Evaluation: Audience Feedback

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

My original target audience was the same audience of bands such as Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Drowning Pool and other rock / metal artists. This type of audience can be targeted through magazines such a Metal Hammer, and Kerrang magazines and music channels. Another way of reaching this audience is through the use of Web 2.0, such as Facebook, Myspace and Youtube.
After posting my video on Youtube and other social networking websites, I began to accumulate feedback from viewers through Youtube comments, answering the questions I had asked in the information box.The feedback received is very brief, but gives a rough idea of the responses from people who may not be involved with the rock and metal genres. I tried to make sure that the Youtube tags were relevant and attract people from who are interested in this type of music. However after looking at the results from where the viewers have found the video from, it appears that the majority of views, came from links posted on Facebook.

The other views are mostly from people actually searching for "Destruction Preventer" in Youtube. When I did this myself, I noticed that this is not an uncommon name, and that there are more popular videos with the words "Destruction Preventer" in the titles. Therefore it is likely that some of the views have been by people wanting to see the other videos, and have stumbled onto my music video. Taking all of this into account, the comments made on this video are unreliable due to the viewers not seeing the video because they are looking for a rock video, but because they have been curious and followed a link on social networking websites such as Facebook.

From this feedback it is clear that some parts of the video could be improved. The effects on the live performance part of the narrative are possibly too unclear for the audience. The change in contrast and brightness i thought would present a gritty and dirty filter over the band playing live, however the audience seem to think that the image is just unclear. To rectify this however i would need to re-film and consider lighting in more depth next time.

The unusual thing about the people who have viewed the video, is that they are spread throughout the UK, but also Scandinavia, Europe and even Thailand. This is interesting as Scandinavia is quite well known for its heavy rock bands such as Apocalyptica, Lovex and HIM for example. Although it was never my intention to target an audience outside the UK, it seems there has been an international interest in the video. This shows that the global village theory can mean my music video can be seen by anybody in the world as easily as somebody who wants to see the video locally.

After looking at the Youtube stats and comments, it was apparent that i needed more feedback. So I arranged a screening, for my video to be played locally with room for an audience of roughly 8 to 12 people. It was very important that i produced a feedback form and made copies so that everybody could answer relevant questions after watching the video.
These were the questions presented in the form: 

1. How old are you?

2. What part of the video did you like the most?

3. What do you think could be improved in this video?

4. What is your favorite type of genre?

5. In what magazines or music channels would you expect to see this video to be shown/advertised?

6. Can you think of any similar videos?

7. Did the video manage to keep your full attention from start to finish?

8. Does the video match the song well?

9. Do you think the video matches the rock and metal genres?

10. Finally how does the video make the band members look?

These ten questions are designed to lead the audience into giving responses about the video, which could have shown my research to have been effective or not. 

Question 1 shows that the range of the audience in the screening is between 15 and 18 (mixed genders). This means that the data collected is more reliable than that of youtube because this is the the kind of age group the video is meant to be targeting.

Question 2 shows what part of the video is liked the most. My results show that over half of the 12 forms that were filled out, comment about the live performance and guitar solo as being the best parts of the video. This shows that more people enjoyed the performance than the casino narrative. 

Question 3 showed comments about how the quality of the live performance could have been improved because it was unclear. This may suggest that the changing of the brightness and contrast may not have been as effective as planned. Other criticisms include there should be more casino footage, with more of a storyline. This may suggest a stronger narrative is needed for the casino scenes.

Question 4 told me that most of the audience in the screening were interested in all music, not just one genre, yet there were some who enjoyed indie rock, rnb, and metal as well. This shows that the audience is diverse and therefore as a result the data is more reliable because there are rock and metal fans in the audience too.

Question 5 showed that 11 of the 12 forms made reference to the video being featured on Kerrang and 4 people made a reference to Metal Hammer. This shows that what i have created meets the intended audience and therefore would be shown by institutions who feature similar styles of music and video.

Question 6 was left blank for all of the 12 forms. This shows that because the audience is quite young, they possibly are not aware of similar videos, as I took quite an old fashioned style. Also the fact that i borrowed devices from film, such as the shot types in 'Lock Stock' suggest that this may not be a conventional video with usual shots that you would expect to find in a rock video. 

Question 7 showed that 10 of the 12 members of the audience were engaged in the video from start to finish, and the 2 forms that were not fully engaged, made a comments about a lack of storyline as the worst thing about the video. This is therefore invalid as they were not paying attention enough to understand the dual narrative and what was going on possibly. 

Question 8 showed that 12 out of 12 said the video matched the song well. This i can presume is mainly down to the speed of editing and mise en scene used to show the band and represent them. 

Question 9 has detailed comments on the mise en scene and how it compliments how the band fit into the genres of rock and metal. This shows that the props and costume of characters are effective in displaying the type of genre the band fall into.

Finally question 10 shows that the band are represented as looking like "old school rockers" and "Hells Angels bikers". This representation is clearly displayed through the use of tattoos and leather clothing. Also there is a reference to the band being shown as aggressive, which matches how i wanted them to be shown to the audience. 

To conclude, the evidence above shows that my research in film and other music videos of the same genre, have meant that the audience recognise the genre, and have accepted the band as aggressive rockers, which is exactly how the band wanted to be shown. Therefore I am satisfied with the feedback as it shows the worst parts are the parts i also thought were worst and had problems with. This means that if i was to do it again, i would know exactly what o change to improve the video.