Target Audience (25-40 year old)
When researching the age range for our target audience, I found out that this generation is a lot different from previous generations so what they like is very much different. Most of the people within this age range are millennials (people born between 1981-1996) they're completely different to Baby Boomers. For this research I needed to figure out how my target audience lives and what's their interest.
Depending on your age, you'd get paid differently to someone who's either older or who's had more experience. The average income of someone who is between the ages 22-29 (obviously 22 isn't part of the target audience age) gets £441-£448. While someone between the ages 30-39 would get £558-£613, a big difference.
Though there is still a difference between how much a woman and a man would get paid, as a male aged 22-29 years old would get £477.9 while a female between 22-29 would get £477.8, not a huge difference unlike a male ages 30-39 who'd get an average of £613.3 and a female aged 30-39 would get £557.5, surprising how women between the ages 30-39 in the UK could earn less than a man that maybe is doing a similar job. |
As the target audience are mostly millennials, typically a millennial prioritise family over work, which doesn't mean the baby boomers didn't (the generation before) it simply means that a Baby Boomer would work a lot more to earn money so they'd be able to afford to look after their children, while a Millennial would take time off from work to spend a lot more time with family.
They're a lot more active, going out a lot more walks, exercising to just keep occupied and healthy. They tend to go out more, because they weren't really brought up with phones they'd still go out and be very sociable. Though they like to online shop a lot more as it can be easier (especially for food) when you have a family to get everything delivered to your door.
Overall the stereotypical 25-40 year enjoys watching documentaries, reading books, watching sports which I personally believe football and F1 racing is very popular within that age group , listening to Radio 2 as the humour and music played is something they prefer rather than Capital.
Facebook is a very popular social network used by the majority of 25-40 year old, there are 58.5 million people born between 1981-1996 (Millennial) using Facebook and Instagram ranks second with 43.3 million users.
They're a lot more active, going out a lot more walks, exercising to just keep occupied and healthy. They tend to go out more, because they weren't really brought up with phones they'd still go out and be very sociable. Though they like to online shop a lot more as it can be easier (especially for food) when you have a family to get everything delivered to your door.
Overall the stereotypical 25-40 year enjoys watching documentaries, reading books, watching sports which I personally believe football and F1 racing is very popular within that age group , listening to Radio 2 as the humour and music played is something they prefer rather than Capital.
Facebook is a very popular social network used by the majority of 25-40 year old, there are 58.5 million people born between 1981-1996 (Millennial) using Facebook and Instagram ranks second with 43.3 million users.
A lot of the people between the ages 25-40 have gone to University, passing their GCSE and A-Levels, while generations before them usually didn't go to University because of the cost or had to finish school quite early on to get a job. This is why the career choices a lot more varied as a lot more people go and study more.
Nowadays people are creating their own businesses, independent shops, cafes, websites, etc. More people are working within healthcare, there a lot more nurses around. |
From the secondary research I have found that 25-40 year old typically like:
-Family time over work
-Likes to watch documentaries
-Loves to drink alcohol (wine, beer, etc)
-Very active and sporty
-Facebook is the most popular app
-Lot more teachers, nurses and entrepreneurs
-Reading books
-More have gone to University
-Online shopping (especially food shop)
-Listens to Radio 2
-Family time over work
-Likes to watch documentaries
-Loves to drink alcohol (wine, beer, etc)
-Very active and sporty
-Facebook is the most popular app
-Lot more teachers, nurses and entrepreneurs
-Reading books
-More have gone to University
-Online shopping (especially food shop)
-Listens to Radio 2
Harvard Referencing:
Unknown . (2018). What Salary Should You Be Earning At Your Age?. Available: https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/reports-and-research/average-uk-salary/. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019.
eMarketer . (2018). Teens aren't using Facebook as much as millennials and Gen Xers — here's the social platform each generation uses the most. Available: https://www.businessinsider.com/top-social-media-platform-by-age-group-2018-8?r=US&IR=T. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019.
