1. Q3. What have you learnt from your audience’s feedback?<br />It is necessary to gain feedback from my audience in order to understand whether I have achieved my aim of reaching my target audience and whether it is up to the standard in which it is marketable to the real media business. To do this, I created a questionnaire asking for feedback to understand how the music video appeals to them and what improvements I could make. <br />The feedback we received from the rest of the class was quite positive to the extent where they believed we have appropriately challenged the codes and conventions of our chosen genre. For example, we have incorporated and emphasised the singer’s personality through her make up and the way she presented herself. By doing so, it audience can directly identify her as a “rock” chick. The use of the red heels/ lipstick and Soho as the location fits into the genre of “Red light district” as the connotations of the props resembles a real life prostitute. However, as our chosen genre and narrative of the music video was very different in comparison with the rest of the class, many of them were interested in how we approached our production. After receiving feedback from my media teacher and students from my class, I have learnt how the ways we used effective camera angles and movements created meaning for the character and a story line, it was reported that the narrative was clear. <br /><br />The Graph shows that of the 20 respondents that did the questionnaire, majority of the audience felt that the use of close ups has been the most effectively camera angle demonstrated that has been used to develop the characters, the narrative and the emotions within the video. <br />The use of special effects and lighting has been carefully selected to support my production ideas of the character being a dominant yet a weak person. The audience’s response to this effect was very positive as they were able to emphasise with the character in which not everyone is content with their lifestyle. For example, in the beginning, the character is shown as a very dominant person through her make up and costumes however, this soon changes in the middle when the use of “reverse and reduce speed” was used in the scene where she is standing still looking confused whilst others around her are moving very fast. <br /> <br />This effect helps create the point that although the character appears to be a strong character she also is weak and confused which is expressed by the artist singing. The character’s star persona is reflected through the carefully selected costume and props along with the smooth editing to create the meaning of a “prostitute”. For example, the use of red heels and filming in Soho signifies a person who would normally be associated with “Red Light District” or prostitution to support the narrative. The use of these main conventions, it immediately appeals to the audience in which they are able to recognise the narrative. For example, “ the setting links in with the genre, especially the bar and sex shop” This quotation from one of the audience shows that, by using iconic locations the audience immediately recognises what the genre and basic narrative is about. Many of the responses believed that “the location fitted well to the lyrics” as not only did this give them a visual image of the location but also showed that we fully understand the codes and conventions of this genre which allows the audience to be familiar with. <br />One scene in particular that the audience liked was the scene where the “prostitute” is standing still but everyone around her was moving which evoked a sense of confusion and abandonment. <br />This scene stood out for majority of the audience because it was very effective in expressing how the “prostitute” feels at the certain point which also creates the sense that she’s in a different world and that everyone around her is moving on whereas she’s still struggling in her current situation. The audience reacted positively to the technical advancement to convey this meaning as it indirectly suggested that she is not happy with her lifestyle. To articulate the meaning of confusion in this particular scene we decided to fast forward and reverse the speed in this scene. This technical advancement was effective in creating the meaning of abandonment with her standing still in the middle of the road whilst everyone around her is moving swiftly. This scene gets the audience questioning the character to why she is unhappy when she presented in a confident and powerful manner. Thus, this technique shows that I have used Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions of powerful Vs weak all within one character.<br />In order to compete with the real media industry, it was necessary to conform to the codes and conventions that relate to mainstream music. One of the questions that we asked the audience was whether they thought this music video portrayed a similar representation to popular artists in the music industry? (E.g. Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga). Many respondents believed that “the raunchiness was very effective use of representations” given to the audience by the artist and the character for example, when the prostitute crawls on the floor suggests that she is very obedient, also the scene where the prostitute is with her client gives the audience an impression that something quite explicit will happen. Also the use of many close ups has cross reference to Lady Gaga’s in your face shots too. Thus, this shows that I have thoroughly thought about what mise en scene that would be needed to create this effect.<br /><br />The pie chart represents the audience’s feedback on whether they felt that my music video portrays similar representations to popular artists in the music industry. It clearly shows that 2 out of 20 people which is a majority feel as though it is quite similar, thus this shows that I have understood the criteria that is needed to compete with popular artists today. <br /> <br />When asked about the voyeuristic shots used, the audience believed it was not too raunchy or inappropriate, that were shocking for them. Thus, this means that it will go down well with a mainstream audience as it will not limit my target audience with negative feedbacks. Reasons why i believe that the audience is not offended by the voyeuristic shots is because there have been other artists in the industry who have used more explicit and voyeuristic shots than i have that has been very successful in the music industry such as Lady Gaga, Madonna and Britney Spears. Furthermore, this shows that my music video will be a hit in the industry as many artists are becoming more seductive in their music videos that have been successful. <br /> <br />As well as receiving positive criticisms, there have also been some constructive feedbacks where i quot;
could have played around more with editing/ colour corrections to represent and show the character differentlyquot;
. From this feedback, in the future i will address this constructive criticism and experiment with the editing equipment available to me to broaden my editing techniques and imagination as well as in corporate many different aspects of different genre's to broaden my target audience. <br />