Audience Pre-Production Focus Group

Here, me and my group members held a focus group we consisted of playing our song and

Transcribed Lyrics/Analysing Lyrics

Yungen - Don't Take It Personal

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

They just see the final edit

They don't ever know behind the scenes

CJ is living a nightmare, Yungen is living a dream

All our fake smiles for years now are starting to wear off

Shit they don't got a clue to where i be

They say i'm paranoid, but you try being kidnapped as a kid

A gun put to your head and taken from where you live

I saw psychiatrist for months and people mess up how you think

I swear to God i ain't been the same since

Too young to understand but old enough to be scared

My dad took me to Jamaica until everything cleared

Comeback to a new house new school now everything so weird

Thinking back still leaves me in tears 

Fast forward some years

My mum fucked off to Jamaica

Left me home alone at thirteen that shit made me hate her

Probably because I used to love her so much

She was gone three months and barely kept in touch

Going through hell thinking life ain't fair

I felt like my sister was the only one there

No electric no gas, but who could I tell

because if i do i'll probably end up in care

So while you was out robbing man for fun

I was robbing because I had to

Everybody called me a bad yute
That took me out because they didn't have a clue

They judged me I just wish they knew

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I ain't been school in weeks
I was out on the streets
There weren't one single lesson teaching me how to eat
Has your house ever been so cold that you can't sleep
I was in the ends trying to make ends meet
yeah my mum comeback
but she was gone again before I knew it
It's sad, I just got used to it
But when she came back for good she kicked me out, yeah I've been through it
Only the Lord knows how I didn't lose it
They try to put me in a hostel in a ends that I got beef in
It's so peak that I ain't sleeping
I just wanna go home but it's real here and I ain't leaving
Tryna speak to God.. all I got was the ceiling
Hoping my Dad will come & save me but he ain't tried
Plus one of my closest friends just died
I felt like my whole world was crumbling before my eyes
there was times I didn't wanna be alive
But take this all away I wouldn't be who I am
Even though it wasn't part of the plan
Real shit that turn me from a boy to a man
I'm trynna sort out everything that I can
Tryna rebuild with my mum hoping that she's gonna change
Even though they say she's to blame
But for once in my life I don't need her, but I want her
I still love her I hope she still feels the same

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you..

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

I Don't Need You 

But I want you...

This song is about the artist himself how he's life really is and his stage name may look happy but really and truly he's a human just like us all and he has his own problems as well. We see this where he says: ''CJ is living is a nightmare, Yungen is living a dream' CJ is initials whilst Yungen is his stage name and  basically implies he goes through what people go through daily. Also he tried running away from the trouble and everything this is when he says: ''Too young to understand but old enough to be scared

My dad took me to Jamaica until everything cleared'' this shows the problems he was going through as a young kid and despite being so young he had to go through this. We also see that he has hatred for his mum because she always left him and believes the reason why he's had a bad child hood was because of her lack of presence it his shown when he says: ''My mum fucked off to Jamaica

Left me home alone at thirteen that shit made me hate her''. Despite the fact he mum has abandoned him he still loves and he says: ''Tryna rebuild with my mum hoping that she's gonna change

Even though they say she's to blame'' Here he shows he has a heart and because someone does bad to you doesn't necessary mean you do bad to them as well. This song may relate to most young boys who hardly had their parents around.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory

Stars as construction

Stars constructions is artists who have been moulded by record labels into being a different version of themselves. On the top left we denote Pharrell Williams throwing up gang signs and wearing generic conventions clothing of a 'gangster'. We denote the typical big rings and watches which conforms with the generic conventions of an R&B video. Also the video was shot in black and white signifying the seriousness and lack of love for the impression of a 'gang related' R&B video. In the next image we denote a change in Pharrell Williams where he sings instead of raps. We see the different matured dress sense in him with a shiny suit and people with guitars round him. This is a clear stars as constructions of Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory' with the clear juxtaposition of record labels bringing out a different version out of him but in a positive manner.


Stars as products: These are artists that fill the gap in the market.

