happens next, if anything.

This video has a clear narrative in place and is humorous and enjoyable to watch; overall it is an effective video that people will enjoy watching and shows that the band members are upbeat, friendly and like to joke around, whilst also producing music for their fans and creating content they know they'll like.



Both of these videos have been useful in creating my final idea as they have allowed me to see how a video should look and also gave me ideas of what to use in my own piece, such as using a variety of different camera angles to portray emotions and feelings in the characters. I think that The Hoosiers video is more helpful for me as the song I'm using is by them so it's good to see what things they have done as well as what I could potentially use for my own piece. 

Surveymonkey link

This survey was made to help me see what kind of things people like to see in music videos to help me get some idea of what to include in my own, as well as watching some of the videos they like to get an idea of what different people like and whether or not it depends on things like their age.

• How old are you?

This question was to see the most common age group that answered the questions. Out of the 14 that answered, 8 were under 18 and the rest were aged 18-24. This could show that the majority of people that watch music videos are under 25 years old, so this is what I will make my target audience to be as they're most likely to watch it out of any age group. My target audience will be 16-24 to ensure I'm appealing to as many people as possible.

• What was the most recent music video you watched? Did you enjoy it? Why?

This question was asked to see what was either popular at the moment or recently released so that I can try to keep my video modern and up to date with the time. I found that most people had watched ME! By Taylor Swift ft. Brendon Urie, which was released on the 25th April 2019, a few days before I made my survey. Many people enjoyed it's use of colour and enthusiasm, so I know I need to make the colours exciting/interesting for my audience to appreciate. People also seem to like how the bands/artists of the videos sometime incorporated their fans into it by, for example, using fan letters or clips from their live shows. People like it when bands think about their fans, so I will try to find a way of incorporation some Easter eggs in the video that only fans of The Hoosiers would probably understand and appreciate.

• Who is your favourite band/artist?

Although many people said that the most recent video they watched was by Taylor Swift, only 1 person said that she was their favourite artist. This tells me that people like to watch whatever is new and current in the music industry. Taylor Swift is obviously a huge artist as well, so people would watch it out of curiosity if nothing else, as well as the fact that she has a reputation for having interesting and enjoyable music videos. All the answers received were different which shows there is a huge range of music out there that people enjoy, even though people will still watch mainstream music videos out of curiosity.

• What is your favourite music video and why? 

These answers showed me that people really enjoy videos with a story behind them and that gives them something interesting and different to watch. People aren't really interested in videos that don't serve a purpose or add to the song in any way. People also seem to enjoy videos that have a deeper meaning to them, suggesting that my idea would work effectively for my target audience as it is completely story based which, as I said before, is very popular nowadays with my target audience.

• What do you think makes a music video interesting to watch? Why?

A lot of people said that they enjoy videos that serve a purpose; they like it to tell some sort of story and have a narrative rather than just someone singing etc. A lot of people also said how they like when it makes you feel a strong emotion afterwards, like happiness, as it leaves a lasting impact and makes the video feel more personal in a way. By leaving the audience feeling a certain emotion, the video has done what it was intended to do and is therefore a successful video.

• What would make you want to watch a music video?

For this answer I gave 5 options:

-It's made by an artist I like

-I like the song

-Both

-Neither

-Other (please specify)

These options have allowed me to see that people like to see songs that are by an artist they like and it's a song they like. This shows that people need to have at least some interest in either the song or band in order for them to watch the video otherwise, they probably won't watch it or have any interest in seeing it. I have chosen a band for my idea that isn't very commonly known, so hopefully is i make it interesting enough, it'll encourage people to want to watch it anyway.

• Do you like videos that relate to the song lyrics or something separate from what the lyrics are saying?

I gave 3 different options for this answer:

-Song related

-Different to lyrics

-Depends on the song (please explain why)

Most people said that they like videos that relate to the song, but some people said that it purely depends on the songs context and whether or not a narrative video is necessary. Majority of people do like narrative based videos though, so knowing this I know that I need to make my video with a strong, interesting narrative to keep people engaged and interested.

Target Audience-demographics and psycho-graphics:

Age:16-25

Gender:Male

Income:10-20

Ethnicity:White

Race:British

Occupation:Part time work

Interests:Music, films, nights out with friends, gaming, binging TV shows.

I think that my target audience would have pretty common interests and hobbies and would most likely be considerate, kind people due to the nature of my video, and would be mature enough to understand the importance of the theme and would cause them to think about themselves and how they treat others. I also think that the people watching would have a different taste in music to most as this band isn't very widely heard of, so they would have to be looking for the video in order to find it; it's not likely to pop up in their suggestions etc. 


Colour theory and use in films.

Colour in film is very important to set the tone and mood for the scene. There are many ways to use it and it is useful to help convey different emotions in a piece. A good example would be in the show "13 Reasons Why". The series is about a girl called Hannah Baker who commits suicide due to excessive bullying from her peers at school; she leaves behind 13 tapes to give to the people who are to blame for her death and the series uses flashbacks to show her story and tell the audience why she did what she did. The flashbacks all have a yellow tint to them, making them look happier, whereas the present scenes are blue and dull.  

In an interview with the production manager, she says how throughout  the show Hannah's clothes gradually get darker as more things start happening to her leading up to her suicide. Everything in the school is pretty much all blue to again, portray the sadness and grief that everyone is feeling about the situation. 

Colour theory can be used in many different ways; as I explained above, it can be used to convey emotion, but it can also be used to force the audience into focusing on something specific in the shot. This is called discordant colours; this is where something in the shot, such as a lamp or persons clothing, is a different colour scheme to everything else in the scene, thus forcing the audience to look at it, A popular example of this would be from the film Pleasantville.

The umbrella and the girls dress are both in colours, whilst the rest of the scene is in black and white which makes the audience look at her and see what she's doing. It tells the audience exactly what they need to be looking at as well as what the most important part of the scene is.