Previous Halsey Music Videos

Halsey - Ghost

Hasley - Ghost (behind the scenes)

Halsey - New Americana

Halsey - New Americana (behind the scenes)

Survey Results (Halsey)

UPDATE: This is my first survey for my initial song and narrative, I did not use the song "Control", however the first three questions still apply and I used their results throughout my coursework.

The survey that I have created online has so far received 27 answers. I may receive more, however I will assess the answers I have currently have. Below are all of my results:

As predicted in my survey analysis post, the majority of the audience is in between the ages of 16 and 22. This is because I had shared it with people my age, and my survey is therefore biased. However, The target audience is people my age, and so these results will be very useful in the creation of my music video as they will make clear the exact iconography, mise-en-scene, codes and conventions I should include.

Participants watch music videos quite often, on a various amount of platforms such as television, social media and YouTube. Only one participant watches music videos rarely, stating "once a month". This shows that participants will have a varied knowledge of music videos and will be able to give me reliable, inferable results. 

The top 3 most chosen music videos are 'Things We Lost In The Fire' by Bastille (five votes), 'New Americana' by Halsey (four votes) and 'Chandelier' by Halsey (three votes). Other artists mentioned include Troye Sivan and Melanie Martinez, which confirms what I had assumed in an earlier blog post, that they are a linked fanbase with Halsey. I have done a more detailed connotation of music videos by the artists Melanie Martinez, Bastille and Hayley Kiyoko on a previous blog post, which will instruct me on exactly what I should include to have my music video by stereotypical of the electropop genre. 

I had asked participants what they feel when they listen to the song for the first time. The feelings with the highest votes were 'empowered', 'tense' and 'uneasy'. Empowered and uneasy are two very different emotions, however I will include this in my music video. The narrative of my music video will reflect on this by starting with uneasiness, fear and tension, and finish with empowerment, strength and power. I will do this by allowing the protagonist   to be mocked by her fears and then finally stand up to them towards the end of the product. 

I had received a wide range of opinions on what the song is about. I asked this question to assess the audience's initial thoughts on the song. A majority of participants answered brief, one word answers such as 'strength', 'powerful' and 'struggle'. However a minority of them gave my detailed answers, which show clearly exactly what they imagine the song is about. With prior knowledge, I know that it is about bipolar disorder, however most partipants did not have prior knowledge, and were making assumptions based on codes, conventions and stereotypes of the lyrics and musical style. 

Survey Analysis (Halsey)

My survey reached a large audience, in both online and physical forms. I have so far received many great results that show what people admire in music videos, which I can therefore involve in my music video to be more suited to the audience. To share the survey, I tweeted out the link (shown to the right) which received many retweets, favourites and comments regarding that they liked the survey. However, the negative to this is that many of my friends on Twitter are the same age and share the same musical interests to me, and therefore many of the replies that I have received for the 'favorite music video' question have been about the band Bastille. This makes my results extremely biased, so I have also tried to allocate the physical forms to my parents and their friends so I can get a more representative sample from both the younger and middle generation. My music video will be targeted at the younger generation, however I can show and explain the differences in views in my survey results, so I can assess what I should include and exclude.

Shown above are some the tweets that I received publicising my survey. Shown below are some the answers I received, which do show bias towards Bastille. However other answers also included artists such as Troye Sivan (Blue neighbourhood trilogy) and Melanie Martinez, who are artists that Spotify claimed Halsey was similar to.

One of the questions on my survey "How often do you watch music videos?" is unclear to the participant answering, as there is no time frame stated. Therefore they have to explain their own time frame. I found this the easiest way to word this question, as some people do continuously watch music videos on TV and YouTube, whilst others only catch glimpses of music videos in public places such as bars. Participants may find this question hard to answer, and not answer fully, however it is more representative of the various viewing platforms than a multiple choice question.

For the latter half of the survey, participants must listen to at least a minute of the song "Control" by Halsey to understand the questions. However, some may not do this, and therefore the results from those questions are not reliable. 

Link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q8GKTH7

Locations (Halsey)

UPDATE: This was for my initial narrative using Control by Halsey.

The majority of my music video will be set indoors, however there is a brief moment where the protagonist hallucinates leaving her home and entering a strange place with trees. I do this to symbolise her leaving her comfort zone, and feeling unsure in a new, unknown place. I plan to film the indoor scenes in my own home, however for the outdoor scenes I will need a low key location. The section of the song which this takes place in is 2:07 to 2:45. 

This location is East Park, Hull. It isn't as low key as I'd have hoped, however it is perfect for what I want to use it for. Shots may have to be done many times because of people in the background. The trees give it the trapped, enclosed feeling I wanted to convey with my location.

For the indoor moments, I will use rooms in my own home such as my bedroom, living room and kitchen.

Survey (Halsey)

UPDATE: This is my first survey for my initial song and narrative, I did not use the song "Control", however the first three questions still apply and I used their results throughout my coursework.

I have decided to create a survey to act as research for the creation of my music video. The questions consists of multiple choice and text boxes, some of which prioritise certain things. I have done this to assess which music videos the audience prefers and what they expect from my music video, and therefore create my music video similar to the likes and expectations of the audience, including suited iconography, codes and conventions that can represent what they desire. I have also asked the age of the participant to compare the differences in opinions of different ages. I will tweet out the link to this survey, so I can reach a large audience worldwide. I will also use physical copies so that those in the older generation can also answer the survey. The survey is shown below, with a link to it at the bottom.

                 Control By Halsey

Link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q8GKTH7

Lyrical Analysis (Halsey)

My Initial Narrative Ideas (Halsey)

For my music video, I would like to make a narrative story, however this will be masked as abstract. I want the audience of my music video to afterwards question what they have watched, and to have to watch it more than once to understand it's meaning. Similar to the music video for "This is Gospel" by "Panic! At The Disco". I want it to shock my audience into understanding the message, and into wanting to re-watch the music video. This will compliment the bipolar disorder aspect to the song I have chosen, Control by Halsey. The abstract style to my video will represent the hallucinations caused by bipolar disorder, however there will still be a strong narrative. The more literal lyrics of the song will be represented in the video, such as "I sat alone, in bed 'til the morning, crying "they're coming for me"" and "I couldn't stand the person inside me, I turned all the mirrors around". I will also use my sisters, (like I did in my AS coursework to create the schoolgirl band "Cisterc") as in  Control there are the lyrics "the kids cried out 'please stop you're scaring me'".

Idea 1:

The narrative follows a young woman, the protagonist, who is hallucinating "monsters" and is in a delusional state because of it. The narrative ends with the woman fighting back against one of the "monsters" and killing it. She comes to her senses as the hallucination comes to an end, and it is revealed that the "monster" is someone she knows.

Idea 2:

The narrative will be set in a mental hospital, and will follow patients who are experiencing mental breakdowns. The mental hospital has been left unstaffed, and therefore the patients are let loose. I will include a shock factor by having one patient that kills herself, and another who kills others in the hospital. There will be a lot of bloodshed.

Idea 3:

The narrative follows a young woman who is bound by ropes and weights. They pull her down and drag her places. She stuggles against these weights as they become heavier and heavier, stopping her from moving. She tries anything to cut the ropes, however they remain unbreakable. Towards the end, the ropes start to come undone as she pulls against them, they break and she is finally free.