WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

By Daniel Gbadamosi

I appreciate the feedback that my audience has given me as it is not biased, I can tell this from the fact that it has both the positive points and the points for improvement in my video. To the right are two examples of this, the cinematography that they really found to be exceptional was specifically mentioned so that we can go back and analyze what we did well an what we would change. Another viewer pointed out the specific location as being good I appreciated as it was a unique piece of feedback and it taught me that even miniscule details such as choice of location can be pivotal.

Daniel

Originally I thought that our audience would be averse to the idea of us using so many estate areas however this was noted as a point of praise meaning it must have helped the video in some way (aesthetically), I am therefore happy that we kept the locations similar in that respect as it paid off. We were going to change this as it suggested that it had some pivotal role in story which it did not. If not for the fact that the estate had such strong connotations to the troublemaking/rebellious crowd that the artist got into then we would have removed it in favor of a more depressing or serious area, the fact that we kept it in however paid off as is shown by our audience feedback. One of the negative points of the video was the fact that some of the camera shots were extremely shaky we did purposely make the shots handheld in order to transfer just how hectic the point of time in the artists’ life was. I will discuss this in more detail on the next slide.

During some scenes in my music video hand-held shots were used this was in order to emphasise the instability in the artists’ life this did work as feedback said that this was a brilliant idea as feedback showed that the audience picked up on the link between the narrative and the camera movements however a suggestion was that we ‘tone it down’. I will definitely take this into consideration as after watching the video it does take away from the professional aspect of the video as well as making it hard to focus on what is going within the actual shot itself. Our music video did surprise me in the fact that after a suggestion to branch out from our target audience it was found to be successful with females ranging from adolescent ages all the way up into my adult years, when questioned I found that they found his story to be eye-opening as although they cannot relate to it directly most confessed to knowing someone who went through something similar. It helped to realize that when choosing a song it is important to choose something that is relatable to your audience a it is definitely a point of attraction, it also showed me to check my demographic as it better to be open-minded as it can potentially open up more options for your audience. Audience feedback helped me understand that this style of rap can be appreciated by a much more wider audience than adolescent males.

Our feedback requested that we use a darker tone e.g. filming more at night as it is clear from the narrative that that the artists’ story is not a pleasant one as even during the times when he seems happy it is what others have deemed delinquent behaviour the original artist can be quoted as saying that the time period in his life was real “sin and debauchery” I tried to subvert the idea that his past and future were both dark by using a brighter sky and a more grungy area this was to keep the idea of an ambiguous ending open. As the idea I successfully conveyed to the audience is that his future is open to interpretation depending on how you interpret the music video, you could interpret it as him realizing his past mistakes and deciding to make a change or him blaming his current situation on his past and that he has decided to given up. Stuart Hall suggested the that with any media text that the audience reception comes down to 3 readings dominant, negotiated or oppositional. Dominant (audience agrees and likes what meaning they have encoded, positive opinions). Negotiated (audience has mixed views on the meaning they have encoded). Oppositional (audience does not agree or like the meaning that they have encoded, negative opinions and views on the text). I believe our audience reading was negotiated as although they understood the narrative it was suggested that we convey in a better way in order to make it easier for the audience to understand, however this may be due to the fact that they interpreted it in a way that meant it would have been more beneficial to use a darker tone. This in itself may suggest that we actually received a dominant reading as my audience are able to recognize the ambiguous aspect of the entire video and ending. The narrative suggests that this era is the middle of the artists’ life and the actual song was created in that era, it is likely then that it is is due to this that the audience is able to recognize the openness of the music video and the ending. It is hard to definitively choose a negotiated reading or a dominant reading however I have come to the conclusion that our reading is dominant as it is clear from our audience feedback that although most audiences unlike myself choose either one or the other when it comes to the interpretation of our music video they do recognize that there is a choice.

ConclusionI am thankful for my audience feedback as it has pointed out how I can improve my ability in producing media texts cinema based and otherwise. Audience feedback is important as it teaches how to improve and what you are good at.