Hannah Baker. (2019). What Salary Should You Be Earning At Your Age?. Available: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/business/what-salary-should-you-earning-2090203. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019
Unknown . (2018). What Salary Should You Be Earning At Your Age?. Available: https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/reports-and-research/average-uk-salary/. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019.
eMarketer . (2018). Teens aren't using Facebook as much as millennials and Gen Xers — here's the social platform each generation uses the most. Available: https://www.businessinsider.com/top-social-media-platform-by-age-group-2018-8?r=US&IR=T. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019.
Hannah Baker. (2019). What Salary Should You Be Earning At Your Age?. Available: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/business/what-salary-should-you-earning-2090203. Last accessed 16th Sept 2019
Focus Group
Name: Sarah Wilson
Age: 39 Gender: Female |
Name: Adam Jones
Age: 32 Gender: Male |
Name: George Bull
Age: 31 Gender: Male |
This is the email confirmation for our focus group, where we asked Sarah Wilson, Adam Jones and George Bull if they can film at 10:50 am on Wednesday 18th September (2019), we've also requested to hire out the studio so it's a quieter place to record.
Focus Group Questions:
What is your occupation?
Did you go to University?
What do you do in your free time?
What do you value in life?
What do you like about the ideas?
What improvements need to be made?
What could we add to make it better suited to the target audience?
What is your occupation?
Did you go to University?
What do you do in your free time?
What do you value in life?
What do you like about the ideas?
What improvements need to be made?
What could we add to make it better suited to the target audience?
What I found out from our focus group we did was that everyone in the group was a teacher and they all went to University, they were all within our target audience age range. We decided to ask a lot of personal questions before asking questions about our ideas so we can figure out what our target audience enjoy and enjoy doing.
I asked about what everyone likes to do in their free time, just like the information I got for the target audience secondary research the majority of things were said within the focus group, which was that they all enjoyed reading, Adam did mentioned he liked playing instruments especially the guitar, everyone said they either liked watching sports or even played sports (such as football). Sarah is the only person who has two children as she enjoys spending her free time with them.
A deep but important question we asked them was what they valued in life, of course they all said family (Sarah once again mentioned her children), family doesn't necessarily mean people who you are related too as it can mean friends (as they're also all friends who work together making work life a lot more enjoyable). They value free time but they love to experience new things, Adam and George did mention that he doesn't have to value something that you could hold (for example) but something you could experience most likely within a group so you can have that memory to remember.
Once we explained our two ideas, we wanted to get their input, whether it was an improvement or something they really liked. For the Short Film, the idea of someone caring so much about an issue that is very recent is important, as their generation value society a lot more, they care about others and are always wondering about the future (especially what will happen to younger generations). They like the idea of having someone who has a belief or passion for something (whether it's a career goal or solving an issue, which falls within being an activist) as it's someone who wants to help prevent a current issue that is going on at the moment.
For the music video, it was recommenced that we watch 'American Psycho' as it has the same sort of elements we want within our production, that being having a dark concept but with a brighter 'world' (meaning a lot more colour). Adam said he liked the idea of taking a short film narrative and making it into a music video instead, where Sarah and George proceed to talk about how they love to watch things that really make you think adding a bit of crime drama to it, like the ones on ITV and BBC. They mentioned they're not into gore like the younger generation but do enjoy watching something they can really think about. The song also used isn't the typical pumping beat, but a lot of songs that were around when they were growing up were a lot about the narrative, exactly the sort of idea we want not really wanting to just place random scenes together but we want to create a story to catch our audience's attention.
I asked about what everyone likes to do in their free time, just like the information I got for the target audience secondary research the majority of things were said within the focus group, which was that they all enjoyed reading, Adam did mentioned he liked playing instruments especially the guitar, everyone said they either liked watching sports or even played sports (such as football). Sarah is the only person who has two children as she enjoys spending her free time with them.
A deep but important question we asked them was what they valued in life, of course they all said family (Sarah once again mentioned her children), family doesn't necessarily mean people who you are related too as it can mean friends (as they're also all friends who work together making work life a lot more enjoyable). They value free time but they love to experience new things, Adam and George did mention that he doesn't have to value something that you could hold (for example) but something you could experience most likely within a group so you can have that memory to remember.
