Evaluation Question 3: What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

Throughout creating our music video and ancillary products, from the planning to filming the draft
and then filming our final music video, Ceri and I have used our audience feedback greatly to
develop our music video and further products. At all stages of this process we have found our
audience feedback to be very useful, allowing us to understand and acknowledge aspects of our
work that we had bypassed.

Music Video

Our first piece of audience feedback that we received was after presenting our music video pitch to
our media class. Our media class is made up of 17-18 year olds both male and female, which fits well
into our target audience demographic of females and males, aged 16-24. Although not all of our
pitch audience are interested in the indie genre many are and those who are not still have
knowledge and understanding of the genre. By having both people interested the genre and those
who are not, we were able to gain a lot of insightful feedback, as some of the audience focussed on
the genre and some focussed on practical elements such as filming and safety. During this pitch we
received both verbal and written feedback, as we handed out feedback sheets. By having both types
of feedback Ceri and I were able to really understand what our audiences were trying to convey,
allowing us to question more if needed and make the most of the feedback.

During this pitch we presented our original idea, which was to film the music video in a Church with
the aim of creating an illustrative performance video that strongly connotated Take Me To Church.
While some of the feedback from this was positive as our idea to use a Church was approved, we
also had issues raised that Ceri and I had not previously considered. These issues included the space
we would have available for our dancers in the Church and also how we would light our music video
within the church. We also had queries raised about the condition and appearance of the Church
itself, which allowed us to adapt our ideas. Without the pitch creating suggestions about our setting,
Ceri and I would not have been able to come up with our final idea. Following on from the pitch, Ceri
and I changed our location to a stage setting and planned to use coloured lighting and lighting
effects within our video; while this may seem like a more drastic change we were able to carry ideas
approved in our pitch by our audience across to this video. As we has planned to try to incorporate
the stained glass window look and feel into our video, and this was strongly approved and supported
by our audience, we were able to re-create this within our new setting. We used a projected stained
glass window onto the back wall of the stage as a motif across our video, assured in our choice by
the positive feedback we had received from our pitch.

Other ideas that we successfully carried from our pitch feedback into our final video was including
the dance element of the performance as inspired by professional music videos of artists such as Sia
and P!nk. Our pitch audience supported this plan, feeling it was well researched and prepared. Our
pitch audience were also enthusiastic for our use of a female cover of the song and the outfit plans
for both our dancers and artist. With our ideas being cemented and confirmed by audiences Ceri
and I were more assured while creating the video, and were able to feel more confident in our
choices. Nearly all of our negative feedback was regarding our original location choices which lead to
us changing our location; this demonstrates how vital our audience feedback has been right from the
start of this process. By raising issues that Ceri and I had not realised, we were able to make a well
informed and planned choice to allow our music video to become the best product it could be. Our
audience feedback from this pitch was also highly influential in assuring us in choices that audience
feedback found to be positive. This gave Ceri and I a clear ideas on what aspects to carry forward
into our video.

Our next key piece of audience feedback was regarding our draft video. After Ceri and I had
submitted our draft music video we received both feedback from our peers and from our teachers.
While our teachers did not fully fit our target audience, their expertise and knowledge aided us
significantly. The points raised by our teachers were that: we needed a title shot, we needed to
include more close up shots, to include more movement within our shots and to integrate the
presence of the singer with the dancers together better. In particular from this audience feedback
Ceri and I took on-board the need for closer shots which involve more movement and to re-plan the
sections where both our artist and dancers are present. After comparing this feedback to
professional videos, both Ceri and I realised how static our own video was and how this was dull and
un-interesting to watch.

Aided massively by our audience feedback Ceri and I were able to realise how important it was to
include more close up shots, to convey the emotion of the performers to our audience, and how this
would help improve our video. This point of needing to include more shots that demonstrated the
emotion, particularly of the dancers, was also represented in feedback from our target audience
demographic. In our draft, we only had a few shots of each dancer separately; our target audience
feedback and teacher feedback highly encouraged that we should include more shots like this as it
was one of the, if not the most, effective and best shot in the video. Ceri and I greatly learnt from
this and as shown in our final product there are far more solo shots and empathise of each dancer.
Ceri and I re-planned our video, deciding which shots we needed to change and improved and then
worked hard to assure these shots were improved, using a dolly to help with smooth movement in
the shots and scheduling for three more filming days. Due to this key audience feedback Ceri and I
were able to make improvements our video, creating the best version for our final product. Adding a
title scene was a shot Ceri and I completely overlooked adding and with this feedback we were able
to add this shot, helping our music video to look as professional as possible.

