Focus group

Questions:
1) What kind of music videos do you enjoy?
2)What kind of clothing do you prefer in a music video?
3)What appeals to you in this music video (Fire Starter)?
4)Do you like a narrative or would you prefer a performance?
(All questions were asked after watching Fire Starter by Torre Florim)

This focus group that we did, was made up of people who are within our target audience age group, so asking directly the audience what they would like to see in a music video would prove successful in the construction as well as editing of our own music video. We established that the target audience prefers a video that reflects a certain meaning through the narrative and there has to be a clear link between the band to the video, but not enough to hide the meaning of the video and making it seem rushed. This means that as a group, me and Callum will have to make a video that has a strong narrative, which will show off a clear Todorovian style as that will not only link to the indie rock genre, but also will somewhat create a rapport with the audience as it will be them following our Proppian protagonist on a journey which will be immersive for viewers in the short period we have, without making it seem too rushed, by having small interludes which includes our artist/ band.

The style of the artist must link with the theme of the music video, with my video having an underlying motif of fire, the clothing of our male artist must have some sort of link to fire as this would link to Barthes semantic theory, due to the fact that the audience could link him to being the so called 'Fire starter'. This could be done, by including red clothing as it also must be a somewhat acceptable styling of clothing, so a red shirt or somewhat red undertones of the shirt, shoes or trousers would shows off a clear link through Barthes semantic theory that he is the fire starter. This doesn't link to Torre Florim's 'Fire Starter' as there is no clear semantic that shows off that he is the fire starter, just through Barthes enigma theory that the audience is left to suggest that it is him as the entire video surrounds him. We, as a group would not specifically reference that he is the Fire Starter it is just through the semiotics built from Barthes enigma and semantic theories that the audience will assume that it is him, our male protagonist/ anti-hero.

When it comes down to the actual video, it needs to be simple, but somewhat abstract to the point where the meaning of the text is ambiguous and open to interpretation, which can be linked to the meaning of what the indie rock genre is as well through Dyer's star theory, creates a personal link to the video/ artist which is important for gaining a fan base for our band/ artist. We would have to use the lighting to our advantage, due to the fact that the target audience agreed that it is selected purposefully to somewhat evoke a certain emotion through the denotations which can be figured out by the audience. I think that my video needs a narrative as it is "easier to connect with" which could show how the video needs to have to be enjoyable and through voyeurism we could create such enjoyment as the pleasure can come from other methods apart from the male gaze theory, as I decided that we would not objectify females, in order to keep the band in a positive light and through Dyer's star theory remain as role models for the younger audience. Indie Rock fans, may enjoy a more violent approach as seen through the 'Rock' part of the title, who stereo typically are fans of anarchistic views and styles, so through violence and or destruction (A fire) we could appeal to this aspect of the audience.