Once we explained our two ideas, we wanted to get their input, whether it was an improvement or something they really liked. For the Short Film, the idea of someone caring so much about an issue that is very recent is important, as their generation value society a lot more, they care about others and are always wondering about the future (especially what will happen to younger generations). They like the idea of having someone who has a belief or passion for something (whether it's a career goal or solving an issue, which falls within being an activist) as it's someone who wants to help prevent a current issue that is going on at the moment.
For the music video, it was recommenced that we watch 'American Psycho' as it has the same sort of elements we want within our production, that being having a dark concept but with a brighter 'world' (meaning a lot more colour). Adam said he liked the idea of taking a short film narrative and making it into a music video instead, where Sarah and George proceed to talk about how they love to watch things that really make you think adding a bit of crime drama to it, like the ones on ITV and BBC. They mentioned they're not into gore like the younger generation but do enjoy watching something they can really think about. The song also used isn't the typical pumping beat, but a lot of songs that were around when they were growing up were a lot about the narrative, exactly the sort of idea we want not really wanting to just place random scenes together but we want to create a story to catch our audience's attention.
Survey
We sent out a survey to a vary of people but mostly to our target audience's age (25-40) where we sent three examples of short films and music videos that had elements we want to use within our own productions. Then we asked questions relating to the videos and what did people like and what could we add for our own productions. Then we added our ideas to the survey so they could tell us what to improve and what they liked.
Short Film Survey
The majority of people who took our survey for the short film were 40+ and female, 40+ isn't really our age range but since we sent it out to a vary of people we were expecting people younger or older than the target audience age. Though we did get quite a lot of 25-38 answering (around 25%) which is very important to us as their opinions matter a lot to us and only around 9% of 35-40 year olds answered . 12 people answered our survey, sadly we were aiming for 30 but after waiting a couple of days for more responses, this was the highest number we could get.
In this question we asked about what scenes did people like in either all three of the short films or just one. A lot of people really liked 'Alison' especially the courtroom scene as they found it very dramatic, and the build up to her getting arrested which was full of drama on one side of the story while the other was very calm, it made someone think about how scary and dark it must have been for Alison. 'Ordinary Life' was another popular one as it had a very strong message and actually made people think a lot especially about how things aren't always how they seem, as they clearly used a normal house with a normal family but the outside is very much different as it's dried out from Global Warming, showing the extreme effect it can have on people and the places around us.
|
|
The first question we asked was 'What camera angles worked well within the short films', close-ups which would make a scene more dramatic and also gets people's emotions to set the mood of the scene, close-ups were also used in 'Ordinary life' to have the main focus on the objects (which is the electronic devices spreader around the house) to show the importance. People also liked how the camera had a 'point of view' as if you're the character experiencing what they're going through, as someone once again mentioned Alison in the courtroom, making them feel as if they're in trial. The use of light on the policeman's face, to show facial expression and to show serious as he is surrounded by darkness but another close-up of the two men, especially with the teardrop tattoo (which I think has something to do with murder). A lot of wide shots, to capture everything in one scene, getting all kinds of reactions and objects (as well as settings). The use of low angles, as it can someone who's quite powerful whilst a high angle can show looking down on someone making them powerless.
The second question was 'What editing techniques did you like from the short films?' someone mentioned that the music was fitting but that doesn't really tell much about techniques, more that the music fitted well with the genre. Keeping it simple, by not having so many effects and only have small transitions made it easier for people to watch as they could understand the narrative more.
The second question was 'What editing techniques did you like from the short films?' someone mentioned that the music was fitting but that doesn't really tell much about techniques, more that the music fitted well with the genre. Keeping it simple, by not having so many effects and only have small transitions made it easier for people to watch as they could understand the narrative more.
Drama for 'What genre would you like a short film to be?' was the most popular with over 40% voted for, and thriller coming second with around 35%, luckily our idea will be a political drama and our music video will be a thriller, meaning that these genre are quite popular and hopefully our target audience will enjoy them a lot more as that's the two they voted on the most. For the second question, having a linear narrative meant that everything will be in order which is a good idea as nothing will get too confusing and hopefully wouldn't be at such a fast pace. And having a non-fiction narrative means it can be based on a true event, as our idea is loosely based on Greta Thunberg.
