Afet KoraltayMedia Coursework

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

From our feedback of the questionnaires we gathered, a general positive response on the editing decisions we made for our production. Everyone that answered the questionnaire was able to identify that our music video belonged to the Indie genre. Therefore this indicated that we successfully followed the forms and conventions. The most appealing attribute about the artist varied across the viewers themselves for example, for some people it was the natural and earthy style of the artist that was the most appealing and unique to them personally.

For others, it was her welcoming and happy smile. Additionally, the camera angles where Hannah is looking into the camera draw the audience into her narrative which I found was a quite interesting observation. The constant smiling throughout the video enables the audience to familiarise with her personality and the overall tone of the song thus creating an identity and image for the artist.

The costume of the artist is suggestive of the genre of the music video and adds variety enabling the audience to understand her character. This is particularly evident with the fur coat, red lipstick and the floral playsuit which create a realistic star image. The summer feel is replicated through her clothing and emphasises on the feeling of freedom. The outfit of the artist reflects her individual style and personality in a way therefore it is important to make sure her clothing is appropriate for both the song and the genre.

The lyrics are skilfully supported by the visuals we are shown on the screen and great emphasis is put on Hannah and her musical instrument, the guitar. The props and the setting are essential in the construction of the production. The settings we filmed are believable and we provided a variety of various locations to reinforce the theme of journey which is a vital theme in the song.

Afet KoraltayMedia Coursework

• The majority of the viewers selected the sun light separating Hannah and her boyfriend as their favourite camera angle in our production for a number of reasons. This shot ties in with the jolly feeling of the song and the natural light creates an idealistic feeling.

The shot of her shoes when she descends down the stairs emphasises on her femininity and star persona image as an artist.

• The high angle or birds eye view shot on Hannah and her boyfriend looked enduring and created a carefree atmosphere. This also allows the audience to feel like they are part of the video as they are in a sense looking down onto the artist.

The panning shot allows the viewers to follow Hannah on her journey to Mexico and enables them to understand that the lyrics of the song relate to her journeys.

Afet KoraltayMedia Coursework

Within the music industry there are a variety of audience theories implying how the producers manipulate the audiences reading of the text they are watching through the media. The reception theory refers to the acknowledged codes and conventions used by producer’s position the viewers and force them to interpret the text in a particular or preferred way. For example, in terms of our music video the typical use of the guitar might oblige the audience to believe that this song belongs to the Indie genre which is the case.

The guitar

However, this does not allow the directors in the media industry to challenge forms and conventions or experiment with them across genres. Moreover there is the hypodermic model which attempts to explain how mass audiences react to mass media. It suggests that when receiving information from a media form of some sort we do not use our own opinions as an individual human being to interpret the text instead we allow the creators to manipulate and even change them. Both these audience theories indicate that as audiences we are passive and are easily influenced into believing that videos and other forms of media are produced to instigate thoughts not challenge them, though this isn’t the case.