When searching for our target audience for our music video looking for the artists inspirations is the first step. The reason for this is due to the fact that artists as well as directors in some cases tend to be narcissistic when creating their music/ music videos or films.Narcissism originated from the myth of Narcissus who was a man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, rejecting those around him and becoming deeply selfish he drowned when falling into the water unable to look away from himself.Furthermore, Narcissism is frequently made evident in music videos due to the many close ups of the singer which are shown throughout the music video. This leaves the audience feeling connected to the audience as they may aspire to be that singer and feel that they have an inspiration to follow. Moreover, music videos, films and literature are all work of an artists/authors/directors imagination, therefore each our narcissistic due to the author creating what they would want to see/read. This references to Goodwin's theory due to the fact that one point from his theory which he believes is shown in music videos is "There is frequent reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body" - This basically shows that a music video presents a narcissistic view of the artists due to some presenting many shots of the artists looking into the camera lens or looking into a mirror at themselves. For instance in Coldplay's video 'Violet Hill' the artist's facial features are the main focus as their is a magnifying glass which is used to zoom up to the singer's mouth. This first of all helps to sell the artist's image as well as focusing on the main point of the music video - the music.
It is therefore plausible to suggest that in order to find an artist's target audience it is important to find out about the artist themselves (their inspirations, image and genre). After contacting the artist of our music video 'Billy Lubach' who created 'Antiques' I found various inspirations of his as well as picturing an idea of the target audience to his music and our music video. We interviewed him in order to find out various artists that have inspired his own music. Some being, 'The Beach Boys' an American surf rock/rock band who were formed in the 60s, 'Beirut' another American band combining folk rock with world music which includes various styles of music from the world. An independent singer-songwriter who also came under the list of influential artists to our artist to our music video is 'Kenny Anderson' primarily known by his stage name 'King Creosote' who focuses on alternative rock which ranges to folk music as well. Last of all is the indie folk-pop duo 'Kings of Convenience' - "the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies" (source: Wikipedia)
When considering the idea of Narcissism in music videos it is plausible to suggest that our music video shows aspects of our own preoccupations and what we as an audience would like to see in a music video. For instance, when deciding to create an Alice in Wonderland style to our music video the idea was instantly appealing due to enjoying watching them myself and the nostalgia I've always felt when watching or being reminded of the classic fairy tales. It can therefore be argued that I have developed an idea for our music video based on what I would find appealing, for example fantasy stories have always been an interest of mine so watching a music video with that particular theme would enable me to connect with the artist as it would lead me to believe that I share the same interests as them.
Furthermore, due to many artists basing their work on themselves and us demonstrating this in our music video, our target market would be those of the same age group as us from the 16 - 20 age bracket. They would more than likely enjoy reading stories by Lewis Carroll as well as other fairy tales.
You are endeavouring to get your head around the concept of narcissism and voyeurism. I'd suggest that any authors' creations represent aspects of themselves because art is a work of an individual's imagination, thus film, literature, art, sculpture etc is by its nature narcissistic.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be useful would be if you could identify aspects of your music video which represent your preoccupations. Think about your possible interest in time shift, fairy tale, old films, fantasy or?
In your second paragraph you say.... This leaves the audience feeling connected to the audience as they may feel a sense of...
This is confusing, do you mean closeups connect the artist to the audience whilst also marketing their image?
Re your target audience, I suggest that most artists are talking to themselves, thus you are marketing your music video to a demographic very similar to yourself, that is 16-20 year old ethnically white aspiring females who enjoy writers like Lewis Carrol, artists such as Florence and the Machine or??? We can discuss this in class.
When we do the theory genre this can be discussed, but any western or thriller or other genre text is distinctive because it communicates the film director's ideology be it traditional, radical, subversive or>>>>