I believe that the target audience for my music video would be either the mainstreamer or the explorer. The text has typical conventions of a love ballad/friendship video that would appeal to the mainstreamer such as the video itself being dramatised and heartfelt. Most videos that appeal to the mainstreamer show young people celebrating summer and hanging out with friends or even being reckless to some sort. However my video takes a different approach and adds a twist to the typical mainstream scene as it shows the memories of an unlikely friendship and how it has developed over the years, whilst building up to show one leaving for war and possibly never returning. This supplies the mainstreamer with love and belonging and challenges their need for protection. The video would appeal to the explorer as the build up of past memories allows discovery of where the video is going and what will happen in the end.

There are many uses and gratifications within the video such as escapism/entertainment and personal identity. The use of personal identity is used through editing elements such as the montage. It shows the early stages of the friendship until present. It does this by giving the audience an insight to the characters' emotions and past memories making the narrative more relatable, allowing them to connect with the characters more and creating a sense of nostalgia for the audience as to their own past relationships. The initial use of close up's throughout makes the video more realistic and intimate as it shows the emotions within and creates a relationship between the audience and the characters. The video can also be used for entertainment as it follows the lives of the girls on their journey and allows the audience to do the same. The music featured gives the video a feel of despair but encourages the audience to watch to watch. The lip-syncing throughout which is shown by close up's, provides entertainment as it dramatises the video as well as exaggerating it which makes the audience feel the need to get involved. This interchanges with the montage throughout giving it a more natural feel and making it feel like a genuine music video. The aim the encoders of the video wanted to peruse, was for the audience to feel like they are experiencing the memories of the girls and to look through their eyes. They wanted the audience to feel the emotions of the girls. The ideologies presented within the video are somewhat common, as an encoder I wanted to portray the ideology that no matter what happens and where life takes you, you'll always have friendship to back you up. This ideology is similar to many others within music videos of this genre and narrative, especially since many people in society go through the same thing. The target audience is supposed to take the preferred reading as it is meant to entertain however, audience members are also meant take in the ideologies with the video so that they fully understand it. The target audience for the video is teens as the video and song would be more relatable to them as everybody has that friend they once lost, whether it be moving away to university, for a job or for many other reasons. It is also aimed at teens as every teenager goes through that stage where they feel isolated and alone, this is what the characters are going through as they've been together forever and now its over. The video could also be aimed at young adults as they probably have more experience with friendships and relationships being put on hold for.  Technical codes used within the video are the lighting. We used bright lights within the shots of the character not leaving as it represents hope and peace. This is to give the impression that she is trying to be optimistic about the event. An audio code is the music. Although the music is encouraging for the audience, when placed with the narrative and the characters, it gives the video a feel of desperation, connoting that the characters will do anything to stay.

All of my music video research inspired my work and helped me decide what elements to use use but the video that stood out and is most similar to my music video is 'California' by Phantom Planet. This is because both videos use similar technical codes such as a montage throughout to show the past and present. These also share a similarity as they would both be featured on music channels such as Kerrang. What works in my video is the characters showing their past lives and day to day activities. This welcomes the audience and makes them feel more involved in the video, challenging their social needs and love and belonging.