QUESTION THREE

What have you learnt

from audience feedback?

In the early stages of our research and planning, we stated that our target audience will consist of middle-upper class females ranging between 14-25 years of age. Throughout the production process we have remained in close contact with our target audience focus group. This has enabled us to make decisions in terms of editing and the construction of the music video that will reach the preferred reading of our target audience. We maintained contact through the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and also by holding meetings with a selection of people from the group which we have filmed and uploaded to our blogs. Both of these methods have proven to be very effective in terms of efficiently collecting qualitative data.

Our target audience

The preferred reading for our music video production is essentially to empathize with the protagonist, Lucy. The video is centred around a break up which is heavily emphasized in the lyrics of the soundtrack. To convey a narrative which provokes this empathy, we filmed on a beach location in gloomy, dull weather which is considered to be a signifier of sadness. However as well as these aspects of preferred reading, we also created an interlinking narrative which intends to provoke our audience into believing that the main subject is also rebellious and liberated by the breakup as well upset which gives a sense of 'girl power' to the video in order to create a relatable theme to our female based target audience. The data collected throughout the production process confirms that generally we have achieved the intended preferred reading for our specified target audience. Here is an example of a response from a member of our target audience after watching the final cut of our music video.

Music Video Feedback

Preferred Reading

By the final stages of our production we are confident in saying that we achieved our preferred reading, however throughout the process of our production this was not always the case. Included in our blog is a first cut of our music. Generally the feedback was positive however we were not confident that our target audience were receiving the preferred reading. Below is a quote taken from a target audience discussion we held after the viewing of our first cut music video.

"Overall I liked the video- I found it visually enjoyable and loved the chosen location however there is not an obvious/strong narrative. I understand that it is about a breakup due to the lyrics of the song however I think that the girl needs to be featured in the video a lot more with more close up shots showing her emotional state in order for me to relate to her a lot more."- Lucy Moynan (17 years)

We kept this feedback in mind when constructing the final cut of our music video.

Negotiated reading

Music Video Production- First Cut Feedback

This is the first cut of our music video 'Sorry Dan'. Once we uploaded this cut onto our YouTube Channel, we held a focus group meeting to enable our target audience to put across their views and responses towards the video. The general consensus was very positive and they believed that the visual imagery corresponded well with the soundtrack. They liked the understated style of the piece and the chosen shot location. However of course there was some constructive criticism brought up throughout the focus group which we have evaluated further on in this presentation. After holding the discussion we made the consecutive decision to film additional footage at a separate location and create a second and final cut of the music video.

Ellie's Feedback

As well as fitting into our target audience demographic, Ellie is a member of the duo Rhi&Elz and sings the soundtrack used in the music video therefore has a strong opinion on what she expects to see in the video in relation to her song. Below are some of the comments she made in the Focus Group meeting.

"I like the general theme and style of the video however I believe that the narrative is slightly confused. I'd like to see some more shots of Lucy looking more emotional because she has a consist vacant expression throughout the video which is ok in parts but personally if I had just broken up with my boyfriend, I'd look a lot more upset. In relation to the soundtrack I think that style and imagery synchronizes really well with my song and I would keep this theme consistent in the second cut of the video however, as I've said, add more emotional shots of Lucy." - Ellie Ward (18 years)

What we have learnt from Ellie's Response:

Ellie's feedback predominantly helped us when filming additional footage for our second cut. Her comments about the narrative were mutually agreed amongst the focus group and were also brought up in the comments made by Lucy Moynan who had a negotiated reading to the music video. Our main aim that arose from her comments was to create a stronger narrative. In order to do so, in the second stage of filming, we ensured that Lucy displayed more obvious emotions through facial expressions as well as increasing the screen time of our protagonist and editing in a lot more close up/extreme close up shots of her face.

Ellie M's Feedback

"I loved the music video, it flowed very well and I liked the general narrative of the piece however if I was to be picky, I would add an additional one or two beach locations. I like to see a variety of location shots in a music video and I think this is very restricted being set at just one location.“

- Ellie McFarlene (15 years)

What we have learnt from Ellie M's response

Ellie M's feedback was extremely useful in terms of making decisions about where our shot location will be for the second stage of filming. Initially we were going to visit the same location we used to shoot the first cut of our video however after receiving this feedback alongside similar comments we reviewed the idea of having a separate beach location and came to the conclusion that we would film the remaining footage at Broadstairs beach.

Music Video- Final cut

Here is the final cut of our music video. We have applied all the feedback we have gathered from our target audience to this video. By having a focus group we have learnt that a target audience is essential to achieve the preferred reading of a media text. Aspects we believed would be suitable for our target audience sometimes recieved a negotiated or oppositional reading which we would have not acknowledged without the assistance of our target audience.

3a) What have you learnt from

audience feedback regarding your ancillary texts?

Throughout the production of my ancillary task, I went through the same process in terms of target audience research as I did for the main task. It was important that I created a brand identity within my body of work so that the my target audience can recognise the artist and video from the digipaks and posters.

Above is the final outcome of my ancillary tasks. I have made many changes throughout this production using my focus group as a guideline for the changes I made.

Above is the first draft of my ancillary task digipak. I held a focus group meeting to gather feedback from my target audience which assisted my decisions on what to change. Below is a comment taken from the meeting which provided the most useful feedback.

With the front cover, the group liked the positing of 'WHO'S NORA?' but felt the 'rhi & elz' was too small and looked weird in the right hand corner.

With the back cover they liked the positioning of the track list and the right justification, but thought the attention to detail on the bottom where the label information goes was weak and there is always a lot of small print here.

I showed my focus group my first draft of my ancillaries to get some pointers. They obviously liked the photos as they had already voted which photos I should use. They also liked the idea of using one large photo stretched across both pages for the inside cover instead of a photo on each page. However they felt simply leaving it as a photo was a bit plain.

FOCUS GROUP RESPONSE:  The group really liked this new font, saying it fitted the playful/youthfulness of the band and their music. Again they liked the colours for the text and how they are obtained from the colours in the image. Their criticism was that it didn't really look like a poster and that there should be other marketing information other than just 'debut album'. They felt some of the text too small and said the purple at the top didn't stand out from the lilac background. I am also unhappy with the layout so I repositioned it in the next draft.

Above is the final outcome of my ancillary tasks. I have made many changes throughout this production using my focus group as a guideline for the changes I

made.