Evaluation Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

WHO?

When gathering feedback for both our rough cut and final cut music video, as well as for our ancillary texts including the magazine advert and the digipak we had to keep in mind who our target audience were. If we were to collect feedback from an inappropriate audience it is unlikely they would relate to the video and feedback would generally be negative or even oppositional (Stuart Haul - Reception Theory), whereas If we target our video appropriately to the right target market, it is more likely they would identify with both the video and the artist and would react more positively to the video.

When reseraching into potential and different target markets we looked into Michael Maffesoli's theory of Urban Tribes. (Video Below) and the UKtribes online website. http://uktribes.com/?p=about&id=null

Urban tribes are divided into 5 different groups, each with their own individual subgroups. Aspirant Mainstream, Mainstream, Urban, Alternative and Leading Edge.

From our reserach we concluded that our own target market would belong to the Aspirant Mainstream Market, and would typically be either Trendies and/or Rahs. This is due to Trendies and Rah's typically living privlidged lifestyles and have a wide range of fashion tastes making the market very appealing to girls. The aspirant market are also major consumers and can easily be marketted through magazines, internet and billboards, making them the ideal target market for a major pop video, as they are highly influenced by celebrities and media and would likely find the privlidged lifestyle of the pop artist and the glossy professional video appealing.

The aspirant mainstream market are also very media savvy, with heavy internet consumption, using websites such as facebook and amazon frequently. They are also more likely to have a disposable income as they are able to shop at high street chains such as Topshop and Jack Wills, meaning they would be able to invest in our album. Because our market heavily consumes both internet and magazines they would be easily marketable and because our video will appeal to 17-20 year olds, using magazines such as Vogue and internet websites such as Facebook to advertise will be more appropriate.

USER & GRATIFICATION

When creating my music video I took into consideration, Dennis McQuails "User and Gratification" Theory. (Video Below) 

The theory states why we use and consume media, and in relation to Music Videos the two most important reasons to consider are "Personal Identity" and "Entertainment". When creating my music video I had to make sure that it was entertaining and kept audiences hooked but also reinforced their own "Personal Identity" meaning my audiences need to identify with the video and the artist through either behavior, music and fashion. If my music video addresses both Personal Identity and is entertaining audiences will react positively to my music video, and my feedback and video would be successful. If my video didn't reinforce their personal values and address their identity they wouldn't be able to relate to the video and wouldn't find the video entertaining, possibly producing negative feedback.

FEEDBACK: HOW?

Once I had completed my music video I used online sources in order to gather feedback, including Facebook (as my audience are heavy internet consumers) Youtube, such as statistic which illustrates my audiences consumption and even using questionnaires and class feedback in order to gather feedback directly from my Primary Target Audience.

From Youtube statistics I discovered how people were viewing mi video. Nearly 50% of viewers had used a mobile device, such as an iPad or mobile in order to view my video. This would suggest that my video is targeting the correct market, as younger people, up to the ages of 30 tend to use mobile devices more often in order to consume online media, such as Youtube Videos.  

Likes and Views from Yotube which were accumulated quite quickly (within a few days of it being uploaded) suggested that the video was successful and people enjoyed watching it. There were also positive comments from Youtube as well. This allowed us to make changes to our production in order to appeal more to our target audience, but also showed that our video was successful in targeting our audience correctly.

We also posted a link to our rough cut and final cut video on to Facebook to gather feedback. However, we didn't get as many responses as we had hoped. We thought due to Facebook users being within our target market they'd more likely watch and comment on the video. However, we were able to gather some useful feedback.

From our Rough Cut to Final Cut you can see that the amount of Facebook likes we received improved. This suggests that overall people preferred our Final Cut to our Rough Cut, which is usually what you'd expect to see as your final cut tends to be the perfect version. The comments we received on Facebook were also all really positive. Suggesting audiences had Preferred our video rather than Opposed it, suggesting we successfully target our audience and that our video was overall entertaining and appealing.

ROUGH CUT to FINAL CUT

We gathered feedback throughout our research and planning and also during the construction of our music video, be exporting a rough cut, so we could obtain feedback and improve our video in order to create a professional and appealing final cut.

