Evaluation: Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

For my audience research I held a focus group with members of my target audience. Some of the members of the group had seen the progress of the video so therefore know more about the background and the initial research we did and some of them, it was the first time watching the video and seeing the digipack and advert. I felt that the feedback I was given was fair and helpful however I was unable to record them discussing but I was able to do a voice recording and therefore have a script of what they said:

Does the performance look convincing?
Person1: YES! I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool.
Person2: Yeah although it the comes across a bit rushed at times I reckon. Like it feels a bit rushed together.
Person3: The performers look like they're having fun and just concentrating on the music a bit more. The lip-syncing's a bit out in some places too...
Person4: I think it fits with the genre of music, like the laid back indie-ish pop-ish stuff. Just looks like... Cool. (laughter)
Would you like to be friends with the people in the video?
Person3: Well Ollie is one of my friends.. (more laughter) No no no I know what you mean. Yeah I think they look like fun, like they're actually enjoying what they're doing in the video.
Person2:Except the chorus bit, I reckon they don't look like they're enoying that bit. Although I would wanna be friends with them.
Person1:I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no.
Person4: I like the way he dresses yeah. He looks cool. They all look like they're normal lads and when they're doing the dancing in the video or the end of it they look good. I reckon we could be mates.
Does it remind you of any other music videos?
Person4: THE KOOKS! That's the first thing I thought. Looks like one of their videos when they're like in Paris.. Can't remember which one it is*. Like the way it's laid back and relaxed. It's very Kooks-y.
Person2:Yeah I can see The Kooks now you've said it. Or like, ummm Mumford and Sons.
Person1: When you think about it, it's similar to loads of videos with the indie kind of genre. 'Cus they all go for laid-back 'Ooooh we're really cool and take ourseleves really seriously and want to show you our really cool music' (laughter).
Person3: I agree with everything they said. (laughing)
Helpful. I know you've mentioned a few genres, but what genre do you think it is meant to be?
Person2: Indie deffo.
Person4: Bit of pop in there though 'cus proper indie's like, not as pop-ish. (laughter)
Person1/3: Indie/pop.
If you could, what would you change about the video and why?
Person1: I think I'd make it more smooth and not as jumpy from shot to shot. Not on every part but like the chorus bit it's kind of jumpy.
Did that make it unenjoyable to watch?
Person1: I wouldn't say unenjoyable just distracted a bit at that point but like one shot then another shot than another. It was a bit too much.
Ok. Anyone else?
Person3: The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places.
Right and does that make the video hard to watch?
Person3: No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really.
Person4: Yeah and some of it the lads look a bit stiff. I'd get them to relax a bit and look like they're having loads of fun the whole way throughout.

Ways in which the audience were affected:
When going back and analysing my research, I feel that the audience was affected by the video is a positive way. They thought that the performers looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves. This is an expected result to find from the video because we were aiming for an upbeat and relaxed performance and feel that this is what we have got. The positive affect of the video also prompted comments fro the audience about the actors clothing and the way they acted. When asked whether they would want to be friends with the actors in the video, three out of the four said yes they would want to be. The reasons they gave were that they looked 'cool' and they liked the way that they dressed. This is the response we were aiming for from the audience, which shows they have taken the preferred reading from the video. However, one member of the group said "I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no." I took this criticism into account and think that if I were to make some changes to the video, I would get the other actors to play up to the indie vibe some more and therefore satisfy the whole of the audience. One of the members of the group also said "I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool." This is the type of response we were aiming for and I am very pleased with this comment. The fact that the audience recognise the affect we were going for shows the video is at least off in the right direction.

Looking at the changes the audience would have made:

When asked whether the audience had any changes to be made, one member of the group said "I think I'd make it more smooth and not as jumpy from shot to shot. Not on every part but like the chorus bit it's kind of jumpy." When asked whether this made the video unenjoyable she said that it distracted her a bit and was a bit too mich. I feel that we could have made the cut shots a bit smoother to prevent this from happening because we were not aiming for a negative response from the shot cuts. I feel by making the video smoother and not trying to fit as many shots in as possible, we could have stopped ourselves from gaining this kind of response and therefore made the audience more happy. When looking back at the focus group, this is the only time this issue is mentioned however I feel that because it is mentioned once then it is automatically an issue.
Something else the audience came up with was "The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places." When asked whether the lip-syncing makes the video hard to watch, he said "No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really." I feel that we could have spent more time on getting the lip0syncing perfect and making sure the actors were singing at the right pace, so as to make it easier to match with the song. This type of critcism is vital for getting the audience satisfied and the video a job well done. I feel that if I were to make the video again I would make sure all these things are sorted and get actors that are slightly more commited to the cause.
Another criticism I got from the audience was "some of it the lads look a bit stiff". I feel that this is a fair comment to make about some of the scenes in the video because the actors do appear to be rather stiff at certain points. If I was able to make some changes to the current video I would again get the actors to loosen up a bit and not take it so seriously because that is how the video is meant to be. I feel that the parts of the video that are best is when they are laughing or messing about and dancing. I feel that those parts really feel like the indie genre.

Cultural Capital:
When looking at the audience research, I feel that the cultural capital is the 'indie genre' and also the type of person actors come across as. For example, one member of the target audience focus group said that they would not want to be friends with some members of our 'band' because they look like they're trying to hard to be 'indie'. I feel this shows that some specific members of our audience are proud of their 'indie' nature and do not like it when people try and be like them. However if someone from an older generation were to look at the video, that would never be something that they would pick out of the four boys. This shows that to make proper criticisms and understand the members of the band fully, you have to know the indie genre and the type of people they are very well. That type of knowledge is obviously held in high regard to our target audience.

Uses/Pleasures of the text:
I feel that the audience has used to the text try and be more like the relaxed nature of the boys in the video. For example, all the members of the group have said that they like the way the main boy on the front cover of the digipack dresses, so perhaps they will use the text to be more like him. They also mentioned that they liked the free-style dancing and casual nature of the video so they may use it to be more let-loose and crazy. The pleasures of the text seemed also to be directed at the members of the band. Their clothing was mentioned in the discussion which means they got pleasure from looking at that. Also, their dancing and laid-back attitube was a big selling point for the target audience, which showed that the way we conquered the video worked well.

Summary:
I feel that from looking at the outcome of the focus group, our target audience read our video in a appropriate way. Most of the things they said about the video, (eg. the laid back nature and quirky band members) wre things we were aiming for them to pick out and enjoy. I feel this shows that the text was understood by our target audience well and shows that we accomplished our initial aim. I feel that the fact that all the members of the focus group are very into the indie genre and therefore their social context is fitting with the video helped us get such a clear reading of the text. If you were to put a non member of the target audience in front of the video and asked them to discuss it, I do not think that they would have understood the relaxed nature of the video. I do not feel that their lack of cultural capital of the indie genre made them read the text any differently; however I do feel that one member of the groups excessive knowledge of the indie genre made them look into the band members a bit more and therefore thought that some of them did not fit in.