Evaluation 3

Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

1. Feedback on the initial ideas

To ensure that the original concept of my music video would be a success, and to ensure that the viewers would enjoy my product, I conducted some research before filming with the use of survey monkey and the intended audience survey, and after some filming with feedback from my first rough cut.  

From my initial feedback, I learnt that the choice of song was ideal because it was catchy and had an optimistic mood (key elements mentioned in the intended audience survey), however some people believed that the song was perhaps too repetitive which could result in making the video boring. I decided to stick with my original song choice nevertheless and focus on keeping the music video exciting with the use of narrative and editing. 

One of the main concerns in the feedback appeared to be the editing, since to achieve a happy mood the editing would have to be fast and upbeat (like the song). It appeared to trouble people that with such a complex narrative concept, the editing would not be as high quality. Nonetheless, I decided to stick to my original challenging idea. The initial feedback ensured that I would have these thoughts at the back of my mind throughout the planning of my music video and the creation of the ancillary tasks as well. 

2. Feedback on the rough cuts

After completing the rough cuts, I asked for feedback from peers and I summarised them as shown above; the green boxes display the positive feedback, while the orange boxes are elements which should be revised. Organising the information in this fashion means that the points are extremely easy to compare - it is evident from above that the possible improvements from Rough Cut 1 were acted upon and solved in Rough Cut 2. By the end of feedback in Rough Cut 2, I understood what was necessary for the final modifications for the final cut. 

I was most happy with the way Rough Cut 2 was received by the viewers, since they all seemed to understand and follow the narratives, and this was a challenge for me that I knew I wanted to get right. Clarity and communication was a strong point going forward to my final cut. I was pleased with the final feedback because it presented improvements that I knew could be made relatively easily, mainly through the use of advanced editing. 

This shot was the opening shot of Rough Cut 1, but offered no narrative context, so it got removed.

This shot appears in the introduction to the song in Rough Cut 1; way too soon. The narrative moved too quickly and character motives were not evident. The theme of nature is prominent in this shot, however.

This particular shot in Rough Cut 1 lasted a very long time. When shots are too long like this one, the whole music video seems slow and boring, unlike the nature of the song. 

Rough Cut 1: This shot is well framed, picturesque and creative. However, it appears at the end of the first chorus. Feedback suggested that this shot would best be used as the 'achievement' shot. 

3. Digipak Feedback 

In the designing of my digipak, I came up withv a few rough copies/design ideas. The feedback from these roughs helped me to create a final design for my digipak that I knew would be successful and appealing to its intended audience. 

The Journey of the Digipak - Blog Post

4. Feedback from final versions of everything

Music Video - Main Product

• "The music video is fun and has a happy mood throughout. The main message seems to be clear when considering the narrative in conjunction with the song and its lyrics; that you should 'Try Everything' and reach your goals." - Female, 16
• "The editing is fast-paced and fits well with the beat of the song, making it a very natural and professional music video. The lip-sync is timed very well too." - Female, 18
• "The shots are well framed and there is some good evidence of match-on-action (technical editing) in the narrative. The special effects towards the end of the music video lifts the whole thing and adds a valuable professionalism to the product". - Male, 44
• "The performance part of the music video was clearly approached with accuracy, but some of the shots featuring the artiste are a bit too long". - Male, 18
• "One or two of the shots appear to glitch, perhaps due to a technical issue? One or two of the shots have an overexposed foreground, however these faults are not easily recognised and have tried to be rectified with editing (a good attempt)" - Female, 47

Overall I am happy with this feedback. I think it shows proves that I have fixed some of the imperfections when looking back at the rough cuts of the music video. At the same time, there are a couple of points which suggest further improvements that could be made. I accept that my work cannot be completely perfect, and I find it interesting to know other people's thoughts about the product's issues nonetheless. 

