Music Video Questionaire Draft vs Final

Questionnaire for Music Video

I created a questionnaire as a research tool to gather data to determine what conventions and genre of the music video would best fit my chosen song as well as give me ideas and inspirations for the music video itself.

Draft Questionaire

What Age Group Are You In?

*Please circle your answer

15 and Below

18 to 16

19 to 21

22 to 30

30+

What is Your Gender?

*Please circle your answer

Male

Female

Other

What Genre of Music Videos Do You Prefer?

*Please circle your answer

Pop

Rock

Indie

Hip Hop

Country

Other (Please Specify)

What Makes a Music Video Standout to You?

*Please give us a detailed account of a music video please list it below and why it stood out to you.

Music Video:

Notes:

What Type of Music Video Do You Like the Best?

*Please circle your answer

Narrative, a story that follows some sort of progression

Conceptual/Experimental, using imagery and unorthodox imagery rather than having an easy to understand narrative.

Performance, when a band performs in the music video typically to an audience.

Sampling Method

I will be using a Simple Random Method (respondents are randomly selected from the desired population where everyone within the population has the same chance of being selected) for the questionnaire, this is because this method is the cheapest and easiest to achieve and since my budget is going to be small for this music video I think it would be best that my research/preparation are done quickly and cheaply in advance so I don't waste time during the production on planning. The viability of the sample is also significant due to its being selected completely at random meaning no bias from the subjects will make the data invalid.

Evaluation

After I have had my draft questionnaire looked at and examined by my peers I found flaws within it, despite it allowing me to gain data from the respondents about the genre of the music video they preferred and an age bracket that allowed me to see how particular age ratings of my audience would react (positively or negatively) to particular music video genres so I could then focus on the wants of my target demographic. However, I was unfocused on how to best improve and better the design of my music video. I should have included specific questions including video examples and the song itself to get a better idea of what my audience wants from the music video for this song.

Final Questionaire

1. What Age Group Are You In?

*Please circle your answer

15 or less

16 to 18

19 to 21

22 to 30

30+

Results:

The data I collected meant that 75% of my questionnaire responses were going to be from a middle-aged demographic. Meaning that I did not successfully secure a varied sample size from different age groups that would have given me a broader sample that could allow my data to target individuals across the age spectrum.

This also meant the recommendations given to me by my respondents would only increase engagement of their demographic including the use of intertextual references, etc.

2. Have You Heard of The Electronic Musician Duo Called I Monster and if so How Would You Describe their Brand?

*Please circle your answer below if yes please describe their brand in the space given

Yes

No

How Would You Describe Their Brand:

Results:

The majority of my sample had never heard of "I Monster" and therefore I only received a small amount of data from those familiar with their brand identity leading to my final product being based entirely separate from the artist.

However, one of the respondents that were familiar with the band described their other music videos as "heavily experimental" and  "dream-like" as they gave their music video for the band's song "Heaven" as an example. But overall from the responses, it seemed that the band did not focus heavily on creating their own star iconography in their videos. This means my video can be separated entirely from their band whether through narrative or experimental techniques that they have implemented in their other videos.

3. Describe the Emotion/Atmosphere in the Song "Lust For A Vampyr" by I Monster Evokes?

*Please listen to the video by clicking on the link below and then write a short sentence of how the music makes you feel and why

Answer:

Results:

The responses were mixed but the majority (90%) said that the music created an unsettling atmosphere near the beginning of the song and as it went into the chorus it changed into obsessive. This according to a few respondents was due to the dialogue "obsessing" over a vampire as they talked about the allure of their immortality. I could use this unsettling atmosphere my respondents felt near the beginning of the song to set up my narrative, possible having sinister creepy establishing shots of a graveyard, etc.

4. What Films/Film Genre Does the Song "Lust For A Vampyr" by I Monster Remind You Of?

*Please write your answers in the space below and if you want to explain your choice as well in the why section

Genre:

Film List:

Why?:

Results:

70% of my sample size thought the song reminded them of the horror genre. This means that my music video should take from horror troupes (low-key lighting, etc.), as my audience said the use of synth-like instrumental reminded them of John Carpenter. But the most worthy piece of data was the respondents that said this song reminded them of Nosferatu as it has inspired me to use the german expressionism style of that film in my music video.

I could possibly make my video feel like an old black and white silent film to match the aesthetic of the original.

5. What Makes a Music Video Standout to You?

*Please give us a detailed account of a music video, please list it below and why it stood out to you

Music Video:

Notes:

Results:

The respondents gave me a wide array of compelling music videos examples like Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" and many others, providing me with a vast amount of visual and narrative inspiration that I could implement into my own work. The majority of these videos were experimental rather than narrative-based meaning I should consider an experimental genre for my video to best engage my respondent sample.

