What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Chloe Flynn

The first method of gathering audience feedback was an focus group. I felt that this was a good choice of gathering responses, as I could personally ask the questions directly to the participants and it allowed me to understand their responses. In this group of 6 there were male and females within the ages of 17 and 25. They were shown the music video several times and also shown the digipak and the music website, I then asked them several questions and recorded their answers and responses and this is what I learnt:

Focus Group

What did you enjoy most about the music video?

These answers seemed to have varied responses which I was pleased with, as it meant there were several different parts of the music video that people enjoyed. Some of

these are:"My favourite part of the music video was the beginning when the two met in the bar, this was because it was really believable and is relatable to the audience"This response reaffirmed the concept, which was to make the music video more relatable because a wide variety of genres use glamorous locations or locations that have no relevance to their target audience. Whilst I realise these music videos are successful in their own right as a group we wanted to challenge this convention, which seemed to be something that the indie genre had already began to do. By gaining feedback suggesting that they liked this within the music video made me realise the decision to develop this convention was successful. "My favourite part of the music video is the very end when the light is shining through the middle of the couple hugging because it looks like something you'd see in a film and want your life to be like, and it makes this more realistic.“This particular feedback is very specific and indicated that the attention to detail made during the construction of the music video was worth while. It is also good that they are comparing it to something from a film because although this is a music video there is an element not dissimilar to a short film. This is due to the narrative aspect, so it is good for it to be compared to existing texts, this also suggests it is considered quite professional within the target audience. Likewise it suggests an element of an audience watching the music video for escapism which is one of the Uses and Gratifications suggested by Blumler and Katz.

Did you feel it was typical of an Indie music video?

All the answers to this were positive with some suggesting it is similar to other music videos they have seen and here's what I learnt from them:

"I definitely believe that your music video created a stereotypical and conventional Indie music video and I can see the comparison between this music video and others I have seen, such as Ed Sheeran."It is extremely rewarding for people to suggest a comparison to Ed Sheeran’s videos as he is an Indie artist that’s videos were a huge part of my researching process. To know that people within the target audience are noticing a comparison to an existing Indie artist, with very successful music videos suggests that, although my music video is not of the same quality and obviously not the same production costs of artists like Ed Sheeran, the research I put into the conventions has helped me to create a successful music video. "I personally believe that it so typical of an Indie music video by having scenes in black and white, and showing the artist singing live."Like before it is nice for people to agree that it is typical of an Indie music video because that is obviously the genre I am trying to fit into, therefore all the factors for my music video were considered well. Initially it could have been a risk using live footage like I did, I am extremely happy that we continued with the idea as it is a growing convention of indie music videos. With artists like Mumford and Sons and Ben Howard using live footage also. However one thing I would have liked to have been able to do is film the live footage from different angles, although this was not possible unfortunately.

How well do you think the transitions worked between scenes?

The responses to these were mostly positive with them realising that the transitions we did use were to separate the narrative and the performance parts.

"It allowed for there to be no jumping so there wasn't any distractions away from the video itself."It is good to hear the target audience saying this because the transitions were a difficult part of the editing process. I found it hard to find transitions that didn’t look out of place in a music video, I tried several different transitions throughout the video and finally decided on just have a cross dissolve between the narrative and the live footage. My worry with doing this was that maybe the scenes within the narrative looked as if they jumped, however from gaining this response I realise that the choice of transitions are successful and by looking back on existing music videos it also showed me that this decision was also conventional.

"I think they worked well because it kept my attention and represented a change in time therefore showing how the relationship progressed"As I said before transitions were a difficult decision to make, as the ones available to us on Final Cut Pro were quite over exaggerative and we didn’t want to ruin our music video by adding them for the sake of it. So the choice to only have a transition between the different sections of the music video has clearly worked and created the correct effect.

