A2 Media Studies: April 2015

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The essential purpose of any media product are to provide enjoyment to a vast audience, thus resulting in a great number of product sales - in this instance, an upcoming album. Consequently, it was vital for me to collect and apply feedback from my spectators so I could cater directly to their interest in both this project and future projects.

Social media, specifically Facebook, worked significantly in my favour as it allowed me to share my work with a considerable number of people, therefore the responses I accumulated represented a larger sector of society. Before my music video was complete, I shared my progress on Facebook, requesting personal analysis from my friends.

The responses I received from peers were predominantly very positive, the majority of them addressed the range of creative effects I inserted throughout my post production, suggesting that viewers are naturally stimulated by imaginative editing strategies. I can obviously appreciate that the comments made by this assembly are probably biased, on account of the viewers being friends and family of mine, meaning they’re less likely to provide negative criticism lest I’m offended. However, despite this, I think their communal impression inferred that my individual concepts were somewhat captivating and that I was heading in a good direction, this is also supported by the number of likes on my video link.

Some of their responses:

Most of my audience feedback was articulated by A2 Media students, probably owning to their shared interest in the topic and commitment to the process. The positivity of their remarks reinforced the effectiveness of my product because, as a unit, they retain knowledge of what makes a good product and they could recognise the difficulties involved in the course. Collectively, the responses gathered at this certain stage were not expressed by my predominant demographic of males aged between 20 and 24 (according to Musicmetric Pro), instead females of mutual age of approximately 18 were the leading voices of opinion (likely to be categorised as demographic group E). Therefore the feedback I received could be perhaps viewed as irrelevant, as the interests of my target audience were not accounted for.

At this particular point, the most beneficial feedback I received was courtesy of my friend Alice (18 years old, studying A2 biology, psychology, chemistry & French) who recommended incorporating one of my drawings within my piece. This advice was incredibly valuable to me because at this instant, I was perplexed as to what I should include in the remaining fifteen seconds of my video; I didn’t want to tire the audience with repeated footage as it habitually disrupts engagement. I followed her advice although I structured it around my own creative input, as I selected my own choice of footage to layer the sketch over, besides adding a layer blend mode, plus rotation and grow effects to further reinforce the hallucinatory atmosphere. From this, I discovered the extent of how an audience can impact upon your creative notions.

Once I had completed the construction of all my media texts – a promotional poster, music video & album digipak – I produced a survey relating to the effectiveness of my products, both individually and as an ensemble. This was created on Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com), this website was valuable as it allowed me to distribute my survey via email and Facebook, reaching a considerable amount of people. Additionally, the participants were not limited in terms of writing space as they perhaps would be if a paper survey was employed, meaning that they could write freehandedly.

Firstly, I asked my participants questions relating to their age, gender and occupation so I could:

1. Gain an understanding of their demographic that I could later compare to my target audience.

2. Somewhat comprehend the context behind their individual comments, e.g. someone whose occupation revolves around film/media is more likely to own knowledge relating to the effectiveness of a music video than those who work in the food industry, therefore they’re more inclined to be critical.

The majority of my candidates were aged between the ages of 18 and 24, aligning with my chosen demographic in this sense, meaning that their views are more appropriate to the project.

On the other hand, the collective age of my participants was female, thus contradicting my audience to a degree and perhaps presenting a bias perspective.

Their occupations varied somewhat which was an advantage, to an extent, because it proposed that this net represented a wide portion of society, meaning more desires could potentially be met. Most were students, categorising them as part of the E demographic group.

The first question, concerning my project, posed whether the products are effective as a unit and whether they reflect one another, to which no discouraging answers followed. All my applicants conveyed that my products harmonise with one other and that continuity is present; with most inferring that the coherent use of colour and imagery is accountable for this. Taking these responses into consideration, I learnt that continuity can be present purely through colour schemes and styles despite when dissimilar images and compositions are utilised.

