Election Connection Research Report

Research is the investigation into sources in order to find new knowledge, finding out new research allows us to educate ourselves on certain topics. There are many different types of research, for example quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data is a more logical type of data, it gives a measure of what people think, you can collect a large amount of quantitative that can organised for analysis. To collect this, questionnaires and surveys are mostly used in order to collect specific answers, this sort of data can be flexible as it can be carried out in many different ways, including online, post and possibly over the phone. However qualitative data is based around opinions, what people think and how they feel. Qualitative data can be changed and changed or measured, unlike quantitative data.  This type of data can be led by discussion which is a lot more casual.

Primary data is new data that can be found out by yourself, it is used to answer specific problems and overcome issues. This can be found out by doing questionnaires and surveys to find out the opinions. Secondary data is research that has already been carried out by someone else, it involves a collection of existing research, for example finding information online, in books, on TV etc. Secondary research allows us to get a better understanding of certain subjects, you could say it is an educational type of research.

Market research is finding out information in order to know how successful a particular product will be. As part of this you will need to find out what the consumers needs and preferences are. Using a focus group is a good way of carrying out market research, it allows the potential consumers to have an input into the product. Questionnaires and surveys can be used, similarly to focus groups we can find out what the customers are expecting of the product. Audience research is gathering information about the audiences attitudes, preferences, interest, knowledge etc. The reason this is carried out is so we can get a better understanding of the target audience, it would be pointless making something that won’t appeal to the right people. Knowing the people you want to target the product at will make it have a more successful turnout. Questionnaires are good in audience research because they are quick and easy to do and they allow us to collect a lot of information about the target audience. Interviews are good because to public can describe what they would like to see, what works and what doesn’t. Online reviews and ratings are good because people can judge the product and express how to improve it.

Production research allows us to identify what resources are needed to launch a final product, and whether the product will be suitable and profitable to the market. It will give us an idea of what factors will affect the production of the product. The controllable factors will be, pricing and promotion and uncontrollable factors will be technology, competition, economic changes. Examples of production research are pre-production and post-production because they both give the producer knowledge of important aspects that need to be thought of whilst the product is in production.

To conclude I think all types of research because it allows us to gain knowledge and a better understanding of what we want the end product to be like, who it will appeal to  and how well it will do on the market. We will also have an understanding of the costs and of the income and how to organise to create best possible financial results from release date.

Mini Research Project

Textual Analysis

I have chosen to use an album as part of my research project. The album I will be focusing on is ‘Neighborhoods’ by blink-182. Neighborhoods is a 36 minute long alternative rock/pop punk album, it was released on September 27, 2011. This is their first album in eight years, its recording followed the band's breakup and reconciliation. The trio wrote lyrics regarding such subjects as isolation, confusion and death. The band infused inspiration from each member's various musical tastes to form a unique sound that recalled their separate upbringings, leading the trio to compare the album to separate neighborhoods.

Genre

I have decided to choose this album to do my research project on because I believe it has a lot of hidden meanings behind it which are interesting to look into. The genre of this album is the type of the genre I am interested in. Blink-182 produce a very specific genre which is alternative rock/pop punk, a band such as blink-182 know exactly what type of music to write and perform for their audience as they are very aware of the audience profile.

Representation

The lyricism of the album is majorly influenced by heavy elements in each members lives, elements considered dark by Mark Hoppus (bassist/vocalist). The band wrote lyrics  dealing with breakdowns in communication and trust and tackled with themes of isolation, confusion, depression, addiction and loss. Mark Hoppus struggled with writing upbeat, happy songs for the album and attributed to dark lyricism to the heavy events occurring shortly before the reunion.

For example, I focused on one song on the album called ‘After Midnight’. The lyrics are centred around romance. The song revolves around two broken individuals who fall in love. The music video to this was released in January 2012, it combines a narrative of young lovers sneaking around a youth psychiatric ward and performance shots of the band performing.

Introduction to the ‘After Midnight’ music video

The music video begins with a mid shot of the sign saying ‘youth psychiatric ward’ which straight away tells us the idea of the video, the mid shot is used so the audience are able to read the sign clearly. There is then a wide shot to show the teenagers sat in a canteen, the lighting at this point is dimmed, this is used so show the dark atmosphere around the ward. After this there is a close up of different activities the teenages are participating in, each of which have a blank expression on their face hinting that they are distressed. A close up of a boy is used, he looks up a smiles slightly, an over the shoulder shot is followed, showing that he is smiling at a girl across the room, there is then another close up of the girl, the camera zooms into her face slightly demonstrating her realisation of the boy. This allows the audience to understand the main characters of the video. The music the begins as there is a wide shot the blink-182 performing.

