Focus Group- digipak, poster/advert and music video

Focus Group Feedback

My focus group consisted of two boys and two girls, all of them from a sub-culture I feel would fit with the genre of the music (quite indie/alternative mix) so that they would have the same interests and listen to this genre of music in their personal time. This means that the people know what conventions and stereotypes/characters are in music videos for this genre. Plus the type of music video that is normally constructed around the genre; performance, narrative or conceptual. I used two people who had studied media and were not from my classes and two that did not, which aloud me to gain understanding from a perspective that has not been taught the theory behind constructing the promotional package, while also getting theory-backed criticisms and positive feedback.

Due to using the same questions I did for my peer feedback I have been able to analyse the results I have got from both feedback sources and compare them to see if there are area where the responses concur.  

Below is the written points from my focus group and below that is the analysis of both the peer feedback and focus group results. In the sections under 'Like' are those that both peer feedback and focus group liked and those under 'Improvement' are what peer feedback and focus group think need altering. 

Improvements made:

• Made the inside of the digipak brighter
• Pulled the advert text to the centre to match the top title
• Made small text inside digipak bigger
• Made more over-lays in music video to keep audience interested
• Done more transitions in music video for above reasons

Improvements I did not make (either because it didn't look right or because I don't have the footage):

• Didn't add manikins earlier
• Didn't put the the extra colour onto the 'BETH' because it doesn't work with the affects I have used and I feel now that I have distanced the Name and title, it stands out more.

Digipak and Advert/Poster feedback- improvements and audience ideas

Feedback

So like my music video I have used qualitative content analysis for my poster and digipak because I thought it would be the most insightful into improvements. I used peer feedback from the class mates that saw my music video (some of the class mates looked in pairs at my music video, so the numbers vary). Again like I stated in my feedback post for my music video, I feel that this is not enough to make sure the final versions are right for the target audience, genre etc. so I will be using the focus group to see if their opinions match to that of the anonymous feedback from class. Below are the 'new' versions after changing certain features to fit with the improvements I got told in my feedback. 

Front cover of digipak

Inside of digipak

Advert/Poster

Below is the anonymous peer feedback

Peer feedback digi and poster from Surya Gregory Robinson

Music Video, Post Feedback- improvements and audience ideas

Feedback

For my first set of feedback I have used a anonymous peer feedback which allowed me to get a feel of what aspects of my music video work and what areas are looking for improvement. The feedback went well, yet I fear that due to them being peers of mine, they may have held back their full opinion, therefore I will be using a focus group for another set of qualitative feedback and make sure they are not my peers. Then I can see if there is a link between the responses from both sets of data. Below is a Powerpoint of my peer feedback and the video which has been improved to fit with some of the criticisms.

Anonymous Peer Feedback from Surya Gregory Robinson

Since producing this Powerpoint I decided not to make it a random group, but select people of the right sub culture to understand the video, some more indulged in their sub culture and some not, with two boys and two girls. Half that are taking media subjects and half that are not to get a varied, but reliable response.

Post feedback edit of music video

Please view all videos on Youtube if full HD to get the best quality of the video. To get full HD click on settings and restart the video.

Digipak Software Problem

Adobe Indesign Issues

For my digipak I was using the program by Adobe, 'Indesign' which is especially for formatting/placing final versions of images, texts etc. into one product, so in my case a digipak. But I faced a problem when moving my final version of the text into indesign because it pixelated and decreased the quality of my lead image. I tried moving from Photoshop to Adobe Fireworks and then saving it as a Fireworks PNG file which saves without a background to be used on other Adobe software, yet I still had the same problem. 

I later realised that due to adding effects on Photoshop it made the text pixelate when transferred, but it was vital for the digipak's text and quality of end product to use the effects. This means I have decided to use Photoshop for my digipak, but I feel that I have progressed in my skills with Indesign even if I only used briefly. 

Rough edit of music video- Street Lights

Street Light- Rough edit

This is my first rough edit (very rough). I have watched this through a few times from a critical point of view and realise there are quite a few adjustments that need to happen to the transitions between shots and the colour continuity. I feel that although the footage quality isn't as good as it should be, it is as good as I can get with the lighting equipment and cameras I have. Therefore I need to make sure that the other microelements of the music video are tweaked to the best of my ability.

I have gone over the whole rough edit and redone my warp stabilizer on some shots and the transitions are better synced with the beat of the song and the lyrics. This is the current version of Street Lights:

Slow Motion Editing Test Footage

Slow motion test footage

I managed to get a bit of test footage for my slow motion editing for Street Lights. For this I had to speed up the song on Audacity to 2x and then extract it and sing and express my actions as if I was in two times the speed. But although I did try and express my body language loudly, it wasn't enough and the actor in my background wasn't as a slow enough speed and was dancing more to the pace of the 2x speed song than the other. So I realised how I must make sure when I actually use slow motion filming I will need to make sure the performer is very expressive with their body language. 

x2 speed video

Edited to regualar speed

Recce/Test Footage for Music Video

My recce/test footage

Below are a variety of test footage for lighting, framing etc. and my recce footage for locations in London. Both in central and on the outskirts in Twickenham area.

Central London- the bridge of song, shot at London bridge/ South Bank

Twickenham- first chorus 

Twickenham- First Verse

Twickenham- second chorus

This recce/test footage work allowed me to understand the different outcomes of lighting from what my intention was, which is crucial for the music video I am going to produce. This has also enabled me to start to properly understand the equipment I will be using; the camera and the the tripod. And finally to see how the framing and focusing of different shots could work in the music video. 

The lighting in some of these videos are very poor and strangely coloured compared to reality in those locations, so I now know that at different angles I can get better shades of light, different colours and which lights will pick up more detail. 

Due to travelling back and forth to London and importing and exporting footage from different devices, some of my footage is not on my hard-drive or computer which has disappointed me. But the above footage can give an insight into the recces/test footage I obtained.