Media Studies A2 music evaluation question 3, what we learned from audience feedback.

1. What have you learned from
your audience feedback?

2. • From audience feedback we learned the
positives and negatives to our video, what we
could improve, and what we did very well
especially when following the codes and
conventions. To get good audience feedback
we went to a few different fans of indie rock,
including Ryan Beattie whom we interviewed
previously when researching the genre.

3. • What we learned from our audience feedback was that we
appeared to have followed the codes and conventions
precisely when it came to showing the live performance of
the band as well as the story which goes on throughout our
main piece. It showed us that we had used the perfect
amount of live performance along with that of the fiction.
By doing this, the target audience seemed to have been
impressed with the technique we used along with the
editing techniques and the way it was strung together. The
fast pace shots as well as the slower, more still shots
showed how the pace of the song changed and we were
praised on the quality of the video and how professional it
looked. They especially commented on our use of filters
and the real difference it made to our piece.

4. • Many of the people who we asked seemed to
like the fact that we put in a lot of picturesque
shots so break up the video and how we used
motion tracking to keep the camera moving
fast, but also to give it a steadier look, such as
the shot at Lady Dixon where we done a long
shot skimming by the water.

5. • The audience appeared to notice the double
exposure that we used in our album cover and
throughout the video and thought that this was
very effective for transitions and also placing an
image to the band. we were very happy with the
positive feedback about using the live shots
throughout because this was something that had
really appealed to us during the planning stage.
We found that we had followed the codes and
conventions when it came to this aspect of the
video as many said that we had executed this
very well.

6. • From the audience feedback we also found
out that we had used lighting very well. One
indie fan pointed out the way in which we
used final cut pro to brighten up the scenes at
the start and how it was bright when
everything was going well, and how it changed
to a more duller empty scene when things
went wrong, and this was used to show that
the character in our story was In a dark place
at this time.

7. • Through the research I believe it helped us greatly when
appealing to the target audience. It was due to our
extensive research on other indie artists that we found out
about the live performances in videos and also what age
group we were aiming for. The target audience seemed to
enjoy the story throughout our video and I believe this is
because we had kept the range of ages in mind when
making our indie video. The average age for indie fans was
from 16-25, and because of this, we had chosen to do a
video about two people in a relationship and how it can
have it's ups and downs and that something nearly always
goes wrong.

8. • The target audience seemed to be impressed
with such shots as the close-up of the solo on
the guitar, especially in slow motion, however
although there were a lot of positives about
the video including the quality, professional
look, shots, use of lighting, live play and the
story, as well as the scenic shots the break up
the shots, they also gave us some constructive
criticism when it came to editing and some of
the poorer shots.

9. • We learned that when editing the video and recording
that the lip sync at the start of the video could be
improved slightly, and we were recommended that the
next time we record a band playing live that they
should have the song playing in the background which
results in the lip syncing being better, we found this
piece of feedback very useful. Also in the shots where
we were recording the live band they said some of the
lighting was quite poor and at times the shots were not
clear. This made us come to the conclusion that when
recording, always make sure we have suitable lighting
equipment.

10. • When it came to our other ancillary texts such as the album cover,
digipak and website, the people we questioned about them all
seemed very impressed and said the layout, the pictures and the
designs all looked to be of a very high standard and along the lines
of professional indie bands. They were particularly impressed by
our website and liked the idea of finding out more about the
individual band members as it meant people who played
instruments could relate more to an individual who maybe played
the same instrument as them. People also commented on the use
of the links to facebook and mentioned how it was a good idea for
advertising and that it was a good way to connect to the target
audience as more and more people continue to use facebook and
sites like twitter.

11. • From questioning the audience on their opinion of double exposure
we discovered that it seemed to appeal to the mass amount of
people we asked, the found it very effective the fact that we had
such scenic pictures and also managed to show the band in the
background as well. This was done through photoshop and from
the feedback it seems that it has achieved it's task in grabbing the
target audience's attention, standing out and most importantly
appealing to them. This is not something that we have seen done
on many of the album's that we researched, so it was quite unique
to the indie genre, however it has seemed to have been a big hit as
the majority of the people believed our album cover was very
creative. Although we may have went against the codes and
conventions partially here, the audience were also pleased to see
that we stuck to the norm in our digipak, by using very
scenic, picturesque pictures as other artists of this genre do.

12. • Overall, we found out from our audience
feedback that we had done very well for our first
music project, and that the research and planning
on the genre and the target audience has paid off
as it seems to be impressing many of the indie
fans we asked about our video. We learned ways
in which we can improve our video, but also the
many things in which we did correctly and made
it look professional and aesthetically pleasing to
the viewer whether it be our website or the video
itself.