Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

1. Klaudia Gil
QUESTION 3: What have you learned from your audience questionnaire?
I learnedthatthe explorationof differentidesinarelationshipbetweenthe twocharactersshows
more diversityandappliestoagreateramountof audience andisn’texclusive toaniche audience
but involvesboth‘mainstream’heterosexual relationshipswherethe twogirlscanbe friendsorin a
homosexual relationship.AsShannonsaidthe “narrative iseffective asitshows2 possible
perspectives”thisleadsonto the theoryof StuartHall, allowingthe audiencetohave a ‘negotiated
reading’of the mediatextratherthanus, the producers,have the audience thinkina‘dominant
reading.’
However,RyanB suggestedthatthere couldbe “maybe use lessnarrative asthere wasa lotin
comparisontothe cutawayand performance”.Butsince ournarrative andthe story we proposedto
our audience wasourmainfocusfor the audience tointerpret,Iwouldn’tnecessarilyagree withhis
view.Although,there couldbe more performance fromthe artisttoallow the targetedaudience to
getto knowthe performerabitmore whichcouldhelpbuildonthe personal relationshipthrough
the central and close uppositioningof the artistexposingalotof negative space which purposely
bringsall the attentiontothe artist makingitfeel like theyare speakingdirectlyatthe audience.
Ryan F andBrandon bothsuggestedthatwe clearlypresentedaclearstructure of ‘Todorov’s Theory’
throughthe clear representationof the narrative asRyanF saidthat the “narrative didtell a good
story” althoughwe beganwitha‘disruption’showingthe twofriendsnotbeingable to
communicate effectivelywitheachotherratherthanan equilibriumaswe proposedtochallenge
our audience.Finallyendingwitha‘new equilibrium’ where the friendsare beginninga‘new life’
withouteachother.Brandoncommentedthatthe musicvideo “hada constructedbeginningand
end”whichpresentsthatour narrative wasstructuredina clear andlogisticwayforour audience to
understand asimple buteffective narrative.
For our mise-en-sceneShannoncommented, “the use of differentlightingtoshow the twodifferent
moods”,thishas been interpreted thatthe lightingthatwasusedwasreflective of the characters
state of beingnotjusttheirnon- verbal communication butthroughthe visual change of lighting.
Theiractingalso reflectsthe physical editingchange onthe screen. FollowedwithRyanB’s
judgementthatthe “lightinghelpedsetscene”.
Our motif of flowerswastakeninwell andclearlynoticedbyouraudience sincebothRyanF and
Chelseacommentedonit. RyanF said, “the mise-en-sceneof the flowersdyingtorepresentto
passingof time was really effective andappropriatelyused”,the delicate dissolve transitionsallowed
us to representthe change overtime of the flowers,the same waythe friendschange overtime.
Symbolismallowed Chelseatointerpretandhelpedme tounderstandthatthiscanbe an important
aspectof the whole videoeventhough the flowersscene lastedabout5seconds,itbrings
everythingtogether.She said, “the roseswhichshowedthe relationshipwasdying”,the flowerscan
be like a ‘character’to the sequence beingpersonifiedtofulfil anarrative of ‘symbolism’ where clear
symbolismisreflectedonthe video.
Anothermotif thatwe decidedtouse throughoutthe videowere ‘real life’ photosthatrepresented
the time the two friendswere togetherbutBrandonthoughtthat,thatgave ita “depressingfeel”
and he alsothoughtit was“overused”. We wantedtouse that to expressthe goodtimes,where
evenif youendon badterms withanotherpersonyourememberthe ‘happy’timesthatyouspent

2. Klaudia Gil
withthem. Shannonhadagreedwithour thought,“the use of photosaddedsubstance andstyle to
the videoandnarrative.”We thoughtthat thiswouldbe convenience forthe audience aswell asus
the producersbecause we were showingsomethingthatcouldbe expectantbythe audience,John
Fiske.Itwasmeantto match the targeted audience’sexpectationsbutthismade me learnthat
sometimesit’snotgood‘overdoing’thingstoexpressasimple message whichcanbe overwhelming
for the audience tointerpret.
We triedtocreate a varietywith differentangle shotslike alongshotinthe park or a middle shotto
representthe friendssittingdown,whichwasnoticedbyShannon,RyanFandMaclean whohad
differentopinionstoeachother. Shannonsaid “some shotslowerqualitythanothers”,we
acknowledgedthatsome of our shots quality wasn’tasgoodas others.Thisis due toequipment
since one filmingdaywe didn’thave agoodqualitycamera, sowe hadto go withwhatwe had,
unfortunatelyouractresswasunavailable anotherday whichresultedinusnotbeingable tore-
shootthe shot withthe lowerquality. The badqualityaddedtothe ‘realism’ tothe video,thatreal
life isn’t‘perfect’.But she alsomanagedtogive a positive comment“the range of shotsand angles
used”waseffective alongside RyanF, “varietyof shotsthroughout,startingwithalongshotand
there were several close-ups”and“the varietyreallyaddedtothe video”. Close-up’sallowedthe
audience tosee the detailsinfacial non-verbal communicationenablingthemtocreate a personal
relationship,whichtheyhave likelyexperiencedthemselves.AlthoughMacleanthoughtthatthere
couldhave been “more shotscouldhave beenused, i.e overthe shoulder”,we useddifferenttypes
of shotswhichwere repetitive,nexttime if we didthisagainwe wouldtake hiscommentinto
acknowledgementandwouldtrytocreate more of a variety.
The editingwas“visuallystriking”–Shannon, Ilearnedthatthese featureswere noticeable andeye
capturing,RyanF “lots of filtersandtransitions”,Maclean“slow motionisthe best”.We wantedto
‘capture the moment’ throughslowingdownthe scene. Itallowedustopaygreat attentiontonon-
verbal communicationaswell asmake the moment‘lastlonger’,it’sasif the friendswere stoppedin
the moment. Notonlydoesithelpthe audience create personal identity,it’sawayof escapism and
entertainment. Chelsea, “Ilikedwhenitre-winedbackwards”.
We fulfilledthe conventionsof apop musicvideo,“upbeattrack” – Shannon.Thishas meantthat we
had to have more footage comparedtoothergroupsfor the visualstomatch the soundtrackand the
editing. Itinvolvedthe performance andnarrative thatbothactedas entertainment. We had
includedacommercial feature of the genre,JasonMittel, conveyingthe ideaof “love/friendship” –
Maclean,to have that as an idea/dreamthatmostpeople goforwardto reach and achieve.