EVALUATION # 3:

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM OUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

EVALUATION # 3:

BY AMBER CHAD AND LUCY

WE HAVE USED AUDIENCE FEEDBACK BOTH BEFORE

AND AFTER CONSTRUCTING OUR MUSIC VIDEO.

WE DID EXTENSIVE TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH

PRIOR TO PRODUCING THE VIDEO, AND WE

GATHERED AUDIENCE FEEDBACK TO GAGE

AUDIENCE OPINION OF OUR FINISHED VIDEO.

WE CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH SOME 15 YEAR OLD STUDENTS FROM LOWER DOWN IN THE SCHOOL WHO FORM PART OF OUR TARGET AUDIENCE .

WE ASKED THEM FOUR QUALITATIVE QUESTIONS ,

RECORDED THE AUDIO AND PODCASTED IT.

W E T H E N A N A LY S E D T H E R E S P O N S E S …

#1

WE SHOWED PARTICIPANTS AN EXAMPLE OF E A C H T Y P E O F M U S I C V I D E O – PERFORMANCE, NARRATIVE, AND CONCEPT. WE EXPLAINED WHAT THEY WERE AND ASKED PARTICIPANTS WHICH WAS THEIR FAVOURITE.

WE FOUND THAT:

• THERE WAS NO STANDALONE FAVOURITE TYPE. • NARRATIVE VIDEOS WERE PRAISED FOR THEIR STORYTELLING.

• PERFORMANCE VIDEOS WERE LIKED BECAUSE THEY SIMULATE A LIVE PERFORMANCE, RECREATE ITS ATMOSPHERE , AND SEEM MOST AUTHENTIC .

• CONCEPT VIDEOS WERE COMPLIMENTED ON T H E I R C L E V E R N E S S A N D S U B T L E T Y .

FROM THIS, WE LEARNT AND DECIDED THAT:

• WE COULD BE FLEXIBLE WITH OUR VIDEO TYPE WITHOUT IT AFFECTING OUR MUSIC V IDEO ’S COMMERC IAL VIAB I L I TY .

• THIS WAS BECAUSE ALL TYPES WERE EQUALLY AS POPULAR AMONG OUR TA RG E T AU D I E N C E PART IC I PANTS .

#2

WE EXPLAINED OUR SONG’S STORYLINE, SHOWED PARTICIPANTS THE VIDEO FOR ‘SWEET NOTHING’ TO SHOW HOW IT HINTS AT DOMESTIC ABUSE, AND ASKED PARTICIPANTS IF THIS OFFENDED THEM.

WE FOUND THAT:

• OUR PARTICIPANTS WERE NOT OFFENDED BY THE SUBTLE HINTS AT DOMESTIC ABUSE IN ‘SWEET NOTHING’.

FROM THIS, WE LEARNT AND DECIDED THAT:

• WE COULD USE SIMILAR SUBTLE HINTS AT AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITHOUT OFFENDING OUR TARGET AUDIENCE.

• HOWEVER, IN THE END WE DECIDED AGAINST ANYTHING MORE INTENSE THAN SHOTS ARGUING IN THE FINAL VIDEO.

#3

WE EXPLAINED THE LYRICS ALSO REFER TO HAPPIER TIMES IN THE RELATIONSHIP AND ASKED PARTICIPANTS WHAT ACTIVITIES THEY MIGHT DO IF THEY WERE IN A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP WHICH WE COULD DEPICT IN OUR MUSIC VIDEO.

ACTIVITIES WHICH CAME UP INCLUDED:

• GOING TO THE SEASIDE.

• GOING TO THE CINEMA.

• WALKING TOGETHER – PERHAPS THROUGH LIT UP STREETS AT NIGHT, DOGWALKING, AND LOTS OF SHOTS OF SMILES AS A COUPLE.

FROM THIS, WE LEARNT AND DECIDED THAT:

• WE WOULD SHOW SHOTS OF WALKING AS A COUPLE AT BOTH DAY AND NIGHT TO DEPICT THE HAPPY TIMES IN THE VIDEO.

• WE DID THIS IN THE MUSIC VIDEO, BUT WE DIDN’T SHOW ANY SCENES IN THE CINEMA OR AT THE SEASIDE FOR PRACTICAL REASONS (LIGHTING AND PROXIMITY).

#4

WE ASKED THEM WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST PRICE FOR OUR SINGLE/EP. WE ASKED THEM WHAT THEY THOUGHT WOULD BE CHEAP AND WHAT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE – IN AN EFFORT TO AV O I D P I R A C Y O F T H E R E C O R D .

