Evaluation Q3 (Edited for resubmission)

Research and planning 

Previously in my work I held a survey asking some simple questions about my audience to receive some simple knowledge before I started to produce my music video.  This was helpful to me as I could see information like the age range, gender, how often and where they stream music, favourite genre, if they like live performance, and examples of what makes them focus on a music video the most.  By having this knowledge I could produce my music video appropriately and know what attracts the audience to a video.  

Here are the results to the questions I asked:

Focus group

I also held a focus group as part of my research stage. I did this as I wanted direct feedback, and by getting the feedback this direct they were able to expand on their answers as there was no time scale.  By holding it as a group, the two were able to bounce and feed off each other with their answers, therefore I received a more thorough, detailed answer.  
Here is a screenshot of the answers I asked:

   
By asking them what they would expect, I was able to receive other peoples point of view so it would give me ideas on what the audience want and their previous experiences of how they felt with previous, existing music videos.  By asking them their opinion I found this useful and it gave me advice on what other people, exempt just myself, on what people like to see within a music video.    

Video feedback

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I asked four questions to a seventeen year old female student.  She gave me her thoughts on my music video after watching it herself.  The questions were:

1. What genre is my music video?
2. Is my music video abstract or does it have a narrative?
3. What editing techniques have I used in my music video?
4. Is my video continuous with my digipak and advertisement? 

• Firstly, I asked what genre she thought my music video was, she answered pop, as this is correct certain convention will have stood out as being familiar to that genre as she has watched current pop videos herself.  I learnt from her that the conventions that are most predominant are the bold colours used within my mise en scene and the costume being current and young.  This shows me that these are key elements that the audience are drawn to and focus on.  The mise en scene included brightly coloured graffiti, as the graffiti had pink colouring this still has a feminine feel.  On the other hand, if the graffiti were to be dark and dingy this would connote a masculine feel which goes against the meaning of the lyrics of female dominance.  As the feedback points out the costume also took her eye as being current and of a young taste.  As the clothing is tight and of a feminine nature this will draw the attention of the viewer.  Pop culture is also about taking risks and being creative in terms of style and image to influence the audience.   
• From the second question the student thought my music video was abstract, which is correct.  Her thoughts were that lip sync and movement shots made my video more of an abstract piece than a structured narrative to the lyrics.  In terms of movement shots I experimented with the movement in and out of the camera.  For example, by analysing the lyrics "Give yourselves to me, I am your leader" I used the movement of the models walking out and in of shot in a line like 'follow my leader'.  Also by using by taking a normal panning shot and using a MAC computer to edit on Final Cut Pro I was able to manipulate and distort the footage to create an abstract effect, for example on the shot featured below.  In terms of lip sync, different location and edits using Final Cut Pro can add more interest.     

• From the feedback video, good editing techniques she mentioned were slow motion and speeding up of the video, this linked in with the pace of my music video.  As well as the matching of the lip sync the pace of the song to the editing is also important.  In my second year by learning how to use a timeline on Final Cut Pro, moving image is much more complex than a still image of a music magazine.  I learnt that the footage and the audio have to be precise for them to match alongside each other.  She also mentioned the use of overlaying edits that I put into the video using Final Cut Pro.  This linked into the pop genre conventions as they made the colours brighter and also contributed to abstract concepts as they distorted some of the footage.          
• For the final question I asked if my video was continuous with my digipak and advertisement she said it was as I had done my photo shoot the same day as filming my footage.  This meant that location, costume, hair and makeup were all same which therefore provided continuity throughout my media products.  As I did the photo shoot for my ancillary texts and filmed on the same day I was able to save time, this also ensured me that all of my models were available at the same time and the weather was acceptable.  She also mentioned that I had kept some of my font the same throughout, this gives the overall artist a style to their work and also provided continuity to my product which makes my product seem real, believable and fits the conventions of existing products.  