We asked about what short films how people watched and enjoyed. A lot of people said Pixar/Disney shorts which are quite positive and family friendly, I do myself like those shorts but obviously we want to make this a negative to positive short film but I think if we watched some Pixar shorts then maybe we could get inspiration for the positive end and bringing people together. Someone said 'Black Mirror' obviously it's not a sort film but throughout it shows how life could be like and how we could ruin the future, it can be very dark at times and I think we should take notes so we can maybe show how life could be like if we're not careful. I'm happy someone said a short film based on true stories, obviously our idea isn't a true story but it is inspired by Greta, so it has some real life stories but also has our own twist.
Then the final question was when we explained our idea and then asked what they liked about it and what would they change. A lot of positive answers, someone said that thy liked how it highlights that there will always be people with the same political minds as you. And the fact that the character is inspired by Greta rather than the film be about Greta's story, it has our own personal twist. They like how the girl will be putting efforts in her views and that you don't always succeed first time but she keeps trying anyway. And that we will be using b-roll of problems around the world as an introduction to get into it all. Someone says there need to be more tense so it motivates her more to fight on as someone also said 'I don't find it interesting or engaging' so I think we need to think harder about what could cause her to work harder for what she believes is right. They liked how it's based on current issues and someone even gave us advice by instead of her taking the train or bus around, she should ride a bike as it's a lot better for the environment and a lot more active.
Music Video Survey
More 25-34 year olds completed this survey but still not enough 35-40 year olds did and I need to figure out how to get future surveys out to people within that age range. And once again around 65% were female who answered our survey with a low amount of males answering, meaning the majority responses will be from a lot more woman between the ages 25-34. And more people answered this survey than the short film (short film being 12 and the music video being 14).
|
|
For the first question we asked 'What elements did you like the most from the example?' a lot of people mentioned that they liked how colourful the music videos were, that a lot of lighting were used within the dark concept and locations, this included street lights, mostly used in the music video 'River' by Tula. But also 'Heartbreak' as the happy scenes were bright and the party scenes were dark, personally I find that cliche because using bright lighting to make a scene seem happy rather than getting the audience to question the scene isn't really what I personal would like. Though someone did mentioned that having bright lights doesn't always have to mean a scene is happy and positive. Having the street lights made the music video somewhat aesthetically pleasing and works well on the dark background.
The second question we asked was 'What editing techniques worked well in these videos?' once again colour (lights) was brought up and that it worked well with the dark scenes but also the scenes transitioned smoothly as it wasn't roughly edited. They liked the non-linear narrative as the scene went back and forth in 'Heartbreak' from happy to sad. And how the simple transition of having a blacked out screen which colour was then introduced was so simple yet so effective as it wasn't overly complicated and just ran smoothly. Camerawork was also mentioned as someone said they liked the fact the camera would follow closely behind the character as if that was you following them, making it more realistic.
The second question we asked was 'What editing techniques worked well in these videos?' once again colour (lights) was brought up and that it worked well with the dark scenes but also the scenes transitioned smoothly as it wasn't roughly edited. They liked the non-linear narrative as the scene went back and forth in 'Heartbreak' from happy to sad. And how the simple transition of having a blacked out screen which colour was then introduced was so simple yet so effective as it wasn't overly complicated and just ran smoothly. Camerawork was also mentioned as someone said they liked the fact the camera would follow closely behind the character as if that was you following them, making it more realistic.
In this question we asked 'What other things would you like to see in a music video about a murder?' some people wanted to know everything that happened and an entire run down as to why, while others liked the suspense feeling of not knowing and having a cliff hanger, to keep them second guessing and could get people to watch it a few times to see if they missed another. While others wanted to know how people were effected after the murder nearer to the end of the song. I like when someone mentioned about a 'lowkey murder' meaning not to make a big scene and it creates more tense as the audience wonders who actually saw the murder happen. Some people don't like to watch violences so would prefer if a murder wasn't shown as gory as normal and could film small parts of the body/scene to get an idea that something has happened, while others rather watch ones that have blood and guts, though from our focus group they all agreed that they're not really into violence and liked having suspense. There was a typical murder suggestion which was to have fake blood, a crime scene and lots of police, I'm hoping to break that norm.
