Question 3
- 1. We found that the best way to get constructive feedback was to create a facebook group to allow people a place where they could view the video and the questions, then take their own time to create a response. I feel we gained mostly positive responses as the range of questioned allowed the participants to add both constructive criticism and things they enjoyed. This then helps us to form a range of improvements for editing the draft. The questions, asked them to comment on how they felt about the visual design and nearly all referred to a contrast, whether it is between the black and white shots and colour, or the mix of handheld and still shots which was referred to as ‘interesting to watch’. This is positive because it was our intention to create this contrast as it is a convention of other featurettes. However it is different because the contrast is with black and white. According to one response this makes it authentic and ‘quirky’ along with the set design which can be taken to mean that it is more original. The second question was what do you enjoy about the video, which indirectly points them towards a positive response despite it being an open question. Responses included the contrasts also mentioned in the first question, but also to the actors interviews. because either, they gave an insight into the film ‘The Masterpiece’ or that they showed the film had been invented making this featurette different from others. This means that The Making of The Masterpiece has been taken in different ways by the audience which relates to Hall’s encoding and decoding theory. The music was also referred to as authentic therefore this should stay the same. The next two questions asked about the genre they believe it belonged to, and also the target audience. A lot of people said that they could not see a specific target audience or a specific age range. However some responses included that people interested in film as well as younger people because of the younger actors would be the target audience. This links to the original market research where we gained responses from a wide range of ages which can be taken as a positive because there are more people who would watch the film. All said that the video was a comedy which is positive because it links to the original market research where comedy was the most watched genre. We did add elements of comedy in the interviews, with moments shown in the silent movie shots and behind the scenes shots, Also fact that ‘The Masterpiece’ and the actors were not real adds a humerous element, Along with the fact that the plotline is very simple but has been taken seriously by the actors. I feel this is post-modern and can be related to television shows such as the office and Spinal tap because they also take on a documentary format. The question do you think the video is affective as a featurette, asked them to refer to if they would want to see more of the film ‘The Masterpiece’ after watching or if they knew it was not meant to be real. It refers to whether it fit the conventions of a featurette.
- 2. The use of Narrative enigma and fragmented narrative had worked, as responses mentioned that the full plotline was not disclosed and therefore would ‘entice’ them to want to see what happens. This is one of the main purposes of a featurette and therefore I feel it was affective. Finally the last question allows me to create a list of improvements that could be made. Responses included that the ending is to abrupt and one suggestion was using credits or and an advert for ‘The Masterpiece’. This I agree with as the music also needed to be faded out with the ending. Also the interview with the actor needs to be extended as a way of making his character a larger feature, which can be done by adding more audio from the original interview. Other responses ask for more behind the scenes footage which can be done by adding more shots, also including more information in the interview which can be done by extending the last interview.