Audience

I believe the target audience for this album is mostly teenagers who can possibly relate to the music the band produces. I would not say that I think there is a specific gender because it can relate to a lot of different circumstances that can happen to anyone throughout their life. Personally I am a fan of this album because I think blink-182 are extremely talented musicians and I enjoy the music they make and think the lyrics are inspiring, however I know that a lot of the audience listen to an album such as neighborhoods and use the lyrics as inspiration and it helps them with certain situations that are happening in their personal lives.

Promotion

The band approached sponsorships, song releases and social media incorporation during the roll out of Neighborhoods. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook were present throughout each stage of the release of the album which allowed more direct access and control over the bands music. I think it is good to have a range of different ways to promote an album or any other type of media because focusing on one promotion idea may only target a small group of people so making a variety will reach out.

Packaging

This is the album cover, the front cover is simple yet effective. Blink-182 is  written atop a city skyline. It clearly relates to the name ‘Neighborhoods’. The Neighborhoods sleever contains close family member names to each band member which makes the album more personal.

"Everybody in the world thinks of something unique unto themselves when they hear the word 'Neighborhoods'," Mark Hoppus.

The back lists each song, it includes their record label, a bar code and the blink-182 logo.

Secondary Research

Album: Neighborhoods

Release date: September 27, 2011
Label: Interscope

(Wikipedia)

Neighborhoods was released to mixed reviews from critics: some felt it was a natural evolution from the band's previous releases, while others found it stale and disjointed. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and "Up All Night" and "After Midnight" were released as singles, with both attracting modest success on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.

Neighborhoods did not sell as well as previous releases. The band looked back at the album with mixed feelings, for example, Tom Delonge admitted that the album may have been not have been as successful because of the bands previous unity problems.

Critical Responses:

Neighborhoods received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. Mike Diver of BBC Music called the album "unexpectedly great.”

Genre research Project

Soccer Punch Analysis

Pink Analysis

This music video includes characters that are represented in a certain way due to their stereotype, for example at one point Pink is in the gym and she see’s a man walk over to another girl who is wearing less clothing than her so she feels like if she takes her clothes off to reveal more skin she will get the guys attention. The costume she is wearing hints that women will only get noticed if they are half naked. The camera angle at this point is an over the shoulder shot, showing Pinks jealousy.

There is another part of this video where pink goes into the bathroom complaining about the amount of food she had eaten, she is wearing a short pink dress and has a short blonde bob, this insinuates she cares what she looks like and is a ‘girly’ character, she then puts a toothbrush down her throat to make herself sick, this connotes to girls caring so much about their weight that they have to damage themselves.

The two person shot shows the two characters who are both forcing themselves to be sick, there is also a mid shot of Pink looking at herself in the mirror, this is being used to show her sorting out her hair and outfit, this depicts that she feels as though she has to change herself.

At one point in the music video Pink is in a surgery room with pen all over her body showing parts that she will be changing, this suggests that girls don’t think that they are good enough therefore they reduce, enlarge or get rid of parts of themselves to be happy with their appearance. A birds eye view shot is being used in this scene, it is being used to show the whole body and it reveals that pink is changing almost everything about her body.

At one point in the music video, Pink is driving a car and she runs over somebody and all she cares about is her makeup and how she looks, this particular scene suggests some girls are too selfish to care about other people. The character Pink is representing could be referred to as ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ which relates to the title of the song ‘stupid girls’. Although this character is not blonde, there is a stereotype that blonde women aren’t as clever, this is not necessarily true however society has made that link.

This music video is being represented in the form of a parody, therefore it is an over exaggerated representation of problems with certain stereotypical views in society. It is showing that some girls are competitive with others girls to be the best they think they could be, the video also says how some women feel like the have to show a certain amount of skin to seek attention.

This music video was created almost completely out of intertextuality, the song and music video for ‘stupid girls’ is referring to different stereotypes of women in society. Many films and tv programs show women acting a certain way because of the way they look or how they have been bought up. Pink is highlighting the judgment and stereotypical views of women in her music video.