Evaluation question 3
- 1. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK? We posted the video on Youtube and set it to public which allowed viewers to comment on the video. Another media student wrote the first comment which expressed an opinion about the mise en scene - he stated that it is ‘simple yet effective’ which is a very useful comment as no one else had mentioned this. This shows that the lighting, costumes, props and settings were all used effectively and looked good within the video. From this we learnt that the planning of our mise en scene was useful and the choices that we made were all successful. From the second comment, we can gather that watching the music video was a pleasant and entertaining experience - this is indicated by our fellow media student saying that the clips transition smoothly and the editing is lovely. All of these positive comments continued to say that the lighting effects in the live performance shots make the video a lot more visually appealing. This was something which was intended when filming and editing the video; the live performance shots were inserted to create an interesting and colourful contrast to the narrative in the video and this comment confirms that we were successful in doing what we aimed to do.
- 2. We posted the music video on Facebook so that our peers could watch it and write comments giving us their opinions; we decided that sharing the link on facebook would be a good way of doing this as it had been previously successful when doing the audience research. Although we did receive some very useful and positive comments, there were also some that were less direct in the way that they gave affirmation of the quality of the video. Some comments only stated that they liked the video, but did not explain why or go into any detail about which aspects they actually liked. While these comments were great to read as it made us feel as though we had been successful in creating a good music video, they did not tell us anything about how the video could be improved and were consequently irrelevant. When I asked a friend and fellow media student personally about the music video, she stated that the shots were good and the balance of live performance to the narrative was appropriate and contrasted well, however, she felt that the storyline was weak and unrealistic as it was a conceited view of how a teenage boy would aim to better himself. This feedback indicates that maybe the storyline wasn’t as clear to some people as we thought and it is possible that it wasn’t as effective as we had hoped it would be. This comment also taught us that the storyline could have been improved and made clearer if we were to make any adjustments as aside from the live performance, the narrative is the most fundamental part of the video. However, contradictory to this, we also gained comments that said the opposite to this and that the storyline went well with the song and overall, people seemed to be in general agreement that we had created an enjoyable and entertaining music video.
- 3. This was the most useful comment that we got from our audience feedback, here, the opinion is that the storyline of the narrative is completely clear which gives us the impression that we achieved what we aimed to portray and this is very reassuring. It was very useful to get other people’s perspectives on the video as we had planned it to come across in a certain way, however, Deborah Knight from ‘Making sense of genre’ argues that understanding texts in genres is an active process of creating meaning. This suggests that each particular individual will interpret a certain media text in a different way; this is why the audience feedback is useful because it allows us to see others’ interpretations on what we created. This comment gave us a different insight into how the video could have ended (a different note rather than pulling it down) which could have made the storyline more cohesive that our group hadn’t already thought of. We realised that the only limitation of using the facebook platform to get audience feedback is that people who we are already friends with are less likely to give us honest feedback or criticism. The overall feeling was that all of the comments were positive, however, this does not necessarily mean that everyone had good things to say. Most people would refrain from making negative comments, even though these could have been useful to us. To solve this issue, it could have been more effective to use another survey monkey questionnaire to ask specific questions and this would hopefully give unprejudiced opinions.
- 4. To gain some more comprehensive audience feedback and we decided to interview 3 people who would be of our target audience in order to get their opinions. The interview consisted of four questions so that it wouldn’t be too time consuming and would get the answers we needed efficiently. These four questions were - 1. What are your general thoughts on the promotional package? 2. What are your thoughts on the music video and the storyline within it? 3. Do you think that the 3 products complement each other well? 4. What, if anything, would you improve? The first interviewee gave some very helpful opinions; she said that the overall promotional package works well together and the link between them is effective. She also said that when faced with this in a shop, she would be tempted to pick it up as it is bold, different, and stands out from a lot of products that already exist. When asked if the 3 products complement each other, the answer was a unanimous yes. The first answer told ud that there was a very clear link between all 3. Another opinion expressed was that the bright colours used throughout represent the style of the band and they are also representative of the music in the video as it is happy and upbeat and so it matches well. A positive about the digipak was that the date is in large, bold text and the interviewee thought that this was a good aspect as it makes the audience aware of when the album will be released. As for the music video itself, the verdict was that there is a natural stoyline which suggests that it is naturally progressive and at points the viewer can feel like they are there. This shows that the video is realistic and gives a viewer something that they can be really immersed in. The second interview conducted also gave positive feedback. He thought that the promotional package all complemented each other and that the storyline links in with the music well. He also pointed out that the digipak and the magazine advert are focused more on dark colours, however there are aspects of the video which are
- 5. much lighter and although the whole package is very similar this creates a nice contrast between the promotional products and the actual music video. When asked what improvements could be made, he suggested that the magazine advert and the digipak could be brightened up a little; this suggests that an audience may view these two products as not as interesting or not as noticeable because of the more dull colours; however, this does match the genre and there was other feedback to say that the digipak and magazine advert are attractive and appealing enough. The third interview also communicated some useful ideas - the colours used throughout the promotional package are bright and they stand out. This tells us that we created a package that is easily distinguishable among other products and it is individual enough to create a lasting impression on the audience. They also said that the digipak looks very professional and it suits the genre and its conventions well. However, when asked if there was anything that we could improve, the main comments were about the digipak - there is some writing on the digipak that could be seen as unclear; making the writing bolder could solve this problem, although, the bright yellow colour of the text does make it stand out. The opinion on the video was that the cuts between shots are all smooth and it all transitions well. The balance between the narrative storyline and the live performance shots was good, This particular interviewee also picked up on the linking shots in the throughout the promotional package. There are shots in the video from the live performance which match with the images used in the digipak and magazine advert; we were told that this was a good use of the shots and it makes all 3 products link together effectively. She also commented on how the storyline was fitting to the target audience and she felt that it was easy to relate to the narrative and the protagonist as everyone has been at a similar point in their lives. Overall, the feedback we gained from the interviews and other audience feedback was predominantly positive with some constructive criticism which gave us some useful ideas on how we could improve the project further if we were to do it again. The ultimate purpose of the audience feedback is to get our target audience’s opinions on our project - this aim was fulfilled as we got lots of positive and helpful comments and advice that suggested other shots that could have been included, confirmed that the link between each product was clear and essentially confirmed that video was a success as the consumer can enjoy it.