Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback was a fundamental part of my production process, as it allowed me to connect with my target audience and explore what it is that they would want from a music video. Gathering opinions from my audience was important in order for me to improve my work and find out which features of my production were the strongest.

My target audience for my music video is extremely versatile. The song I chose, ‘Video Games’ by Lana del Rey, has a vintage, classic sound, which would appeal to a wide age range, and the young, female artist allows female audiences to relate to her. I wanted to connect with my audience through the Alice in Wonderland theme, using significant props such as teacups and playing cards to trigger them into recognizing the idea, and also let the viewer step into the shoes of the character of ‘Alice’, or the artist. I think this theme and idea would appeal to a female audience due to the use of pretty, kitsch props and delicate, fantasy tone of the video. I chose to represent the character of ‘Alice’ in a way that would present her as a ‘normal’ girl rather than a fantasy character. I did this by dressing her in clothes that would be considered fashionable, yet still indicating the iconic features of the character’s costume. I dressed the artist in a pale blue dress, with white knee high socks, a headband, and black pumps, similarly to Disney’s interpretation of ‘Alice’. I also had her wear a fur coat, jewelry and false eyelashes, to link to current fashion trends that may be popular with a female audience.

In order to gain audience feedback, I organised a screening where a number of people would be able to watch my music video, and then I recorded them giving me feedback. I felt this was an efficient way to use my feedback, as I was then able to put the footage on my blog, where I could then store it in a place where I could watch it over again and take the advice that I had been given. I also had some people fill out an audience feedback form, which allowed my audience to put into writing exactly what they thought about my video, and also gave them a specific section on how to advise me to improve. I also used social networks to gather feedback from my audience, posting my music video on Facebook and blogging platform Tumblr. This was effective in gathering opinions from predominantly people of my own age. I also showed my video and print drafts to various members of my family, and asked them to pass them on to friends, in order to spread the audience as widely as possible. I found that the most positive feedback I received was surrounding the way I framed and lit my shots, and also my use of mese-en-scene to depict the Alice in Wonderland theme. The theme was instantly recognised by the viewers, without me having to prompt them, which was the desired effect. Initially, I also received helpful constructive feedback, commenting on the pace of my editing of the shots being off-beat and slow, so I used this comment and changed some of the cuts to speed up the pace of the video and fit it exactly to the beat of the song.