Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?
For feedback for my media thriller opening, I decided to give out 2 questionnaires to one boy and also one girl so they could watch and then give me feedback on my opening. Both of them were of the white british ethnicity.

Questionnaire 1 -  Sam Kirkham       Male
Missing

1) Was the film easy to understand the narrative?

Sam gave a 4 out of 5 for the understanding of the narrative and said the reason being was because he could follow what the plot was setting out for the opening. He also mentioned that the reason for giving a 4 and not a 5 was due to the fact that during the middle of the action, he became a little lost as to where this girl was and why she was at this machine.

He did however, on second viewing become aware of where she was and what she was doing as he noticed that she was walking into the bus station. Although he hadn't noticed this the first time around. He did say that, that was the only thing he could fault with the opening production.

2) Did the sequence hold your attention?

Sam, for this gave this a 5 out of 5 as he said that he was swept into it and wanted to watch after the opening. He said the fade to blacks helped to keep him watching as it built the suspence of the action up and kept him on the edge of his seat. He also added that if this were the start to a film that he hadn't seen before that he wouldn't think twice about staying and continuing watching which I was extremely pleased with and actually didn't expect him to say.





3) How do you rate the camera work and editing?

Sam also gave a 5 out of 5 for the editing and use of the camera. The reason which he gave was he thought that the different angles that were present gave the film that extra tension and action; plus making it look professional.

With regards to the edit, he said that the fade to blacks were used brilliantly because as said above in 2, it created suspence which built up. He also said the use of the dissolve used here on the left was used well because it gave an insight to what was going to happen later in the opening while staying with what was actually happening.



4) How do you rate the standard of mise - en - scene?

Sam decided to give a 3 out of 5 for the use of mise-en-scene. At first he didn't understand what the question was asking but once I explained he gave 3 because he said he thought that we could have included the male character a little more which would have built up the tension even more. He also admitted that if we had a little longer of a shot on the girl when she discovers the poster then it would have been more understandable. He did however say the lighting looked and everything could be seen easily.

5) Is the production clearly the opening to a thriller?
This was awarded a 4 out of 5. He said because of the use of the titles and where they are located in the opening, it does look like one and not like a trailer. He said that he liked the idea of having the 'Night Fall Productions', a bit of action and then 'A Dean Morgan Production' at the start of the opening due to the reasoning that he has seen it in films he has watched. Another reason he gave was that he has seen trailers of films such as Life on Mars and Animal Kingdom compared to my opening, he said their was a disinct difference which was great to hear as an opening was the main aim.

6)Would the opening inspire you to watch the rest of the film?
The simple answer from Sam was yes. From one reason and one reason only and that was because it left him questionning what was going to happen after the ending of the opening.He wanted to know what happened to the girl but also what she had done; which was our groups aim in the first place actually.

7) Can you suggest anything that could improve the appeal?
He said No!

8) Were there any aspects that you find offensive?
Again, he said no.

9) Was there any part you found confusing or hard to understand?

Sam explained to me that there was one specific part he found a little hard to get his head around. In the middle of the opening to the film, he said there was a lot going on which is where he became a little lost as to what was actually happening. The main parts where he was lost was when the girl was entering the bus station and also when she was at the machine; both of these mentioned above so I don't need to talk about them again.

10) What is the best feature/features of the production?
Samuel said that there were 4 main aspects of my production that were the best in his opinion.
Camera work - The different angles that I used to show the action



Editing - The use of dissolves and fade to blacks making it look ominous and enigmatic/mysterious, plus having it increase suspence.


Soundtrack - How the soundtrack intergrated with the action was 'excellent'. He also added that he thought this soundtrack was the only one that could go with my action in his opinion after I played him my other options I could have used.


Cliffhanger - The mysterious man at the end after following this girl was a strong ending as he wanted to know what was going to happen after that but in terms of having it as an opening the cliffhanger worked brilliantly.

11) Does the soundtrack effectively reflect and enhance the mood and action?
Yes it fits in well with the action especially at two certain points of the opening. Firstly at 0:05 - 0:12 where he says that instantly you get the sense on the tension building up. He did also say that where the soundtrack is in this specific place it makes it seem that something is going to happen.

