Jess and Sarah: Focus Group Discussion

Methodology:
We would use a qualitative method as this will allow us to collect much broader opinions and ideas for our video rather than selective and restricted information as would be supplied with a quantatitative method. We will conduct our focus group in PAC2 at Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School because it is a secluded space so we will not be interrupted and there is an interactive white board we can make use of when playing our tracks.

Purpose:
The purpose of our focus group is to test the reaction of the sample audience in preparation for the production of our video. Our track is "Easy Way Out" by The Pink Spiders. From our research we are expecting to explore how our video would be received by our target demographic; this will help us develop our ideas about content for our video and help us produce a professional pop/punk video.

Sample Audience:
Our focus group, excluding us, will be six teenagers (between the age of 16-18) who are familiar with and enjoy the genre of music we are covering. By having a small group we are able to learn how our video will be received and collect new ideas whilst not being inundated by lots of people speaking at once. With a smaller amount of people it will be easier to organise the information we gather.

Media Stimulus:
We would start our discussion by asking our focus group what they would expect from a pop/punk video in terms of iconography/typical camera shots/mise-en-scene etc. We would then play them our track followed by a discussion about their first impressions, their opinion of the track, and any ideas they have about what they think should be included in the video. We will then play them two more videos from the same genre but different songs and from different bands and ask them if they think the ideas for our video will coordinate with the videos they have just viewed (in terms of generic conventions.)

Questions:
1. Where do you think a conventional pop/punk video would be set?
2. What aspects of a conventional music video, for example live performance, would you expect from a video of the pop/punk genre?
3. Are there any camera techniques you would expect to see?
4. What do you expect the cast to be wearing?
5. What examples of lighting would you expect from a pop/punk video?
6. Would you expect a pop/rock video to have special effects or be more natural? elaborate...
7. How would you expect a pop/punk band to be represented?
8. How fast-paced would you expect this video to be?
9. Would you expect the song to change in any way? for example a moment of silence in the middle to allow for narrative? (e.g. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSUdF2d_uI)
10. Would you expect a video which followed the lyrical content of the song? Or would you expect a more unconnected series of scenes and situations?