My music video is based on a song by Eminem called space
bound; therefore is based on the Rap genre. It is mainly men who listen to Rap
songs and definitely Eminem songs, with most of Rap songs being explicit
content the age range varies from 16 – 40. Many rap artists come from similar
backgrounds with being brought up in difficult areas where drugs and other bad
subjects are used in regular circumstances and some artists base their songs on
this and how it has affected their lives, and therefore people like the artists
can relate to this and that’s why most of the audience are either white &
black British and also some people from other countries such as Africa or America.
Many people who listen to Rap artists like to follow the footsteps of the
artists they enjoy listening to and try to create their own music and use this
as a main hobby, there are also many stereotypes to suggest that people who
listen to rap music enjoy smoking drugs and going to areas to hang out with
their friends and listen to music together so they can all relax and relate to
the songs.
Audiences of the rap genre enjoy watching music videos and being
able to have the option to put themselves in the footsteps of the artist and
relate to what they are saying, if it’s about how they were brought up or how
they live life at this moment in time people listening at home can always
relate to the story of the video and change their views and impacts on life due
to the explanations that these videos give to the viewer. To find out this information
I asked some people who were my target audience and listen to the Rap genre on
a daily basis; what do they look for in rap music videos and how it made them
feel after watching some videos. This learnt me the information above and a
good understanding on why people watch music videos and the impact they can
have on some people and how they can be influenced by music videos which is the
use of hypodermic needle theory.
Although hypodermic needle theory applies on most rap music
videos as most of them tell a story on how they were brought up or how life was
hard for them and how they overcome the problems they had, I was unable to
apply this in my music video in terms of content, however with the song choice I
used it explains on how someone who Eminem loved hurt him and finds it hard to
move on and try to love someone else and explains throughout the song that he
wants to love her but doesn’t want to get hurt again, this allows people to be
influenced throughout the song since they can relate to the lyrics and also I have
used editing techniques throughout my music video to emphasize different words,
such as love and heart I have put red text and a beating effect as if a heart
is beating at the same time to show the viewer what the song is about and made
important words stand out. This theory helped me engage my audience because
when audiences are looking for a video to be influenced by I have used this
theory in the sound and editing of my video to make sure they can relate to the
video.
Another theorist that applies to the rap genre would be
Blumler and Katz which explains how audiences watch videos for entertainment
and to escape the real world, this is used a lot in rap music videos as some
artists use comedy to make the viewer laugh and enjoy the video. In my music
video I have used special effects in different stages such as when it says
impossible I have added an effect which brings the text up and looks like
something that shouldn’t happen so it links together and also when explosion is
used in the lyrics I have made the text explode away from the screen, this
helps the viewer become entertained as he can analyse the video and find out
what looks good and what he likes.
When I finished my music video I posted it onto YouTube to generate
feedback and find out what people thought of my video, people had posted
comments onto the video link saying how they could link with the lyrics to everyday life and how
the special effects I have used really suited the song choice and video. I was
expecting comments like this because I had put in the effects purposely to
entertain the user and made sure everything was linked together.
I believe it is very important for people to consider using
their audience as the main reason to add effects and base the lyrics on real
life events so the audience can relate to them and become influenced by them,
from this I based my whole production on my audience since I wouldn’t have
added an effect into the lyrics unless it was linked to something for the song
which the audience can relate to. For a music video to be successful it has to
interact with the audience and really base the video on past experiences which
will affect the artist himself and the audiences that will be watching the
video and this is why with every little effect and positioning of the lyrics to
keep up with the beat of the song and the important factors of the lyrics which
determine what the song is about I have made stand out so the viewer
understands what the song is telling him and therefore gives him the option to
relate towards the video.
