Uchechi Eluwa
What have you learnt from audience feedback?
Audience feedback was a crucial part of the construction process of our music video. We used feedback from both media students who are out target audience so they knew the conventions of music videos and what to expect from the music video such as it has to be of high quality. As well as the fact we got feedback from our target audience throughout the process to enable us to make continuous improvements.
What is your favourite part of the video and why?
From the first question we learned that the most effective scene to our target audience were the bit where there is a drum hit and the tempo of the song changes. As well as the fact that a beach setting was used which reflects the quiet side of the character and the fact that she is reflecting on her relationship. It also adds an element of dreaming and more personal as we sort of begin to think and feel her emotion. Lastly, one of the aspects of the music video that the target audience liked was the fact that there was a big emphasis on water as they could nature and its beauty is emphasized and reinforced in the video.
Is the narrative of the music video clear?
From our audience feedback from our rough cuts it was brought to our attention that some people said the narrative wasn’t clear. Therefore as a group we decided to add more shots that made the narrative clear. We decided to split the music video into 3 main parts and have a theme for each part. The beginning was about her being angry about her past relationship and wanted to burn everything hat reminded her of him, so the central theme was anger. The middle bit was bout her being confused and deep in thought about her relationship and the effect it had on her emotions and personality. Whereas the end is more about her forgetting about hi and getting over him and ‘going wild’ instead. To see if the 3 central parts of the music video and the narrative was clear, we asked
the TA it during the questionnaire. was now clear we asked our target audience if it was clear. We found that 88% of our target audience thought the narrative was clear and there was a clear storyline. However, 12% of the people was asked thought it was hard to following in some places, this could be due to the order we decided to place the music video in. possibly, as an improvements we could include a small backstory like in some music videos it has a bit of speech and acting such as in As long as you love me but Justin Bieber. This will insecure that the backstory was clear and that it could flow into the music video more easily.
Do you think the settings are effective at reinforcing the narrative of the story
Also, from audience feedback we wanted to know if the settings are effective at reinforcing the narrative of the story as the most important aspect of our music video. Therefore we had to make sure the narrative was clear just from the settings alone and that the narrative and setting worked hand in hand. From our feedback we can say that most of the target audience saw that the settings were effective at reinforcing the storyline. Some even went onto comment how it is effective. As the song is called ‘white water’ they automatically see the connection between the time and the setting of the beach. Therefore we can see a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Some of our target audience also took up on the fact that the song also reflects natural beauty and often has reference to nature eg cyclones..
Do you think the settings work well together?
In addition, another important decision for us was to make sure that the settings worked well together to avoid confusing and to ake the music video flow and make sense. Therefore when asked if the settings worked well together most of our tageret audiencen agreed. They also suggested that there was a good ratio between each location as well as the fact that they both effectively support the song for different reasons. As through the performance aspects we could see the emotion behind the song as she sang different aspect of the music video with different amount of passion. Fo example, some notes were emphasized through her singing. Also, in the last part of the music video when they lyrics were about going wild we also see her and the band banding wildly
Do you think the clothing suits the genre of the music video
Furthermore, another important issue to us is to make sure that the genre of the music video was established at the beginning and maintained throughout. A way we did this is through the clothing. Therefore we wanted to know if the target audience thought that the clothing suits the genre of the music video. Of which 100% of them agreed that the clothing suiting the genre. Therefore we can automatically see a link between the music video and the pop indie genre. This feedback helped us a lot as we can see that the genre was clear. This suggests that the conventions of the genre was also clear as the genre was clear to out target audience.
What do you think about the different shots used?
As part of our rough-cut it was brought to our attention that we needed to add more different types of shots as well as camera movement. Therefore, in our action plan we decided to add more establishing shots to establish setting, this can be seen when we first see the arcade scenes. We also added other shorts such as close ups and panning shots. This enabled us to creatively move the camera and see a relationship between different kinds of shots, which helped our music video to look more professional. To see if the target audience liked the shots used we asked’ what do you think of the different shots used. We got many positive responses from this such as ‘they fit with the video and made it more interesting to watch’, ‘ the
different angles are affective as it is like we are experiencing the singers life from different point if views and in each scene the camera is used to represent her in different ways’. It was also bought to our attention that the shots were effective at seeing the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as well as the fact that there was a wide range of shots used. This enabled the camera to keep moving and not be static. As a convention that we found in pop music video and music videos in general is that the camera is always moving which makes the cuts between the shots more seamless
Do you think the pace of the music drives the editing and why?
In addition, another convention of music videos that we had to incorporate in our music video was the relationship between the editing and the pace of the song. We had to make sure that the pace of the editing suited the tempo of the song. In our rough-cut feedback this was brought to our attention that sometimes the pace of the cuts were too slow when they should have been faster. Therefore we hanged this by changing the speed of certain parts of the video and making some cuts faster but having face paced multiple cuts. Or slowing down some cuts during certain parts of the song to emphasis certain lyrics and key points. To see if we did this effectively we asked the target audience if the pace of the music drives the editing and why. It was clear that the cuts towards the end of the video were faster this was used
to reinforce the ‘wildness’ that is highlighted in the 3rd verse. The cuts throughout the music video were matched with the song and tempo of the song and if they were slowed of quicken the reason was very clear. Many of out target audience thought that the music was quit fasted paced which drove the pace of the editing and if the pace of the editing was to change it wouldn’t look right of matched with the song, as the shots were changed according to the music and lyrics. There were also different transitions present but the music video was mainly characterized by cut shots. However, there was a few fade to black present. This was picked up by the target audience ad they suggested that the fade to blacks were used to show a change in setting or costume as well as the fact it was used to show that time has paced or the camera had changed focus. This is therefore an affective transition in the music video as it helps the pace of the editing as well as to make the music video flow.
Do you think there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals?
Next, we asked if there was a relationship between the lyrics as visuals. Most of the target audience agreed that at least some point during the music video there was a relationship between what they saw and heard. An example of this would be seeing the big drum hit or if the song was powerful they also saw her powerfully singing. However, they felt like there were certain points in the music video that this could be clearer. For example throughout eh music video we could have had more reference to fire and smoke as there was only a little bit of fire present in the music video. Also there could be some sort of reference to a significant other even if it was brief. This could be done in a number of ways for example her ex boyfriend could have visually been
seen or maybe even a text message so there was some sort of reference. This will enabled there to be a clear relationship the whole way throughout the music video instead of just key moments.
what would improve about the music video?
Lastly, we asked if there was any feedback that our target audience would give to improve our music video and make it more professional would be to match the lip sync up more carefully to perfect the music video. Also to add more slow motion clips to emphasis certain key moments. As well as to play with the lighting more for example add different kind of lighting such a strobe lighting or spotlighting. Other improvements were to add a backstory to the video to make the narrative as clear as it can possibly be.
Here is the full questionnaire with all the answers from our target audience