Audience Research - Interview Analysis

In our interviews, we asked what they would think if someone said Basement Jaxx, and the answers that we were given were all based around happy positive attitude and bright style of the band, linking with what we are aiming to achieve with our video, by using the dancing and upbeat movements, as well as costumes that we are going to use. Quirky was a word which was also used, which I think sums up the style of Basement Jaxx's music videos, as they are often quite random and not what you would expect, which we hope will be how our video comes across.

The songs which were said as favourites were Wheres Your Head At, which is generally the song which everybody knows and likes by Basement Jaxx as it is their most famous, and Red Alert, which is an uptempo song, typically of the band's style. To the question about the video for Do Your Thing, the response was expectations of dancing, happy feelings, and 'doing their thing', which we have already put in as elements of our video, so we are hoping that it all works and that our video meets expectations in terms of fitting with the band's style, yet keeping it quirky and random, rather than predicatable.

Audience Research - Interviews

In addition to the questionnaires that we have created, we also conducted some interviews, which we recorded and put onto this video, which we uploaded onto Youtube as it was easiest and we knew all about how to upload it.

Audience Research - Collated Data

The information below is the collated data which we have taken as a group from the answers to the questionnaire that we produced. For some of the questions, I have made pie charts as the answers that we given were either repeated or categorical, so it fit best to use a chart, whereas the other questions are about opinion and people's thoughts, so I have collated them differently.

This first pie chart shows that the most people that we filled out our questionnaire were aged 17, which I think is good because it fits with what we would say that our target audience of teenagers is. We asked older people also because it gave us a much wider scope of research into what our audience might be, and I think that it worked because although the older people knew a lot about Basement Jaxx, the teenagers knew slightly more, and chose information that links to the band and what we are aiming to achieve with our video

This second chart shows clearly that the most heard of song by Basement Jaxx is Where's Your Head At?, which is most likely because this was one of the best selling songs by the band, yet it also shows the other songs which people had heard of, which identifies that the songs by Basement Jaxxs are quite widely heard of, showing their fame.

This third chart shows that the most people chose other as their genre, which featured subgenres of rock and pop, as well as genres like grunge and dubstep, , but the second most popular section was pop, which although isn't the genre of Basement Jaxx, the happy, dancing and bright style fits very well with what we are aiming to acheive. The genre of House was only selected by someone in the all/plural section, but I think that it was not selected because it is not a famous, widely listened to and popular genre, and is more of a subgenre of dance music.

The other questions that we asked were more opinion based answers. In response to the question about what people like to see in music videos, most people said that a strong narrative storyline makes them more enjoyable and entertaining. Some other answers included 'funky style', good outfits and effects/camerawork. We think that we have achieve these elements to a certain degree, because although our video isn't a clear narrative, it does create a basic storyline of the dancers 'doing their thing', and they will be dancing and wearing costumes. In the editing process, we are going to put in special effects and camerawork like speeding up etc.

For the question about people's opinions on the videos on Basement Jaxx, we recieved a wide array of answers, but ones that stuck out to us were saying about the videos being funny and different/random, which we hope to achieve with our video as the dancing and being silly in public places is something which we feel will be funny and different, to fit with the video style of Basement Jaxx

The clear answer which came out of the question about expectations for the video for Basement Jaxx was dancing, which we have planned to be a main element to our video, but in response to this, we are going to add in recognisable dance moves as well as random dancing.

Audience Research - Questionnaire

As a group we produced a questionnaire based around gathering information on what people know of Basement Jaxx, and people's taste in music as well as in the band itself, in order to determine the specific audience. We asked questions about music in general, music videos in general, and much more specific questions about Basement Jaxx, their music and their videos, to find out how much people knew and liked the band. The questionnaire we made is pictured above, showing the questions that we asked the audience members who answered them.

I feel that this questionnaire had a wide range of questions to collect enough information to properly analyse the audience and their tastes, but a drawback which we found is that a number of people hadn't even heard of Basement Jaxx and so questions like 'what do you associate with Basement Jaxx?' were not very useful and the final question, where it asks about the song, Do Your Thing, people had not heard the song, and so couldn't answer the questions and made guesses based on other songs by Basement Jaxx they had heard (in the case of people familiar with the band).

