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

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Demographics

Identifying who your target audience is, is vital before creating a music video, as all the elements associated with a music video including the artist, characters, themes, settings, mise en scene etc are all related to the target audience. Therefore, we identified our target audience through a questionnaire, allowing us to find out all the important information about them. Once we discovered everything we needed to know about them we made decisions regarding our music video. This is the key areas and requirements we identified: 

• Genre: The genre of my song is alternative R&B, as we chose to use the song 'Papi Pacify' by FKA Twigs. 
• Gender: My music video is targeted at both males and females, though it can be perceived as targeting females more due to them being able to relate to the narrative more effectively than males. 
• Age: My music video is targeted at individuals aged 18-30 years old.
• Ethnicity: My video is targeted at all ethnic groups, which is reflected through the characters I have chosen, as they are all from different ethnic backgrounds making my music video more appealing to a larger audience. 
• Occupation: E1-C2- The music video involves normal, working class artists, and the locations consist of lower/working class areas, which is appealing and relatable to audiences with from an E1-C2 occupation. 
• Hobbies and interests: There are no specific hobbies or interests that our audience are expected to have as the music video draws upon various themes. However, our target audience may be interested in particular hobbies and interests such as music, sports, travelling, arts, dancing etc. 

Questionnaire and graphs

During the initial planning stages I carried out a questionnaire in order to receive feedback about my upcoming music video, identifying who my target audience was, what they liked to see and expected from a music video.  Before creating my final questionnaire, I created a mini one which involved identifying what genre of music my target audience most liked. From this, I identified that the alternative R&B genre was a popular choice encouraging me to choose this as my genre. As a result, I completed the final questionnaire and received feedback, creating graphs to express my results. From this, I was able to make clear decisions about my narrative, characters, mise en scene, cinematography etc, allowing me to create a music video that was targeted at the correct audience and was suitable for them, meeting their expectations. 

Some questions I asked in my questionnaire included:
 

The key questions we asked and the feedback we received that were vital in impacting our future decisions included: 

1) 

• From the evidence, we identified that the majority of the people contributing to our questionnaire was between 18-30 years old, which allowed us to identify that this is our target audience. As a result, we were able to include themes such as relationships, tarot reading etc that was more likely to appeal to an older audience. 

2) 

• Most of the audience agreed that they wanted the main artist to be portrayed as both a role model and someone they can relate to, therefore, we decided to make the artist suitable for both these purposes in the way she behaves and looks. 

3) 

• Most of the target audience agreed that there should be one narrative within in alternative R&B music video, therefore, in order to make the music video successful we only included one narrative in our music video. 

4)

• A majority of the audience agreed that the camera should only focus on capturing the artist through close up's and long shots. Therefore, we ensured that most of the shots revolving the artist were captured using close up's and long shots camera according to the target audiences needs.

How did this help you make decisions? 

The questions we asked and the feedback we received about our upcoming music video helped us as we identified what the audience wanted and expected from the music video, allowing us to make key decisions based on these factors. For example, after finding out that the audience were more interested in seeing the artist being captured through close up's and long shots we made the camera person aware of this, so when it came to filming we filmed the artist bearing this in mind. Without the creation of a questionnaire, we would not have had any feedback to draw upon which may have put my group and I at a disadvantage as we would have had little knowledge about our target audience, and what they liked/ expected to see in a alternative R&B music video. Therefore, the use of research has been extremely helpful in allowing us to carry out our decisions, as we continuously referred to our graphs to help us finalise our storyboard which contained everything about the shooting of each scene. 

What is the importance of receiving critical feedback once the production has been made?

Once a production is finalised, it is important to get your target audience to view your product and give feedback to help you make small changes helping to finalise the product, making it as successful and appealing as possible. After identified that it was vital to receive critical feedback on our completed production, we held a focus group, inviting AS and A2 film and media students to watch our production and view our ancillary products, allowing them to provide us with feedback, consisting of positives and negatives. From this, we was able to make small changes to our production based on the feedback we received, making it more effective and maximising its success. Making these small changes ensured that I was able to increase the level of success my video received as well as ensuring that it was suitable, meeting/ exceeding the audiences expectations.

