Task 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In order to get different viewpoints from our audiences, we looked at feedback from our youtube account, our blog, a focus group and audience’s responses in a selective screening. This enabled us recognise the strengths of the music video and also what could have been made better in the video and also to portray whether our audiences followed and understood the different readings in our video, or whether they grasped something new from viewing it, as to what we intended by it.

What primarily our audiences have stated is that while some believe that just the concept of the performance element, dancers and the wires were enough to remain focus and interest, others believed that this was a weakness and with a lack of narrative element, it needed a narrative to “keep it moving, it came across as being slightly too samey.” (Youtube- caz2435). To an extent I agree with this statement, but believe that the video is strong enough and a narrative would have just diluted it. However, our original concept was based around a narrative element, but after shooting it, we believed that our music video would be stronger if it just focused on the performance elements. My opinion is also shared with some of the audiences, believing that what holds audience’s attention is the editing and the use of the quick shots and the reversed shots that makes the video interesting. The selective screening audience believed that another weakness was that the camera needed more variety and more movement in the shots, and in this they believed that the video could have been made stronger.

Through the encoding and decoding model, a theoretical model created by Stuart Hall, this presents that audiences do not act as a ‘mass’, but they defined by their social and ideological elements. Therefore, through our selective screening, we were able to understand the different groups and the different ways that they were likely to ‘read’ our video, which were often different to how we as the producers ‘encoded’ them to be. Successfully, our media product received numerous preferred readings, this means that the audience decoded the video in the way that we intended, but more interestingly we received negotiated readings, in which the audience decoded some of the meanings and adapted them in their own ways. But some audiences took oppositional readings in which the audience read against our intentions.

Throughout all of our audience feedback, both in the youtube feedback and in the selective screenings, evaluated preferred readings to what we intended to present. Severally we intended to present the lead singer and DJ’s attractiveness and sexual magnetism, in which is shown through several shots of the lead singer surrounded by the dancers, presenting that they are worshipping him. This is also emphasised through numerous tracking low angle shots of our lead singer, in which the audience responded that this presents a sense of hierarchy, the lead singer presenting a god-like figure. The audiences also responded to the ‘club like’ diogesus and the hedonistic values of the lead singer and DJ. Their responses were framed primarily around the ‘DVNO’ sign and the dancers, use of the DJ decks and the room to evoke that this was in nighttime, in a club environment. The audience also responded to the individuality of our lead singer and DJ, to the readings that we had intended, understanding the freedom to express their individuality through the different fashions, however in the selective screening, the audience picked up on different readings that we as producers had not primarily intended.

The audience’s readings of the costumes, primarily the lead singer’s red military jacket, were picked up upon by the selective screening audience, believing it presented a blending of different time periods. This jacket in combination with the silver paint, believing to present a futuristic approach in connection to the electronic music, some of the selective screening audiences believed to reflect superheroes and fantasy element. This to an extent is what we tried to reflect upon, again presenting a hierarchical element of the lead singer in which he ‘stands out’ from the dancers, who present the sense of a unity, which the lead singer breaks away from. Our selective screening audience also picked up upon this in the fact that the dancers are all moving in a chronological dance, moving together, whereas the lead singer has the freedom to move and we see him in different shot types in different parts of the set. This to an extent is an oppositional reading, because it was not something that we primarily intended to happen. The different audiences deduced that the wire element that connected the dancer element and the performance of the lead singer reflected the wires of the electricity that could run underneath the stage of the performance and others believed it was to be symbolic of the electronic music. These negotiated readings provided a positive understanding of the music video, that audiences were reflecting and foreseeing it differently as to how we had intended it to be. Some people of the audience also believed that the wire element was also connected with the reversed clips, in that it was as if the clips were being ‘rewound’ on the television.

However, some people of the audiences, provided oppositional readings to the music video, regarding some concepts and ideas that we as producers had not touched upon or thought of, and have neither intended. The lead singer and DJ, in the selective screening, it was believed that they were romantically connected towards each other. This was perceived through that although they were continuously surrounded by a group of female dancers, on several more occasions they were more interested in each other. This was too backed up through the view that they present ‘pretty boys’ and do not evoke over masculine roles, but are more feminine looking, especially in consideration of the use of makeup and their costumes. The audience too took an oppositional reading of the female dancers, which could present a negative viewpoint of how we are trying to present the female role. In this video, this oppositional reading believed that our presentation of women was just as ‘bodies’, for male desire, and that it is encourages women to sexualise themselves. I believe that this oppositional reading presents a negative viewpoint of how we are trying to present our dancers. However, in the video, to an extent we are presenting this, but we are just merely reflecting what girls in clubs wear.

The feedback that we received from our audiences, I was encouraged by and believed that what we tried to evoke in the music video was recognised by the audiences and was clearly understood. From the selective screening, the audiences brought new ideas forward that I had not first thought of, but now I can recognise where and how this could be understood. Primarily the audiences presented positive feedback, but brought constructive criticism forward that there was room for a narrative element and that some believed that it was necessary for this, so that there wasn’t too much repetition. However, despite being biased, I believe that there wasn’t any need for a narrative, because I believe this would have diluted the performance element of both the lead singer and the dancers, and I believe that both of these are strong enough to hold audiences attention for the 3 minutes of the song.

Task 2- How effective is your combination of main and ancillary tasks?