After conducting the questionnaire, we found that the most people we asked were ages 16-18 and their most favourable music genres were Pop and Rock. The majority of people associated Basement Jaxx with dancing, bright colours, and their most famous song, Where's Your Head At?. The audience's favourite thing about music videos are a narrative/storyline, with the most popular video being ones such as Tenacious D - Tribute and Lady Gaga - Paparazzi.

I think that videos like this were most popular because they show a strong narrative storyline

Similar Bands Analysis - Chemical Brothers

This is the video for the song, 'Galvanize' by The Chemical Brothers and it was filmed in Malaga, Spain. The video features a gang of 3 children and follows them as they move about the streets of the city. The video is shot in black and white, which I think works very well with the content of the video as it gives it more of a dark, rough, grundgy feel (matching the city areas) and makes the content much clearer. This is quite the opposite of Basement Jaxx's videos as they often feature very bright vibrant colours, which shows how the similar bands differ. When the 3 children enter the club about half way through the video, the shot turns to colour, but its not particularly vibrant and bright. I think that this will have been done to create more of an impact upon the entrance to the club, making it stand out.

When the people are applying the clown make-up/face paints, a closeup is used which emphasises how they are different from the rest of the street life, which has been made obvious with the application of the make-up. The closeup shows it directly, drawing our attention to it, as it is a key point in the video.

Song Lyrics

Don't hold back, cause you woke up in the mornin',
with the mission to move, so i make it harder.
don't hold back, if you think about it,
so many people do, be cool man, look smarter.
don't hold back, and you shouldn't even care,
bout those losers in the air, and their crooked stares.
don't hold back, cause there's a party over here,
so you might as well be here, where the people care.
don't hold back...

the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
galvanize!, is holdin' back, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon....

don't hold back, if you think about it too much,
you may stumble, trip up, fall on your face...
don't hold back, you think its time you get up,
crunch time, like a sit up, come on keep pace...
don't hold back, put apprehension on the back burner,
let it sit, don't even get it lit...
don't hold back, get involved with the jam,
don't be a prick, hot chick, be a dick....
don't hold back.

the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
the world, is holdin' back, the time has come to
galvanize!, is holdin' back, c'mon, c'mon c'mon....

world, the time has come to... push the button
world, the time has come to... push the button
world, the time has come to... push the button
world... my finger, is on the button
my finger, is on the button
my finger, is on the button
push the button

the time has come to... galvanize!
the time has come to... galvanize!
galvanize!, galvanize!

Like Basement Jaxx, repetition occurs in the lyrics of this song, but it becomes more frequent towards the end of the song, however, in my opinion, the repetition isn't used to make the song catchy as much as with Basement Jaxx, as they use it quite a lot to make the songs upbeat, whereas this particular song by Chemical Brothers isn't a slow song, but its not particularly upbeat. I think that it has been used more to match the tune of the song and create more of an impact with the lyrics, so people pay closer attention to certain lines.

Analysis of Existing Video - Good Luck

This is the video for the song 'Good Luck' released in 2004. The video features... This song is quite different from the other videos by Basement Jaxx that I have analysed as it doesn't feature bright vibrant colours etc, its more of a triumphant video as the singer is singing 'Good Luck in your new bed' because she has left her partner, moved on and wishing him good luck for the future. She is dressed in a prison guard uniform and there are shots which show her working in a prison, which shows how she is a strong woman, creating an image of independacy, matching the meaning behind the song. In the shots where the woman is driving in her car, she is singing loudly, smiling and dancing, which give the video a positive mood/feel and makes the woman look very happy, again reflecting the meaning of the song and what it is about.

The music starts quite smooth and slow, which is matched by the camera shots, which fade into eachother and pan upwards slowly, while the woman is getting ready/dressed. This is effective because when the vocals/quicker music cuts in, its more of an impact.

Although this video doesn't have the bright vibrant colours which usually feature in the videos of Basement Jaxx, I think that the sandy colour scheme works quite well with this song, as its brings more focus to the woman and what she is doing, rather than distracting with bright colours and hypnotic patterns, like the video for Raindrops. I think that this is because this video has a narrative/storyline whereas some of the other videos by Basement Jaxx are all about the colours/patterns/dances.

