Evaluation 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout this process I have been gaining audience feedback to help develop
my ideas and understanding of the conventions needed to produce an effective
final product. I have received feedback on our music video and my ancillary
products by creating a survey, asking individuals for direct feedback, receiving
online feedback and by hearing the teachers comments.
Music Video:
Before producing our music video, we chose to use UK Tribes to research who our
target audience would be. By conducting this research, we concluded that
Scenesters and Creatives would be within our target audience. This gave us a
starting point as we now knew the type of person we would be wanting to try and
target with our final products. To gain further feedback we chose to gather
audience research by asking a group of individuals, within our target audiences
age range, about their favourite music choices/videos. We firstly asked about
generic conventions of music/videos and what makes a video likeable. We asked
which type of video they prefer- narrative or performance based. We received the
feedback that indie-rock would be a popular genre of music for our target age
range as all of our participants listened to music in either of the two. When asked
what their favourite music video at the current time is and why, all participants,
apart from one, spoke about how the visuals represented the music and lyrics.
This was thought to be very important and created a video which they would call
their favourite. We took this into consideration when creating our video, as we
thought that is was important to follow the feedback which was gathered by
asking our participants. The emotion in the song is therefore shown through the
visuals. When asked, our participants said that they thought that a successful
video has aspects of both performance and narrative. This allows the visuals to
stay interesting, but still allowing there to be a link between the lyrics and what
is shown on screen. We followed this feedback by splitting our video into two
sections. We have a strong narrative throughout which is shown through the use
of the gang, however this is alongside the performance conducted by our band
member. This conveys the idea of having both narrative and performance within
one music video. We hoped this would allow our video to stay interesting and
keep the audiences focus and attention. After asking the generic questions, we
were more specific and asked questions which would answer queries specifically
about our music video. After gaining the first lot of audience feedback, we chose
to create a video within the indie/indie-rock genre of music. We wanted to make
sure that we were choosing the correct genre, so therefore we asked what our
participants specifically admired about the indie genre. Our participants
expressed how they liked how the genre allows individuality and the ability to
express their unique selves. We thought that this was crucial feedback as we
now knew that our video had to adopt a style which is individual and relatable.
We then asked whether our participants enjoyed music videos with a slow of fast
pace. We had a mixture of answers, however the overall idea was that they enjoy
videos where the pace gradually increases throughout. We adopted this style
while editing as the cuts got faster as the song pace increased. We finally asked
whether they believed that performance was an important aspect of an indie
music video. The overall response was that it is as it captivates the audience and
ties the whole video together. We chose to follow this feedback and have aspects

of performance within our video through the use of lip syncing. However, we
didnt want our video to become repetitive, so therefore didnt have Lily lip
syncing all the lyrics.
After finishing our first draft of our music video, we asked a group of individuals
within our target audience for feedback. All of the participants said that they
liked our draft for different reasons. We questioned which aspects of the video
they enjoyed the most. Many said that the overall editing was well done and
creating an effective overall style. This allowed us to believe that the slow to fats
cutting was the correct was to edit our footage as our target audience seemed to
like that style. The participants also commented on the model which we used
and how she represents the emotion needed and is styled in an appropriate way.
The model/actor within a music video is extremely important, so therefore
receiving this feedback was very comforting and relieving. One of our
participants commented on the mise en scene and how it is simple but
effective. We agreed with this comment for the interior shots, however we were
not happy with the exterior street shots, so therefore chose to re-film them
despite this comment. We finally asked how our video could be improved and all
of our participants gave us similar feedback. We were told to improve quality of
some of the camerawork, especially the use of pans as they were not up to the
quality of the rest of the filming. The exterior shot quality was commented on
and we were told that the lighting could be improved. This was an expected
comment however, because, as a group, we were not happy with this quality of
the exterior shots. One participant also said that the gang could be more
aggressive and assertive- which we also agreed with. We took these comments
on board and re-filmed these shots, incorporating the feedback which we
received. Our group of participants was a mixture of both male and female,
therefore there was no biased answers towards one gender. We also asked
people within our target audience, so that we knew that the answers would be
relevant for our video. However this did mean that they were slightly bias as they
already liked the genre, meaning that they are more likely to be positive about
our video. Due to this, I asked a group of individuals, outside of our target
audience, what they liked about video. Most were very positive and explained
that they thought it was very creative and well put together. Some found aspects
confusing, however this would be due to them not knowing the genre
conventions. All individuals liked the contrast of narrative and performance,
which is expected as this is a common convention of music videos across most
genres. Overall, they were very impressed by the video, despite not
knowing/liking the genre of music.
As well as receiving specific audience feedback, our teachers gave us feedback
regarding our first draft. The exterior areas were commented on and we were
advised to re-film these aspects as they needed reframing and the acting needed
to be more realistic/aggressive. We were told by one teacher that our filming was
too static throughout our video, so therefore we should re-film the parts with
little movement. At first we didnt believe that this was needed, however we
decided to re-film the majority of the aspects with Lily while moving the camera
slightly. By comparing our draft shots with our new footage, we could see that
the slight movements made our video look more professional and the overall
video was improved. Despite teachers feedback being important and useful, the
feedback gained from our target audience is more relevant as it would allow us

