Research into potential target audience - Video feedback

I've recently finished the first draft of my music video (here) and as i said in this previous post i will be wanting to gain audience feedback in order to improve.

I used the social media platform 'Snapchat' in order for me to get some feedback and i felt this this was an appropriate way to get feedback as it is instant and reaches my demographic. Below is some of the feedback i received.

 

This first bit of feedback was very encouraging for me as they said that from my music video they understood the narrative behind it meaning that i have successfully communicated the story through the media conventions. This is confirmed by the fact that the person said the editing used contributes to the overall idea behind the video.

The second piece of feedback again comments on the effectiveness of the editing i have used for the video. The "colour splat part" which i believe the person is referring to the powder colour throw is a section of the video i found personally hard to edit as it was a complicated process to get the effects right. However from this feedback i now know that the editing has worked and that the audience enjoys it. Also the final piece of feedback i received from 'FINN' although it does not go into specifics i know from it that he likes the overall aspect of the video which is important as to the majority of people who'll watch the video they will be judging it on whether it is good or not. 

This feedback has been really beneficial for me as i now know the positive things audiences think of my music video.

Organisation - images from photoshoot

Here are the images I have taken for my digipak and album advert. This first image below is of the antagonist and this is made know by the gold and black mask as in my music video this is what the character has on. This image is on of the images that may potentially be used for my from cover as I feel that it is a strong image that makes an impact catching the audiences attention, which is benifical for my digpak. My plans for the image is to crop it so there is less of a background and have the image in black and white but with the gold bits of the mask coming through as this will link to the fact that in my music video it has the black and white effect.

My second image I took was one of my protagonist in some trees. This was not a planned shot how ever while shooting I saw the tree and it reminded me of one of my shots towards the end of my music video. The use of the low angle for this image is in my opinion effective as it gives my protagonist superiority and giving him a star like quality and the fact that he is looking away from the camera creates the sense that as the audience we are watching him, linking to the message of my music video as it is about a media/technology obsessed society. The sun shining through the branches of the tree is effective as it hints towards a new beginnings which is supported by the protagonist looking to his left as in for a new opportunity. I think this image will be suitable for the insert of the digpak as the fact he is looking to his left will mean inside the pack he will be looking towards the CD which is sort of like the image is a guide for the audience to listen to the CD.

 

My final image is of my protagonists shoe. I've talked about the idea for this image in a previous post (here) and this image was my initial idea for my album front cover. The idea for the image was it to be in black and white with a CCTV camera style around it. However I feel that the image of the mask maybe a more effective album front cover. 

 

 These three images are examples of the ones I have taken however i have quite a few variations of each image I may use. All three images will be used for my digpak and depending on the the image I decide to use as my front image will be the one I'll use for my album advert.

Drafting and planning - Second album cover idea

I have previously posted about my idea and design for my album front cover however I had been thinking about alternatives and I have just designed another potential front cover. 

My ideal for it is that I would have the main antagonist as the main image as this is very striking and will cat the audiences attention when on the shelf. The image of the mask is gold and black and the background of the cover will be in black. Around the digipak there will be CCTV like style which consists of a time stamp in one corner and in another it will say 'rec' liking to the technological aspect to the video. At the top of the cover will have the album name 'The outlier' as this needs to stand out the the audience in order for them to remember the name of the album. Also I will have the featured track of the album 'Run Boy Run' which is my the song for my music video. So far I have two designs so inorder for me to decide what to use as my front cover I will ask for some feedback as to what people prefer. 

Drafting and planning - First draft of music video

Here is the first draft of my music video.

I am happy with the shots and how they work together as one video and I feel that the research and planning that I have done helped with this. When editing the video together i followed my storyboard which has been helpful for the most part however along the way I have slightly changed and strayed away from it due to my ideas developing as I was editing. I have tried to use a range of techniques such as straight cuts, fades, and effects to make sure that my video is varied and interesting. As you can see there are some blank bits to the video from where I overestimated the lengths of shots and instead they have been shorter then expected. 

I am planning what footage I could add to fill in these bits and still fit the narrative. I will also get some feedback from my first draft so I will know the strengths and weekends of my video are allowing me to improve it.

Organisation - Extra footage preview

As i said i've planned to film extra footage for my music video as after editing i realised that i needed a few extra seconds. Here below is an example of the footage i have filmed.