Song Lyrics

Tell me tell me is life just a playground
Think you're the real deal honey
And someone'll always look out for you

But wake up baby
You're so totally deluded
You'll end up old and lonely
If you don't get a bullet in your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When your're resting your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When your're resting your head

You sold me sold me
Sold me down the river nile
Hope you're feeling happy now
Now you'll always have a sneer in your smile

But wake up baby
You're so totally deluded
You'll end up old and lonely
If you don't get a bullet in your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When you're resting your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When you're resting your head

And I'm glad so glad that I'm done with you
No more crying crying leaving me so black and blue
You backed me up against the wall but I stand tall
Don't give a damn no more

Oh baby bye bye
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
Without you

Good good luck
in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares
When you're resting your head
Good good luck
in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When you're resting your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When you're resting your head

Good luck good luck
Good luck in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares honey
When you're resting your head

Good good luck
in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares
When you're resting your head

Good good luck
in your new bed
Enjoy your nightmares

The lyrics of this song have quite a lot of repetition of the words 'Good Luck' which matches the catchy style of Basement Jaxx's music, although there isn't as much repetition in this song as their others. 'Good Luck' being repeated adds to the effect of the meaning, by making those words stand out much more than the others, making it clearer that she has moved on from the relationship

Analysis of Existing Video - Raindrops

This is the video for the song 'Raindrops' released in 2009. This is a more current video by Basement Jaxx. The video features woman with headdresses and face paints dancing about to the rhythm of the song, whilst being reflected and mirrored in various different ways. Also, there are kaleisdescope pattersn and images repeating themselves in certain places throughout the video. This works because it makes the video quite mesmerizing and draws in the viewers, focusing their attention directly on the dancers in the videos.

Much like other videos by Basement Jaxx, bright colours are quite prominant. The dancers all have brightly colours body/face paints and the background is changing with quite psychedelic patterns. This adds to the mesmerizing effect, but also makes the video quite attractive and adds an element of vibrancy, making it fresher and more entertaining.

A large amount of the shots are close-ups of the dancers and certain parts of their bodies and faces. This creates a level of intimacy between the viewer and the video, making it engaging. Also, close-ups show clearly the detail of the body paint and bright patterns, adding to the mesmerizing effects of the video by drawing you into the colours and shapes.

The dancers in the video all seem to be moving quickly and feel good, creating an overall happy mood to the video, which matches the upbeat tempo of the song.

Song Lyrics

In a desert
You're standing
A silhouette
In motion

On those lonely afternoons in June I need you
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
You'll feel so good upon my lips
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
Even though you're a million miles away

There's a space out there
And then when we can move

On those lonely afternoons in June I need you
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
You'll feel so good upon my lips
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
Even though you're a million miles away
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
You feel so good upon my lips
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
Even though you're a million miles away

You taste so great, on my lips
You taste so good, on my lips
Your moisture drips upon my lips
Just like a waterfall Straight through the heart of me

Raindrops
Raindrops
Raindrops, raindrops
Raindrops, raindrops
Raindrops, raindrops

Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
You'll feel so good upon my lips
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
Even though you're a million miles away
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
You'll feel so good upon my lips
Just like raindrops (Just like raindrops)
Even though you're a million miles away

When I want you, I'll follow you
I'll follow you
When I want you, I'll follow you
I'll follow you

The mirroring effects of the women/dancers within the video matches the repetition of the lyrics, and also, the beats of the song, which play over. This creates an effect which ties in all the elements, making the video entertaining and interesting to watch, as all the parts link together.

Existing Video for 'Do Your Thing' and Lyrics

This is the already produced video which accompanies the song 'Do Your Thing'.

It features members of the public wearing tshirts with the lyrics to the song. The people are in a park, playing games, running around and generally having fun and a good time, whilst smiling and appearing happy, which reflects the song as it us very upbeat and cheerful. This is also reflected in the bright colours and patterns used on the tshirts and surrounds, making the video eye-catching and vibrant.

The words on the tshirts make the viewers read and therefore make the image much more engaging and entertaining. A large amount of the video is shot using Medium Close-ups, showing primarily the tshirts, which works to draw focus onto the lyrics and adding to the engaging effect of the video.

