Short Film Karma
The first set of audience feedback that we received was from our classmates. As a class we spent a lesson watching each others films while making notes, we looked out for what we liked about their film, areas we didn’t understand or could have been improved and overall positives. After collecting and finalising our notes we then went away and filmed individuals opinions on our short film.
As a group we decided to ask a series of questions for the other groups to answer. It was important that during evaluation of our film that everyone was critical with their opinions, this made it easier for us as a group to pick out improvements that could be made. Overall we found the feedback extremely helpful; they commented on points that we hadn’t thought about previously as well highlighting problems we had mentioned during post-production work. There were many positive comments made that showed they enjoyed our short film. For example, they agreed with the choice of location as they felt the school setting was appropriate for a social realist film where they had an understanding of this environment. It was also clear that everyone liked the choice of music and the way we had manipulated and arranged them in our film. They commented on the opening scenes where we had used two pieces of contrasting music along side each other to create a motive.
However, there was also a reoccurring negative, which was with the ending. It was clear that there was confusion with the last few scenes and they felt this could have been improved. Some said they would have liked to have seen more scenes showing LucieAnne as a bully to reinforce her character. Finally some said there was a lack of extras, this was a problem that we faced due to filming in school hours. We had a limited amount of people we could use who where available to film at the correct time.
I feel that if I was to do this project again I would try to develop the protagonist character with more depth. I would also add more scenes showing LucieAnne as a bully as well as more scenes reflecting that she comes from a troubled home life. This would make our tag line stronger. In addition, I think that by developing the character would improve the ending and make it clearer to the audience. Finally I would have liked to use a wider range of camera angles, for example, in the science scene and alleyway. I think this would have created more suspense and anticipation for the audience when watching.
After asking our classmates we then had to receive feedback from teachers. We asked Mrs Wright, a Key Stage five Pastoral Leader within the school environment, who, unlike our class mates, has no experience with media. However, she does have an interest in short films. It was interesting to hear her opinion, compared to our classmates.
Her feedback mentioned many positives. She thought our genre 'Social Realism' was effectively reflected throughout our film through the different locations. She also liked the storyline, choice of music and the clear dialogue. However just like the feedback we received previously she also agreed that the ending was confusing, she found it unexpected and felt the storyline with the hoodies could have been developed.
Through this feedback it has reinforced to me that the ending of our film is our weakest point. I have learnt that to improve our film we needed to develop our protagonist character LucieAnne in more depth, and add additional scenes. I was pleased that they noticed the use of music and how it was constantly changing to reflect different emotions and create an atmosphere. I was also pleased they commented on the good acting skills of LucieAnne as this was her first time starring a in short film.
Although we were able to get feedback from our classmates and teacher we were unable to receive feedback from our dominant target audience - professionals from the film industry. Their opinions would have been most valuable to us; they would have been able to provide a wide range of knowledge and share with us the vital improvements necessary for us to get our short film noticed within the professional industry. It would have been interesting to hear their opinions. However, it was important to us to value the views of the general public who eventually could have viewed our short film and would then be our target audience.
Postcard and Film Review feedback
As well as our short film I also gathered feedback for my postcard. For my postcard I received a lot of audience feedback firstly for my 3 different designs and then my final 3 designs that I had edited. I collected a wide range of feedback and the clips below are just an example of some I received.
Through my feedback looking at how effective my postcard is I learnt many things. Ryan has mentioned that I have used a wide range of conventions throughout my postcard, he picked up on the use of the title and tag line as well as the use of the photo and how it has been edited. He also mentioned the use of conventions used on the back of the postcard where I had used the correct lay out. I feel that if I was to do this again I would move my title and tagline all the way across the bottom to make slightly bigger. I feel they weren't prominent enough and wouldn’t be remembered as much as the picture. I wouldn’t have changed anything about my back as I feel it was very effective and followed all the conventions of a professional product.
For my film review I again received feedback on effectiveness as well as the over all product. Matt has commented on the layout, which follows conventions of the magazine 'Sight and Sound'. I have used a photo as my main focal point and included vital information. I originally planned to add a short synopsis to the bottom of my film review as this was a convention that was commonly used within reviews however, I decided against this as I have included the same information within my writing content. I decided against putting it on is I felt it would be repeating information already commented upon. If I were to do my film review again I have learnt that I could improve upon my technical language and include more critical analysis.
Finally by using audience feedback I have found that it’s a quick and easy way to get different views and opinions. It was clear to understand the positives and negatives from my products as well as our group short film and areas we could improve upon. Looking at all the information I have gathered if I were to do this task again I would definitely change the ending to our short film to make it stronger and more effective. However, for my own individual tasks such as my postcard and film review I would only need to make minor adjustments as they both received positive feedback.
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