This shot is a continuation of a previous one that i filmed earlier, so i had to make sure that i positioned the camera and tripod in the same location for the continuity to work. I will be adding this footage to my edited music video and hopefully this will be enough to fill in the missing gap. Now that i have fully completed filming i can complete my video and ensure that i meet the deadline. 

Organisation - weather check

As I've said in a previous blog post I have planned to shoot my ancillary products and some extra footage tomorrow but to ensure I can do this I need be sure the weather conditions is suitable.  As I am shooting tomorrow in order for me to get up to date information about the weather I needed to check today.

From what I can see I will still be able to go a head with the planned shoot, however there will be some light showers. I can work around this but to be on the safe side I will be bringing an umbrella to the shoot. 

Drafting and planning - Extra filming

I have nearly completed the editing of my music video however there are some gaps and bits of footage I want to change to enhance the video. In a previous post from a while ago I added to the concept of the story of my music video and included an antagonist. I did this because my original message of 'a society that's obsessed with social media/technology' wasn't being shown clear enough. However from watching the near enough complete edited version I feel like I could include this character and the masked characters more.
                  

 I have been look for some inspiration for this and what I've found in the video is something that I think would be suitable for my music video. This clip from insidious i have found on youtube features really interesting editing techniques, at 2:24 there is a ghost that moves closer to the screen in a sort of stop motion way which looks really creepy as the disjointed movements will create fear among the audience.

I feel like this would be suitable for my music video as i want to create this same feeling with my audience. I want to use this for my masked character as when they feature in the video it suggests something wrong. I will be adding this new footage after my protagonist run downs the stairs, i will will have a masked character following him behind in the same style in this clip above.

Organisation - Photoshoot costume

I will be taking photos for my ancillary products next week and I have been planning what my actor will wear for it.

As the ancillary products are to do with my music video the costume will be the same as I want the products to give an insight as to what is to come from my music video. This is what my actor will be wearing 

Here in my previous (post) I have discussed the costume choices and what they reflect.

My planned album cover and album advert doesn't really feature the whole characters costume however i still want my actor to wear it for continuity and for the chance that I will take some backup images. The shoes will be the main focus of the image as I feel that it really relates to the song title "Run Boy Run" and reflects some of the shots from my music video.

Planning the costume before the photoshoot has been helpful as it means my shoot will go smoothly due to my organisation.

Drafting and Planing - Song name

As part of my ancillaries i will be making a Digipak that will feature the song 'Run Boy Run' which is the song for my music video. On the back on the Digipak will feature the song that will feature on the album and i have created a list of song names that i think will work for my digipak;

• Fixation
• The Moment
• Run Boy Run
• Unshackled 
• Lost In The World
• Life less
• Unconnected  
•  The Pursuit
• Play mode 
• Captivated
• New Age
• Reset  

I wanted the songs to tell a story and relate to my music video message of the obsession of media and technology. So the story behind my song titles is the 'Fixation' is how everybody is obsessed with media and technology, the 'The Moment' is when things start to go bad and this obsession takes a turn for the worst. 'Run Boy Run' is of the protagonist realising whats going on and he needs to escape, then with 'Unshackled' he is now free.'Lost in the world' is about how the character is now lost without media and technology and now he feels 'Life Less' and 'Unconnected'. The character is then pursued ('The Pursuit') by a new social problem and is experimenting on how to deal with it, 'Play mode'. The world around my character is 'Captivated' by this new societal thing as its the 'New Age' problem. The final track 'Reset' is the re-equilibrium as everything is repeated again.

Creating a track listing that links to the concept of my music video i believe will add to my overall atheistic of my digipak as it will make it look more realistic.

Reaserch into potential target audience - Album name feedback

In my previous post I have said that I am creating an album name for my digipak and I have managed to decide on two potential names for it. Before making my final decision i wanted to get audience opinion on what name I should go for, so I decided to create a twitter poll to do this.

