In the last media lesson, I got several people from my target audience to watch my film and give me some feedback after I asked them questions regarding it. Some were more specific than others. In the video below, I asked 6 girls what their opinions about the film were. To ensure I had a fair sense of what my target audience would prefer in a sci-fi film I asked 3 boys to also give me their thoughts on the film.
When asking my target audience what their immediate thoughts on my film were they generally agreed that it was something they found interesting despite it having quite a dark storyline. Many of them didn't guess the right genre, where they tended to describe the film as being a horror. Other specified genres included thriller and fantasy which are inclusive to the sci-fi genre. In the video, many people believed the audience should be as I identified it: 15. However others, particularly the boys, believed that the film should be aimed at a 12 rated audience. The narrative was fairly understandable for most people, although when questioned further, a few others pointed out that the flashback scene where Alicia goes from being happy to being sad was slightly confusing. However this was countered by saying that the music linked well with the scene,helping to improve their understanding of the film.
Most people said the title informed them of the genre however this was more so due to the typography rather than the title itself. Going back to the narrative, people generally understood it although there was a need for clarity on such things as what the drug does, and what role the audience serves by watching the 'footage'. One of the key things I was picked up on was the need for more cuts to break up Michael's speech. The music was seen as effective, with a lot of people saying the music at the end and start of the film had the most impact. Some improvements to be sought upon from having asked about music includes increasing the volume when the 'psycho person' smiles at the end and to have a track running throughout the film in order to build a mood.
Several people agreed that I should add more 'noise' to the video so as to make it more grainy, thus enhancing the verisimilitude of the film by showing that it is a tape recording. With regard to filters for the flashback scenes, whilst several people were happy for it to be left without a filter, others passed around different ideas. Sepia or black and white were suggestions but because the colour used in the footage is rather limited I don't think it would look as effective as I'd like it to be. However I did agree with several others that if a filter was to be used, it ought to be bright to indicate these are positive memories for Michael.
As for final improvements, I had one person say that the bright colour from the flashback harshly contrasts with the 'footage' of Michael speaking and that this slightly broke the atmosphere. The obvious resolution would be to make the flashbacks have a dark filter also however this would take away the message that Michael is thinking back on Alicia with a positive attitude. It was suggested that I ought to make the footage of Michael darker, to emphasise the ominous atmosphere. Generally however, it was suggested that I make more cuts, particularly showing the psycho people/ Archans. Since the footage I've been cutting on top is from the first few days of shooting (before re-shooting), there's only a few shots I can use and I will try to include as many as possible. However I am limited and re-shooting shots will not be a possibility.
N.B. It's important to note that bar one student, no other member of the target audience was a media student.
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