Is there anything you would change, or suggest could be improved about the music

video?The answers to this question were extremely helpful as I was able to learn about

possible mistakes I had made, and some of the answers also reaffirmed things that I would have changed for a more professional look. Some of these answers were:

"I would suggest you could have tried some different camera angles on the live section purely to try and make it more interesting"This is something I was unfortunately unable to do because of the practicalities of live filming, and also the restrictions to the school’s cameras. If I could have had more cameras then I could have set them up in different places before the performance, but this was not possible. This is something had there have been production money then I could have been able to recreate a live performance in a studio. As I have previously said this is something that I would have also liked to changed myself, so although I want the music video to be as professional as possible, I could not do this.

"I think that maybe you could try a different colouring as opposed to black and white to see what it would look like."I feel that the choice of black and white was the best one for the overall appearance of my music video, not only because it was a convention that I wished to use but also because with filming in different locations the lighting was different. The contrast and colours in these different locations did not look great with no effect and the effect used in the music video was called ‘50’s Film’ and I believed it was the most successful of all the effects I tried.

What do you think of the digipak?This question was quite a broad question as the digipak was only a subsidiary task, however the

answers were helpful in showing us what the target audience thought.“I think that the album links really well and conveys a true sense of an Indie artist.”Obviously this is something I have tried to do, I wanted it to link to the genre and the digipak together. This is generally needed to make the artist and their work successful because it needs to appeal to the target audience, which will be of a similar personality to the artist. “I like that it is simple and easy to understand without too many complicated and loud colours distracting away from the purpose.”It is good to gain feedback saying that it is simple and basic, as although a lot of research and planning was put into the digipak I wanted it to be simplistic and to not be to colourful as there should be a house style between all the products so a greyscale colour scheme was chosen.

Is the website typical of an Indie artist?Again this question was also covered the whole of the website meaning the answers were not as detailed as those about my music video, but they did suggest that the website was conventional:

“It is similar to what I have seen from other Indie artists' due to there being a blog so his fans know what he is up.”This feedback reaffirmed the conventions we have used for a music video, I wanted all my products to be conventional so I am pleased to see that my target audience are comparing my website to other music artists websites.“The fact that you have included the music videos is something I would definitely expect to see.”It is good to know that the target audience have acknowledged the use of intertextuality between the three texts. I did this as this is something that was conventional to all the other music websites I saw.

Do you think the music video, digipak and website link?

I felt it was important to ask this question as it is extremely important that the target audience were able to establish the links I encoded the text with. These responses were positive and suggested that all of those in the focus group had

recognized the house style.“They all have black and white and bursts of red which shows they are all clearly related. ”This was probably the most noticeable of all the similarities between the three texts. This is because all of the texts seemed to only use these colours. It is good to see that other people noticed this and understood the link it had between the texts. “A true British sense is conveyed through all three of the texts, they show a traditional artist through the use of colour and a bright burst of red.”Similarly to the previous answer they noticed the most obvious of all the similarities. Although the texts were encoded with numerous other resemblance; such as the use of font, the colours are what people associate with. Initially my ideas for the three media products had different colours for the varying texts/mediums however after reflecting on this decision I changed my mind. I changed this idea as I felt that the house style between the texts needed to be obvious and explicitly seen by the audience. This feedback tells me that this decision was a successful one.

QuestionnaireAnother method I used to gain feedback was a questionnaire because whilst the focus group gave me detailed answers a questionnaire allowed me to gain more responses from a wider group of people. Therefore I used the questionnaire to ask a wide variety of ages because I was curious to find if any other age groups enjoyed the music video and their views on it. Overall I asked 30 people.Within the questionnaire 10 very simple questions were asked and most had the options of answering; strongly agree, agree, neither agree no disagree, disagree or strongly disagree.

I asked a variety of different ages, whilst the majority fell into the target audience for my texts, I was able to receive feedback. The only knowledge I gained from knowing their age is that I am able to see what ages responded best to particular parts of the music video. Also which age related and understood the narrative.

13-1520%

16-2037%

21-2530%

26+13%

What age are you?

The majority answered Indie which I was pleased about because it shows that my music video was conventional to the genre that it was created to fit into. It also shows me that not only the target audience but others outside of the desired audience could still recognise the category it fits into.Although the music video isn’t pop there are subgenres to indie music and for my chosen song and media products the specific genre was Indie pop so it makes sense that some recognised it as pop.

