Vox Pop Analysis

Vox Pop is short for 'Vox Populi', which is Latin for 'Voice of the people'. It is an interviewing technique used in broadcasting to show the views of the general public. It is a helpful research tool as it means you can get unprepared opinions of a range of people who differ in age, gender, class, occupation etc. We created one by questioning various students at our school to find out a number of views regarding music and promotional videos.
 
What is your favourite music video and why?

- One Direction: 'You and I' - Because of the transitions between the different band members and how the shots are organised

 

- Oasis: 'Wonderwall' - Because it does not stick to any typical conventions. The fact that it is in black and white means that it does not seem to age, so you can watch it again and again

 

- Sia: 'Chandelier' - Because of the dancing in the video

 

- Justin Timberlake: 'Mirrors' - Because of the symbolism of the mirrors

 

- 1975: 'Chocolate' - Because of the black and white filter used

Looking at these responses shows us a few different elements that people find effective in music promos. Interestingly, it was mentioned twice that a black and white filter makes some videos more watchable, one person saying that it makes it remain a good video for longer because you cannot tell as easily when the video was made. This idea encourages us to use filters, however not for the whole video. It could work well to use it only for certain parts- for example the slower bridge section- as it could emphasise more important lyrics of the song. If there is a black and white filter it may mean that for a moment, viewers would not be as focused on the events of the video but concentrate on the message of the lyrics. Someone also believed that the editing was important, which can lead us to think a lot about how well our transitions and organisation go with the song and if it runs smoothly. Symbolism was also mentioned, which assures us that our idea of the paint/ink symbolism will be quite dramatic and viewers will like it. Another person thought it was good to not make a typical video, which is good because we are aiming to make a unique and original video, so we know that this would be appealing to people. Another person mentioned dancing as a good thing to include, however we feel that the tone and pace of our chosen track would not suit a dance-based video.      

 
What is your favourite music genre?

- Rock/pop
 
- Pop/Indie
 
- Pop and Indie

The results of this question were useful because it told us that the genre of our track (Indie pop) is quite popular, especially among teenagers because this was the age range of people we interviewed at school. It is helpful because we know that our genre is appealing for this age range and we can tailor our video so it is appealing for them.


How/when did you last watch a music video/what music video?

- Last night on an iPhone

- On an iPad on YouTube - 'I see the light'

-  A David Guetta video

- Last night on YouTube

The responses to this question really show how popular and easily accessible music videos are. The fact that we interviewed a number of teenagers, and they had all seen a music video in only a day or two in advance of us interviewing them, shows that they are watched a great deal among young people. This reinforces the idea that we should make the video appealing to them and use conventions that they would enjoy.
 
What conventions do you like to see?

- The band performing because it gives you an insight into what they are like

- Seeing the band's personality. A combination of performance and narrative.

- Interesting camerawork, especially close-ups of the artist

- Memorability and weirdness, no performance

- An interesting element, like animation, to make it memorable

- Performance and storytelling

There were very contrasting responses to this question. It was said a few times that people enjoyed actually seeing the band or artist in the video, however it was also repeated that people like seeing more unique elements, making it memorable. Someone actually stated that they did not like seeing performance of the artist and would rather see something more strange. It will be a challenge for us to meet both of these ideas, however we could try to please both opinions effectively- we can include the convention of performance but make it more strange and memorable than normal by dressing the artist differently for example, or putting them in an odd location. Story and narrative were also mentioned, which means that we should try and show some of the story of the song. It would not have to be a continuing narrative, but it definitely would show parts of the song literally or even just give an overall atmosphere of what the song means, for example hinting at the singer's heartbreak. Animation was also mentioned, and we have actually considered using stop motion so it shows that it could help make the video memorable.