Why is it important to consider audience feedback?
Receiving audience feedback is an essential process when creating any product, and in our case; a music video. Audience feedback is important to consider because it allows us as a group to come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of what we have created, which is hard to address when you have watched it many times through the camera lens on set to editing on Final Cut Pro. By learning how our audience feel about our product, we can discuss as a group about how we could potentially improve upon the music video because it then becomes more likely that after taking our audiences feedback into account, our final product will achieve the mass appeal we initially strived for. Overall, audience feedback is fundamental to receive because it allows us as a collective to come together and discuss ways in which we can improve certain elements of our product for example how can we address the audience and make them feel more emotionally connected through the type of editing style or how can we make our product more typical of what audiences may expect from an Indie music video. Afterall, the audience we have chosen to target will be the consumers of our product and they know what they enjoy to watch and what they do not.
How did you receive your feedback? Youtube, interviews?
We received lots of helpful feedback from our target audience, some positive and encouraging and some constructive critsism that we would prefer to address later on in our project when improving what we have provided as a rough cut (far from finalised product) Rough cuts are essential when wanting to hear from audiences because you are at a stage where you still have time to improve upon your product without it being too late to consider how your audience has responded and which changes they would like to see in order for it to fulfil maximum satisfaction. Therefore, rough cuts are a great way of showcasing a product and also acting upon audience feedback, an element we as a group consider highly because after all, the consumer know what they would like to consume and how they would like to consume it and of course: enjoy it!
The ways in which we received our feedback was also varied as it was explored through a number of formats: firstly through Facebook.
How did you receive your feedback? Youtube, interviews?
We received lots of helpful feedback from our target audience, some positive and encouraging and some constructive critsism that we would prefer to address later on in our project when improving what we have provided as a rough cut (far from finalised product) Rough cuts are essential when wanting to hear from audiences because you are at a stage where you still have time to improve upon your product without it being too late to consider how your audience has responded and which changes they would like to see in order for it to fulfil maximum satisfaction. Therefore, rough cuts are a great way of showcasing a product and also acting upon audience feedback, an element we as a group consider highly because after all, the consumer know what they would like to consume and how they would like to consume it and of course: enjoy it!
The ways in which we received our feedback was also varied as it was explored through a number of formats: firstly through Facebook.
What feedback did you receive?
I shared our rough cut video on Facebook via YouTube. I felt this was necessary because Facebook is one of the largest and most used/popular existing social networking platform. This sharing process proved very successful because it led to other users also sharing the link, eventually increasing our rough cut views. This is evidence that technology is developing and sharing video content combined with audio has never been easier! YouTube is easily accessible for all and therefore is the best platform for us as a group to display our product and distribute it to mass audiences. As evident in the screen shot on the left hand side, 10 people clicked the 'like' button in response to our rough cut on my individual profile alone, therefore meaning if each member of our group shared the link via Facebook also, our audience would widen, therefore more of an interest will be apparent.
This screenshot taken from Facebook tells us that our audience commonly consuming our created product via a mobile device. This reinforces the feedback we received through conducting primary research as a collective group (pre-planning process) where we discovered that many people consume video content via their mobile which again acts as evidence supporting the evolution of technology and the experience of sharing. The 17 year old female commented that she believes the video is 'unreal' which suggests that we were successful in following the typical conventions of what audiences may expect from a music video of the Indie genre.
In addition to this, I received a further comment via Facebook from an 18 year old male named Christian, who believes our music video is 'brilliant'. This comment further encourages us as a group that we have successfully created a conventional music video that is highly appealing to our target audience.
I also received a message from a male aged 17 who studies A-Level Media at a different Sixth Form. He suggested a method which could improve the quality of our footage which I will experiment with once we have a finalised video. 
He also made a suggestion regarding the contrast of the rough cut video of which he supported with a screenshot from the artists performance after adapting the contrast settings. I agree that there is a dramatic difference visually and I may take this feedback to the group and discuss. We may chose to experiment with the contrast once other changes are made to our music video and then compare the quality in aim to decide whether the natural lighting suits our genre (organic: Indie) best or whether it needs adjusting and brightening (more typical of a Pop/Dance genre)
One of our group members named Emma Harris received audience feedback through the use of interviews in which I will state below:
Firstly, Emma interviewed a female aged 40. Although we do not consider people who exceed our 16-25 bracket as part of our target audience, it is important to consider others who may break the boundaries of who we would stereotype to be traditional listeners of Indie music/viewers of Indie music videos. This particular female (anon) stated that she enjoyed our rough cut very much, despite the fact she also stated she doesn't typically listen to music of the Indie genre, she believes that we succeeded in creating a video in which develops the genre. The 40 year old female also suggested that we alter the shot in which zooms into the artists boyfriend. When editing the music video, we knew as a group that we would not include it within our final showcase, mainly because it zooms into his chest more than to his face. This shot is irrelevant and does not provide the audience with a clear or concise image of the central focus of the video. Emma and I agree with this comment because we believe it is paramount to achieve professional looking camera shots within our final music video to result in the enhancement/increase of audience appeal and satisfaction with the overall product.
Another individual Emma chose to interview was a female aged 25. She chose to comment upon the on the contrast of some of the shots present throughout, much like the male A-Level student did on my Facebook page. It is good that comments have been repeated because it enhances how much they have effected the audience and therefore encourages us as a group to conduct these changes to have a more positive effect upon our target audience. After we received the comments concerning the contrast of shots, we watched our rough cut together as a group and noticed that due to the varying contrast it brands the video with a lack of flow and is therefore unconsistent due to this.
How will the feedback assist you with finalising your final music video?
As previously mentioned, receiving feedback of any kind is important to consider when reflecting upon the rough cut of our music video, and therefore by identifying our strong and weak elements it will assist us when finalising our product to eventually showcase to our target audience.
Through receiving a combination of both positive feedback and constructive criticism concerning our rough cut version of the music video we have created, it has allowed us to identify certain moments within that are in need of adjustment which may lead to an increase in audience satisfaction and overall success of the artist.
Without receiving feedback regarding our music video, as a group we would not know whether we have successfully planned and created a music video in which develops our chosen music genre: Indie.
Group notes: ROUGH CUT -> FINAL
- Zoom in shot of Jordan
- Crop artist performance mid-shot due to to other coloured wall showing
- Lighting (change contrast/add an effect for performance)
This post demonstrates a good understanding of why audience feedback is essential to carry out and this is evident through the comments and feedback that you have received. You have also evaluated on the comments well too.
ReplyDeleteNow aim to elaborate on the improvments that you have selected to include, by consiering your reasons and choices in further detail.