Overall Evaluation

Question 4- How did you use media technologies in construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Question 3- What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Here is our final focus group. Feedback told us that we have created a really effective music video and digipak that effectively sells Sam as an artist. We were hugely complimented about our choice of actors, locations and camera shots, however we were told that our video and digipak didn't really fit well together. Our music video was really quite cheeky and funny, but the digipak came across slightly more serious.

When showing our music video digipak and advert to our piers whilst conducting a focus group, they commented both positively and negatively about them. A screenshot of the focus group is shown to the right. They started off by saying how the narrative was clear throughout the video. They really enjoyed the storyline, not just because they found the actual story entertaining, but because of the actors. They really emphasised just how good they felt our casting was, especially with Sam. They believed that Sam fitted the role of a laddish, cheeky, drunk, really well. Even if the audience didn’t know who Sam was, they commented saying that they would find it very easy to warm to the character as he seems really lovable. Whilst conducting the focus group, the participants also really praised our use of both camera angles and locations. They said that as we had a wide variety of camera shots, they really felt engaged with the music video all the way through and didn’t get bored. One of the participant said that her favourite shot was in Kingston, where the camera is looking down to Sam. This is shown in the screenshot to the right. The locations also gained a really positive reaction. They liked our wide variety of locations, especially the shots in and around Brighton and also next to the river in Kingston. This is because the locations looked both pretty, and iconic. One of our piers commented on how well he thought we edited the music video together, and also added both obvious effects and also subtle ones. He enjoyed the fast paced editing to match with the song, and liked how we slowed down the pace of the video when need be. The effect we used to show that Sam was drunk was also praised. They believed it was used just the right amount, and portrayed being drunk really well. Subtle effects like colour correcting the image were also noticed and enjoyed. They thought that just adding subtle things like that, really added to the music video as for example, it really changed the mood of some parts of the video if the day was made to look sunnier, etc. They all believed that we met the typical conventions of our genre of music video well, and whilst doing so, appeal to our target audience. Interestingly, they said that because Sam was just so cheeky and lovable, the music video would appeal to a much wider audience than first thought. One of our piers commented saying that he believed his grandparents would like the video as they might have a joke saying how they were like Sam and Lucy when they were younger. Our piers said that they believed that our music video and digipak both look like they belong together as the same colours and tones are used throughout both. Finally, they all commented saying just how professional our music video looked due to all of the aspects I have just discussed.

Whilst all of the last points were positive aspects, they also commented on some negative things. Whilst talking about locations, one of our piers told us that he believed we should have included more shots from Brighton as he felt they were really strong and it could have benefited us to use more. Talking about the same topic, they also said that we should have used a few more iconic locations. This is because for starters we could have picked out and used a few really obvious and nice genre signifiers, and also it would help the audience relate to the video if they knew where the characters were. One of the biggest negative comments that we gained, was that out photos we used for the digipak and advert didn’t have much of a relationship with the mood and pace of the music video. Even though some of the pictures were directly cut out of the video, they didn’t believe that they clearly put across the pace, mood and style of the songs genre and music video. They felt the colours and tones were nice, and clearly indicated that the music video and digipak were a like pieces of media, however the actual content let us down. They suggested that we included some close up, cheeky shots of Sam, as that is mainly what they believed was the selling point of our music video.

Taking into account these comments, I definitely think that whilst creating a piece, or pieces of media, I should keep in mind what the selling point is. I have noticed that a lot of the negative comments were based around our music video and digipak looking like they were selling two separate products. If we kept in mind as a group, just what image we are trying to put across, and what we are trying to sell, we would consequently be fluent throughout the production process of both the music video and digipak, causing them both to look like they belong together.

Looking at the negative comments again in terms of the production side of creating the music video, it has taught me that you can never have enough footage. When comments were made like, “I wish you included more footage from Brighton”, we simply wouldn’t be able to change that at this stage as we have no footage to include. This could be resolved however, if we recorded the whole song in each of our locations. This would mean that whenever someone suggests a better way of presenting a certain part of our video, we would always have a clip to try out and experiment with from every location. Creating the music video has also taught me that you should never be afraid to experiment with ideas. For example, when filming the shot of Sam in Brighton where the camera is moving all over the place, at first we were unsure whether it would work or not as we haven’t seen it done before, however once we tried it, it turned out to be one of my favourite shots. This is not just my opinion though. Response from the focus group also thought that the camera work used was really good and added something new and exciting to the video. It really kept the audience engaged. An example of this shot is shown in the screenshot to the right.