The majority vote on where people liked to watch their music videos was Youtube but we also gave an option to add any others if not listened below, which were facebook, MTV and Instagram, obviously posting our own actual music video onto MTV would be nearly impossible but it is very possible to post on Instagram and Facebook as we can use our Media social medias to post onto.
|
|
The first question we asked was 'What do you like about our idea?' they said the build up worked well, making it very intense. They liked how the character is introduced at the start by speaking before the song starts, so you get to know the character better. Finding it very interesting and that they can't wait to see it. They like the suspense and that you don't know straight away what's happening but by going back and forth it uncovers the mystery piece by piece. It also has a good message of how taking drugs is a high risk and how immature behaviour can lead to bad things.
The last question we asked was 'What would you improve/change about our idea?' someone suggested that instead of going back to the same scene as the beginning that at the end we should have a silhouette of the character (like a still image) and have him about to attack the victim. Someone also said that maybe we should add 90s and early 2000s elements, maybe as in the type of costumes people wear. Someone said that the back and forth could be quite confusing so we will make sure it makes sense and completely plan out what scene goes where before filming. And the last suggestion someone said was we could have the character overdose at the end, obviously to show that he couldn't handle all the guilt.
The last question we asked was 'What would you improve/change about our idea?' someone suggested that instead of going back to the same scene as the beginning that at the end we should have a silhouette of the character (like a still image) and have him about to attack the victim. Someone also said that maybe we should add 90s and early 2000s elements, maybe as in the type of costumes people wear. Someone said that the back and forth could be quite confusing so we will make sure it makes sense and completely plan out what scene goes where before filming. And the last suggestion someone said was we could have the character overdose at the end, obviously to show that he couldn't handle all the guilt.
Personal Analysis
Music Videos
|
|
I think this song 'Come As You Are' by Nirvana is what I would think our target audience listen to. It's a quite slow song (as in the singing rather than the music video) and doesn't really have harsh beats like music nowadays which has a lot more of a remix towards it. The song was released in 1991, because most of our target audience are born as Millennials (people born between 1981-1996) I'd expect a lot to have already heard of and listened to this song.
It's part of the alternative genre, meaning it can be a lot more 'chill' than other sort of genres, such as pop and rock. As it also has a lot more bass guitar which is where the beat stays throughout. The singing itself is quite slow but the music video is quite fast paced with lot's of colour and different things happening all at once (with the dog, the singer shot at different angles and the use of b-roll).
I think it fits our target audience because it seems a lot more personal and tells a deep story within, most likely something to do with the singer's drug habits. Alternative songs are usually a lot more personal as they say a lot more about people's life experiences rather than singing about any random thing. That's why I believe people between the age 25-40 like music that isn't full on but also has a meaning that they can figure out for themselves, as the music video could have a different meaning to someone than the singer.
"Dakota" by Stereophonics is very similar, meaning I think it fits within our target audience because it has a lot more narrative rather than random scenes. The lyrics and the music video both have meaning, which is about a relationship and heartbreak as he mentions 'made me feel like I'm the one', once again this another song that is personal to the singer, the song was released in 2005 (14 years ago) a lot of our target audience were a lot more grown up and would have heard of this song a lot more (like Jermaine mentioned) on the radio or even on music channels.
I think people between 25-40 listen to a lot of alternative songs as they've gotten older (rather than the usual Pop) as the lyrics and music videos are a lot more personal and have lots more meaning where other's can relate too.
It's part of the alternative genre, meaning it can be a lot more 'chill' than other sort of genres, such as pop and rock. As it also has a lot more bass guitar which is where the beat stays throughout. The singing itself is quite slow but the music video is quite fast paced with lot's of colour and different things happening all at once (with the dog, the singer shot at different angles and the use of b-roll).