Focus group pictures and feedback comments on soundcloud 

SoundCloud Feeback:

• Lara- 19 years old:

• Sophie- 18 years old: 

Tony- 18 years old: 

Link to video on youtube and some of the comments left: 

Papi Pacify- MCF Productions: https://youtu.be/MQ0eTX-cWRM

Some of the comments we received on YouTube included: 

Why did you put your work on youtube?

I put my work on YouTube as I was aware that it is the biggest, global platform used by a mass audience from around the world to watch music videos. Therefore, by uploading my music video to YouTube, I was able to receive viewings and comments from a mass audience, including my target audience who gave me feedback, including positives and critiques they identified about the music video. Receiving feedback from a global audience allowed us to see what the general positives and negatives were associated with the overall video, allowing us to make minor changes according to the negatives. As a result, we were able to finalise our video making it more successful and appealing to the target audience. 

Comments left on Youtube regarding my video:

• Positives: 

- "Video with a great concept and creative content well done!"

-   "I really enjoyed watching this, love the way the narrative unfolds in such a tense and unique way!"

• Negatives: 

-  " At certain points of the video some of the lip syncing was not in time with the music."

-   "Some shots she is in are too dark, not allowing the audience to see her facial expressions clearly."

What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video? 

This audience feedback taught me that overall my music video was effective and conventional, with only minor changes that needed to be made according to the criticism I received from some individuals who identified important factors which we did change in order to make our video a greater success. We changed the lighting revolving the artist making it brighter to ensure that she is visible, reflecting her importance and star motif.  Also, we changed the pace of the footage to ensure that the lip syncing was in time with the music, making the singing look as realistic as possible. Aside from that, a majority of the audience agreed that they liked the music video and the concept, and the way in which the characters were portrayed, which was realistic.

Screenshot of video on Facebook and Instagram

Why did you put your work on Facebook and Instagram?

I put my work on Facebook as I wanted to share my work with my family and friends on a global scale in order to get their opinions about my production. I figured that Facebook was the most suitable social networking site to share it on as many people use it for educational purposes as well as social purposes, also allowing them to like, comment and share my video. This would ensure that audiences from various age groups, including my target audience aged 18-30 would view my video and give me truthful feedback. This was successful as I received a large amount of likes and comments, allowing me to see what was good about the video and what needed to be improved. 

I also posted my video on Instagram, allowing my followers to view, like and comment on my video. It was important for me to share my music video on various social networking sites as it encouraged my video to be viewed by a global audience, making my video globally identified and successful, as well as allowing my artist to be recognised by a larger audience, increasing her fame and success.

Some general comments I received on Facebook and Instagram:

• Positives: 

-  "Clear themes are highlighted throughout the music video" 

-  " I like the use of a distinctive narrative rather than a cliche one, it creates adrenaline for the audience as they do not know what to expect." 

• Negatives: 

-  "It is not always clear that the male characters are associated with the female character, it could of been portrayed in a clearer way"

- "The shots of the female artist can be repetitive at times." 

What did you learn from this audience feedback in terms of whether you created a conventional and successful music video? 

I learnt that a majority of the audience, including my target audience and even those from other age categories liked my music video, giving me positive feedback. From this, I learnt that my music video was conventional as it was positively received by a mass audience, which may have been different if my music video was niche and only specifically targeted at a niche audience or specific subcultures identified by Hebdige. Also, despite the few negative comments I received including the representation of the characters and the cinematography, I was able to take this criticism on board making small amendments to my video to help overcome these issues. Moreover, these criticisms are also useful as they could help me in the future if I was to create this music video again. 

Conclusion

Overall, I promoted my music video on various media platforms, including; Facebook, Instagram and Youtube as they are all globally accessible and therefore fit for our purpose, which included presenting our music video to a wider audience, allowing it to receive popularity as well as feedback to improve the video, maximising its success. This also ensured that I received audience feedback from different audiences on various social network platforms encouraging my video to go global, gaining popularity. The overall feedback I received was positive, although we did receive some fair criticism, allowing room for improvement. Those who provided us with criticism encouraged us to see where we went wrong and how we could improve. For example, one individual commented on how the timing of the lip syncing was not reflective of the music which we agreed with after carefully viewing the video again and we amended this as a result. As the director of this music video, I thought it was important and beneficial for me to identify the benefits as well as the negatives in order to help me for future preference, and if I was to create a music video again, I would ensure that these small yet vital elements were correctly implemented ensuring that my music video received ultimate successful, lacking limitations.