The student I questioned was a reliable source as she was a media student herself.  My target audience is young adults and teenagers from the age of 16-25.  As she is also a female she understands the concepts of the lyrics and she can therefore relate this to the models herself, through costume and related connotations.  At the time of filming my feedback I could only get hold of one person to film, this was a disadvantage to me as my feedback is bias to the female gender and media students like herself.  As she is a media student she understands the conventions of my music video as she is doing one herself.  This can be an advantage to me as I have reliable feedback as she has background knowledge of the subject already.  As she is 17, this age group use and are influenced by the media daily, they have easy access to YouTube and music channels on the television.
After deciding that I needed further audience feedback that weren't media students, a variety of genders and a wider age range I produced a survey using Survey Monkey.  By having a range of gender and age this allows me to collect a wider point of view of my product so I can evaluate my weaker and stronger points. 

In terms of audience theory the audience is an active audience as the audience can chose what they watch themselves, whether it be on the internet or the television.  The audience can pick and chose what genre they want to listen to and what artists they prefer.  The audience watch music videos to be entertained.  Another reason is so that the audience can expand on their knowledge of the lyrics and also to get a feel of the style of the artist.  They may also watch them to be influenced and get ideas on how to be creative themselves.  

            

Survey Monkey

I made a survey of a variety of questions that I wanted feedback on from the audience.  I asked people from an age range varying from 16 to 50 year old males and females.  Here are the questions I asked:  

1. What genre do you think my music video is?
2. What abstract elements do you like about my music video?
3. Do you think the mise en scene is complimentary to the genre? 
4. Do you like the bright colour used in my music video?
5. What areas do you think I could improve on?      

Overall I wish that I had received some feedback at an earlier date.  I think this as I would have had more time to act upon the audience feedback of my Survey using Survey Monkey.  The feedback I got back was mostly to improve on the pace and accuracy of my work.  As in AS I was only dealing with still image, in A2 we have progressed onto moving image.  As I have been working with a timeline, I have found it harder to be precise to the second.  In terms of lip sync accuracy I could of gone back and filmed the footage again as the pace of the models was out. 

YouTube comments

By using new media like YouTube I can post my video, people are able to leave comments on my content, this gives me an idea if people liked the video or not and their exact thoughts on it.  Here is some examples of the comments I received: 

The comments I received were positive.  The comments say what they liked and what they thought I did well.  By people leaving these comments its helpful as I can see whats pleasing about the different conventions I've followed and what I've still done well with even by challenging conventions.  I've learnt that what I did well was my choice of location and costume, to fit the genre of pop and the editing techniques I used were creative and also fitted the genre of choice. 

iMessage feedback

Finally I asked two people, of the gender of male, over text if they would watch my music video again and what they would improve.  Here are the messages: 

  

From this feedback I learnt that to improve I would add more solo shots in different locations and I could use a bigger range of camera angles in more of my shots.  If I were to film my music video again these are some of the points I would consider when thinking about how I could improve it.  As this is directly from the public this advice is vital for me to take into account as this is my audience.  By having more solo shots this allows the audience to see the artists individually and the artist can put their own personality into each shot, making them interact with the audience more.  In terms of angles I could use more artistic shots and think about where I could place the camera other than on a tripod.  
Looking at the positives I received they mentioned the locations, costume, colour and the editing techniques I used to be looked at as successful, which I appreciate. 

Peer feedback

I filmed a video asking for feedback on two questions. 

1. What genre do you think my ancillary texts and music video are?
2. How do you think the ancillary texts and music video show continuity?

I asked these questions as I wanted to find out the opinions of others as to what they noticed about the conventions that make it what genre the ancillary texts and music video are (which is pop) and how they show continuity.  This would prove if the conventions I used fitted my genre well and if I used strong links between my products.  The feedback I received I thought was helpful as I found out what stood out to others and what impact my products had on them in terms of genre conventions and continuity. 
They claimed the music video was pop, they noticed this as the ancillary texts and music video were, vibrant, outgoing, upbeat, young and current.  They also noticed continuity between the ancillary texts and music video.  They said, the colour, font, costume, hair and makeup, the stance of the girls in the images and music video, similar composition, social media information and how simple they all were, caught their eye for the similarities to show continuity.