Audience Feedback for Websites

Results from questionnaire:

Firstly, the main age range of my respondents were ages 16-20, which is ideal due to my target audience being within that age range, therefore their feedback will benefit me for making any changes. This age range are more likely to be interested in modern websites with graphics and bold colours, which my website uses.

Secondly, 10 out of 13 respondents were female. Stereotypically, females are interested in the colours pink, purple, yellow and baby blue, which I have used within my website layout. These colours are also conventions of the indie genre due to being natural colours, which are normally found within flowers and the colours in the sky for sunrises and sunsets. Also, females are the majority of the audience for romance genre films and music videos due to it being a fantasy and helping them escape from reality (Young and Rubicam - the struggler). 

Furthermore, all of my respondents chose website one as the preferred layout and the average rating was 4 out of 5. This therefore helps me with understanding what the target audience expect within a website and the layout.

On average, majority of my audience said that the image and colour stood out on my website layout. This shows that the young generation are into bold colours and graphics within a website as it's eye-catching and gives a website a professional and modern style.

In addition, the images above show the respondents feedback on how to improve my website. Most respondents said that the text needs to be larger to be read easier and needs to match the image and have more of a italic font. Another respondent mentioned that the layout is too overcrowded, and the background colour should have a lower opacity so both the image and text are easier to see as it strains over the text. This shows that colour and style are key for my target audience as they still want to see the text and image, just at a lower saturation to be seen and read easier.

Therefore, I will make a few changes such as the size of the font as well as the opacity of the background image of the flowers. Also, I will try to change the layout of where the subheadings and the social media links are and try not to make it clash with the background. 

 Finally, my audience said that they expect to see social media links and a about page to give a summary about the production company and cast. I have already included these aspects within my website, therefore no changes are needed. However, two of my respondents mentioned that they expect to see all of the conventions listed. My website includes all of these aspects apart from a search bar, therefore I will include one so it gives the audience easier access to find their interests within my website.

In conclusion, I will slightly change the layout of my website. For example, the colour and size of the text and image to make it easier for the audience to see and read. To do this, I will change the opacity of the background image and change the colour of the font for the headlines and search bar. Also, I will change how some parts of my website is set out to make it look less overcrowded, therefore making it more aesthetically pleasing to the target audience. 

Website 1: My opinion

Firstly, the first website is the main website which I am using due to it meeting more conventions of the Indie genre. For example, the variety of colours such as blue, green and pale orange and baby pink, connoting love, purity, growth and peace. The logo for Light Beams Productions has changed due to the grey background in the original logo design not blending in with the rest of the theme of the website. Therefore, I photoshopped the grey background to make a transparent background and the 'L' from black to pink, so the new logo will blend in as look professional on the website, and the pink 'L' will match the colour of the subheadings. Both, the background and logo, are aesthetically pleasing to the target audience (16-20 year olds) due to younger people liking brighter colours which persuades them to look at a media source.
Furthermore, have included subheadings which link to different pages of the website such as home, about, news, gallery and contacts. This will make the audience have easy access to the parts of the website which they want to access. It is also a simple and modern layout due to old websites having a lack of graphics and one main page of heavy text with simple links, which lead to other websites. Therefore, my audience will be intrigued with going through other parts of my website due to there being a lack of heavy text.

Website 2: My opinion

The second website was my first template in making a website. The theme is bland due to me using a grey background, which matches the grey background in my company logo, giving the website an anaesthetically pleasing look due to it looking like a business website rather than a music website. This is due to the lack of graphics and bold colours which are conventions of the indie genre due to the hippie culture having bright and bold colours, symbolising the 'flower power' and conventions of nature. The subheadings are set out similar to the subheadings on website 1, the text is yellow to symbolise the light beam in the company logo in the top corner of the website. Also, the rest of the text are grey and black due to symbolising the colours within the logo.

