Evaluation: Question 3

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

I wanted to ask a variety of audiences their opinions on my music video (mainly from outside the genre, to have a variety of answers. I had several questions whether or not my music video was ambigious and vague in terms of genre lines, and whether or not it would appeal to different audiences. I have been surrounded by the genre for years, and I know what I would expect to see, however, a music video has to be accessible and interesting to all audience in any manner of ways.

Whilst asking the band to share the video returned little feedback, the comment I did receive was a contrast to the feedback I had initially been given. 6 of the questionnaires I handed out returned , that the 4 way split screen was the most popular aspect, giving a contrasting and original shot to the video. It was in sync to a bridge, where I felt I wanted to show all members playing at once. However, upon hearing feedback, I feel that it was a random shot style to include - if it was a recurrent shot, maybe it would hold more of a place in the video, however with the music video itself the way it is (one shot on screen) it would not make sense to have the 4 way split, and instead looks more like filler. However, the 6 questionnaires were given to people who don't particularly list this genre as a genre of choice, showing that that followers of the genre, who exhibit media like this regularly felt it had no belonging in the video.

This was the questionnaire I sent out. It was deliberately vague and ambiguous to allow for a more open opinion. My audience questionnaire allowed me to find out some interesting things;  the main question surrounding mine was the narrative (or lack of) - whether people enjoyed a performance based music video or felt that a story line was vital.

One questionnaire returned, saying that whilst the viewer felt that the music wasn't their usual genre choice and they usually prefer narrative based videos, they felt that the video reflected the genre. Therefore, aligning the video to genre conventions shows allows the music video to appeal to outside-Zener audiences, making it accessibly and non-exclusive.

Another questionnaire (also outside the genre) claimed that whilst they would not actively exhibit the genre, the simplicity of the video and the differentiation of shot mixed with the portrayal of the band allowed her to stay intrigued in the video, further proving that showing the band playing can be more captivating or involving that a story based video. The same person also felt that the band had been glorified in a manner that showed off their image rather than musicianship, raising questions of 'Gaze' - one of Goodwins theories of genre expectation and conventions. I explained in a previous blog post about Pop Punk how to draw audiences in wasn't to outright advertise appearance, but to focus on them in a non-voyeuristic or non-sexualised manner, allowing the music to retain good taste and accessibility from both genders; one may consider them attractive, whilst the other may admire them etc.

A fairly unanimous opinion for improvement was the idea of black and white, thus enhancing the aesthetic visual elements of the video- a strong contrast between B&W and performance videos is noticeable; the lack of substance in the video is made up for with a particularly modified after-effect. The audience felt black and white would benefit my video, enhancing shadows, lighting and giving it a nicer finish.
From my feedback, I have learnt that my genre isn't for everyone. However, with different genre conventions (some omitted, some enhanced) the video can be accessible by nearly anyone, make genre barriers irrelevant.