One applicant (female aged between 25 & 35, employed under the education, training and library occupations bracket) quoted “There is a mysterious and captivating feel to the video and art work, they create a feeling of energy, whilst also evoking a sense of calmness.” I appreciated this comment dearly as it sincerely addressed my intention of creating an equilibrium between calmness and chaos, which I evidently fulfilled according to this applicant.

The subsequent question was in relation solely to my music video and asked my participants whether they believed it was visually exciting. All of them again offered flattering replies, most referring to the presence of vivid colour and imagery, in conjunction with the editing technique. This implies that the general aesthetic of a music video (i.e. mise-en-scene and editing) are to be stressed if one wants to create a product that is exciting to an audience. Furthermore, I learnt that the inclusion of a narrative isn’t overly important in producing an engaging product if the visual aspects are underlined, thus supporting Michael Shore’s philosophy of “surface without substance”.

One participant (a female student aged between 18 and 24), expressed that my video could’ve been more visually exciting if hadn't repeated the same footage in some areas. I respected this point totally as I had anticipate filming more shots before my final completion, however, due to my cast members’ hefty schedule, alongside unavailability of equipment (Canon DSLR specifically), I was unable to do so. Consequently, from this I learnt that the introduction of fresh footage is an important factor to consider in this media form, as it strengthens audience engagement. In future projects I aim to begin filming earlier in the process to circumvent any potential issues, such as unavailability of equipment and cast on certain days.

Question 6 asked whether my products complimented the actual song itself, I felt this was central as misaligned media products can appear unprofessional and ungratifying. Some applicants skipped this question, however, I still managed to collect enough responses to develop a respectable analysis. All of this question’s respondents again provided positive comments in relation to my work as they all inferred that my products parallel some of the song’s characteristics. One applicant (female aged between 25 & 35, employed under the education, training and library occupations bracket) suggested that the use of artwork, in particular, “works well in creating a sense of mystery”. When I completed my lyric analysis of the song, I remarked upon their ambiguous nature, with figurative qualities that could be interpreted in a number of ways. This therefore supports this individual’s comment and confirms that the song and my products synchronise. Additionally, a point arose regarding how I edited on the beat of the song – this remark was made by a female student, aged between 18 and 24. Respecting this lady’s comment, I learnt that editing to the beat is an effective and decipherable method of connecting the audio to the video.

The final question I included in my survey requested improvements that could be applied to my video and ancillary texts. Although my product was finished at this point so no further refinements could’ve been implemented anyway, this question enriched my understanding of how to make a more polished product in the future; I therefore found the responses to this question extremely valuable. One respondent, in particular, captured my attention, owing to the scale of their comment, plus their profession. This individual was aged between 18 and 24 (reflecting my demographic), female and was employed under the Arts, Design, Entertainment and Media field of occupation. Judging by their career, this applicant therefore owned a comprehensive understanding of what makes a visually successful product. Accordingly, I was logically more willing to take notice of her comments. She asserted that the CCTV style footage of Alice was irrelevant to the overall film and should therefore be cut, unless I was willing to expand on this notion further. Her next comment attended to the shot shown below. She recommended removing the background, along with altering the opacity of the close up shots, bearing the boys, as it doesn't tally with the effects displayed in the rest of the footage – “having the squares with the white background doesn't really fit in with the rest of the film and looks more amateur than the rest”. Regarding this, I discovered that all aspects of a music video should associate with one another for the purpose of solidity.

There were more individual suggestions as to how I could improve my products, however, I didn’t acknowledge them wholeheartedly as some of them contradicted my own artistic preferences. One lesson I learned from my audience feedback was the realisation of my own creative stubbornness. In one sense, this trait was an advantage as it allowed me to discover my own signature style, however, it was also a setback as it meant my audience’s desires were sometimes not accounted for. On the contrary, any art form is subjective and therefore individuals’ taste will always differ from one another.