Rita Ora is an artist who is signed by Jay-Z and is sold as a product and is a great example of a making money tool. Rita Ora fills in the gap in the market in the british industry of being a 'Rihanna' type like. She has the abilities of fitting into various of genres of the music industry for example creating the hybrid genre music Hip-pop and pop with Iggy Azalea 'Black Widow'. The fact she can fit into more than one music genre ensures sales of albums and songs as she reaches a wider target audience. In addition, where she is really made for making money is her merchandise where she has t-shirts, jumpers, hats etc. with her face on the products. This makes money because she is attractive to males and some females may also like the way she portrays herself. Also in her videos she conforms with Laura Mulvey's theory women are objectified and used for 'male gaze' with us denoting cleavage and short outfits showing exposure to her legs etc.

Stars as embodiments of ideologies and cultures: These are set of beliefs based on cultural values, economics and politics.

Katy Perry is a star because of the way she embodies the pop culture. Katy perry wears colourful attires and conforms with Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'Male Gaze' with clevage shown in her video 'Roar'. Also, her lyrics also connects with young females who may be in relationships when she says: 'I have a heart of a lion' subliminally implying her heart is too strong to be hurt. In addition, the background in her videos connotes with the idea of happiness through the blue bright sky, trees and birds humming in the background. Also, Katy Perry has the blatancy of being a pop culture artist through clear juxtaposition of other genres who only reach out to a certain target whilst the 'pop culture' tends to reach out to a range of people which she tends to do.

Stars as personalities: These are artists who have a connection with their target audience through other ways apart from music for example: interaction with social media, interviews, concerts etc.

Justin Bieber is an example of connecting with he's target audience on a personal level by not only his music videos but by his willingness to attend to as much fans possible at concerts and replying and following as much of his fans possible on Twitter (social media). I believe Justin Bieber is a success today because of how deeply he connects with his target audience. In the video 'Boyfriend' we denote him holding on to a girl through out which doesn't contradict the songs lyrics when he says: 'If I was your boyfriend I'd never let you go'. This connects to girls as in the modern day girls want that type of boy who wouldn't let them go and show them off like he does to the girl in his video. I believe action and lyrics matching wins over your target audience as your making it clear as possible who your target audience is and how you want them to feel when releasing a video. In addition, we see the personal level he connects with his target audience by taking a 'selfie' as you can see in the picture above with a 'young girl' who is clearly excited to take a picture with him. Also, he connects with his fans on twitter by conversing with them and making an effort to reply and follow them. Justin Bieber is inspirational as he's not in it for the fame and just worrying about himself but for him making music is meaningful and ensures he keeps fans happy with his humbleness shown after great music videos.

Representation Theory

Stuart Hall's reception theory is split up in to three parts which are dominant reading, negotiated reading and oppositional reading. Dominant reading is when the viewer accepts what has been shown in the video as its what they would expect. The video above by Beyonce 'Run The World' is a great example of accepting of what has been shown. We denote many girls wearing revealing clothes which makes sexualised towards males and conforms with Laura Mulvey male gaze theory women are objectified for men. We denote Beyonce wearing black clothing with a lot of flesh been shown connoting with the devil with tempting males in this sense. Negotiated reading is when  the viewer accepts it to an certain extent but in a way resists to point of how it reflects to their own experience and interest. Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball' is a great example of a young man being sexually content with the gaze of her being naked on a ball whereas he could also resist from it if he has a daughter knowing he wouldn't want that to be her. Oppositional reading is when the viewer totally against what is being viewed for example Lil Durk 'Gas & Mud' we denote scenes with drugs which may totally unacceptable to certain viewers as they believe it could influence the younger generation.

The Male Gaze Theory was first used by Laura Mulvey and she believes women's bodies are being used as sex objects for mens viewing pleasures. At 1:15 seconds we denote, an extreme close up of Jennifer Lopez bum which clearly conforms with Laura Mulvey's theory as she wears a swim suit which brings out her bum which is to catch the male attention. There is a positive message the female audience can take from this video is to be proud of what you got and show it off and most females nowadays are very insecure. From another point of view girls can be aspired by these two females sexually and high confidence.However, the negative connotations of the video are the insecurities of not having the sexualised bodies the two females have.

