Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Audience feedback with Melissa Thomas and Henri Wilcock-Fitzsimmons
Melissa is a 17 year old student from Central Sussex College.
Henri is a 17 year old student from Central Sussex College
Henri is a 17 year old student from Central Sussex College
What was explored in their audience feedbacks;
The filters - We chose to use two separate sets of filters in our sequence because it allowed for us to clearly show to the audience that there are two separate time periods in this film. We thought that this would be useful because it makes it easier to understand, in terms of narrative. This has been proven successful because when asked about the filters, Henri, said that "the distorted effect is very reminiscent of things like 'Doctor Who' that have the view from the monster's perspective so you get the idea that someone is watching the main character", which works equally well with the sequence rather than our intention of creating the idea of a dream state. Melissa said "I like how you had the sorta contrast between the clear, but black and white, and the distortion and the colours. I thought it worked really well and you could tell that there were two separate locations, two separate ideas". This idea is also presented by other thriller film producers, most evident in 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' (J Blakeson, 2009) when the sequence with a saturated filter which lasts until they start digging grave where it takes a dark turn. Therefore, we have clearly used these filters well.
Pace of the sequence - In pre-production, it was clear that changing and developing the pace in the film as a whole would be an important step to take if we wanted the film to be successful. It was decided to gradually increase the pace throughout the sequence which would compliment the increasing tension on screen as the film progresses. However, the draft we showed Henri featured no dialogue, and in turn he felt that there was "a lot of dragging" when watching the sequence. Since then, this issue has been rectified and this was interpreted well by Melissa, as she said that she "liked how it started off slowly at the beginning ... and how you got to the end and it got slightly faster when you had the hand on the shoulder; I think it worked really well". This means that this aim was clearly understood by the audience.
Backing-track - At the time this video was recorded, we hadn't decided on the non-diegetic, off-screen backing track that would accompany the film. Melissa recommended to keep the music "more ambient" and low-key rather than a full on backing-track. This was in comparison to Henri who thought that the low-key backing track "wasn't very thriller-esque", so there was conflicting opinions amongst the audience. However, when it came to choosing a backing-track for the project, it was very difficult to choose a continuous piece of music that were parallel throughout the piece. As a result of this, we chose two separate backing-tracks and used them a certain points during the sequence, and we allowed for crescendos so it was in no-way low-key. I personally feel that ignoring the advice was still a successful move for us because it contributes more to the tension, which is needed in a thriller film. This idea is also clearly presented in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009) where the music reaches a cresendo after he's opened the package.
Narrative - When asked if she would recommend it to others to see in the cinema, Melissa said "yes, I would recommend it because at the end of your sequence when the hand went on the shoulder, I literally jumped so I thought that it was very good". This is good because it shows that the overall storyline will be appealing to members of the demographic that we are targeting.
To conclude, I feel that through the above actions, we have created a sequence that appeals to our target audience because the majority are liked by our target audience. In doing so, we have attracted this audience well via content that would be interesting for them to engage with.
 |
| The black and white filter |
 |
| The saturated filter |
 |
| The natural looking filter as they dig |
 |
| The 'distorted' filter |
The filters - We chose to use two separate sets of filters in our sequence because it allowed for us to clearly show to the audience that there are two separate time periods in this film. We thought that this would be useful because it makes it easier to understand, in terms of narrative. This has been proven successful because when asked about the filters, Henri, said that "the distorted effect is very reminiscent of things like 'Doctor Who' that have the view from the monster's perspective so you get the idea that someone is watching the main character", which works equally well with the sequence rather than our intention of creating the idea of a dream state. Melissa said "I like how you had the sorta contrast between the clear, but black and white, and the distortion and the colours. I thought it worked really well and you could tell that there were two separate locations, two separate ideas". This idea is also presented by other thriller film producers, most evident in 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' (J Blakeson, 2009) when the sequence with a saturated filter which lasts until they start digging grave where it takes a dark turn. Therefore, we have clearly used these filters well.
Pace of the sequence - In pre-production, it was clear that changing and developing the pace in the film as a whole would be an important step to take if we wanted the film to be successful. It was decided to gradually increase the pace throughout the sequence which would compliment the increasing tension on screen as the film progresses. However, the draft we showed Henri featured no dialogue, and in turn he felt that there was "a lot of dragging" when watching the sequence. Since then, this issue has been rectified and this was interpreted well by Melissa, as she said that she "liked how it started off slowly at the beginning ... and how you got to the end and it got slightly faster when you had the hand on the shoulder; I think it worked really well". This means that this aim was clearly understood by the audience.
Backing-track - At the time this video was recorded, we hadn't decided on the non-diegetic, off-screen backing track that would accompany the film. Melissa recommended to keep the music "more ambient" and low-key rather than a full on backing-track. This was in comparison to Henri who thought that the low-key backing track "wasn't very thriller-esque", so there was conflicting opinions amongst the audience. However, when it came to choosing a backing-track for the project, it was very difficult to choose a continuous piece of music that were parallel throughout the piece. As a result of this, we chose two separate backing-tracks and used them a certain points during the sequence, and we allowed for crescendos so it was in no-way low-key. I personally feel that ignoring the advice was still a successful move for us because it contributes more to the tension, which is needed in a thriller film. This idea is also clearly presented in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009) where the music reaches a cresendo after he's opened the package.
Narrative - When asked if she would recommend it to others to see in the cinema, Melissa said "yes, I would recommend it because at the end of your sequence when the hand went on the shoulder, I literally jumped so I thought that it was very good". This is good because it shows that the overall storyline will be appealing to members of the demographic that we are targeting.
To conclude, I feel that through the above actions, we have created a sequence that appeals to our target audience because the majority are liked by our target audience. In doing so, we have attracted this audience well via content that would be interesting for them to engage with.
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