question 4

1. From my research onto target audiences but also looking at my personal
opinion, I decided on a target audience quite easily. I ensured I would know
our target audience straight away and make it one of the main priorities’
when making key decisions in our music video. I established a target
audience of 16-25 year olds, mainly female as when conducting my
audience research, we found this was they category that was most attracted
to the pop/punk genre. They also have interests in instruments, style and
many other things which we had to include within my products to ensure it
would target this specific audience and illustrate the pop/punk genre well.
Despite this decision I made, obviously the band could be open to any
audience which is why I also ensured to make it as attracting and bold as
possible to encourage as much attention. It was highly important to keep
relating back to my target audience throughout my whole research and
through creating my media products. I think I successfully appealed to my
audience as I purposely included features within my products that would
appeal to them. For example, I made sure to make emphasis on the guitars
in my music video by adding various shots of them as my audience is
stereotypically known to be interested in these hobbies. This also relates to
Blumler and Katz theory of uses and gratifications as within my piece of
media, audiences can look to find themselves. The personal identity
category fits well regarding my music video as the audience could relate to
the characters involved in my music video for example as it’s a punk/pop
video, the viewer could relate to their sense of style, rebellious behaviour,
smashing things up and more.

2. They may aspire to be like our band in some respects as they could want to look
similar or act in a certain way that a band member would for example if they did have
a relationship problem they could take inspiration from the strong, not caring
mentality of the whole video. In particular the lead singer’s role within the music
video would be relatable to the audience as she commits most of the actions
throughout such as smashing the watermelon, ripping the clothes, spray painting and
more. In another sense, the entertainment category could also be seen regarding the
theory as the audience as it’s more personal to the individual. This type of behaviour
could be seen as unrealistic however, could be a sense of escapism for my audience
as they could potentially be diverted from there real life with the fun, playful and
engaging side of the music video. The music video is unique and the type of
behaviour shown most likely wouldn’t happen on an everyday basis, in which is why
it could be a form of escape for my audience as they are distracted by the
entertainment that is given and the video could be seen in a playful, comedic
manner. Furthermore, this gives more reasoning as to why our audience would
watch my video and would be attracted to the media products I created. In my
opinion, I think the audience I have chosen for my music video is correct due to the
research I carried out mixed with my own instinct. I believe the media I have created
would appeal to them in a positive way by the reasons I have explained previously. It
is hard to avoid every single viewer liking every aspect of the music video as
everyone is different, despite this, I think it was good to generalise my audience as
one to ensure I try to appeal to them in a broader aspect, rather than focusing on say
one particular age. I gave leeway as I wanted to create an audience group that
wasn’t to detailed but I also didn’t want it to varied as it would be hard to try and
appeal to everyone. The audience of a female orientated 16-25 year age group is
appropriate for the conventions I have used and the way I have portrayed my music
video.

3. The fact that the band falls into this category is an important factor as they are
in the same age group and are female, which is another sense of relatability. In
addition, as I fell into this market it was easier for me to understand and
suggest concepts that I thought would appeal to the target audience. However,
it was still vital that I carried out heavy amounts of research as despite being in
the audience group, I didn’t carry the same music taste of the pop/punk genre
therefore I wasn’t that much able to give input from my own regarding
portraying the genre. Whereas, the audience I picked would obviously be
interested in this music genre and be able to recognise it instantly by the
conventions which is why I had to ensure I made it appealing for them. In spite
of not knowing high amounts about the pop/punk genre, through carrying out
research it aided me so much to not only create my video but to make sure it
was right for the audience I had picked. It was also fun and interesting for me
to see more about the genre and I learned a lot myself about how it was
illustrated within the media. I think having a blank canvas on the genre
beforehand was actually beneficial as it gave me a clear goal to achieve and I
wasn’t put off by my own personal interests. It allowed me to purely focus on
the genre itself and most importantly targeting the audience. Overall, I would
hope and think the audience would respond positively to my media products as
I have put effort into making sure conventions would be met within my video. It
is also continuous throughout such as in my digipak and poster, and not all just
based upon my music video. I made it certain that each product I conducted
would appeal to my audience and relate back to the research I conducted in
the beginning.