Main Influcences

We were influenced by a variety of different media texts  which are as follows:

• Jeff Buckley 'Hallelujah'
• Sundara Karma 'A young understanding' 
• Gorillaz 
• Rufus Wainwright 'Hallelujah' 
• Robbie Williams 'Angels'
• Banks 'This Is What It Feels Like'
• Lana Del Rey 'Lust For Life'
• Duke Dumont 'As Long I Got You'
• The Script 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved'
• The techniques that  have influenced us include editing, camera angles, mise-en-scene and sound. Most of the Indie music videos operate with low key or natural lighting which is a reoccurring theme within our videos. Additionally, there are a variation of  shot durations or quicker shot durations in order to communicate specific messages within our music video.
  
  
  Firstly, I chose Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah as the soundtrack for our music video  due to it using many conventions of the indie genre which inspired me to make my music video similar to. For example, the mise-en-scene used were natural lighting, which creates a realistic atmosphere as our music video is reflecting the relationship of two everyday people.  In relation to Barthes action code  our video opens with an older version of Will asleep in which  initially does not give a clear storyline therefore creating an element of tension which then makes the audience wonder how this scene relates to the music videos title of retrospect. however as the narrative unfolds and the flashbacks become integrated into the narrative this cohesion of the title will begin to make more sense. In my music video, I will include dim lighting by filming in daylight and using candles  for interior scenes in order to provide small amounts of  light and create a relaxed and romantic  atmosphere. Using Barthes enigma theory, my aim was to mainly use the symbolic and proairetic code to symbolise the relationship between this couple and how it breaks down across the narrative of the video.  
  
  In regards to the mise-en-scene of our music video we have taken influence from a fan made music video of Sundara Karma's 'A Young Understanding'. We have taken inspiration from this music video to inspire the costumes for our music video as we will be taking inspiration from the indie genre as it is known for being particularly diverse in its choice of clothing with their being multiple different subcultures and ways of dressing within the 'indie scene'. In our music video we are choosing to conform to traditional ideas in regards to costume as our narrative focuses on the relationship of a heterosexual couple. We have chosen to use costumes that are made up of casual clothing, this is due to the indie genres clothing style being focused on the expression of individuality and not conforming to traditional expectations on how to present yourself to society.
  
  Furthermore, the cinematography used were close up shots at 1:48 and 2;27 . Close-ups are used to emphasise the artists emotions and makes the audience sympathise with them as it portrays the experiences that they have wrote the song about.  In addition, we have chosen to include  an over the shoulder shot in our music video to demonstrate an argument between the two which is a key part of them breaking up. In our music video we have chosen to subvert the traditional representation of women, whom are stereotypically victims in pop music videos by having the female being unfaithful in the relationship after having their bank loan for a wedding is declined. I will be using two teenagers as my main characters as they will be demonstrating the younger version of the couple and how the older version of the male character is reflecting on their relationship after her death.
  
  In regards to editing we have chosen to take influence from Jeff Buckley, Lana Del Rey and Banks in regards to editing techniques through the use of black and white editing. We have chosen to do this as it relates to Barthes' cultural code as Black and White is something we associate with the past as this is how all recorded footage would appear before the use of colour video in the media.  The tint is black and white due to it being an old memory, therefore the tint links to the colour for old-fashioned films when black and white was used. Also, the black and white signifies the purity of the relationship between the main characters. Before applying the tint, our team used the three-way-colour corrector and used the colours orange and red to make the image have a warm effect, giving a little saturation to the black and white tint. This gives the actress a silhouette effect due to her wearing a dark coat, resulting in her looking nearly invisible, connoting her current situation of not being around. However, the white makes her hair and face stand out, connoting purity and innocence, making the audience focus on her more rather than the actor.  The overall colour treatment resulted in making the scene look old-fashioned with the camera focusing on the actress rather than the actor, connoting that she is the main character within this scene due to the narrative focusing on flashbacks of the couple, giving the retrospect. It is also a convention of the indie genre due to the indie subculture being old-fhasioned as well as many music videos such as Plain White T's video "Hey There Delilah". Therefore, this colour treatment will be the main one used for our flashbacks to signify the indie genre and give the flashback an old fashioned effect.
  