I think it fits our target audience because it seems a lot more personal and tells a deep story within, most likely something to do with the singer's drug habits. Alternative songs are usually a lot more personal as they say a lot more about people's life experiences rather than singing about any random thing. That's why I believe people between the age 25-40 like music that isn't full on but also has a meaning that they can figure out for themselves, as the music video could have a different meaning to someone than the singer.
"Dakota" by Stereophonics is very similar, meaning I think it fits within our target audience because it has a lot more narrative rather than random scenes. The lyrics and the music video both have meaning, which is about a relationship and heartbreak as he mentions 'made me feel like I'm the one', once again this another song that is personal to the singer, the song was released in 2005 (14 years ago) a lot of our target audience were a lot more grown up and would have heard of this song a lot more (like Jermaine mentioned) on the radio or even on music channels.
I think people between 25-40 listen to a lot of alternative songs as they've gotten older (rather than the usual Pop) as the lyrics and music videos are a lot more personal and have lots more meaning where other's can relate too.
Short Films
This Short Film is all about Climate Change and predictions to what the future will look like. I think cleverly shot films like these can be targeted to people aged 25-40 because it shows a storyline but within has a much bigger and important message. When doing our focus group, caring about the future was something that was brought up quite a bit. So by showing and creating short films about what the world could look like if we didn't look after it then I think it's more fitting for the target audience because this is the message they're trying to share as well and they also find important.
By showing a family, already a lot of our target audience can relate, living a somewhat normal life, even though the camera pans into a lot of electronic devices to show the amount they're using. Which then leads on to show what the world could look like (maybe it's a little more extreme) but the message it's giving off is very clear. It's to raise awareness and allow people to see what we're doing wrong and what needs to be changed before things get worst, as little impacts we do day to day can overall create huge issues we can never come back from.
Once again having a family fits the target audience because of lot of people will have their own children, as this was mentioned in our focus group when asked what do they value. It makes it more personal and shows that you wouldn't want your children's life to be like that in the future.
By showing a family, already a lot of our target audience can relate, living a somewhat normal life, even though the camera pans into a lot of electronic devices to show the amount they're using. Which then leads on to show what the world could look like (maybe it's a little more extreme) but the message it's giving off is very clear. It's to raise awareness and allow people to see what we're doing wrong and what needs to be changed before things get worst, as little impacts we do day to day can overall create huge issues we can never come back from.
Once again having a family fits the target audience because of lot of people will have their own children, as this was mentioned in our focus group when asked what do they value. It makes it more personal and shows that you wouldn't want your children's life to be like that in the future.
This short film called 'Oxygen Kit' is also very fitting to our target audience as it's about a family who live in a polluted world, which is so bad that now they have to wear oxygen masks to leave their home. The panic the mum has when her daughter doesn't have am oxygen mask because her brother used it when playing football, shows you that the worry for her children has increased a lot more since their day to day living can be a danger in their lives if they don't protect themselves from the pollution.
The use of make-up and dark lighting also helps show how sickly they're from poor living conditions, as the young girl explains how her dad looks 50 but is actually 38. Overall the short film is in hopes of 'scaring' their audience (also our target audience) as it shows how badly you will be effected if you do not try to help in any sort of way to prevent climate change and terrible pollution problems.
As I mentioned before both caring about the future for other generations and children were spoken about in our focus group, this short film is showing people that you wouldn't want this to happen to your loved ones and as they're such a caring generation, they worry so much on what could happen to future generations so they take these messages very seriously.
The use of make-up and dark lighting also helps show how sickly they're from poor living conditions, as the young girl explains how her dad looks 50 but is actually 38. Overall the short film is in hopes of 'scaring' their audience (also our target audience) as it shows how badly you will be effected if you do not try to help in any sort of way to prevent climate change and terrible pollution problems.
As I mentioned before both caring about the future for other generations and children were spoken about in our focus group, this short film is showing people that you wouldn't want this to happen to your loved ones and as they're such a caring generation, they worry so much on what could happen to future generations so they take these messages very seriously.