This is the poll I created on the social media platform, twitter. I decided upon twitter because it allows my poll to reach a large amount of people instantly meaning my feedback will be from a wide range of people. I created this poll yesterday as I wanted enough time for people to answer and here is the results from it:

 

As you can see the popular name for my album 'The Outlier' with 82% of the votes. Even though 'The Outlier' was the winner from the poll, 'individualism' did receive some votes showing that it was still a liked name choice. My perosonal name preference was 'The Outlier' as its shorter and easier to say than the other choice and the meaning of the word is more subtle which will interest the audience. This poll has been helpful as it has comfirmed to me the most effective album name and because of the poll it means my digipak will appeal to the public.

Drafting and planning - Album name ideas

I am creating my digipak at the moment and currently i am creating an album name. I have been brainstorming possible names and i have been using a visual thesaurus to help me.

My music video is about a person that broken free from a same society so i decided to find synonyms for the word 'different' as the protagonist is the different one. This visual thesaurus has been helpful as it has allowed me to branch out and see other words that i could use that i wouldn't of thought of. From this i though of the first possible name which is 'Outlier/Outliers' which comes from the word anomaly which means a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set. 

The next possible album name i thought of is 'Individualism' which means  a social theory favouring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.  This relates to my music video concept as the antagonist in the video is controlling everyone though technological mediums and the protagonist is escaping from it.

These two album names are potentially what i will use however before i make my choice i will acquire some audience opinions.

Drafting and planning - Draft of digipak cover

I've been designing the cover of my digipak and here is my first drawn draft of it ;

In my previous post where i discussed my ideas for the cover (post) i have taken those ideas and created the digpak cover. The main image of the cover is the protagonists shoe in a running position linking to the fact that the featured song is called 'Run Boy Run'. The cover will be in black and white just like the music video however the shoe its self will be in red relating back to the music video and how the protagonist is breaking free of a society where everyone is the same. The coloured shoe also reference the colour splat sequence in the video giving the audience a hint to what happens in the video. On the corners of the cover there is a CCTV like style which reflects the fact that in the video the antagonist is watching everything through their computer screen and links to the social media aspect of the video. Having the name of the song under the image is typical convention of a digipak front cover and i will have them in block white capitals so they can stand out which relates to the fact that music video makes a bold point. 

Organisation - Album + Advert location

I plan to take the images for my album cover and advertisement soon and i have sourced locations to where this will take place. I have said in a previous post (link) what my ideas are for the album image and my advert will be a similar image to that. My main location will be out side on a concrete path way. This is the same place as one of my locations from my music video and i though this would be appropriate as i want the album and advert to make reference to the featured song 'Run Boy Run'. As this is outside i will need to check the weather closer to the date to make sure i am able to shoot.

Although i have a good idea as to what i want the images to look like, i do have some other locations and ideas in mind. Some of my ideas include an image of the protagonist running down stairs, so the location for this will be a staircase or an image of the lead antagonist. I may do these shots as a back but i will first draw up my main idea and get feedback from it as to what people think of it and whether it will be effective.

Drafting and planning - CCTV overlay

I have said that i will be including a CCTV overlay to my music video and i am currently adding that in the editing process. This is a technique that i haven't done before so in order for me to do this i have to first research how to. I am using the software Movie Plus X6 which has a help tutorial page within it on how to add something over a footage clip.

Here is the screen shot of the relevant section on how to add the effect and from what i have read it is not a hard process to do. I can easily create a png image of a cctv recording camera and add it over the the footage. 

By researching how to do this it can help my editing process as i can continue editing. 

Drafting and planning - Draft of Advert

  I've been planning what i want my advert for my album to look like and here on the left is an example. My lead antagonist from my music video has a very striking and bold presence when he is seen in the video, because of this i believe this would be effective for my advert. I am planning to have a picture of this character looking straight at the audience and this direct address will make the audience have a connection with my product. This photo of the antagonist will be similar to the shot they are in within the music video, so it will have low key lighting. They will be wearing a black hoodie and this will be useful when i come to edit this advert as at the bottom of the page i'll insert a black box to make it look like its the hoodie allowing me to write text in this area. I will have the the name of the album and artist and under that i will have the release date for the album. I want the date to be it digit format as it looks simplistic giving a professional feel to advert as well as takes up a small amount of space leaving the audience to focus on the image. The background of the image may be in white as i feel too much black won't make my advert standout however i will experiment with this to see which one fits best.

Drafting my album advert has been helpful as planning what to do before had will allow the creation of the advert to be more effective.