WE FOUND THAT:

• NOT MANY OF OUR TARGET AUDIENCE ACTUALLY BUY PHYSICAL MUSIC, INSTEAD BUYING DIGITALLY OR PIRATING IT.

• THE MAXIMUM ‘GOOD’ PRICE FOR AN ALBUM WAS £5, and THE MAXIMUM ‘GOOD’ PRICE FOR A SINGLE TRACK WAS 50p.

• ALL PARTICIPANTS AGREED THAT IF MUSIC WAS PRICED CHEAPER, PEOPLE WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO PURCHASE MUSIC.

• THERE WAS A REFERENCE TO A THROWAY CULTURE WITH ONE 16 YEAR OLD COMMENTING THAT “79p FOR SOMETHING THAT LASTS 3 MINUTES IS NOT GOOD VALUE.”

FROM THIS, WE LEARNT AND DECIDED THAT:

• WE WOULD SELL OUR S INGLE/EP DIGITALLY AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY – TO COVER B OT H MARKETP LACES .

• WE WOULD PRICE OUR EP AT £5 OR A SINGLE AT 50P . THEORETICALLY, THE SMALLER THAN NORMAL PROFIT PER SALE SHOULD BE COUNTERED BY AN INCREASE IN EP/S INGLE SALES.

WE ALSO PLACED A QUICK POLL ON OUR TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH POST, AND ASKED MEMBERS OF OUR TARGET AUDIENCE TO RESPOND TO IT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA SITES. THE POLL ASKED PARTICIPANTS WHERE THEY CONSUME MOST OF THEIR MUSIC VIDEOS.

YOUTUBE.COM CAME FIRST BY A LANDSLIDE MAJORITY, SO WE ENSURED OUR FINAL VIDEO WAS ON THE VIDEO SHARING SITE TO GENERATE PUBLICITY.

AFTER CREATING OUR MUSIC VIDEO WE PRODUCED A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT WE DISTRIBUTED TO MEMBERS OF OUR TARGET AUDIENCE VIA OUR MEDIA TEACHER. THE QUESTIONNAIRES WERE GIVEN TO 15 YEAR OLDS AND WERE ANONYMOUS – SO AS T O R E M O V E B I A S E D A N S W E R S . T H E QUESTIONNAIRES WERE ALSO GIVEN TO OUR MEDIA CLASSMATES , SO THAT WE COULD GATHER FEEDBACK FROM A RANGE O F A G E S W I T H I N O U R T A R G E T A U D I E N C E .

QUESTION #1:

DID YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE STORY THE MUSIC VIDEO WAS TELLING?

ONLY ONE PARTICIPANT SAID THEY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND – ALL OTHERS SAID THEY DID. ONE PARTICIPANT COMMENTED THAT THEY THOUGHT THE SMOKING SCENES WERE ‘BORING’.

FROM THIS FEEDBACK, WE HAVE LEARNT THAT WE HAVE MANAGED TO CONVEY OUR STORY SUCCESSULLY, BUT PERHAPS WOULDN’T SHOW SMOKING IF WE MADE A SIMILAR VIDEO IN FUTURE.

QUESTION #2:

COULD YOU SEE A A CLEAR CONTRAST WITHIN THE VIDEO BETWEEN THE SAD AND HAPPY TIMES?

EVERY RESPONDENT SAID THEY COULD SEE A CLEAR CONTRAST WITHIN THE VIDEO’S SAD AND HAPPY TIMES – WHICH IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF THE VIDEO’S PLOT. FROM THE RESULTS OF THIS QUESTION, OUR VIDEO WAS CLEARLY SUCCESSFUL IN CONVEYING THE CONTRAST WITHIN THE VIDEO. WE ALSO RECEIVED OTHER FEEDBACK IN THIS SECTION SIMPLY SAYING “GREAT WORK” WHICH IS VERY POSIT IVE .

QUESTION #3:

DID YOU PICK UP ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHARACTER AS SHE BECAME MORE AND MORE INFLUENCED BY HER PARTNER?