When the chorus starts, 2 women are shown playing tennis, and the camera cuts between the two, as one of their tshirts says 'bang' and the other, 'boom'. Also, the shot is repeated when the word is repeated with the lyrics. This adds even more to the engaging effects of the video because the shots match the lyrics perfectly, creating a synchronisation between the two.

The video shows people of all ages, having fun in the park/surroundings, which, to me, gives the message that you can 'do your thing' at any age, which adds to the positive feel/mood of the video.

Song Lyrics

I don't need no TV, I don't need no news
All I need is a bumping beat, to bump away my blue-ue-ues
I don't give a damn what the people say, I'm gonna do it my way, gonna do it my way

CHORUS:
Boom boom b'boom, a bang bang bang
I gotta let it all out, do my thing, boom boom boom and a bang bang bang
Boom bang, boom b'bang bang, boom bang, boom bang bang
Do your thing(yeah) , Do your thing (make my body sing)
Do your thing, Do your thing (your thing, my thing, oh oh oh oh)

Say shut your mouth! You're in a fatal tizz..
Free the mayhem in your mind, release the need inside of you
You're going to suffer! Because the crowd's so loud!
Do your thing, Do your Thing

CHORUS

INSTRUMENTAL
buda bada buda bada(x3)bi bu bi bu bow yerrrrr

And a boom boom boom and a bang bang bang (boom, bang, boom, bang bang)
And a boom boom boom and a bang bang bang (do your thing, do your thing) [x2]
Ah ah, ah, ah, ah ah, ah ah [x5]

Do your thing, do your thing, do your thing (make my body sing)
Do your thing, do your thing, do your thing (your thing, my thing, oh oh oh oh)

These song lyrics are for the version of the song which features on the album, and the one we intend to use for our music video, whereas the one used in the official video, is a different edit of the song.

The lyrics use a lot of repetition which fits the beat and rhythm of the song, making it lively and upbeat, which Basement Jaxx's song usually are

Biography

Basement Jaxx are a House duo from Brixton, South London. They released first album, 'Remedy' in 1999, followed by the second album, 'Rooty' in 2001, containing the track 'Where's Your Head At' which became intertionally famous. In 2003 the band released their third album, 'Kish Kash', which won them 'Best Electronic/Dance album' at the 47th Grammy Awards. 2005, and the band release the compilation 'The Singles', performing at Glastonbury that year as headliners. 'Crazy Itch Radio' was the band's fourth album in 2006, featuring vocals from Lily Allen and Robyn, then followed by their latest album 'Scars' in September 2009.













The genre, House, started out in Chicago, Illinois, gaining popularity in the mid 1990s. House takes influences from Soul, Funk and Disco, using synthesizers and electronic drums. The genre slowly became linked to dance music as it neared the nineties and 21st century, due to the upbeat tempo.

Initial Video Ideas

As a group, we brainstormed ideas for songs with each of us thought would be a good idea, and eventually settled on 'Do Your Thing' as it was an upbeat song, which is what we were looking for.

We instantly decided to make a video which was quite perculiar, so as to fit the style of Basement Jaxx's videos and the way they make them. We brainstormed some ideas, and originally, planned to have a group of crossdressers in our video as we felt that they are people who just want to be themselves and do what they want, but we then changed our ideas because we felt that it would be too difficult to get 5 men willing to dress as women, and that it might come out too cheesy and not very good. We then made a decision that having a group of people 'doing their thing' would be a good idea, and defined it as having a laugh and a good time, doing whatever they please.

Working on this idea, we chose certain types of people to be the group, as there would be a range of different people, like breaking stereotypes by having them all in the video together and being friends, although people would expect them to be entirely different, in a way so that they are 'doing their thing' despite what people think.

The types of people that we decided upon were a goth, a chav, a geek, a granny and a new raver. We felt that this gave us a good scope, from young to old, and different youth types.

Introduction

As part of our A2 course we are promoting the release of an album within which we must produce a digipak cover, magazine advert and music video for one of the songs from the album. The album was have chosen is 'The Singles Collection' by Basement Jaxx and we are going to be making a music video for the song, 'Do Your Thing'.