WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE

FEEDBACK?

I learnt a lot from my audience feedback, I got lots of positive, and negative feedback. The positive feedback

was great because it showed that my choices had worked and had the desired effect. It also made the

decision easier for me to keep some things the same as they worked well. Furthermore, I am happy with the

fact I received some negative feedback, as it showed me what I needed to work on and improve. Feedback is

very important when constructing a product for the public, as ultimately it is them that you are trying to sell it to, so they are the ones who needs to like it.

First of all I will go through the feedback for my music video and show how I improved it by developing it

through the use of the feedback from the audience.

MUSIC VIDEO FIRST DRAFTI only received brief feedback for my first draft, I didn’t use a formal questionnaire. My first draft was mainly to get used to the camera, put a few shots together, and to see if any of my idea’s went well together. Therefore I just asked for a few brief comments.Positives

• Appropriate location, costume, props• Good lip sync and body language• Good transitions and effects (dissolves/sepia)• Framing is correctNegative• A little boring and repetitive

“GOOD TRANSITIONS”I am happy that I received good feedback about my transitions as they were one of the initial thoughts I had when planning my video. I thought they would be very affective and this feedback suggests they were. I chose them because I thought they would make the song ‘flow’ better, as they are slow, and emotional just like the song. I think they reinforce the narrative as the feelings that are being portrayed through the lyrics are strong, and they cannot be rushed, therefore slow transitions are best suited for it.This feedback has taught me that they work well with my video, so I will continue using them when producing the rest of the video.

“GOOD LIP SYNC” This is definitely a positive thing, when including performance in a music video, which involves the singing of the song, accurate lip sync is crucial. If the lip sync is slightly out of time, the video will look very un-professional and rubbish.My attention to detail hasn’t gone un-noticed, and I will keep my lip syncing up to a high-standard!

“BIT BORING AND REPETITIVE”I was thinking this myself, I am happy that I have received this feedback as it gives me something to work on, the key word here is repetitive. This feedback suggests that even though it is a slow, sad song, it still needs to have a lot going on for it to be interesting. I have decided to change and add many things to make the video better...

Music Video

MORE LOCATIONS USED

Draft 1 Locations

Locations added to Draft 2 and the Final Draft

In my first draft I only used 1 location, a graveyard. This is a very effective location as it symbolises the death and is relative to the narrative of the song, and it reinforces the

lyrics. However if I kept this the only location for the whole, video it would have become repetitive and boring. The

new locations allowed me to add more narrative as they were in a homely environment. Also, I was able to use the plain walls as a backdrop for the performance element.

Music Video

MORE COSTUMES USEDIn my first draft, I only used one outfit, and the only

difference in some of the shots is that she takes her coat off. So in order to make the video less repetitive. I decided to add a few more costumes, which would also add to the narrative. Along the bottom are the 4 costumes I added.1. A dressing gown, hair up; lazing around, minimal effort, dark

colour, mourning.2. Mans shirt, hair up; once again minimal effort, light coloured

shirt, the deceased(whom the shirt belongs to) was a innocent young man, she wears it so she feels like she still has a part of him with her.

3. Hair down, make-up on, black dress; made an effort, a funeral outfit

4. Knitted jumper, hair up, little make-up; this is a casual everyday look, as this is the outfit she is wearing when she finds out.

Music Video

SEPIA BLACK AND WHITE

I initially chose sepia because I thought it would be more effective than having it in full colour, and it was. I received good feedback about it, and people said it was a good idea. However, I don’t think it had the full effect that I wanted. Compared to the black and white, it looks warm, and comfortable. The black looks cold, and fully drained of life, somewhere that you wouldn’t want

to be. This is the effect I was looking for, as the song is about loss, and emotions that nobody wants to feel.

Music Video

MUSIC VIDEO SECOND DRAFTFor my second draft, I devised a

questionnaire to receive feedback on the key elements of my video, the parts which I

believe were the most important, which need to be effective.I asked 6 questions

based on;• The black and white effect• Transitions• Emotional Connection• Tedium• Improvements• Costume

Music Video BLACK AND WHITE

FEEDBACK (2ND DRAFT) I ASKED: Do you think the black and white theme reinforces the genre of the video?100% of people replied yes!-it creates good connotations for the narrative - it relates to depression and black and white shows/reflects it well- the lack of colour can be related to loss, as something is missing- it looks very good- it makes it looks depressing which is what you’d expect for a sad song - it made it more emotional- it reinforces the mood x 4- it matches well with the slow theme, in a good way- it suits the song- it looks really effective- it has a better representation of the song

There is nothing I can say to this apart from that it is clearly effective, therefore I will be keeping it all black and white!

