Evaluation Question Three
- 1. EVALUATION QUESTION THREE: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
- 2. In order to complete this evaluation question, myself, Caitlin and Hannah created a set of evaluation questions to hand out to the class who then watched our short film and filled in their answers. The questions were: • How far do you agree that our short film ‘Eighteen’ represents our target audience? • What do you like about our film? • Could you suggest any improvements for our short film? • What are your opinions on the voice over used in our short film, rather than a written script? • What, in your opinion, makes our film stand out? • Do you think our short film portrays any messages to the audience? If so, what are these messages? • Was the mise-en-scene effective in representing these themes and issues? • What do you think about the structure of our short film being a montage rather than a linear narrative? These are the answers we collected…
- 3. How far do you agree that our short film ‘Eighteen’ represents our target audience? After comparing each answer, we can conclude that our audience agree that our short film appeals to the target audience we were hoping to aim for; young females. In their opinion, ‘Eighteen’ ‘represents the audience well through mise-en-scene’ and the decision to use only female actresses. The audience feedback also concludes that the link to typically ‘female’ issues also helped with the development of our target audience as young women should be able to watch it and relate to the issues in some way or another; ‘I think that ‘Eighteen’ does represent the target audience well as it focuses on female characters/actresses, and it focuses on issues associated with girls’. I agree with this feedback we have gathered since we originally wanted to focus our short film towards a target audience of young women, and we want them to be able to watch the film and relate to the topics it covers.
- 4. What do you like about our short film? Although this question produced a range of answers, mostly the audience enjoyed the poetic feel of the film since it offered ‘good narration and flow’ to the film. Some even believe the poem made the film more ‘exstesential’, which is something we didn’t previously consider but appreciate more now that we know people feel that way about it. Our audience feedback also shows that people enjoy the real life elements that the film covers; ‘I like the ideas put behind the film and the fact that it focuses on modern issues associated with girls’. I agree with these answers as I feel the poem allows our film to stand out amongst the crowd, and the topics covered do give audiences the opportunity to relate to the film.
- 5. Could you suggest any improvements for our short film? For this question, our audience feedback has produced a range of different ideas. Some believe that including music alongside the poem read over the top would help to ‘improve the flow of the film’, as well as lengthen the time, therefore this is something we will be considering as we complete our editing. Another improvement suggested included ‘a short scene about the pressures of social media to young women’ and we agree that this would be a good idea as it would not only improve the depth of our film but it would also allow it to focus on more modern day issues.
- 6. What are your opinion on the voice over used in our short film, rather than a written script? This question in particularly produced a lot of positive feedback. This is because people feel the use of a poem is an ‘authentic and powerful’ approach towards the issues the film touches upon, and it also makes the film ‘unique’. I agree with this feedback as I believe the use of a strong, emotional poem to cover such deep issues means that the audience are able to interpret the words for themselves and relate to them in any way that best suits them.
- 7. What, in your opinion, makes our film stand out? The answers to this question relate closely to the use of the poem as the narration of the film, as most people feel it allows the audience to ‘interpret their own ideas on what they are viewing’, and this is an interesting concept to use. The fact that our film covers real life issues is another answer that people believe makes our short film stand out, and this is important to us as this is originally what wee wanted our film to stand out for the most. Overall, I agree with the feedback to this question as I feel these two elements of the film are definitely what help our film to stand out the most.
- 8. Do you think our short film portrays any messages to the audience? If so, what are these messages? Our audience feedback shows that our film has represented the issues we wanted to portray effectively; ‘it is a coming of age story for young women’, ‘it allows audiences to relate to everyday issues that they have perhaps experienced themselves’. Some believe that it particularly focuses on social pressures on young women, and others believe that it is a representation of ‘liberation’ from the struggles you face when you are young. I think this feedback is very positive for us as we want people to watch the film and interpret it in their own ways, relating it to their own lives. The fact that our audience feedback shows that this happens as a result of watching our film proves that we have been successful in this aspect.
- 9. Was the mise-en-scene effective in representing these themes and issues? Our audience feedback shows that people feel the mise-en-scene used throughout our film ‘represents femininity very well’. Some believe that the film showing flowers and magazines being destroyed represents how female issues are ‘being challenged’ and others believe the mise-en-scene ‘links to the poem really well’. I agree with this feedback as I feel the props and outfits we have used throughout the film represent young females very well, however I feel with more time and resources we could have expanded the mise-en-scene to give the film more of an artistic and clever approach towards the issues the film represents.
- 10. What do you think about the structure of our short film being a montage rather than a linear narrative? After reading the feedback, most people agree that the use of a montage ‘allows the film to flow well’ and also makes it ‘more unique 'compared to films with a typical linear narrative. One piece of feedback in particularly stated that the use of a montage allowed us to ‘represent the issues of the film more effectively’ as it allowed us to concentrate on the message of the film more closely, making it more prominent and powerful. I think this is right as it allowed us to create a film that questions typical conventions of most short films.
- 11. Conclusion: In conclusion, I think that the audience feedback we have received has been very helpful to us as we have not only been able to pick up opinions on how our film could be improved but we have also been able to see whether our film represents the issues we want it to cover effectively or not, and most people believe this has been done in an artistic and authentic way. The feedback has also given us plenty of improvement suggestions that we will now be considering putting into our film, in particularly the idea of showing the impact of social media and including background music.