Evaluation Question 3

Below is a transcript of what I spoke about in the camera interview:

Explain why you think it is important to evaluate your work

It is vital to evaluate your work, especially when receiving feedback from a target audience because after all, they are the consumers who determine the success of the product. By evaluating your work, it informs you whether what you have already created is working and how effectively it is working but in some cases how it is not working. Following this, it allows you to realise the extent of improvement or adaptation that is needed to benefit your work for not only yourself and group members but for the target audience to receive ultimate satisfaction of the products. Evaluation of work also increases your focus in regard to what needs to occur in the future of the product in aim for it to fulfil total effectiveness and enjoyment. Lastly, evaluating your work is a fundamental process within the project because it assesses whether the brief was considered throughout. In our case, our brief was to create a music video to support the song of our chosen artist in conjunction to 2 ancillary products which include a digipak and magazine advert, promoting the central product. It was our decision however whether we wanted to develop or challenge the genre of which we selected and thoroughly researched. Depending on our decision, we knew it would have a profound effect on the feedback we received from our target audience therefore we understood the importance of making a decent one; a decision which would benefit both us as Media practitioners and also our consumers.

Explain why you picked YouTube to showcase your music video

In addition to the ever-changing music industry developing, the technology we use and simultaneously take for granted each day has expanded whilst becoming more affordable and accessible by a mass audience of which consume it as much as the air in which we breathe. This therefore has a direct effect on the way in which music videos are consumed. Music video consumption has undoubtedly increased over the years due to technology evolving, therefore artists are now using social networking sites to their advantage (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to announce release dates and share their art form with a mass audience, also users of social media on a day to day basis. YouTube was born in 2005 which offers a free service, available to everyone who has internet access the opportunity to upload, share and view video content of any genre from comedy to music to tutorial to documentary which is why it is so popular with many; because it offers something for every user as each user is unique and has their individual preferences. YouTube is a great online platform to showcase both our rough cut and final music video because it is easily accessible by the audience of young people we are trying to reach through our products. You can also share the URL link of the video to other social networking sites including our main source of communication: Facebook. When promoting our rough cut video to receive vital target audience feedback on what they feel is necessary to adapt/improve upon to make the final music video a success, many group members shared the link to Facebook to inform a large amount of people rather than relying solely upon 'word of mouth' to distribute our product. This proved successful as we gained 250 views (to date) on our Rough Cut upload to YouTube which we were extremely impressed with. We believe the amount of views by audiences have a direct correlation to sharing it on Facebook. Therefore, choosing YouTube to showcase/distribute our products was effective because it is easily accessible and easy to link to/share with various other social networking sites, resulting in more views which in turn increases audience feedback: something we relied upon to make the appropriate changes from our rough cut version of the music video we had created to the final product.

Include 3 to 4 audience comments that you received as feedback of your products

As a group, we conducted an interview with key people highlighted within our target audience to explore what they felt about our final music video. Because our target audience consists of females aged 16-15, we felt it was important to ask a number of people within the age range to receive reliable feedback. Our first interview was with Bethany Smith aged 16. Bethany stated: “When watching an Indie music video, I expect to see the artist perform with an instrument which is typical for the genre. I think you have created a video that links to the supporting products as they are coherent in regard to the components you have combined together such as the artist Indie style image with her messy hair and red lipstick. I also think the locations you have used throughout your music video link to the song Noserings & Shoestrings because it mentions a skate park in the lyrics. Well done!”

We also interviewed Karen Jarvis aged 19 who stated: “I think your framing of shots are good because the artist is central which is important when promoting her. However, I believe that the quality of your camera is not as highly defined as you would expect to see in a professional music video. Also, although I think your digipak follows conventions of the Indie genre, I believe your magazine advert does not. This is because I don't see how the brick wall is relevant as I have seen it used in more grime/hip-hop genres”

In addition to Karen, we questioned Penelope Miller aged 21. Penelope stated: “I really enjoyed your music video, mainly because the storyline links to the lyrics the artist is seen singing in the performance shots. I think that young people can relate to this storyline of a broken relationship and can therefore build a relationship with the artist. I also find your digipak effective because it really shows the artist in a positive light so the artist can act as a role model and potentially persuade people to express themselves with the guitar shots you included too”

Lastly, there was Samantha Hedge aged 25 who we interviewed to receive feedback upon our final music video. Samantha stated: “Although I enjoyed your music video and was introduced to a new artist of my favourite music genre, I wanted to see more of the artist performing because it looked believable and not like the bad lip-syncing videos you often see. I think the narrative was effective because it links to the lyrics, however, I would have liked to see the argument scene at the end earlier on and seen the consequences of her boyfriend’s actions much sooner for dramatic effect to feel sympathy for the artist”

Did you take on board the audience comments/ change anything?

Once I had created a rough cut of my music video I showcased it on YouTube and Facebook. I then received comments which I took on board and used to assist my group in making changes to our music video to produce a high quality final product. A male aged 17 suggested that we should contrast the performance shots and also some outdoor shots so that they flow evenly and improve the quality and appearance of our music video overall. As a group we discussed this comment and decided that we agreed with what the male said. We therefore incorporated an effect onto these specific shots which allowed us to change the brightness of them so they were coherent with the contrast of the rest of the shots in our music video. I believe by taking this comment on board it has allowed the quality of our music video to increase drastically. A female aged 40, advised that we alter a zoom in shot of our artists boyfriend as it zoomed into his chest and not face, and therefore was irrelevant to the music video. We took this advice on board and replaced the camera shot with a more affective camera shot of the artist’s boyfriend which we believed makes the narrative flow more evenly within this section. A male aged 19 suggested that we should crop the mid camera shots of our artists performance. This was due to a different coloured wall being evident in the shot. As a group we decided that this was a vital element to alter in our music video so that the quality of the mid performance shots was not lowered.

How did the comments make you feel as a Media producer and how would your feedback help if you were working in the music industry?

As a group of Media producers creating a product for audiences to consume, receiving these comments on our final music video made us feel as though we had met the initial brief successfully and satisfied our consumers. Although we received a combination of positive comments praising our products, we also received some constructive and critical comments. We were not disheartened by the negative comments however, because if we were working within the industry of music, it would allow us to reflect on which elements we could improve upon to determine success from a mass audience and of course, approval from the artist we were working with. The positive comments however reinforced the fact that we have created conventional products which appeal to our young female target audience. By having people who had never seen our products before (with fresh eyes) commenting on them, it allowed us to reflect upon our creations critically and realise what we could possibly adapt and improve upon if we were provided with the opportunity to do so.