Evaluation - Audience

Audience – In what ways does your short film target an audience? Think about the techniques that you have used i.e. content, choice of music, pace of editing etc. You will be presenting your completed short films to a year 12 group. What feedback did your questionnaire provide you? What is your analysis of the comments made? Could you use more appropriate New Media methods of receiving audience feedback? Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube etc.

Short films target niche audiences. “Confined” follows this convention as the narrative is complex and would not be easily understood by passive spectators. I also believe that an active audience would struggle to grasp the storyline and this is an overall weakness of “Confined”.

“Confined” has an abstract narrative;this could help attract short film fanatics. Word of mouth could help promote our film within the niche audience environment. The music and pace of editing could also attract our audience, as they are so opposing and different. This factor adds to our film and creates anunusual experience when watching. The soundtrack is slow and calm, this attracts a neutralrelaxed audience where as the pace of editing within the fear scenes is fast and dynamic. This helps bring the story to life and keeps the audiences attention. I strongly believe that these two contrasting elements attract an audience as it offers something different, and difference is all what short films are about.

As a group we recently showed our short film to a year 12 class, this was a positive experience as we got a chance to get some feedback regarding our film. We were eager to find out if they agreed with the flaws that we had found with the film “Confined”. We were also interested in finding out if the year 12 class noticed anything that we had missed when we watched the film.

When reading over the questionnaires that the year 12 class completed, there were both positive and negative comments generally offering constructive criticism. Several students suggested that the scene with Sean looking out of the window in a variety of different shot angles lasted too long and didn’t keep their attention. We received mainly positive comments regarding the soundtrack one student stated
“The soundtrack gave an eerie feel, but also somewhat comforting”
“The piano soundtrack helped set the mood”
I strongly agree with these comments as the soundtrack was created to give off that effect for its audience.

One of the most controversial subjects within “Confined” was the lighting of certain scenes within the film. This issue raised several different opinions and points of view within the questionnaire. It was interesting to find out what people thought about the lighting, I believe that these are some of the statements that help sum up what people felt after watching the film.
“I felt some of the key scenes were too dark, but what we couldn’t see kept a sense of mystery”
“The lighting was too dark in certain points of the film”
I agree with these statements however when viewing the film on a projector where it has been stretched it becomes harder to see and darker. However when watching it on a computer screen I feel that the lighting is suitable and does help set the mood and tone of the film.

With the convergence of technology I believe that using the internet is an easy way to attract an audience and gain feedback. I have used new media methods including my personal Vimeo channel and blogger to upload “Confined” However as of yet I have not received any comments.