Voyeurism is watching something for your own pleasure. For example, a lot of the time in R&B videos we normally see a lot of women being objectified as objects for their body whereas in this music video by Trey Songz 'What's Best For You' we denote a birds-eye-view shot of Trey Songz topless with two females next to him watching him which shows voyeurism for the viewers as they could imagine being with the topless male in bed. In addition in 'Mirrors' by Justin Timberlake we denote at 6:39 seconds we denote a medium wide-shot of Justin Timberlake looking sophisticated with his blazer turtle neck and trouser with many mirrors around him meaning we see Justin Timberlake many times and this is done for female pleasure. Furthermore, we denote a close up in Nelly Gone Ft Kelly Rowland at 2:04 seconds how happy kelly rowland looks with Nelly on top with there topless which shows the pleasure men can also be used towards female which subverts with Laura Mulvey's theory.

John Burger's theory of Ways of seeing is when different audiences may have different ways of seeing the video. For example, Lil JoJo '3Hunna K' we denote at 0.39 seconds the character points the gun at the camera and a young hoodlum would find that amusing and accept what is being shown whereas a white middle-class male may feel intimidated and may see this as scary and unacceptable. In addition, in Nelly and Kelly Rowland 'Gone' video at 2:04 seconds we denote a close up of Kelly Rowland wearing clothes and Nelly on top of her topless and she is smiling showing her pleasure of sexualise of Nelly topless this shot subverts Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory.

Styles & Conventions of music videos

There are 6 main styles for music videos:

- Performance

- Narrative

- Interpretative 

- Conceptual

- Animation

- Surreal

This music video consists of two artists Ariana Grande & Iggy Azalea performing at Tango Wango at a live performance. The song they performed was called 'Problem'. This captures a live performance of Ariana Grande. This has conventions of a perfomance style video with the excitement shown in the crowds face with all the screaming. Also the fast upbeat tempo drives the music video along with everyone getting involved showing their energectic side. I believe these type of videos are made for people who don't experience the live experience and can get to experience through watching on the music video. In addition, the lyrics establish a sense of free of stress when they say: 'I got 99 problems, but you won't be one' I believe through visuals we get this idea because of the happiness in their faces and them dancing around showing the excitement that they'll not let a boy be a problem. The lyrics apply more to girls who are in relationships and shows they're independence of how proud they are that      your one less of a problem. Also exhibitionism has been shown through the use of medium wide-shots of blatant sexualised gaze of in control and inviting movement and attire from the artists. At 1:02 we denote the female artist sly bend her bum over three times in her short attire.

This video is made by Taylor swift and is a narrative video which tells a story. This has generic conventions of a narrative video with the clear shots of a beginning, middle and ending. Also the use of no dialogue suits the generic conventions with the lyrics basically telling the story. The narrative includes the theme of love and an extreme close up is shown with the female character showing her straight/happy face that the main artist in the dialogue Taylor Swift can see her kiss the boy she's in love with. At 3:37 seconds we denote a medium wide shot of the the boys girlfriend in shock and jealousy of the 'Taylor Swift and her boyfriend when she sees them kissing. This shot shows us the archetype character as its a character we would expect to be in these type of videos and the medium wide shot brings out her body posture and facial expressions which shows us the archetype character she is. At 3:17 seconds & 3:18 seconds we denote a clear juxtaposition of the two females dresses with the first girl wearing a red dress we connote the colour red as impurity and devil-like character in this scenario whilst the next shot is 'Taylor Swift' wearing a white dress which we connote the idea of the colour white with purity and calmness. Also a juxtaposition has been shown through subverting exhibitionism with females in apparent control of a sexualised gaze from males when 'Taylor Swift' is well covered up in her dress whilst the other girls dress is open-chested and gaps near her ribs which converts with exhibitionism.

This video is made by Bruno Mars and its a interpretative video which is where the lyrics matches the action/movement of what we denote in the music video. Firstly, I believe interpretative videos are done for viewers getting a clearer and better understanding to the lyrics as them acting out with the lyrics means the lyrics are meaningful so they're aim is to ensure the audience understands what is happening. At 0.34 seconds the artists says 'put my hands in my pants' and we denote with a medium wide shot of the actors and him literally put their hands in their pants. The lyrics in this sense matches with the movement of the characters which is an example of when its shown. Intertextuality is shown through the use of costumes with the remaining five characters have monkey heads on. This shows a clear target audience for people who may find animals amusing and in this situation you can imagine a real monkey dancing.

