Focus group analysis Before we got started I decided to take a picture of the representatives of my target audience to analyze their outfits to gain some inspiration for my costume ideas.

On the left is Antonio and on the right is Shaun. Both are active gig goers and enjoy listening to alternative rock music. They are in University studding music related courses. They have quite messy hair however it looks like they have styled it intentionally. Shaun is wearing a dark shirt with the addition of a dark blazer; this follows the conventions of the indie rock genre perfectly. I also noticed that he was wearing some sort of pendant. This is unique and looks like it is one of a kind, when I asked him about it he told me that he bought it from a market stall in Camden. When Shaun arrived he was wearing leopard-print round rimmed glasses, similar to the image below this is extremely creative and unique; it creates the impression that he is confident

and doesn’t care about other peoples opinions. Antonio is wearing a colorful top, yet it is subtle enough not to grab too much attention. He is also wearing a grandpa slouchy

cardigan, which can be seen as not making an effort whilst still looking effortlessly cool. This ‘too cool for school’ vibe is in essence what the indie rock genre is about. Whilst interviewing them I saw glimpses of several bracelets on their wrists and asked if I could take a photo (above is a photograph of their bracelets). As you can see most of the bracelets are from festivals and gigs. The fact that they haven’t cut them off suggests that they have recently been or they just haven’t gotten around to do it. This may imply that they are laid back and are more focused on their music careers than they are about whether there is a piece of fabric tied to their wrist. They are comfortable with their music tastes and aren’t ashamed of liking particular music artists and want people to know this.

From the video it could be interpreted that they were a bit shy in front of the camera this is not the case as boys, they were minimalistic in their contributions. However they were on edge, as they weren’t used to being filmed I anticipated this response so I did ask other questions before I started filming as an icebreaker to make them confortable. I decided to add a female

into my focus group. As a girl myself I wanted to compare her contributions to the boys contributions in order to see how boys think differently from girls. I did this because I need to embrace the way males think in order to create a magazine that will appeal to them.

The questions I asked off camera were: Which festivals have you been to? How would you feel about getting the opportunity to write and compose

with your favorite artist/band? Do you look at the contents page of a magazine? (Be honest) What interests you? If you were watching TV what would be on? Are you part of any interesting societies in UNI? Do you play an instrument?

The answer to my first question was a blur of all the festivals they have been to, the names I caught included Swingfest, Glastonbury and Redding. They also continued to tell me their plans of going to Glastonbury again as well as other gigs next year. When I asked them how they would feel about writing and composing a song with their favorite band they said that it was a unique idea and they would be extremely interested. Shaun said “It has never been offered by music magazines before, you could make it a regular thing with your music magazine publication, it would be great advertisement as you would be given kudos for creating awesome opportunities for real fans, it could be what your publication is known for.” This got me thinking and I am definitely going to take his opinion into consideration and potentially include this in my music magazine.

The third question about looking at the contents page was asked. The two boys were honest and said no, however the girl said yes. I asked the boys for their reasons why and they said because they like the element of mystery as they don’t know what article is where and it adds to the entertainment factor. Antonio said, “I only look at the contents page for the band index, otherwise I just move on and flick through the magazine.” From this I will make sure to add a band index in my contents page. I asked the girl why she looks at the contents page and she stated that it was easier to find the articles she was initially interested in and it makes it easier to read the magazine because its organized and the publication has put it there for a reason. As you can see there is a big divide in opinions.

A lot of things interest them they ranged from travelling to DIY to cooking and to playing instruments.The answers to my 5th question were interesting. Shaun said, “It’s usually come dine with me, I love the narrators brashness and the combination of bad cooking with eccentric people, it amuses me. Sometimes I make myself laugh with the ironic jokes I make.” This gave me an insight into the males mind as they enjoy ‘old man’ programs, they don’t care if they are put into that category they still enjoy it. Antonio replied “I don’t watch TV but sometimes Shaun forces me to watch come dine with me, it’s probably the best thing that’s on TV these days.” Alexandra stated that she watches several political

programs as well as international news as she likes to broaden her knowledge of what is happening in the world.” The personalities are very different and the guys tend to be more laid back.

Antonio is part of the music appreciation society and also the gay rights society. Shaun is part of the English literature and gig society. Alexandra is part of the criminology society. The final question is do you play instruments? Antonio plays bass. Alexandra and Shaun don’t play instruments however Alexandra would given the opportunity like to play the drums. Shaun is doing a degree in FOH (front of house) engineering so is learning to control audio equipment and so has an amazing ear for music and is building a grasp on technology to control and manipulate sound.