Music Video TRANSITIONS

FEEDBACK (2ND DRAFT) I ASKED: Do you think the transitions work well with the style and tempo of the video?- I really like them- the last few seconds especially when they fade in and out from black - the fades/dissolves went well with the song x 2- helps reinforce the mood of the song and shows how her feelings and the alcohol are draining her- very good - it creates the right kind of atmosphere- it suits the music as it ‘flows’ well x 2- some parts where there’s more beats the transitions go well with the tempo - very effective x 2- transitions are made in the right tempo, as the song is slow at the beginning, and speeds up at a later point

TRANSITION RELATED IMPROVEMENTS- a few faster cuts as tempo increases x 4

Music Video

CHANGES I MADE TO THE TRANSITIONS FOLLOWING THE FEEDBACK;

-I kept the cross dissolves as they were effective and I received good comments about them. They had the effect I was looking for, but I agree with the feedback that they should speed up more when the tempo increases. The best way for me to speed them up was to just use straight cuts instead of dissolves and fades. A straight cut is the fastest transition available, it literally just cuts from one shot to the next, a straight swap. -Now when my video is being viewed, the tempo change is very noticeable, and I think that is effective as the whole emotion of the song has been building up, and then it just all explodes at the tempo change, and all of the different costumes and emotions and clips are in a quick montage that is hard to keep up with.

Music VideoEMOTIONAL

CONNECTION FEEDBACK (2ND DRAFT)

I ASKED: Do you sympathise or empathise with the artist when watching this video?92% of those who answered said yesAdditional Comments- I feel like we can understand the upset she is going through- I feel empathy as it looks like a very horrible thing to go through - She is a good actor- Sympathise as I’ve lost people too- Because you see her upset and crying- It makes you feel sorry for them- Sympathise because she’s obviously lost someone who means something to her- There is a lot of facial expressions to help connect you to the emotion- “The opening sequence immediately makes me feel emotional, and then when it kicks in at the 2nd chorus with the graveyard, I’m gone”

This feedback suggests that the video reinforces the emotional narrative of the song.A combination of location, acting and narrative in the video all help the audience connect emotionally to the actress, therefore I think I have got the right combination, and the feedback is very positive!

Music Video TEDIUM

FEEDBACK (2ND

DRAFT) I ASKED: Did you find it boring? Be honest.- No x 19- At parts x 3-A little bit because I don’t like this genre anyway x 2

Additional Comments;- it constantly had different things to catch your attention- it’s really good I’m jealous- It really kicks in at the chorus, then the middle is slower, then the end is the best- thought it was really good- there was a clear narrative- when she is singing at the camera too long - it was interesting

This is, again, positive feedback, I completely understand that not everybody likes the same things, and my video is not going to be for everyone, but I’d like to think it isn’t boring. All of the comments are positive except one, which is what I am going to work on.

Music Video

The main cause of boredom in a video would be that it is repetitive, or the shots are too long. I have already made it less repetitive, so I decided that the best way to make it more interesting would be to cut shots shorter and pack them together, over a shorter period of time, using straight cuts.Below are the two, high tempo, clips. This video shows you how I have changed it. (click to play)

CHANGES I MADE FOLLOWING THE TEDIUM FEEDBACK;

Music VideoIMPROVEMENTS

FEEDBACK (2ND DRAFT) I ASKED: Are there any improvements you would make?No x 12- Make the middle bit faster and more graveyard shots / Perhaps some instruments to suggest genre / some shots are slightly unsteady / more make-up / more tears

I wanted to try and create the right balance of the performance and narrative. In reply to the ‘more tears’ comment, I only had 2 clips of crying, because I was trying to get an emotional reaction from the viewers through the use of narrative, body language and facial expressions, I added a few tears as there always comes a point where you can’t hold in your emotions anymore. So I felt I needed a few tears, but I think it would look to Cliché and over the top if she was crying all of the time. I chose not to add an instrument because I felt like an instrument would create a barrier between the artist and the audience. I wanted the audience to feel like the actress was letting all her emotions out, if she was hidden behind an instrument then it may not have had the same effect. I know that in one of the shots of the begging, I knock the camera and it’s unsteady, but I was unable to film again. I chose my costumes carefully, and I deliberately chose for her not to wear much make up in most of the shots. She only wears make up in her everyday shot, the funeral outfit, and when she leaves the house to visit the grave, otherwise, she is inside mourning, I don’t think I would be bothered about wearing make up when I was feeling this sad.

Music Video COSTUME

FEEDBACK (2ND DRAFT) I ASKED: Do you think the costume is relative to the narrative of the video?Yes x 23Additional Comments- especially the smudged make-up- could have been a few more but the ones used were very relevant- it fits with the genre x 2- shows her sadness- it makes it easier to relate, more realistic to the audience- there are many costume changes which reinforces that time has passed- dark colours = mourning

Positive feedback again, these comments have reinforced to me how relevant costume is, it is another small element that is a crucial part of the final product. The wrong costume could have a completely different effect on the audiences emotional connection to the actress.

MUSIC VIDEO FINAL DRAFT FEEDBACK

BINGO! All positive comments and just what I wanted to hear!

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