Some of the changes we made included removing the dance sequences on the floor, improving the lip sync, making the fire sequences more aesthetically appealing, using drop shadows on the white backdrop to make the green screen look more effective and shortening the song to avoid too much repetition due to our music video being a performance based piece.

However there was some feedback we chose to ignore, due to the overall look we wanted to achieve. Students within the AS class didn't like the use of the Fire Backdrop, however we decided to keep it as it's a key aspect of the video. It carries connotations such as sexy and flirtatious but also suggests a strong female performer that would appeal to our target audience. Someone on Facebook also suggested altering the colouring within the phone sequences, however we kept the colour as it was as we wanted these shots to have a slightly different look to the rest of the video, as they added an element of narrative but also reference Beyonce's song "Why Don't you Love" which had a similar style and colouring.

FEEDBACK

In order to gain Feedback for my final cut I directly asked my audience what they thought. I asked people who were part of my primary target market, The Aspirant Market, people who were not necessarily part of the Aspirant market however were still in the same age group and also asked people who were part of my Secondary Market, which are typically people who are older than my target audience but are still likely going to listen to the song. (Video Below)

My audience feedback shows that my music video successfully targeted my audience as all respondents reacted positively to my music video. In terms of Stuart Hauls "Reception Theory" this would suggest my audience had a preferred reading and enjoyed the video, this also suggests that what I encoded into the video was successfully decoded by my audience, as they could relate to the artist and understood references.

DIGIPAK & MAGAZINE ADVERT

Throughout my construction I also had to obtain feedback on my ancillary texts, including my Digipak and Magazine advert. This was so I could decide on a final image that would appeal to my audience but would also sell my artist.

Originally I created multiple album covers and magazine adverts and asked my target audience to vote on each one and say why they preferred that specific image. I then used this research to create a final Digipak and Magazine advert which was coherent with my music video but also successfully targeted my audience.

Some of the comments on my prototypes were really positive and helped me in my decision to chose a final image. Overall audiences that preferred the first album cover (Katy Perry Inspired) said:

"I like the first one because it looks very serious yet fun"

"The colour stands out and lets the audience have an insight in what to expect"

"What you'd expect to see on a real album"

Audiences that preferred the second album cover (Long shot) said:

"It's serious and gets across the message of the song"

"I like the second because it reminds me of Beyonce"

"I like the layout of number two and creates solid brand identity"

Audiences that preferred the first magazine advert said:

"It looks like an advert and fits the style of the song"

"Its serious and suits Adeles style, number two is too young"

"Because it stands out more"

"Looks more professional, better framing, layout and font more sophisticated"

And audiences that preferred number two said:

"The colour stands out and is eye catching. Good mise-en-scene"

"Looks professional. conforms to codes and conventions"

From this research when deciding on an album cover and magazine advert image I learnt that all my images appealed to a sophisticated audiences and that my images, font and layout looked professional, realistic and conformed to conventions, which is what I wanted to achieve in my final product.

I also attempted to use a website called "Tricider" where you can upload images and add PROS and CONS, people can go online and then vote for which they preferred, however this wasn't very successful as people couldn't understand how to use the website and I couldn't get the desired feedback.

Research was incredibly important when creating my ancillary texts as it influenced many of the decisions I made concerning font and images, and overall the final product was very succesful as audiences had had a direct role so I knew the final product appealed to them. Some of the comments I received included:

"I love the album cover, it's a strong image and is eye catching and appeals to a female orientated audience as the image is appealing" - Clare Slattery

"I really like that the magazine doesn't use the same image, it's still recognizable as the same artist but adds variety" - Grainne Branaghan

"The final album cover is a lot more mature and sophisticated than the other ones I saw and is more likely going to appeal to me and my friends who are all 17-18" - Josie Dean

"The final album and magazine adverts look like proper ones you'd see in shops. It looks professional and well put together" - Arianne Beardshaw.

My feedback suggests that my Digipak and Magazine advert were successful as audiences reacted positively to each and they both had the desired effect, to attract a mature and sophisticated audience whilst creating a professional and glossy finished product.

Overall, from my feedback I learnt I successfully achieved what I had set out to do. To create a professional looking final product that appealed to my target market. It was evident that I achieved this through my feedback as the majority of audiences reacted positively to my finished product, with a few exceptions.