to know what conventions are needed for our video to be a success within our
target audience.
Ancillary Products:
Before producing my digipak and magazine advert, I created an online survey to
see what people liked to see on ancillary products. I asked what sort of colour
scheme was a favourite, I found that a minimal/monochrome scheme was liked. I
chose to follow this feedback when producing my products. I used only greys,
whites and blacks to create a mono-tonal style. I also asked whether they liked
busy digipaks, compared to a minimal style. Most said that they preferred a
simplistic style as it conveyed the indie style effectively. My feedback concluded
that most people like digipaks to have a strong visual link with the magazine
advert, this was mediated through my colours, fonts and images used.
I gained independent audience feedback on my digipak and magazine advert. I
asked a group of individuals, within our target audience, what they liked/disliked
about my draft ancillary products. I was told that the overall style was very
interesting and that I could see myself buying it in a shop. This feedback was
very rewarding as it allowed me to believe that my products look realistic enough
to been seen in a shop. One individual said that they liked the minimal design
which my digipak has adopted, however this was contrasted by a separate
person saying that the left panel looks too sparse. This was very contradicting so
I chose to use aspects of both comments. I kept the style simplistic however I
changed the left panel as I too thought that it was too plain. Instead, I added a
booklet page which made the overall panel a lot busier. This allowed me to follow
both aspects of my feedback. I was told that my magazine advert links well with
my digipak, which I agree with. I chose to use the same colour scheme, image
and fonts to allow there to be a strong bond made between the two. The
conventions of my advert were said to be intriguing and that they work well. I
was pleased to receive this feedback as my advert doesnt follow all the generic
conventions which a magazine advert carries, but despite this the design was
still well received by my target audience. I was told that more text could be
added onto my advert, however I chose to ignore this comment as I thought that
the correct amount of text was used for the style that I was adopting. Most of the
feedback received from my ancillary products was positive, except from
comments surrounding the simplistic style and layout- most of which I
incorporated into my final digipak and magazine advert as this is what our target
audience advised.
As well as our target audience, I was given feedback from my teachers on my
draft ancillary products. I was advised to change the positioning of the text on
my cover of the digipak. I chose to move the text around to different positons to
see where it worked best. I finally chose to place the text above the image due to
a persons eyes looking there first. I was given minor feedback to add a
catalogue number and record label logo onto the spine of my digipak, and to
change minor spelling mistakes, these were easily done and made my overall
digipak look much more realistic and professional. One of the main comments I
received from my teacher was that I should remove the image on my back panel.
I didnt agree with the comment to begin with, however after comparing both
with and without the image, I agreed that the image wasnt needed. I was

advised to add a booklet page onto my left panel. This comment allowed me to
incorporate my audience feedback into the changes that I was making.