Audience feedback that we received from our peers, that fit our target audience demographic more
as they were in the 16-24 age bracket, both male and female and interested in the indie genre, also
greatly helped us in creating our final music video. There were many similarities across the feedback
from our target audience and from teachers, which heightened these points to us, demonstrating
the need for improvement. Both professional advice and suggestions from our target audience
suggested that in the draft video, the shots with our artist and the dancers did not work. Our artist
looked awkwardly placed, as if she didnt fit to the scene and this meant our music video didnt flow
well. Using our audience feedback to solve this Ceri and I cut the section where our artist walks onto
the stage through the dancers and instead, used shots moving from left to right and half circular
shots to film the sections of both performers together. Upon asking our target audience for feedback
on how this looked in our final video, we received far more positive feedback as they much
preferred this way of filming these sections and felt the music video looked more professional.
Another area where suggestions were made from both parties was regarding adding
movement/more of a variation of shots as in our draft video was very static and stationary look
which was not enjoyable to watch. Our target audience suggested adding more angles to solve this
and this was advice that Ceri and I took onboard.
Editing was also an issue raised by our target audience; they felt that the cut edits, which we used
throughout the entirety of the draft video, were too harsh and stopped the video from feeling
continuous and professional. We improved this by choosing to use the Cross Dissolve transition
instead of just harsh cut edits; again this change was very positively received by our target audience
as they found this editing technique to be far more effective. Slightly shaky shots were also picked
up on from our target audience feedback; Ceri and I were also able to identify this and make
amendments to change this. Originally we has used a steady-cam to film sections of the video
however both of us had struggled to operate this so had also used simple hand held shots. This
created a shaky effect that we did not want in the video, nor did it please our target audience, so for
the final video we broadened our use of different equipment and tried using a dolly. As essentially a
tripod on wheels, Ceri and I were wary and careful of using this however using the dolly resulted in
being one of the most influentially helpful decisions we made. Mixed in with the fair bit of trial and
error with the dolly, we were able to achieve the shots we and our target audience wanted. Without
our audience feedback highlighting the shakiness we would have not attempted to use the dolly,
showing the great influence our audience feedback had on creating our final product.

We also carried positives from our teacher and target market feedback from our draft video into our
final video; both liked the few shots that did have movement in such as the full and half circular
shots. By identifying what our target audience liked and enjoy watching Ceri and I were able to
develop an greater understanding of what we should continue to include in the final video and what
we needed to change, which helped us massively in planning our final video. Similarly, both
performances of our dancers and our artist were always fed-back positively, with no complaints or
changes needed. The dance routine and singing were seen as genuine and authentic to professional
level. The costume choice for the dancers, the stained glass window motif, the lighting and the
general theme/concept of the video were elements that were all praised and effective as noted in
our audience feedback. This gave Ceri and me the assurance to carry on with these ideas into our
final product with more confidence and passion.

There was some feedback from our audience that Ceri and I chose to regard with less prominence. A
piece of feedback that we received from two males aged 16 and 17, however neither overly interest
in the indie genre, suggested having a different background in parts of the video and to use different
lighting. Ceri and I chose to overrule these suggestions as we personally felt this would cause
disjunction within our video and that our video would no longer flow or look effective. Our decision
to not follow this advice is further supported by a larger proportion of the audience feedback we
received thoroughly liked the placement and duration of the stained glass window motif and lighting
and believed this was a definite element that needed to remain into our final video. Furthermore,
this feedback came from people who are not interested or knowledgeable within the indie genre,
meaning it may be merely be their personal dislike/preference to other genres that lead to them to
having this view. This means their feedback is less valuable, as it is less specific to our genre.

