Friday, 18 February 2011
Saturday, 12 February 2011
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In order to gather my audience feedback I constructed 2 surveys originally, and planned on simply gathering information for my digipak and webpage via surveymonkey, and then decided that i would do a focus group for my music video. After thinking about whether my surveymonkey questionnaires would be completed by many people, i decided to conduct an interview with Sophie; showing her my digipak and webpage, and asking her the questions on my questionnaires. When looking back at my surveymonkey results, i saw that i had a meagre 3 responses in total, across the 3 questionnaires; 2 for my music video, and 1 for my digipak. Obviously i was disappointed that my range of feedback was going to be limited, but was glad that i had prepared for such an outcome by having proof of an indepth discussion about my products with someone from my target audience.
When looking at my surveymonkey feedback for my music video, both responses were rather positive. For the first question, 'What are your first impressions of the project? Is it of a high standard?' it was said that the video looks like it has good production values, and that it was 'unlike anything i've seen before'. I was more than pleased with the answers to this question, as originality was something we strived for as a group with this project. For the next question, 'Would you say the narrative was easy to follow?' the results came back 100% yes, both people found the narrative easy to follow. Once again i was pleased with because our video is solely narrative, so producing a music video with a simple, effective story that is easy to follow was a main aim of ours-and from this feedback it seems as if we did just that. For the next question 'Did you enjoy watching it?' the results, once again came back as 100% yes, which was a good, positive outcome, because we wanted people to find our video entertaining and engaging, and of course, enjoyable to watch! My next question, 'Did the music video hold your attention? Or did you find yourself getting bored easily?' come back positive; with the answers being that it held their attention most of the time, if not the whole time. This is an important question, and it was important that we received positive feedback for this because we've made a piece of narrative to go along with the song, and the job of it is to hold the viewers attention and keep them engaged in the action, and the song. The next question 'Is there anything you feel could be improved?' also received positive feedback as the answers were that they enjoyed the whole video, which, of course, was the response we were aiming for. For the last question, 'After watching this video, would you want to see the cover for the single and the webpage for the band?' positive responses were received once again. Both expressed that they would be interested in viewing the webpage and CD, which is great feedback because this must mean that the video is effective in promoting the band and the track.
During the focus group we held with our Media Class, we found that once again our music video was quite well-receieved (the video is available a few posts down from this one). Some of the negative criticisms were that maybe the video was a little too repetitive, and there was a too much of the tramp just dancing. This was understandable, and was a point i agreed with myself, and a negative point i also saw in the video. This point is definately something I would think needs to be improved in the video, and something I would rectify or alter if i could do it all again. Another negative point that was made was about the continuity at one point, as the tramp's coat disappears for the final shots. This is something that, although seems very obvious, unless you are fully aware of it, or are looking out for it imparticular, you don't really pay much attention to it. I also expressed to the people in my class that they had seen my video many times before, so they were fully aware of this error and were looking out for it. Even though i had seen my video loads of times before, because i hadn't seen the fully edited finished version, i didn't even notice myself, because i was rather engrossed in the video-and if i don't notice it after watching it over and over, it isn't something i feel my group and i should stress about. The focus group were on the whole really positive and kind about our video, saying that they enjoyed it a lot, liked the storyline, felt that the circular narrative was easy to follow, thought it was of a high standard, felt that it held their attention most of the time, and they said that they would probably show an interest in checking out the webpage and digipak. I think that by using both surveymonkey and a focus group for my music video feedback, i enabled myself to gather varying opinions on my music video and its success. And, even though surveymonkey didn't provide me with the amount of responses i had hoped for, i still had the opinions of people from my media class to rely on.
For my digipak, i had 1 response on surveymonkey, and i also interviewed Sophie. On the whole, both forms of response where quite positive. The person who answered the questions on my surveymonkey questionnaire was a female, aged between 22-26; this being ideal, as she fits into my target audience. Her response to the question regarding the digipak being genre appropriate was 'agree', which is good because my digipak's purpose is to sell the band, and to sell the genre it belongs to; i was glad with this response because i was worried that people might not be able to tell what music genre this digipak was representing. In answer to the next question she said that the digipak was appealing and nice to look at due to 'the use of images' she said she found them 'interesting' and that 'the eye on the front cover is very powerful and prominent.' This was great feedback also, because the front cover's purpose is to interest and engage the audience, sparking them to pick it up and have a look at the CD itself, so to know that the front cover is being described as powerful means that what i designed has been successful in appealing to an audience. She also said that if she saw the CD in a shop she would pick it up, and this would be due to 'the eye; it is looking directly at whoever picks it up'. I found this quite an interesting point, because she is right, whoever picks it up is being stared at by the eye on the front cover, and this could potentially be quite intimidating and potentially persuasive. It is a form of direct audience address, almost attempting to persuade the person picking up the CD to buy it-something i had never thought of before, especially when designing it. And finally, she also expressed that she would be interested in viewing the music video, which, once again, is a great bit of feedback.
I also conducted an interview with Sophie surrounding the topic of my digipak, and asked her the questions i had on my questionnaire, but it became more of a discussion at times-which i felt was a better way to gain indepth and well explained feedback. Sophie expressed that she liked the front cover, and the use of the eye and the design techniques, and effects used and utilised. She also expressed that she would associate that with the indie genre of music, which is important. She also said that the eye on the front of the CD would make her pick it up, because it is quite striking. She said that she would have liked a bit more colour on the digipak somewhere, as this would grab her attention some more. She also said she liked how i'd used stills from the music video, and how she could she it linked to the music video itself. The feedback gained from Sophie was mainly positive, which was good, and i was pleased that my digipak design was appealing to the groups target audience; because, after all, thats what its all about-reaching out to your target audience and exceeding their expectations.
My surveymonkey questionnaire about my webpage unfortunately gained no responses, which was a disappointment, but luckily enough i had interviewed Sophie about my webpage, and asked her the questions that were in the surveymonkey questionnaire. I asked Sophie if she found the webpage was appealing, and she said she found it just that, she said her favourite element of the page was the layout, and she liked how i had used the lines and she also liked the banner as it grabs your attention. She also expressed that the page was very neatly layed out and it was ordered in an aesthetically pleasing way. She also commented on the placement of the music video, and said that where i had placed it was a good choice, and that it being the biggest thing on the page was another good decision, because that means it is the first thing your eyes are drawn to on the page. She said that the webpage didn't seem like it was crammed with information, and that there being footage of the band was another good decision. She said that, once again, she would liked to have seen more colour on the page, as it would grab her attention even more. She said that she thinks its effectively communicates the genre, due to the video of the band, and other elements.
In conclusion, i was pleased with my audience, and even though i didn't get a lot of feedback via surveymonkey, i valued the focus group and interview feedback a lot more because i was receiving more indepth analysis of my products, and not just yes, no, or one line answers; which in the long run aren't of much use at all. I was also pleased with the positive responses to my products i received, as they gave me an indication as to how successful i had been in representing my chosen music genre.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Thursday, 3 February 2011
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