THE MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS ANSWERED YES, HOWEVER A COUPLE OF PEOPLE COMMENTED THAT SOME CLIPS CONFUSED THEM, AND ANOTHER PERSON STATED THE VIDEO WAS TOO LONG. FROM THIS WE HAVE LEARNED THAT IF WE WERE TO DO A SIMILAR MUSIC VIDEO IN FUTURE WE SHOULD TRY HARDER TO CONVEY THE CLIPS WITHOUT CONFUSING OUR AUDIENCE. WE WOULD ALSO CHOOSE A SHORTER SONG, AS IT’S THE SONGS LENGTH WHICH DETERMINED THE LENGTH OF THE MUSIC VIDEO. IF WE WERE TO REMAKE THIS SPECIFIC VIDEO WE WOULD USE A SHORTER RADIO EDIT OF THE SONG, THOUGH THIS WOULD MEAN THE STORYLINE WOULD HAVE TO BE LESS COMPLEX. OVERALL THOUGH THE RESPONSES WERE POSITIVE, AND ONE PERSON COMMENTED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT WAS “SUBTLE BUT EFFECTIVE”.

QUESTION #4:

HOW WELL DID THE MUSIC VIDEO MATCH WITH THE MUSIC?

AGAIN THE FEEDBACK WAS HIGHLY POSITIVE, PEOPLE GENERALLY THOUGHT IT MATCHED WELL. POSITIVE COMMENTS INCLUDED “THE TONE AND MOOD FIT WELL, GREAT CONTRAST”. “THE ASL MATCHED THE BEATS OF THE MUSIC AND EVERYTHING WAS IN TIME.” THE ONLY FEW NEGATIVE COMMENTS SAID THAT BECAUSE SOME OF THE SHOTS WERE REPEATED THE EFFECT OF THE VIDEO WAS LOST SLIGHTLY . THIS WAS BECAUSE WE SLIGHTLY UNDERESTIMATED JUST HOW MANY SHOTS WE WOULD NEED FOR A FIVE MINUTE VIDEO, AND HAD TO PAD OUT THE VIDEO A LITTLE WITH EXTRA SHOTS. IF WE WERE TO MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO IN FUTURE THOUGH WE WOULD (IF ANYTHING) OVERESTIMATE S H O T S – A N D U S E A S H O R T E R S O N G .

QUESTION #4:

HOW WELL D O E S T H E VIDEO MATCH WITH THE LYRICS?

ONCE MORE WE RECEIVED MAINLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK, WITH PEOPLE COMMENTING THAT IT MATCHED THE LYRICS VERY, QUITE OR REALLY WELL. AGAIN, THIS CLEARLY SHOWS WE WERE SUCCESSFUL WITH OUR MUSIC VIDEO AS WE CLEARLY GOT THE STORY ACROSS. HOWEVER A FEW PEOPLE COMMENTED AGAIN THAT IT WAS TOO LONG AND THAT OCCASIONALLY THE VIDEO WAS TOO LITERAL. IF WE WERE TO MAKE A MUSIC VIDEO IN FUTURE WE WOULD BE CERTAIN TO USE A SHORTER SONG OR A ‘RADIO EDIT’ OF A SONG. ALSO, WE WOULD TRY AND BE A LITTLE MORE SUBTLE WITH THE CHANGE IN THE CHARACTERS.

QUESTION #4:

DOES THE EDITING MAKE THE STORY OF T H E V I D E O C L E A R ?

THE OVERALL RESPONSE WAS THAT THE EDITING MADE THE STORY OF THE VIDEO VERY CLEAR (AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE THOUGHT CLOUD). HOWEVER THERE WERE A FEW EXTRA COMMENTS WHICH SAID “APART FROM A FEW PARTS” “SMOKING SHOTS WEREN’T EFFECTIVE” AND CLOTHES DIDN’T SHOW GRADUAL PRGRESSION. FROM THIS WE HAVE LEARNED THAT WE WOULDN’T PLACE AS MUCH EMPHASIS ON SMOKING SHOTS TO SHOW DEVELOPMENT AS WE DID AND WOULD USE MORE COSTUMES. WE WOULD HAVE USED MORE COSTUMES BUT THIS WOULD HAVE REQUIRED A BIGGER BUDGET, WHICH IS WHY WE ONLY USED A FEW DIFFERENT ONES. THOUGH THERE WERE NO CRITICISMS ABOUT THE EDITING ITSELF SO THIS WE OBVIOUSLY DID VERY WELL.

WE POSTED OUR VIDEO TO YOUTUBE AS WELL AND SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES FACEBOOK AND TWITTER TO OUR PEERS. WE HAVE HAD OVER 1000 VIEWS (WHICH IS A SLIGHT MEASURE OF SUCCESS) YET VERY FEW CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OR PRAISE. ONE COMMENTER THOUGH SAID “I LOVE THE DIRECTING AND THE SONG”.

THIS IS GREAT POSITIVE FEEDBACK WHICH WE ARE PROUD OF.

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