Previous research
After reviewing my last questionnaire that I completed for my research into audiences opinions regarding Synthpop music videos, I found some issues that I needed to resolve before beginning planning of my project. These issues were;
- A small sample size
- A lack of specificity in some questions
- A lack of examples of Synthpop music videos given to allow audiences to answer
- Closed questions forcing participants to answer questions even if they have no opinion on the matter
- A level of confusion experienced by the participants in general when answering the questionnaire
I believe the main cause of these issues are that the genre of Synthpop is quite a niche music genre that tests individuals limited knowledge when questioned about it. I feel that I can use the previous results as a good indication of the answers but need to do some more extensive research to have more conclusive results.
Follow up research
For my next piece of research, I have decided to do a more interactive style research to identify the conventions of Synthpop music videos. I have shown 3 individuals who are all present in the room at the time) Synthpop music videos (below). I have asked each individual to take notes on each music video and generally what they notice/features of the video. I gave them some prompts to consider such as props, narratives, characters and music. My intention is to see a correlation between the music videos to see if any similar characteristics came up that allow me to identify conventions of the genre.
Each individual noted down the features that they noticed and I have collated together the three notes from each person per video to make up my final results. Each participant was given instructions to allow the other speakers an opportunity to freely share their interpretation without being discouraged or interrupted at all.
To prevent a misrepresentation of results, I have not told them specifically what I am looking for and have only prompted them to point out features in each music video and then I will draw the similarities between the videos from the responses.
I have addressed the issues of the last piece of research by allowing more freedom with the participants to openly speak and discuss about the music videos where they spoke about the features of each one (allowing me to draw conclusions and subsequent conventions between music videos in the genre).
I was unable to sort the issue of the small sample size but I feel that this new mean of questioning works in favor of the results but not having an overwhelming number of people.
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80s Style
Odd Look by Kavinsky
Protovision by Kavinsky
Lone Digger by Caravan Palace
Harder Better Faster by Daft Punk
Modern
Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo
Royals by Lorde
Below is a transcribed questioning of one of the showing of the music video 'Odd Look' with the 3 individual's responses.
Key
S= Samuel: Leading discussion
H= Harry: (Male, student, older teenager)- participant
ST= Samantha: (Female, young adult)- participant
J= Jacob: (Male, young teenager)- participant
.
S: So I'd like you to have a look at the following music video called Odd Look. This is made by an artist called Kavinsky
H: Mmmmm
S: Heard of him?
H: I think so...yeah
S: Ok...great...so we'll have a look at this music video...It's the genre of Synthpop...Does anyone...sort of know what that is?
ST: The one from.. from the questionnaire?
S: Yeah... from the questionnaire
ST: Oh...Ok
S: Jacob...do you know?
J: Yeah
S: Great...So we'll have a look at this music video first and then have a look at some other Synthpop music videos...I want you to tell me what you notice about the video....you can take notes and I'll pause it if you want me to...just any details about the video that you notice at all
All: Ok
S: So just watch the video and take notes...make sure to put the title at the top so you know which vid-
H:What's the name again?
S: Odd Look
ST: Who's that by?
S: Kavisnky... Jacob it's K-A-V-I-N-S-K-Y...got it?
J: Yeah I have it
S: Ok...I'm going to start now
(Shows video)
S: Ok so take as long as you need to make notes and just let me know when you are done...no rush
H: Ok, I'm done
S: Great...fantastic...how's everyone else doing?
J: I'm done
ST: Just a mom...ent...ok done
S: Great...so could you just tell me what you saw...noticed in the video...
H: Well, it's kinda dark story...the main guy I think is kind of like God or something...um...it feels very like it has an old style
S: 80s sorta?
H: YES! 80s...sorry...I couldn't remember what it was
(More responses given and next video shown)
S: So what I think we'll do is take in all your notes for
this video and I'll give out some more for the next one...just say if anyone needs a break at all
Results
Overall, I saw variances in terms of responses. There were however, some correlation between the conventions identified in 80s style music videos and modern music videos as well as similar conventions in both. Here are the conventions that I concluded for the Synthpop music videos taken from these responses.
- 80s style generally had darker tone, narratives and lyrics that dealt with death and similarily negative topics whereas modern was the same but dealt with more social issues.
- Felt that the characters in the videos were generally split by gender (men= mysterious/odd character/god like) (female= damsel in distress, innocent and vulnerable)
- Felt that the sexualization of women was limited and not overly explicit but occasionally present.
- Participants mentioned the male lead more often in these but made reference to the female character (felt that the videos did have the male lead the video but that he did not always completely dominate it).
- Participants were generally able to understand and keep up with what was happening as the videos were not overly fast paced but neither too slow or 'boring'.
- Participants noticed a level of violence in the music videos that they felt was quite unique for these videos.
- They felt that they were like 'mini-stories' that were quite character focused/based.
- There was effects present in them that were either animation or effects added in post on live action.
From this I can see that most people believe that Synthpop music videos should include a dark tone (as many do). For the song "Nightcall", the tone is quite dark and serious with its 'punchy' electronic backing and low auto tuned male voice.