This is a music video by Ellie Goulding  and is a conceptual video because it is narrative based and it leaves you baffled which is the whole point as there is no start, finish or ending. This videos visuals were emotional as we denote at 2:53 seconds a close up of her in tears and her eyes closed this shows the pain she's in whatever she may be crying about showing the generic conventions of 'conceptual videos' being emotional. I believe the whole point conceptual videos is to keep you watching as you want to know what is happening next through the range of so many different things going on at the same time hoping at the end it will all make sense. The irony of it is to ensure your left baffled.

This is a music video made by Taylor Swift and is a animation video due to the computer generated images. This video is clearly relied on computer generated images through the use of the stickmen used through out the whole video. The benefit of using animations is it saves money and you can draw anything you like in any location you wish whereas if it wasn't animated you may have to pay for people star in the video and pay for the costumes the location.

This is a music video by Florence & The Machine called 'Cosmic Love' which is a surreal music video because of the unclear narrative message and there is an artistic side to the artist showing creativity through the range of outfits. At 0.51 seconds we denote a medium wide-shot in her all black attire which covers her whole body including her neck which subverts exhibitionism because she isn't sexually gazed due to her being covered up. We also the denote the patches in her clothing which could suggest the open love she still has for her lover. Also through the use of the lyrics we establish a feeling of mixed emotions of positivity and negativity. The first two choruses seems like she has unreturned love from him which impacts her negatively whereas when she says 'so I stayed in darkness with you' it seems like they have mutual feelings. We also denote a range of outfits and backgrounds which seems unclear to the viewers as at 2:28 seconds we see her in a white shirt with dimmed lighting compared to 2:33 seconds we see her in a bright lit up dress with a lot of lighting in the background.


In conclusion, I believe the benefits of all these videos for the artist ensures they are defined for who they are depending on the type of music they want to make and how they make it. It allows them to produce their natural talent; as well as their positives I believe one negative aspect of it is that institutions who have control over the artists change the originality of certain artists and their used more artificial than original. In addition, the benefits from the audience perspective is they are listening and watching a video which they relate to in a whatever way they do. This ensures the loyal audience supporting the artist and inviting more and more audiences to join and support the artist style of video.

Genre Theory

Steve Neale is a theorist who made 'Genre as a system theory' and believes the media content of a music video normally meets the expectations of an audience through the usual generic conventions they tend to have.

The music video I'll be talking about is made by Chico and is called 'Chico Time' which is a pop music video. I believe there are blatant examples of generic conventions. For example, the video consists of 'cute kids' dancing around and are very 'energetic' this suits the action in the video as it conforms with the generic conventions of the 'pop culture' as you would expect young kids dancing around as they have a lot of energy than the elderly who are unlikely to be dancing with so much energy. We see this at 0.43 seconds in the video which connotes with the theory with the audience expectations being met through generic conventions of the kids dancing 'energetically'. A medium wide shot was used to show this shot. I believe this was done to get everyone in the shot and not crop anyone out to show the generic convention of happiness of showing everyone. Also the main character 'Chico' in the video is the 'typical pop star' moving around a lot showing excitement with his constant smile on his face. I believe this suits the generic conventions because of the bright colours used for costumes and the lighting used. These two features are aspects of the 'pop culture'.

Steve Neal also made the 'repetition and difference' theory which is when a typical type of music video has the same features as they would normally do but with a twist in the end which is the 'difference'.

The music video I'll be talking about is made by two R&B artists R.Kelly & Usher. The music video is called 'Same Girl'. The video consists of the theme of love which seems to be in all or if not most R&B videos. This is the repetition here whereas the difference is in the plot where the twist occurs when the two main artists believe they were dating the same girl by them describing each others girl to each other and they were so similar. In addition, in the end they found out they went identical twins. Between 0.53-1.37 seconds we denote the two main artist conversing about the when they think they're dating the same girl which connotes with the expectance of the theme of love in R&B videos. At 4:33 seconds we denote a two shot of the two main artists finding out the initial 'same girl' they thought that was the 'same girl' are twins. The use of the two shot normally shows the relationship of a male and female  depending how far apart or close they are to each other in this case the use has been subverted through the shot being used to show the two main artists in shock. I believe the purpose of this was to show a clear mutual feeling they're both feeling at the moment.

