A focus group is a small, but demographically diverse group of people whose reactions are studied or whose opinions are sought. Especially used in market research. It is a guided or open discussions about a new product. Prompts in the form of questions should be used to guide the discussion.
I asked a group of people a few question regarding to my project. I showed my video, website and digipack to the selected group of people and looked at their reactions and responses, leading to my own feedback session.
How effectively you have created meaning ~ “The productions are clearly readable and meaning is also clear”.
Pearson 1: “Watching the music video, I saw funny, goofy and positive person. Because I know the song really well, I can see how you tried to show that he is still positive after hard times in his life. Even though the song is about break up, I was smiling throughout the entire music video because of its warm and positive atmosphere. The music video is very simple and easy to understand. However, I would work more on the colours as the music video looks too modern when it supposed to look old”
Person 2: “In the music video, I didn’t really understand the meaning behind changing the season. On the changing moment form one season to another, you only used one turning 360′ shot and straight then fragments of winter. I think you can add more footage before fast moving shot of the characters throwing powders into each other, to indicate the you changed seasons. On the website I would correct and change a few things.
- the line with name of pages list should be i the middle
- get right of “PLACE IT!”
- The cut section on the main page – looks unproportional
- move the register on the “cut” section more to the middle
- change the placing around on the top of the “home” page where you the picture of the cd – the cd should be above the text
- on the “album” page, you should make clear whee is the text that is dedicated to the fans and make it to the middle
- write more information about the band – don’t just have images of members
Person 3: “Website has a really nice design. Like the scroll down menu and video definitely looks cool with the paused vhs aesthetic.hyperinks check out.very slick, would be happy to see that looking up a band/dj/club night. Little to no continuity of brand between website/video.would be nice to see ‘2 C Nexus’ somewhere on the video. Some link between civil unrest and rave/dance culture but not quite sure of the underlying meaning.
The aesthetics of the website support the video, however in both I get no sense of the story. Apart from the music, what do the band stand for? What’s their story? What is the story in the music video and how does that link with the story of the band and their beliefs about society? Narrative is at the heart of any message for any media product and this sometimes feels like a mood board rather than a thought out brand. (SHo)
Text on the website is rather large, have to scroll a lot!
Your technical skills ~ “The use of technology is highly creative and imaginative and handled with expertise across all production tasks”
Person 1 : As I said before, I was smiling throughout the entire video. I think you have successfully achieved the old effect and made it look like the video was actually produced and filmed back in the 80’s. I also like the idea that you used the same effect in your digipack. You can work more on the website to match the same effect as on the video and the digipack. By this, audience will be see the connection between products more clear.
Person 2 : I can see how you were imaginative with different shots, costumes and designs. I can also see how you worked on the project throughout the entire year. The use of technology is demonstrated well and I can see how all three products complement each other by their similarity.
Pearson 3 : Rather cheesey…but I think this matches the image of Elton and this particular song. Good timing for scene changes with the music. Nice that real live dance has been included (if at times a bit awkward). On the website there are some typos ie. best not greatest and hots not hits. However, there are lots and lots of feature I would expect from a website. There’s lots of information about Elton John, but if you have a message you could adapt your text to support the message. In places it feels a little like a wikipedia page not an interesting dynamic story. I think the video is perfect for an Elton John video. It is funny flamboyant and very reminiscent of his style. If it is possible could there be some modern picture versus older pictures to show the movement of time and show that he is indeed still standing.
A sense of branding ~ “A strong sense of branding is apparent and is used effectively to link the products.”
Person 1 : I like how you demonstrated your logo in all three products, moreover they are easily visible. The star in the music video is not as bright as it can be, the colour is not appealing. However, I like the idea of how you used stars on your website, you used it not as picture / logo but as a video. I think it will be interesting for younger generation.
Pearson 2 : You have different designs for the star. I think you should make it clear which colour you want to use for your logo. The rainbow star can be used on a few pages of the digipack, but keep yellow star as your main design for the logo.
Pearson 3 : The star is effective and used across the products on the website as well as the EJ in the video. I agree, but with an idea of audience the branding could support their expectations more. It ties in, but could be stronger in that you could have old versus new in the imagery. I also think that depending on who you go for, in terms of audience you need to adapt for that audience ie. do older women wear that sort of t-shirt?
Elton John Best hits 