Secondly, he also points out the significant sound increase from the start of the film to the end showings of the opening which in his words 'makes me know that something will happen as the music get ever so slightly louder'

12) Rate the overall production
Sam said that he would rate my thriller opening a 9 out of 10 because he could see how hard I worked on it to make it look as professional and tension building as I could.

Questionnaire 2 - Hollie            Female


1) Was the film easy to understand?

From understanding the opening, Hollie gave a 3 out of 5. She said the only thing that was confusing her was that she couldn't work out why the girl was ripping this poster of a wall.

According to her she said that the rest of the narrative was understandable after this, it just why she was ripping it down.

After a couple more viewings of the opening she finally realised that she was running away from the 'Missing' on the poster and also at the end of the film. Perhaps the font on the poster wasn't big enough but once she saw it she couldn't believe how she could understand it first time around.


2) Did the sequence hold you attention?

Hollie said that the opening had her full attention and gave it a 5 out of 5 for this. She said it was mainly because of the female lead character as she found it easier to relate and also could imagine herself in that position.

Coincedentily, this may relate to 'The killing' as the lead who is a female character named Sarah Lund.






















3) How do you rate the camera work and editing?

She rated the camera work and editing as a 5 out of a possible 5 which I was absolutly thrilled by. after spending so much of my time working on it to get it right I am ecstatic that people are noticing it and thinking it works in my production. The reason for her high mark was due to the fact that the different transitions made it look like a proper opening to a film. She also said the use of the camera was used well as their wa a variety of different types of shots which kept her attention to the film.









4) How do you rate the standard of Mise - En - Scene?
This was given a 3 out of 5 for the use of mise-en-scene. She liked some shots, for example the shot above where the light just seems to bounce off her but some she wasn't as keen on such as the poster being found by the girl in the machine; ironically Sam also said this so if this was attracting audience then may not have been noticed. Other than that she said she couldn't find anything else wrong which I thought was good to hear but not being able to see something is understandably a 3 out of 5.

5) Is the production clearly the opening to a thriller film?

Hollie gave 4 out of 5 for this question. The reason being because of the titles which was the same as Sam so i'm happy in that regard. She also said the way sound built up showed her something was going to happen and it did with the cliffhanger. She did however say I could have put 'Edited by Dean Morgan' but from advise from our courses, i'm glad I didn't even if she thought it may have improved it.









6) Would the opening inspire you to watch the rest of the film?
Hollie said it would inspire her to watch on due to the simple reason that because of the female lead, it could relate more to her and to a female audience as well.

7) Can you suggest anything that could improve the appeal?
She said No which I was extremely pleased with.

8) Were there any aspects that you found offensive?
She said no.

9) Was there any part you found confusing or hard to understand?
She said that the ripping of the poster was confusing but because I've mentioned that above I won't talk about that. Other than this she said 'it was fine apart from that' which again was really pleasing to her.

10) What is the best feature/features of the production?
Hollie said there were 5 main features which caught her eye.
Action - There was always something happening so you cannot take your eyes away from what is being shown.

Performance - 'Both of the characters in the film, especially the female, performed excellently and her facial expressions were great and made it look as though it was a real life situation.'

Editing - She said the fade to blacks were fantastic because the seperated the scenes well and created suspence.

Soundtrack - Hollie said for this and asked me 'Where did you find this soundtrack?! It sounds absolutly brilliant and I can imagine in a real film!' As you can imagine I was over the moon because other audience may also think this if they heard it.

Cliffhanger - She said it left her wanted to see what happened to the female, whether she is dead or alive or not.

11) Does the soundtrack effectively reflect and enhance the mood and action?

Hollie said to me that the does work effectively and 'ties in well with the action' and also the eventual cliffhanger. She said it reflected the mood as being tense which is what she was feeling at the time of watching the opening. She also mentioned that it enhances the action to make it be more exciting to watch.

According to her, she said the best of the soundtrack happened nearer the end as it increased in sound which made her sit on the edge of her seat.

12) Rate the overall production
Hollie told me she would rate my film an impressive 9 out of 10 because she could imagine she this opening in a cinema.

After interviewing a male and female who represent my target audience, our film could attract our audience for females through the main female character; perhaps not as much for men through the isolated male figure.

We addressed our audience by focusing on a social problem of young people, particularly girls in foster care who go missing.