  In one of  the flashback scenes of our music  video  a medium shot of the male proposing to the female,  is used showing the traditional progression of a relationship. The colour treatment used was only the three-way-colour corrector, using the colours orange and blue. The faint orange tint made very little difference on the darker colours within the shots by making them slightly darker. Whereas the blue gave the image a summery look by saturating the sky and the colourful circles from the lens. This links to the indie genre due to bold saturated colours being used, giving a happy and joyful image towards the audience, which is a convention, especially in music videos such as Coldplay 'A Sky Full Of Stars'. However, this colour treatment will not be used within the flashbacks in the music video due to it looking modern, whereas flashbacks tend to look old-fashioned by having a black and white or sepia filter to make it look outdated.
  
  
  
  
   The audience questionnaire showed us that our target audience were mainly 16-25 year olds. Our music video is aimed towards the struggler, who, seeks escape and lives for today, with few plans for tomorrow. This is classed as the socio-economic class group E/D as the struggler is more likely to be in the working or under classes.
  

  Using the GEARS model, my film wouldn't be ideal for young children as they will lack an understanding in regards to the relationships portrayed in our music video, whereas elderly people  are unlikely to watch our  video as it the cast does not particularly target their demographic and may find it boring as it's unlikely to appeal to their experiences or to their age.Therefore my target audience will be aged 16-25 Plain White Tees 'Hey There Delilah'

Media Timeline - Website

Website timeline from RebeccaIH

Media Timeline- Digipak

Location Scouting Sheet

Google Maps.

Firstly, the images above shows one of the many locations which we will use within our music video. We chose this location due to the field being near a river, which will be needed for the male to throw the ring in. Also, the field being a large area, therefore it will be easy to film as well as not interfering the locals whilst filming as it has such an open space. The field is a key location for our filming due to using the bridge for the main character to walk across, to help emphasise his emotions of being heartbroken. It will also be used for the flashbacks of the male and his loved one.
However, if it's windy, the sound can disrupt our audio. Also, if it's raining, it can cause a hazard due to mud as well as the equipment getting wet and not able to work properly, therefore we will use the weather forecast to guide us into which days will be most suitable to film. If not, we will bring suitable gear such as rain jackets, welly-boots and umbrellas to help shelter the camera crew and equipment whilst filming, and making sure that no cables are needed incase of any tripping.

 Google Maps.

Furthermore, the image above is another location which will be used in our music video for when the man back away from the graveyard and in anger, kicks the wall. Also, this location will be used for flashbacks of the man and his loved one walking down the street. However, we will need to be careful about interfering with the locals due to a bus stop being there, as well as passing cars which cause lots of sound, which may get in the way of our audio. In addition, passing locals may get in the way of the filming process due to the pathways being narrow, therefore we will choose a suitable time of day to film the video without causing conflict.



In addition, the image above is the third location of our music video. This is because this is where the scenes with the man and his guitar will be based. This location is important to the main character as it's his place of safety and where he feels comfortable, as well as isolating himself away from the public.


Transport links: Bus, Car, Taxi.

The images above show another location which we were thinking of filming our music video, however, my group and I chose not to film here due to this location being vandalised and therefore anaesthetically pleasing to the eye. Also, we did not feel that the area was suitable to film the romance narrative due to the skate park and the litter around the field. The other location has a clean field with a bridge and river, which is a key part of our music video because the scene of the man throwing the ring into the river will be used. Also, the other location has more vegetation surrounding it and less infrastructure, therefore we will not get many local people intruding in our filming process.



Transport: Bus, Train, Taxi, Car.








By Rebecca Harris

Story Board

Music video storyboards from ryangriffiths1999

Audio Permission

For the audio permission, we (Light Beams Productions) messaged the UK leader of Rufus Wainewright's website to ask for permission to use his song "Hallelujah". The images below show what we sent out to them via email and their only reply to us. We mentioned that the audio will only be used for educational purposes due to the music video being a part of our final A-Level exam. We did not hear any further notice after that reply.

Sample Script

By Ryan Griffiths