Question 3 Essay Format

 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Gathering audience feedback was a fundamental element of my production process, as it informed me on what I was doing right and what needed to be improved. It ensured that I was creating products that would successfully appeal to my target audience and be of a high professional quality.

The primary target audience for my products are females aged 13-25; however there is also the secondary audience of males aged 17-23. Due to my chosen music artist 'Birdy' being of a young age with an angelic and innocent style, focusing on females as a main audience was expected. This was presented in the way I created my products in a delicate and pretty manner. Examples of this could be the twinkle effect I applied to a photo on my digipak, or the narrative in my music video following a female on her journey – allowing audiences to personally identify with the character.

I made sure to gather audience feedback for all products I was making, all the way through the process. I generated this feedback through social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook, asking people to message me with their likes and dislikes. I also created a questionnaire, that was handed out to five members of my target audience, asking them questions such as “what does an interesting music video involve?” This guaranteed that I was going to create a music video that suited their interests, ensuring it would be popular amongst my desired audience. Other ways included, asking audience members directly and organising screenings, in focus groups, of my drafts so audience members could watch my video and I could note responses.

I found that some feedback was more effective than others, for example asking audience members directly was very helpful as I could indulge in greater depth of conversation about their views, allowing me to ask them questions such as “If you didn’t like that, what would you prefer to see instead?” I always wrote down people’s responses and posted it on Blogger. This meant I could refer back to the feedback later on in the process of creation, reminding me what to include and what to dismiss. Having said that, the questionnaires were extremely helpful, as they allowed me to compare particular answers and using these statistics to come up with the best decision. For example, when deciding what my narrative should include, the feedback I gathered was hugely relevant, as the question “What do narratives in Indie Folk music videos usually involve?” gathered answers that could ensure my music video was conveying my chosen genre in the right light. My concept of the sad narrative of the daughter being turned away from her own home was conducted through the responses I received – highlighting just how essential audience feedback really is.

Once I had done my first drafts for all three products (music video, magazine advert and digipak) I asked people on Facebook to message me their views. This is where I gathered very important information about my house style, as many people asked to see more of a vintage effect on my digipak photographs. Taking this into account, I interpreted that the vintage 50’s era look was obviously popular amongst Indie Folk audience members, which encouraged me to use the photograph of the old 50’s radio that is presented on my magazine advert. When reading the comments given to me on social networking websites, I couldn’t help but think that some people might not be the target audience of my products. This forced me to believe that receiving feedback in this way was not entirely effective, as some views and opinions were posted by people who were not in fact my actual target audience, therefore confusing my decisions. 

Regardless of this, my determination to gain criticism and advice was displayed in the way I sent copies of my music video and printed pictures of my magazine advert and digipak to family and friends. I found that the most positive feedback I received was surrounding the way I edited my shots to be in time with the pace of the music, in result depicting the sad and foreboding tone of the narrative. The mise en scene and lighting was also commented on as a success, as audience members were able to instantly recognise the theme of childhood and freedom due to the large open locations I used to film in and my focus on sunlight and nature.