3.What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the initial survey I created  pre-production I found that a large amount of my respondents watch music videos on a regular basis, which meant that they are accustomed to the codes and conventions of music videos. The majority of the participants fell into the age bracket of my target audience; this helped in finding out what our target audience were specifically interested in, so we could market our product appropriately. When asked if they preferred to see narrative in a music video, 80% of the participants said yes; this gave us conformation that going the direction of a narrative based product was the appropriate way to go. I asked what the audience liked or expected to see in a music video, this gave me a diverse range of answers, however there was a common expectancy of a match between visuals and lyrics and also a use of symbolism. These questions were essential in constructing our products with the target audience in mind. They disliked the exploitation of sex, money and drugs to gain 'popularity'

We conducted a video interview, during the research stages of the project (unfortunately we couldn't upload the video due to compatibility issues) however we learnt from the participants that a music video is important but not vital to selling the record. They described that it becomes a sort of promotional item that adds to a bands image. After showing them some example music videos that fall into our chosen genre, we discovered that people general enjoyed a moving/emotionally connected narrative with development of thought and story. We showed our chosen song/video to the participants and asked them who they thought it appealed to. They said that the target audience of the song generally appeals to female between the age of 15 and 24.We kept this in mind with regards to the story and the choice of using a female protagonist.  However when asked what they thought of the plot, they disliked the focus on relationships, one participant described it as 'dull and predictable'. We proceeded to ask what they liked in the video, and there was a strong response to the use of lighting to create an 'atmosphere'; the audience were drawn in by the aesthetic appeal. This is something we considered important when tackling our video.

We showed our final music video in an active focus group, I gathered peers that were avid listeners of the genre, and explained the intentions behind the concept and what we aimed to present through our products. I did this to establish feedback specifically about how the ideas and themes were executed in the final product. I then showed them the video and the ancillary texts .I asked each of the participants to give one positive and one constructive comment, overall the feedback was mostly positive; here are some direct quotations from this focus group in regards to the video;

“The shots are composed really well, and they make the video seem more dream-like, but the transitions between shots are too slow and there are too many of them”

“You used your locations nicely and I like that there is some depth to the story, but at times it was difficult to follow”

“Camera angles varied, good references to pop culture”

“There aren’t enough shots that connect the story properly”

“The aesthetic look is great”

“Visuals match the lyrics”

From these comments I can establish how effective the execution of our video was, I learnt that the look of the video is pleasing to the audience, however because of some missing shots; the story doesn't flow as much as I would like.The audience understood that the ending was intentionally ambiguous, however said that if the story was more fluid it would have more impact in the end. Going back, I would be more thorough in the production process, making sure each of the shots link to each other and focus on minute details.

When shown the ancillary products, the Magazine advert especially caught the attention of the group. They were allured by the contrast of colours. In the survey I created pre-production, when asked what the audience like to see in an album cover or similar product a large amount said bold colours and a unique style; I personally feel that the magazine advert does this well, as did the audience. Other comments I received in relation to the advert include;

“Looks really professional”

“The colours add to the surrealism, bold and eye catching”

Here is a comment that I received through sharing the advert through Facebook

This comment regarded the actual layout and the colour scheme of the text; she appreciated the continuity and correlating components through the text.

The digipak received mixed comments, the participants recognised the character and supported the fluidity between each texts. However they disliked the lack of difference between the shots on the digipak and the ones from the video. They suggested that we should have taken separate shots

I would say from the positive feedback overall it was an effective package; with the positive feedback outweighing the negative. Things that were particularly effective were the imagery in the products and creating continuity. Areas that could be improved is the detail in constructing the video and making sure that everything makes complete sense.