Commonly in Synthpop music videos, the shots are medium shots of the character's shoulder and face as shown in modern Synthpop music videos such as Royal's 'Lorde' and is also present in 80s Synthpop music videos such as Kavinsky's 'Protovision'. There are also wider shots used in both modern and 80s style Synthpop music videos. Between these two types of Synthpop music videos, there appears to be a specific focus on each character in the shots with little focus taken away from the characters. This doesn't always seem the case in more general music videso such as Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" where there are shots of the surroundings and environment are shown and take the focus away from the characters which differs from Synthpop music videos.
Similar sounds of singer's voices can be heard in Synthpop music videos such as Caravan Palace's ' Lone Digger'. In this, the singer builds up as the cats are entering the club and then reaches a peak when the actually enter the club itself. The changes are variances in the sound allow for a change in narrative just is the case with 'Odd Look'. Here, I can see that sound signifiers are often used when certain things like points in the narrative begin.
In terms of props in Kavinsky's 'Odd Look', Kavinsky wears dark sunglasses. These are used in a sense to hide his identity but also as a character motif in the music video. The use of dark sunglasses is also an abnormal use for sunglasses that are meant to be used in the sun.This adds a mysterious element to the character that makes the character unique in the way audiences view him.
In Caravan Palace's 'Lone Digger', there is the use of cigars and alcohol that can link into the dark theme of addiction drawing a contrast with the suits worn by the dogs that make them seem sophisticated and professional.
As Andrew Goodwin wrote, there is the notion of looking in music video that is often used to entice or attract audiences. This is present in Synthpop music videos in music videos such as Kavinsk'ys "Odd Look". In this, there is a shot of the waitress from the perception of one of the attackers which also supports the theory of the 'Male Gaze' by Laura Mulvey and acts as an example of minor sexualization in Synthpop music videos.
In Caravan Palace's "Lone Digger" and Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster", the music videos are solely made up of animation whereas Kavinsky's videos are mostly live-action with use of digital effects. This differs from more general music videos where there is often little use of digital effects.
Most Synthpop videos use chronological ordering (as do most music videos) but with cuts in a more 'movie' style compared to most music videos. This is the case in Odd Look where the camera lingers on each character and on the scene around the characters.
Born Vincent Pierre Claude Belorgey on July 31 1975, Kavinsky is a French house (European dance/disco music) artist whose musical style is very similar to the electropop soundtracks of films from the 1980s. Kavinsky has claimed that his music is mostly inspired by many films that he watched as a child and that he has picked the best parts from them and then merged them into one concept. Kavinsky has been compared to many similar French house artists that include Daft Punk and Danger. One of his most noted pieces was "Nightcall" that achieved major mainstream recognition after being featured in the 2011 film 'Drive'. Kavinsky's music videos include "Odd Look" and "Protovision". Apart from Kavinsky, similar artists include: Caravan Palace and Daft Punk
However, this song also contains many issues. The variances in speed would make it very difficult to to create imagery for as shots would be cut down. The long length of the song is also very difficult to account for as enough content has to be available to cover the 6 minute run time. The original song sung by Queen in their music video does not have this issue as the imagery is just them singing on screen without the need for cutting to match the song. The Suicide Squad trailer uses a shortened version of the song to 02:32 which means that they do not need as much imagery to cover the whole song. 
Fireflies
This song has a great feeling of building up to a point and contains lyrics that allow for interesting imagery however the change in speed and repetitious lyrics may make this difficult to overcome. I feel that I may use this song for my project, but it is likely to be less likely chosen over other songs that I have selected to choose from.
This song (famous for accompanying emotive imagery in media such as the Gears of War trailers) is a song that I would highly consider for my project. I would however (like with the Gears of War trailers) have to have the imagery at a much faster pace than the extremely slow song that could prove potentially jarring for the audience. I currently do not have an idea for what imagery I would include but I do think that it would be quite dark themed. 
Inspired by the 2011 film ‘Drive’ starring Ryan Gosling that used this song in its opening and uses this song as its theme, I found this song to be the exact song that I am looking for. This song contains a slow enough tempo that shots can continue without needing to be cut. The lyrics are present yet almost exist concurrently with the music allowing them to flow together without one overwhelming or dominating the other. Although not severely dark in tone, the overall tone has a dark undertone contained in lyrics like “There's something inside you” that gives an almost demonic feeling to the character the female singer is talking to/about. The song also contains other lyrics that allow the ability to create interesting and unique imagery. The lyrics are split between two singers (female and male) which gives an excuse for changes in imagery and shot types to show the contrast of characters that are singing.
If I were to use this song, I would most likely avoid the homosexual element present in the original music video by Hozier but would use the religious element. My idea for this song would be about a young girl and her parents escaping from a Nazi-run concentration/labor camp set in the Second World War. The video would show a family on the run as they are being perused by soldiers and taking refuge in a church as they try to hide from being recaptured. After their hiding place is discovered, the family take a one last attempt at escaping down a railway track until reaching a fence that blocks their way to freedom. Allowing her to escape, the parents hoist the girl above the fence and are shot in the back by the Nazi Captain from afar. The girl is forced to leave her dying parents on the other side of the fence and flee to avoid the same fate. The exterior sets for this video could prove difficult but I feel this song opens up the ability for some very emotive and meaningful imagery.
