Rough cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxGxKTMcP30

Audience feedback is extremely important to a production, it allows you to see what you have done well and what needs improving within the film, with this you can make changes to the film and help improve the narrative, the feedback from the audience is extremely important as they are the people that will be watching the film, if they do not enjoy certain parts then it should be taken out as it is made for the target audience, also if there are certain parts the audience enjoy then this should specifically be kept in, if this is done the film will be much more successful.

We received feedback from the audience by screening the film in class, the class then told us what they thought went well and what needed to be improved, this was perfect as it fits the age range we had as the target audience so could see what our audience wanted in the film and what they enjoyed, we can now change our film to suit the target audience as they have told us what is needed, as this is face to face so the audience can explain their reasoning for their disliking or liking of certain aspects (we could not use youtube as our video did not upload).

This benefited us as we could change our film to suit the preferences of our target audience, making it much more successful and enjoyable for the audience due to us being able to change parts the audience say they dislike or keep parts they particularly enjoy, this improves the production and makes this could also be helpful for it much more engaging for the audience. The film industry are benefited as they can get a much wider opinion from their target audience as they have much more resources, they can get the same benefits as us, but from a much wider range of the target audience and get more improvements and more detailed feedback, overall this is useful for both, us and the film industry as it helps us realise what we need to create conventions of the thriller genre as well as making it enjoyable and engaging on the audience.

We received numerous positive comments from the audience after the screening of our film, the first was a comment on our use of dim filter and that it creates suspense and tension extremely well, also saying it is conventional to the thriller genre, this was a great comment as it showed we produced what we attempted to, we wanted to create suspense with this filter and it clearly worked. The next comment was that the constant changing of shots keeps the film interesting, again this was what we wanted, we wanted the audience to be engaged within the films and the changing of shots clearly does this, we changed the shots throughout and tried not to stay on one shot for too long to keep the audience on their toes and not let them get comfortable with one shot, this is great for creating shock and surprise. The final comment was about how the credits appear over the first few shots yet do not restrict the view for the audience, this is good feedback as I was unsure whether the credits were correct and whether they took the focus off of the narrative, but the audience clearly thought it was a good balance, we planned before hand the beginning shots so that there would be space for the credits to fit in, this clearly worked well and will be used in the final product.

Along with the positive comments there was criticisms as well, which is needed if we want to improve our product, the first was about the absence of a soundtrack throughout, we did have soundtrack and sounds but they were not constantly present within the film, this was a problem that we noticed before we screened the rough cut, this was a problem as it was meant to be there to create suspense but we will add it to the final product, the constant soundtrack is a well known key convention and will be a main addition to our final product. Another criticism was that two antagonists were confusing to the narrative, we agreed with this and can see the problem, we want the narrative to be as simple, yet effective as possible on the audience, engaging them into watching and enjoying the film, being able to create suspense, surprise and shock. The final comment was about the part where the victim blacks out, the member of the audience explained that the black out was too long and the audience may think this is the ending, and that it loses the attention of the audience, when this was pointed out our group could see where this was coming from and agreed, we do not want the audience to lose attention and not be engaged but we do want to create the effect of a black out, this creates shock and suspense but when used too long becomes boring and the audience will become disinterested in the narrative.

Based on the comments we received we know what to change, we agree with all the points given so completely understand what to change and why we are changing it, firstly we will add a soundtrack that will linger throughout the sequence, this will help create suspense, shock, surprise throughout and will keep the audience engaged, this soundtrack will accompany the other sounds in the sequence like the heart beats, etc. The next improvement will be the removing of my character as an antagonist, this became confusing to the audience and did not make sense with the narrative, my character was unneeded and will not be used in the final product making it easier for the audience to follow keeping them engaged, therefore more appealing to the target audience, we will also make the black out effect a lot shorter so that it keeps the audience engaged as well as creating the effect we want from it, shock and suspense. One final thing that I would like to add which was not mentioned in the criticisms is that the antagonist should be wearing a mask, this creates a sense of enigma as to who the killer is, therefore creating suspense within the audience and surprise when this is revealed.