Evaluation task 3 - Why was feedback effective in the process of developing the final product?

SOUNDCLOUD RECORDING OF INITIAL IDEAS AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

INITIAL AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Audience feedback has been a necessity in the development of our music video, without the opinions of our target audience we wouldn't have been able to create products that are effective in the genre.

We received feedback from the very beginning, when I pitched the initial concept of TDIME to my classmates and my teacher, I recorded the feedback and posted it to sound cloud.  The feedback for this idea was as follows:

• May look unprofessional having people that can't act being drunk, or can't act out a fight scene effectively - this could detract from the overall effect of the music video.

• Shooting at night time could face some logistical issues

One of my classmates suggested that I remove the fight scene and the drunken group of teenagers entirely and have one gang moving around aggressively, i disagree with this idea as I feel the video would have too few aspects that would entice the viewer and keep them interested in the video. Despite the lack of support for this concept I feel that it is still the strongest of my three concepts and that with some development it could become a good music video. 


From here I considered the feedback given to me, and thought about the potential different directions the idea could move in. I got together with my group and we looked at all of our ideas collectively, meticulously brainstorming and cutting down the pool of 12 ideas to just 2. The 2 ideas were: Victor's boxing idea, and my TDIME idea. We chose these 2 as not only did they show promise visually and conceptually but also because we could realistically shoot them - the concepts weren't too far fetched. 

SHORTLISTING/DEVELOPMENT

We started to develop Victor's idea, as we saw the most potential in that - toying with the idea of two office workers breaking out into a fight - the development of this idea came to an end however, as we then focused on TDIME. This decision was made by the group, we decided that we didn't want to create a comical video, we wanted to create a cool, impactful video. With the feedback from the class we made my concept more refined and clean, we were ready to then pitch our final concept to Luke.

1st SET OF FEEDBACK FOR IDEA IN PROCESS

Luke and Phil presented our group with a large amount of criticisms and feedback, so much so that we almost scrapped the idea all together. The key feedback was:

• The fight scene isn't original 
• Teenagers won't be intimidating or scary
• It is inconvenient and difficult to shoot at night time
• It isn't possible to be too rowdy in public places like Cranleigh, Dorking, or Guildford.

However we really liked the track, and knew that if we adjusted the concept to suite the track better and to become more original. We looked at different ways we could be more creative and original - I found some gas masks in my house and the ideas started to flow. We had a few consecutive group meetings - brainstorming ways in which we could include the gas masks, they became a big part of the concept. I had a circular narrative concept in mind that was visually very strong and conceptually, however it was very impractical to film - so it became scrapped. We looked back to the feedback we were given by Phil and Luke - "If it's going to be gory, it has to be really gory. If it's horrifying, it has to be really horrifying." 

RESPONDING TO 1st SET OF FEEDBACK FOR IDEA IN PROCESS

RESPONSE TO FEEDBACK - BUILDING A STRONGER CONCEPT

With this feedback in mind we set about creating a concept that was more gory and brutal - we looked back to a comment made by Ollie Algrove - "A music Video should be notorious, to stand out and to be recognised". This comment alongside the feedback given to us by Luke and Phil spurred us on to think up a concept that was all about gore and blood, limbs being ripped off etc. As we thought of ways to break up this concept we thought of a dancer in a gas mask, dancing around aggressively in strobe lighting - blank set. 

We quickly thought better of the gore idea due to the difficulty of making it look good and realistic, especially with the inevitably young looking actors we had access to at our collage - it wouldn't look realistic. However we did like the idea of someone odd looking dancing aggressively as it was similar to elements in The Prodigy's music videos (Keith Flint for example). The dancer could be somewhat of an identity for the band. 

After further discussions with Luke we decided that actually the gas mask, although interesting to look at and seldom seen in music videos - was actually quite a cliched stylistic choice - so we ditched it. We had to once again think creatively with the goal to come up with something original. And so we came up with the idea of having a crazy drum set up - something that wasn't normal and that would stand out as abstract to the viewer - this is where the drumming element was first devised. 

As for the singer, the original idea was that she would be surrounded by a bunch of youths that fitted the genre, dancing in some sort of underground rave - obviously this was an unrealistic setting and we wouldn't be able to source enough actors to make it look good and real. So we eventually came to the decision that we should simply have a singer that is dressed in grungy looking clothes, being powerful and seductive on screen to break up the drumming and the dancing - We were ready to carry out our first test shoot.

TEST VIDEO ONE




We set about filming our first test shoot, this was very rough - as I explain in detail on one of my blog posts entitled: Test Shoot. After the video was edited and exported I showed it to the class and gathered feedback. 

FEEDBACK FOR TEST VIDEO ONE 

• The location was poor
• Costume poor
• dancing more comical than intimidating
• Singer not seductive or powerful enough 

As this feedback was more visual issues rather than conceptual issues we responded to the feedback by meticulously planning the second test shoot, making sure we had everyone we needed and the right costumes and props etc. The location still wouldn't be the finished set still obviously but by booking in a slot in the studio we would be able to create a better atmosphere than a music room and the bag shed.

TEST VIDEO TWO



The second test shoot was a far greater success than the first, every element improving drastically.

This isn't a notable point in the development of the music video to comment on feedback, I am simply using it as an example of how we built on the feedback from the previous shoot. When I showed this to the class the only feedback was the same as the last shoot, but to a lesser extent.

FOCUS GROUP FOR VIDEO




In the final stages of the editing of my video I exported a rough cut and showed a few groups of people the video, I then interviewed them after they watched it and gathered feedback.

The key points of feedback were: 

• The strobe lighting worked really well
• The shots of Cassie in the tunnel were aesthetically very effective.
• The special effects on Ollie's eyes worked well
• Another element could have been used to break up the video further
• The introduction of our dancer was too fast, and then he was over used when we introduced him.

I responded to this feedback by jumping back into the edit; adjusting the colour grade slightly to enhance the strobe lighting, using more shots of Cassie in the tunnel (particularly in the breakdown of the song), Including more shots of Ollie with the distorted eyes, then finally introducing Ollie more gradually - making the opening shots of Ollie more ambiguous and mysterious.

FOCUS GROUP FOR WEBSITE AND DIGIPAK

RESPONDING TO KEY FEEDBACK TO FOCUS GROUP 

• We responded to the minor feedbacks that were given to us by the focus group - these were: 

- That the digipak was too vibrant and didn't suit the genre 

- The website's background wasn't grungy enough and therefore had to be altered in order to suit the genre better once again.

BEFORE FOCUS GROUP

AFTER FOCUS GROUP

BEFORE FOCUS GROUP

AFTER FOCUS GROUP

The final video was then ready, and to its best standard. Without the constant audience feedback throughout the development process of the video, it wouldn't be up to the standard it reached - and it wouldn't have suited the genre it falls into as well, not reaching out to our target demographic. I feel we created something that really works, and we have audience feedback and our attitude to responding to this feedback to thank for it.