AOB4-Research report for music video

Research and my reasons for doing it

My research was to establish the forms/conventions of music videos to help me with creating one of my own for the band, Linkin Park. I needed to establish the usual things that you would see in a music video and in particular find out how Linkin Park usually make their videos. I carried out a survey to find ask people what they wanted/expected from a music video and collated the information in the form of pie charts and a brief written summary. I also carried out my own research by looking on the internet at other videos of a similar genre to note the conventions. I looked on the web for hints and tips on shooting a music video. e.g camera angles, lighting, special effects etc. I read through the lyrics of the song for which I am making the music video in order to establish the story that was being told and any hidden meanings e.g reading between the lines. This helped me to decide on the imagery and ideas for the content of my video. I created a mood board which helped me bring the important details together and presented my ideas to a focus group.

Findings from my research

I found that by looking at Linkin Park videos, that most of them have very dark and heavy themes to them. The screen is full of action and movement and dark colours are used. The band do perform in their videos but this is usually mixed with narrative and special effects. I found that this is typical of the genre and the artist. The videos are aimed at their target audience and would not appeal to the older viewer. The attitude of the band is very serious, strong and powerful and the imagery reflects this. Their dress can vary from very dark clothing to casual and everyday looking and this also depends on the individual video.

How my research affects my idea

My research has affected my idea for my music video in that I thought that I might try to portray the band in a slightly different light. The video is to be made for a track called 'Runaway' which gives you the feeling of someone wanting to run away from their troubled life. My interpretation of the lyrics was of a couple who are at odds with each other and so I tried to base the video in a everyday setting e.g. house, street, park. A mix of band performance and narrative would be used and this would follow the conventions of the band and a good majority of other music videos. The presentation I did to a focus group went very well and the comments I got were positive. They said that I had included a nice mix of narrative and performance and this is something that my final piece would include. Some members of the focus group thought that the story line was too confusing and difficult to follow. Perhaps if I were to make   this video I would not include so much detail making the story easier to follow.