Q3
Our first questionnaire was
done to find out who would watch film in order to know who we had to please
when making creative decisions, and also how far we could take the context of
cancer and death depending on the age of our audience
We did this by going out to the audience themselves and filming their responses. I believe this is a good way of establishing your initial audience, more so than an online questionnaire, as they aren’t hiding behind a computer screen.
The general opinion was a mainly female audience, therefore, this confirmed to us that we needed to make the protagonists as relatable as possible, thus why she is played by a teenager and also commits crimes which are relatively small and believable, such as stealing a car, rather than robbing a bank. Similarly, having the siblings both as sisters also relates to the female audience and thus why we made this creative decision.
Another suggestion by the audience which we had to consider in the planning stages was that it was a film that would be possibly be watched by a family, to educate children about the topic of terminal illness. Subsequently, we knew when considering mise-en-scene that we could not have graphic scenes of her illness, so that children could learn but not be damaged by the topic of cancer.
The dominant view of the people we questioned, though, was that it was suitable for children if we dealt with the illness pragmatically. As a result we kept referring back to this first audience feedback throughout filming and editing, so as that we knew we were definitely creating the best product we could for our target audience.
We did this by going out to the audience themselves and filming their responses. I believe this is a good way of establishing your initial audience, more so than an online questionnaire, as they aren’t hiding behind a computer screen.
The general opinion was a mainly female audience, therefore, this confirmed to us that we needed to make the protagonists as relatable as possible, thus why she is played by a teenager and also commits crimes which are relatively small and believable, such as stealing a car, rather than robbing a bank. Similarly, having the siblings both as sisters also relates to the female audience and thus why we made this creative decision.
Another suggestion by the audience which we had to consider in the planning stages was that it was a film that would be possibly be watched by a family, to educate children about the topic of terminal illness. Subsequently, we knew when considering mise-en-scene that we could not have graphic scenes of her illness, so that children could learn but not be damaged by the topic of cancer.
The dominant view of the people we questioned, though, was that it was suitable for children if we dealt with the illness pragmatically. As a result we kept referring back to this first audience feedback throughout filming and editing, so as that we knew we were definitely creating the best product we could for our target audience.
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When
filming and editing “Hope” we kept in mind the fact that the morale and meaning
of our film was to not judge a book by its cover. Therefore, we prolonged the
revelation of Hope’s illness by including 3 crimes, rather than just 1, which
meant that the audience’s view of Destiny was hatred. Before it was revealed that
the sister was dying/dead, we used subtle hints. This was done through:
- Our title sequence, as it
hints at a friendship/relationship between 2 girls.
- The intercutting of a box
labelled ‘Hope’ in which Destiny places money
When we
put out our rough cut out to the audience, our main concern that came of the
results was that the narrative wasn’t 100% clear and that not everyone
understood that Hope dies.
Therefore,
we knew that we had to be more clear about and intricate with creative
decisions. Therefore, we amended our use of mise-en-scene, particularly
costume. This exemplifies itself in the fact that we used a fake hospital ward,
rather than just a normal bed, to ensure the message of our illness was made
clearer to our audience. Similarly, the fact that she is dressed in a hospital
gown further adds to the fact that she is suffering from an illness.
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We put
out a rough cut of the film, which was more or less complete, in order to test
aspects of the film. Our main concern was that the creative decisions we had
made (mentioned above) ensured that the audience understood Hope’s situation
clearly.
As a
result of the questionnaire we put out alongside the rough cut, we found that
this still wasn’t as clear as possible.
We found that we had a variation of results, which would be influenced
by their cultural or family situation.
If
someone does not have a sibling perhaps this could hinder their understanding
of why you would take the risks which Destiny does. Furthermore, someone’s’
position in society could also affect their understanding, such as the fact
that someone may be so against crime, they may not understand the link
between how the crimes and illness are connected. This is why we added in the
scene with the doctor, to ensure the connection between the crimes and the
treatment was clear.
A more
technical concern which our audience detected was that the sound wasn’t just
perfect and so we adjusted volume and levels to fix this and make it sound more
professional.
Similarly,
one response highlighted the fact that, in the UK, treatment does not cost
money. However, these did not fit the description of our target audience and so
would lacked the imagination to know that the message of our film was an
emotional one and not a serious one.
Luckily,
after further amendments, 100% people said they would watch our film.
