Feedback

Here is a video showing a focus group that are students studying media giving us feedback on our rough cuts. We have edited it so that there are only clips showing their feedback and making it a bit more affective as a video.



Some of the feedback we got about the rough cut.

• Unsure whether it was a band of three girls or one girl.

This taught us that the shots that we used need to be shown in such a way that makes it clear that the underwater girls are just for in the video and that the main girl is the singer. We should use less close ups of the girls underwater as this makes the audience able to see them in detail - therefore they recognise them as different girls - whereas they should only really be focusing on the artist. This makes the editing process a key to the affectiveness of our video. It should be clear that the song is just one singer and the other girls aren't part of her act. This is definitely a point that we have taken on board and are going to adjust our editing accordingly as it is so important that it is clear who our artist is.

• The narrative was a bit confusing as some of the underwater shots of the singer were at the beginning before she went in.

This is important because we want people to want to watch the video again. Sometimes when the narrative picks up questions for the audience it makes people watch it more than once - one example of this is one of Two Door Cinema Clubs music videos 'I Can Talk' and fans liked the confusion of this video - however ours is different as we want our audience to focus on the beauty of the video and the song. (Our artist is a completely different genre to Two Door Cinema Club which is a quirky boy band). If our narrative is confusing and doesn't make sense at all then this won't attract people to watch it as they will think that the editing was done in a bad way - instead of it supposed to be looking confusing and a bit odd (like 'I Can Talk'). We do want there to be a dreamlike affect to the video but also for the audience to understand that it is underwater and that the singer is getting beckoned in by the other girls.

• The shots in slow motion of the dancers looked really amazing.

This is important feedback because it shows us that something is really working in the music video. Also it's good that it is appealing to females of the age of 17-18 which were the ages and gender of our focus group. We were glad that the slow motion was picked out on and this is something we want our video to mostly consist of because a whole song of lipsync will not create an interesting video. We want there to be a 'wow' factor to the slow motion shots as they are stunning and an element of questioning - 'how did they do that?'

• Some shots were too long.

This again is something we need to look at when editing. Because we do have some stunning shots we want to drag some of them out but others - such as the beginning when she walks - shouldn't be slow motion as there needs to be a differentiation between some of the speeds of the shoots. We knew when looking at the beginning that it was more affective at normal speed.

• The shot over the shoulder in the middle of the song stood out and didn't work because of the difference in lighting and the colour (being really white).

We are going to get rid of this shot as it clearly doesn't work. Not all of our group had as much input into the roughcut because of the fact that we all were working on different products. This made us have a product we weren't all 100% happy with. After seeing it and talking about it together we have decided to all really work as a team to create a product we are all happy with!

• Bit too many lip syncs.

After watching it with the focus group we agreed with this point made. Although it should be focused on the singer, we can do it in other ways than making the video mostly lip sync - for example making her enter the water a bit earlier so we can use more of her beautiful underwater shots - or even just less close ups of the other girls faces so that we don't need to use as much lipsyncs to make sure that the audience understand who the artist is.

• Sometimes the lip syncs and shots jump cutted.

One thing we took away from this feedback was that it shouldn't be a continous video - it should be a bit more abstract. The shots do need to link and be smooth but they don't need to make perfect sense next to eachother. One way that we could get over this is by editing it less like a film and possibly using fade in and outs to make it more of an artistic video.

• The make-up (glittery lips) and costumes looked really good.

It was good that they commented on the costumes as it was something we took a lot of time perfecting. The make-up also added a girly element to the video as when the girls were dancing or the singer singing you could see their lips glistening which again added a bit more of a magical effect. Also this is something that will appeal to the artists female audience as they might want to follow this trend as a lot of girls want to be like female artists.

• However because the make-up and costume were so similar with all of the girls it needs to be clearer as to who the singer is.

We did want the girls to look similar so that they all looked good together and that tehre was no clashes with the singer and other girls - as this goes with the narration as we didn't want her to be seen as being left out. Obviously thinking about this point it might have been a little clearer if there was something different to the girls - however the white coloured material worked well on both, the hair really added some depth to the shots - so by getting rid of an element which was so important in our video it might have made it less affective visually but more clear with the narrative. So this is definitely something we have been thinking about as there are positives and negatives with the feedback that we got. Also this is not something we can change - whereas the editing can be adjusted.

Website feedback.

• Linked very well to other products.

This is really important because if the products didn't go together then it might not be clear who our artist is. Also it is good for us because it shows that we each know who our artist is - what sort of music they sell, what their stage image is and who their audience are. Its imporant that each of the products go well together and don't clash because its easier for their audience to recognise who they are - also it makes them more memorable.

• The picture used as the homepage made the artist look like a classical singer.
• Looks like an artists website who is similar to Adele (sad songs), which doesn't go with the Numb track.

The first comment was from one of the girls in the focus group which was something we had never thought of - it is quite a classical picture which doesn't go with our artist. This is something we have thought about and we are going to change the homepage image to make sure that it fits with what sort of music our artist produces. The second comment is similar to the other one but it is more about the link with the song that we have used. Its important that each product looks like from the same genre so that the artist is understood by their fans but also by people who have never heard of them so that they get an understanding of whether they will appeal to them. Our song that we used for our music video is a 'remix' on the album but you can still hear in her voice in it - she is less depressing than Adele and bit more modern like Ellie Goulding. This should come across in the artwork, website and all of the products.

• Black and white theme is nice as its sophisticated but the light blue really works as it brings out a bit of colour.

Black and white is quite Adele - which is more classical music than what our artist produces. We do like the black and white but by adding some colour shows that she has an edge to her. We had already thought about this and by everyone saying this as feedback we have realised that it is definitely something we should keep.

Digipak feedback.

• Black and white looks good but make writing light blue like the website.

This would really work as it would link the website with the album cover which would really make all of the products work together which is something an artist needs. By adding a bit of colour (like the website) it shows that she is less classical, and is a bit more 'cooler'. We want to steer away from the 'Adele' impression that a few of the focus group got from initially looking at the Digipak and website. One of my group members and I had already spoken about the idea of adding the light blue writing but decided to show the black and white to see if any of the focus group picked up on it - by them picking up on this point it definitely showed us that we should change it to the light blue as it would make all of our products go well together.

• Looks quite depressing music (like Adele).

Again by adding the light blue writing it will modernise it and get rid of the 'depressing song' impression. Which is what the focus group also said after speaking about the writing colour. The picture looks good as it shows she looks like a singer/songwriter. However the whole black and white feel makes it very much look like an artist similar to 'Adele' whereas ours has an edge - and colour will bring that out.  

• Looks like a singer/song writer

This is something we wanted our artist to look like - so by having the focus group picking up on that it shows that we have created the impression of the artist that we wanted. They said this was shown through the photograph of her looking down as it shows its not all about the look of the artist but actually also the quality of the music - it also gives a 'home' feel which shows that she writes her own songs. Also by her being a singer/songwriter it shows that she isn't just a pretty face but is actually a talented musician - and this again is something the image gives.

• Looks like an organic artist - not manufactured.

This feedback also draws upon the kind of artist we wanted to create. We wanted the artist to be a singer/songwriter who is modern and cool. By them saying that she looks like a organic artist goes with the idea of her being a singer/songwriter as she makes her own material - she isn't given all of the songs. This creates a more thoughtful artist which is something that we wanted.