6. What Type of Music Video Do You Like the Best?

*Please circle your answer

Narrative, a story that follows some sort of progression

Conceptual/Experimental, using imagery and unorthodox imagery rather than having an easy to understand narrative.

Performance, when a band performs in the music video typically to an audience.

Results:

This has made me realize that my respondents are more interested in experimental and performance-based music videos rather than ones that focus on narrative. So, in my music video, I will create a more experimental non-linear narrative style. 

Also, has made me consider using instrumental performance from musicians in my performance to increase the clear engagement with that style of the music video they have expressed interest in.

7. Are You More Interested in Music Videos with Political Beliefs of the Artist?

*Please circle your answer and explain why in the space below, can you think of examples and why they benefited or didn't benefit from the use of the political beliefs of the artist within a music video

Yes

No

Why?:

Results:

This indicates I shouldn't focus on political messaging within my music video.

One of my respondents stated in their reasons why was that "music videos should be focused on promoting the music not beliefs of the artist" most of my sample seemed annoyed by seeing politics in music videos as they believe it distracted from the video as a whole.

8. Which of These Music Videos do You Prefer?

*Please watch the linked videos below and circle a number on the scale below them on how effective it was at keeping your attention, 1 being not at all and 10 being the highest level of engagement possible and explain your answer in the space below the scale (if particular effects or styles made the video more engaging, etc.)

The Correspondents - Fear & Delight (Official Video)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Why:

Rihanna - Umbrella (Orange Version) (Official Music Video) ft. JAY-Z

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Why:

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen The Rain (Official)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Why:

Johnny Cash - Hurt (Official Music Video)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Why:

Results:

My audience once again provided evidence that I should focus on experimental style for my music video as the Fear and Delight video was the video my audience felt most engaged with despite lacking any narrative.

In their reasons why they said it was due to the interesting editing style and use of match editing.

So in my video, I should focus on creating a similar engaging effect in post-production.

9. What Do You Think Is The Primary Goal of a Music Video?

*Please circle your answer from the options below

To further the artists brand/political beliefs

To create a narrative for the song

To create imagery to match the lyrics

Other (please expand in the space below)

Results:

My respondents once again provided evidence that I should focus on creating engaging imagery rather than on star iconography or a linear narrative. However, a lot of the respondent used the other option to say that tone is the primary goal of the music video as it is able to enhance the emotions within the song with visual. In my production, I need to create a video that looks visually interesting but also is finally coherent with the music.

10. Why Do You Watch Music Videos?

*Please write your answer in the section below

Answer:

Results:

All the responses were different due to personal preference, however, it seemed the most common answer for why my respondents watched music videos was because they act as standalone entertainment with the song that provides an extra level of engagement with the visuals. When creating my own video I must also remember that it must hold its own as a standalone piece of media, that builds on the tone and lyrics the song represents.

Final Sample Size and Sampling Method

I created an online version of this questionnaire and shared it through email, through a sign-up sheet on social media, I had then selected 20 of the 30 who volunteered using the Simple Random Method by having each of them labelled as a number and having a computer software randomly pick which numbers were to take part in the questionnaire. I had to shorten my list of respondents due to the number of open questions in this questionnaire making the analysing process longer than if they were all closed/multiple choice.

Evaluation of my Final Questionaire

The questionnaire helped me to decide key aspects of my music video, for example, the answers to question 3 and 4 helped me establish the tone and visuals of my music video. With respondents talking about how the synth-style music in the song "Lust for a Vampyre" reminded them of 80's horror movie scores/soundtracks like John Carpenters Halloween (1978) and one of my respondents said the title of the song including "Vampyre" reminded them of the vampire film Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). This made me think of how I could use the lighting effects and cinematography style of old 1920's german expressionist films like the original Nosferatu (1922) to create a visually engaging music video. The questionnaire also inspired me on how to edit the music video with question 8 having my respondents rate the engagement of certain videos and my data provided evidence that they preferred the experimental imager and mirroring/tow shot effects used in the music video Fear & Delight.

However, my questionnaire could have been improved as due to my frequent use of open questions made the data collecting process unnecessarily long and gave me data that I could not calculate clearly to perfectly showcase what they did and didn't want in a music video, if I was going to do this questionnaire again I would have made a multiple-choice list of conventions that my respondents could have circled if they didn't or did enjoy them in music videos.

Overall my questionnaire gave me inspiration for how I wanted my music video to feel and look like as they listed many movies and likes of style in particular music videos that I showcased. I could have better constructed it, by making it more closed question-based allowing more easily calculated data. It also would have benefited from music video examples that better fit with the electronic style of the music due to "I Monster"  music style being similar to bands like Daft Punk, etc. At the end of the day, the questionnaire successfully allowed me to figure out what my sample would like to see in a music video of "Lust for a Vampyr" by I Monster and that was the goal.