Digipak - Ancillary Task 1

• "I really like how both sides of the narrative feature on the digipak because it gives a good taster of the genre and style of the main music video task and highlights the importance of both aspects of the narrative". - Male, 18
• "At first inspection, the two distinct colour palettes appear to clash, however as a finished product it is interesting and unique that the colour palettes have been separated by 'inside and outside', which works so well". - Female, 16
• "On the outside, pink appears to be the main colour of the product as a whole, suggesting that this product is aimed at females. I think that females would find this digpak especially eye-catching, especially on a shelf amongst others". - Male, 75
• "It looks so creative and artistic with the image on the inside stretching across the three inside panels. I especially like the pocket on the inside that can hold a bonus information booklet. It is something I would buy!" - Female, 12
• "The fonts are consistent throughout the design of the digipak and the small detail, barcodes, company logos etc makes the product appear to be so realistic. The colours are so satisfying as well". - Female, 47

I am very pleased with my digipak and the feedback which it has received. The main criticism would probably be the choice of colour palette used for the product and how this choice could pose the design as a female-orientated one. Although this may be true from a stereotypical perspective, it is worth noting that the music video's main demographic is in fact younger females (just like the pop genre's dominant demographic). This completely justifies the choice of colour palette. I am also pleased that the product appears to look professional to the people who gave feedback. It has made me realise that consistency and attention to detail is the key to creating a high quality product. 

Website - Ancillary Task 2

• "The website is so easy to navigate and understand, even for an older person like me! I could find my way around easily, the menu was so clear". - Female, 74
• "It was so interactive and enjoyable to use. The images and theme was consistent throughout the site, even on the tour and shop pages." - Female, 12
• "The site is so accessible and easy to use. I love the interactive links to external sites such as the 'Try Everything' Soundcloud link embedded on the homepage, and the 'sold out' message which appears when you click to buy tour tickets. Such a detailed website!" - Male, 47
• "The dynamic images and gifs used on the homepage gives the website a fun and exciting mood, which is a mood reflected in the music video main task too. Consistent indeed." - Male, 18
• "Everything about this website is interesting. The movement of the images and the background, the accessibility with the tabs and the clarity of the information across the product. The only thing I don't like is how some of the social media sites have just been added for show - they do not link to anywhere useful". - Female, 47

In total, I am content with the response from my website. The interactivity of the product and the dynamic images used on the homepage prove to have been a successful, attractive feature. I designed the website with the intent to make it completely user-friendly. To my relief, two of the five responses mentioned the ease of access, suggesting that my website has met its specification to a high degree. 

Magazine Advert - Ancillary Task 3 

• "I love the pink colour! It matches the background of the image in the middle of the advert and it matches the digipak as well, which is useful if you were to see the magazine advert and then go to look for the digipak in a shop". - Female, 12
• "There is too much pink for me, I think it looks too much like a girly product. The font is especially girly as well. However, the design is very modern and would certainly catch the eye, even in a busy magazine." - Male, 18
• "It is clear thanks to the silhouette picture in the middle that it relates to the other ancillary products. The font is the same, the colours are the same, and the font is easy to read. The information that it is designed to provide is clear." - Male, 47
• "It almost appears so simple that it doesn't look like a real magazine advert. In comparison with the other ancillary products, it seems very basic and doesn't entirely reflect the same optimistic, happy mood" - Female, 18
• "The magazine advertisement is bold, which is what really counts when it is featured in a magazine full of other attractive adverts. The big bold lettering is easy to understand. It does its job". - Male, 75

Although I do not think that my magazine advert was the best of my ancillary products, I am happy with the feedback. It is evident that people believe my magazine advert to be practical with the use of big, bold lettering (that also happens to be consistent with the rest of the product as a whole). Similarly to the digipak, colour choice was mentioned again as appealing more to the female gender, however I do not consider this to be an improvement that should be made. I am glad that people would think my advert would stand out; arguably, this is the most important feature in order to successfully advertise my product.