Indie73%

Pop27%

What genre of music video would you say it is?

Strongly Agree57%

Agree43%

The message in the music video is clear…

It is really good to achieve feedback where no one, even outside the target audience, did not understand the message and concept. I am glad that the message was clear as it is an important, if not the most important part of the music video. If the message was not understood then the music video wouldn’t be successful in promoting the artist and may also leave the audience confused.

Strongly Agree70%

Agree30%

The narrative reflects the lyrics of the song…

All the answers to this question were positive and they all said there was a link between the lyrics and the song. This is something that I wanted to replicate from other music videos as it was conventional and made sense. However I did not wish to make the links too obvious. All the parts of the narrative that link with the song do fit into our story and were not just placed in to have a link between the lyrics and the narrative. It is good to see that the audience have seen and made this link and not only that but they have seen it as successful.

Stongly Agree37%Agree

60%

Neither3%

The narrative and performance elements link well…

The majority answered that they either strongly agreed or agreed that the narrative and the performance linked well. 1 of the 30 people said they were not sure and when asked why they suggested that it may have been better to keep both parts of the music video either black and white or colour. However this is something that in the focus group people liked and found this effective. But other than this person everyone else felt that the two sections linked well.

Stongly Agree37%

Agree60%

Disagree3%

The music video is of a professional standard…

I am really pleased that my audience thought the music video was of a professional standard. It shows the effort and enthusiasm worked and created something successful. Obviously with an existing and professional music video there is a much higher production value, however this is a luxury we could not have, therefore I am happy with the overall outcome.

Strongly Agree77%

Agree23%

The locations props and costumes were ef-fective in portraying the genre…

The props, costumes and locations helps the audience to understand the message of the song in more depth and linked really well to the storyline. It was with the help of these that the message was clear to the audience and it made the story more believable. It was good that everyone felt these elements were effective as a long time was spent choosing the mise-en-scene. We did this so that it would match the narrative and lyrics perfectly, to convey the right message whilst helping the audience understand.

Strongly Agree47%

Agree43%

Neither7%

Disagree3%

You would buy the artists album after looking at the digipak and watching the music video...

Most of the people asked agreed or strongly agreed that they would buy the digipak. The majority of the audience would buy the digipak and this shows how successful the product is in increasing sales. Whilst 3 of the 30 people asked suggested that they most likely wouldn’t buy the album I still believe that from the feedback my music video was a success.

Social Network SitesAlongside a focus group and a questionnaire I used social network sites to gain audience feedback. Although I didn’t really gain a great deal of feedback from these social network sites I am able to use them to learn from the audiences opnion.I uploaded the music video onto YouTube, at first I only did this to link the music video to my blogs as it seemed the easiest way the do it. However I then decided to share the YouTube links on Facebook and see what feedback I gained. I received comments from friends on Facebook although it wasn’t in-depth feedback it highlighted to me the parts of the music video people particularly liked or the general opinion of the music video. Also by uploading the music video to YouTube I was able to monitor how many views it has gained and at the minute it has had 167 views which I am extremely proud of and is more people than I thought would ever watch the music video. Due to the music video being on YouTube I was also able to deduce the top demographics, this is extremely helpful as I can see what group of people have generally been watching the music video and see if the product did appeal to the target audience it was initially created it for.

What I have learnt…?These two methods of gaining audience feedback have been very helpful in realising the areas that I could improve on but also the areas that the target audience and others find successful. From the focus group I was able to analyse the detailed answers and draw conclusions from the specific audience, and from the questionnaire I was able to statistically find out how successful a wider audience thought my media products were. From both of these evaluations it seems that the majority of the viewers understood and believed the preferred reading of my text. The idea of a preferred reading is from the Reception Theory. The reception theory suggests that the way individuals received and interpreted a text is affected by their individual circumstances such as age, gender and class. As a wide variety of people from different ages decoded our text and 57% strongly agreed that the message in the music video was clear, this suggests that my intended reading of the text was supported by a large number of people from diverse circumstances.