Task 2

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Task 1-In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My music video to the song, ‘DVNO’ by Justice follows the conventions of real music video products, however through the use of other technical devices we attempt to challenge the contemporary music video.

Similarly to real media products we created a performance element in our music video, which we then also reflected in our CD cover and poster. We created the world of ‘DVNO’ in which audience are invited into and suspend their disbeliefs into this ‘club-like’ mise-en-scene. In our video, we focus upon the performance element of the lead singer and DJ playing together in which a group of six attractive female dancers dance around the lead singer. Through this ‘club like’ environment, we play upon the attractiveness of our lead singer, DJ and the dancers. This uses conventions of real music videos of a similar genre, presenting an attractive male, surrounded by a group of females.

This convention predominantly appeals to male viewers, conveying the female dancers to just be ‘bodies’, emphasising the sexual attractiveness of him, in which supports male viewers aspire to be him and female viewers desire to be with him. This performance element, such as the screen shot below shows, presents the key image of the ‘DVNO’ sign, which again actuates the ‘nightclub’ diegsus and also the pink or silver stripe across the dancers, lead singer and DJ’s face. This markets the individuality of the band and supports the idea of their ‘trademark’.

The idea of ‘rhythmic montage’ in a fragmented style was effective for our music video in order to fit to the fast pace of the song. However, because we had so many different clips of the girls dancing, we experimented and were able to reverse different clips. I believe that this was successful and did challenge the forms of real media products because it changed the visual element style, making it different from a contemporary music video. However, on a first look of this video, audiences may not recognise the reversing clips but subliminally recognise it. With such dense and rich material audiences may return to the video to watch it again and recognise different clips that on a first viewing they didn’t see.
Throughout the music video we reversed several clips, especially in the use of the wire, in which we used as a form of travel between the dance element and the performance element of our lead singer and DJ. Throughout our media product we repeat this pattern of travelling to and from the different elements, in which the audience begin to recognise it. I believe that this differs and challenges the conventions of media products through the use of the wires because it creates a connection to the other elements.

Some music videos play upon the use of a narrative concept. However our music video, originally we wanted to use this convention, however after filming it, we believed that our performance element was strong enough and therefore our initial idea of listeners of the song to become ‘infected’ and have the silver or pink paint spread across their face was abandoned.
By using the silver paint on just the lead singer and the DJ this emphasises their importance and differentiates them from the majority of the dancers. Again, by the use of this silver and pink makeup paint it furthermore creates the mysterious ‘world of DVNO’, creating a sense of freedom and individuality. I believe that this in a sense uses the conventions of music videos because the dancers appear to be just apart of the lead singer and just appear to be their ‘bodies’, clones of each other.

I believe that one of the most effective parts of ‘DVNO’ is that it provides the audience with a polysemic experience and the ability to have a number of different interpretations. Whereas other music videos, such as a video with a narrative concept, it does not allow the music to take a different perception on it. This video furthermore does not just apply to female or male perceptive and preference, but different groups of audiences on what they like or dislike.

Our front CD cover promoting the single, ‘DVNO’, follows real media conventions in emphasising and making the main focus on the letters, ‘DVNO’. We layered underneath the lettering, still digital photographs that we took on the day of the shoot, therefore presenting a connection between the music video and the CD covers. Prominent in the photographs is the performance and dance element, again, providing a link to the music video and presenting the club-like diegsus. This is also emphasised through the LED lights of ‘DVNO’, furthermore creating a club environment.

Our CD cover is kept quite simplistic, reflecting similar colours as the music video. Across the centre we incorporated the pink stripe of the dancer face. I believe that this simplistic style of the CD cover follows similar CD covers, such as ‘Pnau’, which alike them we have used a similar style. However, I believe the main focus of the pink eye strip across the front, challenges forms because through this we present their individuality and difference as a ‘trademark’.

On our side covers, we again made the main focus the image of ‘DVNO’. In Photoshop we edited the led lights from the music video and included this in our inside covers. Again, through the simplicity of our covers, I believe this follows similar conventions of other media products and electronic music. By using the images of just our lead singer and a dancer in half light, this presents an emphasis on the ‘DVNO’ to be the only source of light, therefore presenting the importance of ‘DVNO’ and also creates a mysterious and magical element.

On our poster, we intergrated similar elements to our CD cover and our poster. We played upon the use of the lead singer’s sexual magnetism and individuality which follows on real media conventions, of bands such as ‘Empire of the Sun’. In the background of the poster, we used the image of a lightening bolt, which connects to our music video through the use of the wires and also connected to the name of our duo, “Electric Deserts”. Again, in our poster we followed upon the simplicity of our poster as our CD cover and music video.

Our Final Poster

Our CD Covers

These 4 panel CD covers were initially still digital photographs that were taken on the day of the shoot, which we have edited using Photoshop and using different effects created these images.
I believe that they work effectively together, because they incorporate the same images and follow similar elements.

This is the front cover of our CD.



















These are the inside covers:




















And our back cover:

Final Video

After further editing after our first cut, we produced our final version of the video. After our first cut we used Adobe After Effects to finalise it and ensure it looked as professional as we could. In After Effects we changed the blue saturation colour levels so that in the dance element, the ‘DVNO’ LED lights gave a blue tinge to emphasise the ‘club-like’ diegesus.

I believe that our final product of the video is really effective, and I am very happy with it.