Year 12 Skills Development

How creative were you last year?
Last year I believe I was very effective in my creativity with the work I produced. Initially we started off the year with a prelinimary task where I didn't have any skills or the iniative to input my own insights of media techniques. For the first task we made  a short story that we filmed in groups of five. Our teacher allowed us to go out of our own way and record elsewhere. When we came back we had not produce the sufficient quality of a year 12 media student. I didn't use various of camera angles and shots and I moved around a lot without using the tripod. As we started to get introduced to the main part of our course we learned many media techniques which I used in my final product. In my final product I used various of shots, which included close ups, extreme close ups etc. these two shots signified the fear in the characters face when the were about to be attacked in our thriller scene. Also I used silence for about three seconds to build up suspense to the loud bang that came out of nowhere to shock the audience. Also we used thriller conventions like creaking doors and child whispers. This was done to conform thriller genre and was done successfully. Also characters were dressed up in black to create an atmosphere of fear and evil and the use of dark colours and lighting showed my creativity as the aim was to conform the thriller conventions.

What digital technology did you use last year?
The digital technology I used last year concluded of: mobile phones, digital camera and final cut pro. Our mobile phones were used as evidence of doing work out of lessons to ensure we were independent, we also took pictures that we intended to include in our film. The digital camera was our main digital technology we used as if we didn't then we wouldn't be able to make a 'quality' footage. Lastly, final cut pro was the last digital technology used which was the finishing touch with editing the footage we filmed with our digital cameras.

What research and planning did you do last year in order to be successful?
Last year I did 12 pieces of work of research and 14 pieces of work planning. The three main researches I done for my thriller film was exploring the concept of genre, codes and conventions of a thriller film and Alfred Hitchcock. I believe exploring the concept of genre made me successful because  searching what genres there are and what they contain was essential to know what my thriller is about and know what to include in them; It will also make me more certain and sure about what I'm doing which is vital because if I don't know what I'm doing I could produce less than I could have if I do know. Researching codes and conventions of a thriller film was the route of the success as knowing what is in a thriller film helped me include what I included like the dim lighting, candles and various of camera shots and angles. Lastly, Alfred Hitchcock was another important research as he is the director who started thriller films and is the expert of thriller codes and conventions. He is known for his famous films he has created: Psycho, The Wrong Man, The Murder, I Confess etc. The three main planning work we done was the character profile, equipment list and risk assessment. The character profile was essential because it helps us know a brief description about the character and idea of how they're likely to act. I believe knowing the equipment is essential because if we don't go over what equipment we need it could delay us from completing our final product in time. I researched the thriller genre on the internet where I used youtube to search up various types of thriller films where I got an input of every video I viewed and aspects of them I implemented into my own final production. I also created a survey which I handed over the many of my peers and adults as my target audience was aimed at 18 year olds and above as what I implemented to my final piece would be inappropriate for people underage. The feedback from the survey helped me out a lot as  I was able to find out that many people dislike predictable scary thriller movies which I was able to act on but doing the unexpected to suit the audience needs and wants. Lastly, the risk assessment was essential because it helps us know what we need to prevent before it happens as we need to keep the equipments and most importantly the actors safe.

What post-production technology did you use last year?
The post-production technology we used last year was Final Cut Pro. At the beginning of the year I didn't know anything to do with editing and everything on FCP was new to me. As the year went by I learnt know how to cut footage and put them elsewhere. Also I learnt to mute the sound of the footage that may have no importance of to our thriller film. In addition, I learnt to input different filters and sounds that wasn't initially from the footage. In conclusion, at the end of the year I believe I learnt using the main bits of FCP and to improve I would suggest I explore what certain buttons do on FCP.

What conventions did you apply to your coursework?
I used many thriller conventions last year. The three main are: close-ups, heavy brass and gaussian blur. Close-ups are used often in thriller films to create a sense of intimacy between the character and characters. This shot is normally used when a character is about to be attacked. This helps the audience to engage and empathize with the victim’s sense of fear. Thriller films tend to have a heavy brass, which helps to connote the sense of danger. This usually helps to give the audience a sense of danger we would be expecting, due to the heavy brass. I was able to include gaussian blur which is an edit on final cut pro and was effective because it creates a sight of wondering whats happening and creates tension as the audience will be waiting and wondering what is being blurred.