Another piece of feedback we only partially acted upon was feedback regarding our artists
costume/outfit choices. While we did accept advice on no longer including the statement cardigan
within the final video, due to reasoning that the cardigan did not work and clashed with the
costumes of dancers (a point that Ceri and I understood and followed), we did not go on to include
the outfit changes as suggested. We received feedback from outside our target audience that we
should consider changing our artists outfit at points throughout the video. Ceri and I were
discouraged from this view as we felt, as during video as we do not change our location at any point
there was no obvious need to change outfit and similar to suggestions of background and lighting
changes, we did not want to create discontinuity. Ceri and I followed up this view by asking more
audiences, both within our target audience and outside, for more opinions and received responses
that supported our view. Our audience feedback agreed that due to no change in location, there was
not an overwhelming reason to change costume. Some felt that a change in costume would neither
enhance nor degrade our video, merely remaining the same standard as no costume change, and
others felt that a change in costume would make less sense and advised against this. After carefully
considering this audience feedback, as Ceri and I found all feedback important and wanted to
understand our audience feedback fully, Ceri and I chose to not change costume during the video.
We were able to feel assured in our choice due to our personal preference and the further feedback
we had received from other audiences. This is key example of how helpful and influential our
audience feedback was in this process; by researching and questioning further to audiences Ceri and
I were able to make informed and assured decisions for our final music video.

Magazine Advert&Digipak

Throughout creating both ancillary products I have received feedback from both my target
audiences and my teachers. In many instances my teachers have provided practical feedback which
has allowed me to make my products more professional looking. This feedback has included:
changing my main image to become more impacting and interesting to audiences, to change my font
size to be smaller, alignment of the information on my page to be better, to ensure the release date
for the album is a Friday, check that my advertising tag lines are realistic and remove my album
name from around my digipak. This feedback has helped my work to become more conventional and
realistic as these more professional audiences are able to spot faults less common to my target
audience. This has been particularly helpful in areas such as having my album name in too many
places on my digipak, here I had overcrowded the design and found the constructive feedback
helpful to improve upon as understood how this could look bombarding to audiences. Aligning the
features on my magazine advert properly has been another area where professional feedback has
been highly influential; I had been struggling with where to place the record label logo as I felt it
looked out of place in many areas on the page. Due to my research I knew it was vital, as a key
convention, to have to logo somewhere on the page and with my teachers suggestion of moving
this to either the bottom left or right corners or bottom middle, I was able to find a position that I
felt worked. From this feedback I was able to place my logo in the bottom right-hand corner, which
was far improved from the original placement of right next to my text. I have followed all
professional feedback I have been given as I value and understand each point and suggested
improvement, aiding my ancillary texts to become more professional.

For my ancillary texts I have used my audience feedback to aide me more visually and design wise
for my products. While my target audience may not be able to spot more specific conventional
issues they can identify what they do and dont like about my products. For both my draft and final
products my target audience liked and appreciated the main image of the cars which encouraged me
to continue to follow this theme. The main image was one of the most commented on aspects of my
work, highlighting to me how a great majority of my target audience understand the effect and
design I was following. My target audience also suggested having my artist feature on my digipak; by
following this advice I was able to create a product that not only hopefully promotes my artist but
also appeals to my target audience and market. The target audience also understood and believed
my colour scheme worked effectively; they followed how this linked across all products and how this
promoted and linked to my artist. Overall, my target audience has been influential in my ancillary
products by which photos/images they preferred and what they believed worked well such as
including an image of my artist. I have not ignored any feedback from my target audience for my
ancillary products as I have fully understood and agreed with each point, seeing how this will
improve my products and allow my products to appeal more to them.

In conclusion, without audience feedback I would have been unable to adequately create my
products. Particularly for the music video Ceri and I have found the audience feedback to be a
massive help and guidance, of which our final product would have not benefitted from had we not
gained audience feedback. Both feedback from teachers and our target audience, verbal and
written, formal and informal has been a vital part of our process. Ceri and I have chosen to not
follow some audience feedback, however this has happened rarely and we have used further
feedback in these cases, allowing us to make decisions in confidence. For all of my products my
audience feedback has highlighted positives and assured me of my choices and plans going forward.
I am able to credit a lot of improvements to my products as due to audience feedback and audience
feedback has been a highly important part of this process.