(Post 55) Evaluation question 3

                      

Who did I interview?:
In my audience feedback, I interviewed a few members of my target audience. Specifically, I interviewed teenagers aged 17/18 in a school setting. I feel my participants were representative of my target audience as I used varied genders. My target audience age is roughly this age bracket as well, so I feel that this was a representative sample of this age bracket.
If I was to do this again, I would interview a larger sample size, with a further range of types of people. Specifically, I would stray from my target audience alone and would ask different ages of people. I would attempt to do this in the same way as my planning audience research and would go around town perhaps, asking strangers of their opinion as well. 
This would make the results more generalizable to a wider audience in Media, rather than just my target audience.

Analysis of the interview:
What are your initial thoughts on the video?
Overall, everyone thought the video was cool. They thought the idea was really unique and interesting. This was an interesting question, as it didn't ask for any specific terminology or subject-specific phrases. This ensured that the audience would answer off the top of their heads, and would produce a more simple, yet meaningful answer. 

What are your initial thoughts on the ancillary tasks?
Most people stated that they thought the ancillary tasks were interesting as well, and they all felt that this carried across to the video well. I thought this was good as I felt my ancillaries were successful. This was similar to the first question and asked simply what they felt about them, which was successful. 

Do you think the shooting material was appropriate to the task set?
Most people stated yes. They told me that they noticed the attention that I paid to the camera shots and framing. I was glad of this as I had paid attention to this aspect in particular and was hoping they would notice.

What did you think of the acting in the video?
This question I felt was a little mixed, as there was a rather varied reaction to it. Most people said they felt the acting was believable. However, there was a comment on the acting In the fight scene. They noted that it felt a little staged. I agree with this criticism as the actress wasn't really very experienced, and this showed through a little. I had to film this a few times and did multiple takes of this scene in particular, as the actress was clearly uncomfortable. It was partly due to inexperience and the actors were friends in real life, so they found it hard to argue with each other. I feel it is less noticeable, and have tried to cut round it as much as possible. I feel this criticism is valid, and if I was to film this again I would definitely attempt the fight scene again, perhaps in a different way. 

Do you understand the video's plot line?
Everyone stated they understood the plot line and felt it was a clear story choice. This was the most positive side and I was really glad they reported this, as I was more worried about this aspect, as I felt it made less sense than I wanted.

Do you think the editing helps explain the plot line?
Overall it was heavily implied that without the editing, the video wouldn't make much sense. This is clear as the photos were edited in, and without them, there would be barely any story or plot line at all.

What did you think of the location choices?
My idea revolved around the relationship between the two girls, so the actual locations were less important, which was noted. However, people did state they felt that the locations were varied enough for it to be natural and believable in the relationship. The varied locations showed a sense of comfort between the couple and suggested that they felt that the locations showed this. I felt this was successful.

What did you think of the costumes?
Similarly to the locations, costume in this wasn't the focus of the video, so creating a more natural costume allowed for a more believable mise-en-scene. People noted this and suggested that the costume was more naturalistic. One person noted my attempt at meaningful colour, but this was too underplayed in my opinion. The particular feedback I took from this is the colour scheme- if I was to do this again, I would definitely attempt to overplay the colour scheme.

What did you think of the props?
Everyone stated that the props were good. Some noticed the photographs to be props, as they were the major props I had used. There were a few smaller uses of props, but these weren't notices as well. I was not disheartened by this, however, as I felt that the underplaying of the other props was more effective, as it created a more believable mise-en-scene and setting.

Do you think the use of sound fits with the images appropriately?
Everyone said yes for this, which I was glad of. The whole point of a music video is that the video has to fit well with the song, and this without this, the video is rather pointless. I and glad this was noted, as I felt that this was its purpose. I thought that the changes I had made since the rough cut really accentuated this. Before, the video was more optimistic and felt more refreshing at the end. However, this really wasn't the point of the song, and I felt that this was not appropriate for the song. One person noticed this and said how they felt it fit better than the rough cut, which I felt was true and really shone through after watching them back-to-back.

Do you think the ancillary tasks were appropriate to the video?
Overall, everyone noted a clear sense of synergy. In my interview post about my ancillaries, I found this as well, so I was glad that there was cohesion between the videos, and the people felt the same across them. This was another key point as the ancillaries function was to advertise the music video, so if they weren't relevant, it wouldn't be appropriate. I am glad people noted this and felt it made my ideas more successful.

Do you feel they linked to the video enough for you to recognise the artist?
This was perhaps the weakest of the questions. I didn't use the artist themselves in the video or in the ancillary task. Because of this, most people noted that it was difficult to relate the artist to the video. I felt that this would be improved if I had used lip syncing, and if I did it again, I would use lip-syncing.