Research Evaluation

Secondary Research:

I began my research by studying music video theorists, focusing primarily on Carol Vernallis and Andrew Goodwin. I researched using  extracts from the theorists' published works, and also finding basic summaries of the theories which other people created in the form of presentations on SlideShare and Prezi. When researching Andrew Goodwin, I focused on his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory", and his theories in this published work. Goodwin theorised how different genres of music video had their own genre characteristics. Following this, I looked into various music videos of the indie genre, as this was the genre of my chosen song, in order to understand the genre conventions. I noticed that a lot of the videos were either experimental or narrative-based, following a single protagonist, so I decided to create a video with a narrative in order to conform to genre characteristics. Goodwin also theorised about an established relationship between lyrics and visuals, stating that lyrics can either contradict or compliment the visuals; the base idea for my video was inspired by the title and lyrics "Always, I remember you", therefore I incorporated the visuals to connect with the lyrics. For this component I also took into account Vernallis' "The Kindest Cut", and how whatever is taking place within the frame reflects the lyrics and their meaning. This stage of research was beneficial for me as it helped me understand how to analyse music videos thoroughly. During this stage of research, I didn't use as much physical written resources as I would have liked, I relied mostly upon online resources. In the future, I will refer to more physical resources as they are less liable to be tampered with.

Analysis of Music Videos:

For the next stage of my research, I conducted an analysis of existing music videos for codes and conventions. This helped to inform my production as it gave me insight into the relationship between lyrics and visuals, I chose to analyse different types of videos, such as narrative and experimental, in order to gain an overall insight on what types of videos contain which codes and conventions. I also analysed a video which was the same genre of my chosen song, in order to understand the particular conventions of that type of music video.

Survey:

For my primary research, I initially created a survey/questionnaire on SurveyMonkey. This form of quantitative research allowed me to produce statistics from my results, informing and guiding my production. My survey was designed to give me an idea of what type of music videos people prefer, and the results would inform my planning and pre-production. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as many responses as I'd have hoped for, and therefore I was only working with a small group providing me with information. However, the survey results still informed me on what decisions to make. For example, the question: "Do you believe that the music video should connect with the song lyrics?" - with an 80% response of 'Yes'; informed me on how I should link the narrative I was creating with the lyrics of the video. If I were to conduct this research again, I would perhaps avoid multiple choice questions and allow for more free answers, this is because I feel the multiple choice format on some questions limits people's ability to give their individual responses and opinions.

Focus Group:

After collecting the results from my questionnaire, as a class we formed a focus group. The purpose of this was to present our initial ideas for our music videos, and get feedback regarding our creative choices. This was done in the fashion of each student presenting their brief ideas to the group in an informal discussion. This was an effective method as it allowed other students to provide suggestions as the presenter was talking, making the focus group an open discussion. The focus group also allowed for clear communication between each of the students, and allowed us to play off of each-others strengths. One issue with the focus group is that some students may have not been too confident with presenting their ideas, and therefore might not have contributed to the group or even got much out of the discussion. From this focus group I incorporated some ideas that were suggested; originally I was going to have the video's protagonist viewing a photo album and reminiscing about different times, but someone suggested that this may be difficult to create multiple situations within my video, and that instead I should focus on one photo - I took this into account and made a decision to take on the idea. This was beneficial for me as it made for easier filming, and I was able to create a video I was happy with. Another suggestion was that I apply effects of the parts of the video that were in the past, to make it more noticeable; this I also incorporated as I feel it highlighted the direction of the narrative and helps the audience to understand what is happening. Overall, I am very pleased from the outcome of the focus group, as I feel like the suggestions I have taken on board have helped me create a stronger video of a higher quality.