feedback (focus group)

 Due to family related issues, I missed the focus group with the class themselves, as a solution to this, I showed my music video to a friend that studied media (Jai), a friend who knows/enjoys the song I created the music to (Molly) and two other friends who had never heard the song before (Jack and Draven). After they had finished watching the video, I asked them a series of questions I had prepared and noted the answers down to further help my process.

What elements of this video stood out to you in a positive way?

Jai: 

"I really enjoyed how the cuts all matched the tempo of the song, I found it visually pleasing. I also liked how when she said drifting through the water, you were stood infront of the water, it made that lyric itself stand out"

Molly:

"I liked how you used relatively the same colours throughout the video and how the colours you were wearing made you stand out from the background"

Jack:

"I liked the two scenes where the characters approached the other one and then walked off, It related to song quite well and definitely showed the meaning of the lyrics"

Draven:

"I found the small comedic sections such as when she said isolated tower, you were sat ontop of a climbing frame and when you were spinning on a round about, I think that would help reach different types of people watching and help them enjoy the video more"

Taking from this feedback;

 I have successfully used imagery to help the audience identify the video with the meaning whilst also helping them relate the video to the specific genre, I did this through my use of misce en scene. I have successfully used editing to ensure my audience maintains engagement throughout the video.

What could be improved about this video?

Everyone pretty much said the same things to this question; some shots are too long and it starts to make the audience disengage at points, some footage is of lower quality than others and therefore it lowers the quality of the video as a whole and finally, they wanted to see more of the scenes where the two people approach each other and get rejected. 

from this, if I was able to at the time, I would have gone out and re shot some scenes as well as shoot some new scenes so as to enhance the quality of the video.

What message does the video itself convey to you and do you think its the same as the songs message?

Again, I received an almost identical response from all participants, which was; the video shows someone who distances herself from others and says she doesn't need others, shes fine with herself and her coping mechanisms, as the video goes on it seems more and more as though she is changing her mind however she has pushed everyone too far and now is stuck on her own and therefore sticks to her old ways. Everyone said that the videos message was mostly the same as the song however I couldve linked it more by showing her being jealous of relationships other people have as that is highlighted in the lyrics.

What changes I would have made;

I would have re shot a lot of footage as well as shooting a couple of new scenes, this wouldve helped to maintain the audiences engagement and add more depth to my video. I also would have tried to visually incorporate more links to the lyrics themselves to helps explain the song meaning through the visuals to link back to my research.