Individual Feedback Sessions

Here is a compilation of the responses from the individual viewers we interviewed.



In terms of the viewers' first impressions, I feel we have achieved what we set out to. The interviewees mentioned that it was the visuals and the lighting that initially stood out to them, and one said that it was the combination of visual style and the dramatic voiceover that drew them in. In our Research Presentation, I mentioned that, due to the time constraints for our OTS, we would, 'really need to focus in and ensure that almost everything that we do; we put into it, is a signifier.' In using conventional film-noir lighting styles and including a dramatic and mysterious voiceover, I feel we have done exactly as I suggested, and it has paid off; our audience are drawn in to the world we have created.

Drawing the audience into our imagined world is important, but it is no good immersing the audience if you can't follow through and convey the correct ideas and emotions. To see whether we had made people feel the way we intended, we asked questions about the style and tension in the OTS. Our interviewees commented that the sequence had a 'dark atmosphere' which contributed to the mystery of the piece, and one person said that it was clear to them who the protagonist and antagonists were. I am glad that someone felt they benefitted from this clarity, as this is what I was trying to achieve when writing the dialogue; clearly showing the Femme Fatale as the antagonist whilst remaining vague on the subject matter of her speech. 

The people we asked rated tension as above 5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most tense), and there was evidence to suggest that the tension did indeed build as we had intended; one person said that the revealing of the Goon (towards the end) made them tense, and another said that the musics helped to build the tension towards the end. We also asked the viewers if they would have wanted to continue watching the film, and all said that they would, but for different reasons. One person mentioned the relationship between the voiceover and the final moments of the OTS, suggesting that this made them curious, and another person said that they were drawn into the story of the Femme Fatale. This is good, because the narrative purpose of the OTS was to introduce the Femme Fatale, and the viewers' recognition of her importance shows that this has worked.

When asked about the power of the characters, most of the interviewees talked about the authoritative nature of the Femme Fatale, but one person did state that they thought the Victim had the most power. Although this means that we failed in conveying our ideas correctly to all of our viewers, the varying interpretation doesn't detract greatly from the OTS; it is intended to be mysterious, and a variety of audience interpretations can only enhance this sense of doubt.

The general opinion of our interviewees was that people above the age of 15, but mainly those of late 30s to early 50s, would enjoy the film most. Some justified this by stating that younger teens and children may be put off by the monochrome visuals, and would most likely be confused by the relatively complex plot. In terms of place of exhibition and genre classification (disregarding film-noir), the general consensus was that, based on the OTS, our film would be shown at an 'art house' cinema and would be classified as a 'thriller' or 'psychological thriller.' 

Overall, I feel that these individual sessions worked well, and much of the feedback confirms that we have succeeded in achieving what we originally aimed to. What has been interesting is hearing the in-depth personal feedback that cannot be extracted from large audiences. I feel that listening to the viewers' opinions of the OTS has highlighted the importance of our collegiate method of approach; tackling different factors of the OTS individually and then piecing them together has resulted in an overall high-quality product that meets the standards we set. The result may have been very different if we hadn't clearly distributed the workload and had simply started contructing our piece from all angles.

Audience Feedback Questions

With the final cut of our OTS just finished, we decided that it was time to go out and get some audience feedback that we can use when evaluating our OTS.

For this to work, we needed succint and suitable questions that we could pose to individuals as well as larger audiences. They needed to be phrased in such a way that they weren't daunting to those without experience in media, and they had to extract useful information. I wrote down some questions, and then we added to and tweaked them to ensure that they were sound.

Here is a list of the questions we used:

• What are your first impressions of the film? Did any specific moment stand out to you?

• How tense did the OTS make you feel on a scale of 1 - 10? 10 being the most tense.

• Did you find the ambiguity and mystery of the piece intriguing? Did you feel curious enough to continue watching the film?

• Which character did you feel had the most power?

• Based on what you have seen, who would you recommend the film to? What age-group?

• At what kind of venue would you expect the film to be shown, Art House or Mainstream cinemas?

• How did the film's visual style make you feel? How did this contribute to the overall atmosphere of the film?

• Aside from film-noir, what genre would you classify the film as, based on what you have seen?

After writing these questions, we asked a few people from our media class to watch the final cut of our OTS and then answer some questions whilst being recorded. These individual sessions allowed us to get in-depth views and opinions from people who knew what they were talking about in terms of the construction of the OTS.

Whilst we know that this in-depth, media-conscious feedback will help us a great deal when we come to evaluate, we are also aware that we will need to hear the opinions of general viewers in order to attain a more accurate overview of the film's reception. Yesterday, Tom and I showed the film to our AS Literature class (ages 16-17), and then I asked them the above questions, re-phrased slightly to address the entire group. James, Daniel and I have another audience feedback session with a Year 11 form group (ages 15-16) planned for Monday morning, which will hopefully allow us an insight into the opinions of a slightly younger audience.

Footage of the individual feedback sessions and also those with a group audience will be uploaded and posted soon.

Daniel has posted our OTS to the National Preservation Forum, of which he is a part, so that we can get some feedback from mostly middle-class people up to the age of 60, and James is posting it to Playstuff, where most users are students or academic creatives within the age bracket of 18-40, who hould be able to give some good, articulated views.

For in-depth written feedback on the OTS, please look to the completed questionnaires in Tom's post on Showing the Consumers.

OTS Review & Revision

After filming as complete group on Sunday evening, James transferred the footage to his computer and set to work editing in Sony Vegas. The result was a basic workprint which we could review and criticise in order to revise; to make improvements.

Although a workprint version is simply intended as a rough 'test-copy' to convey a film's basic structure, theme and chronology, the first edit surpassed expectations, and I was incredibly happy with the way our footage had been composed into a high-quality piece of film. Although there were still problems we needed to address, I am sure that the initial high-quality of the piece will save us time when we come to perfecting it, as the changes we make will only need to be very small.

In order to clarify our next steps for the production, we all gathered for a group reviewing session, in which we discussed our respective views and opinions of the film, and how we thought it could be improved. The first problem we noticed was that of the film's duration. It lasted around 3:00 minutes, whereas ideally it should be 2:00, but could go up to 2:30 maximum. To get feedback from the perspective of newcomers to the film, we asked various people from our media class to watch our film and tell us what they thought. One problem that arose was that of a white van that crossed the shot about half-way through the piece. Some people said that it detracted from the tense atmosphere; one moment you are watching a man fearing for his life, yet trying to remain inconspicuous by walking at normal pace, and the next you are watching an everyday van rattle along the street. The tone was not maintained. During the reviewing session, we took note of these and other, less noticeable problems so that James could go and implement the changes.



The video above is the first revised version of our OTS, with the main changes being the exclusion of the white van and other pieces of redundant footage to reduce the length of the peice. We will recently held another small review session, and the main criticism was that the Femme Fatale's voice didn't fit the character; it was not stern enough, and so her role as leader of a crime syndicate did not seem legible.

To solve this problem, Tom and I have been sampling different female voices by recording them saying some of the Femme Fatale's lines. I have produced some mock-ups of the OTS with the new Femme Fatale voice overlayed using Sony Vegas, and we have determined a suitable actress. Now, all we need to do is to record the new actress saying the lines, extract the audio, and James will overlay this as best as he can with the existing footage of the original Femme Fatale. Syncing the speech shouldn't be such a problem, because most of the time you cannot actually see the Femme Fatale's mouth moving prominently. Aside from helping with recording, Tom is in the process of writing a questionnaire which we can use to get feedback from a wider range of age-groups and audience types.

Research Presentation

Earlier today we reviewed our respective research notes and presented our ideas to the class. The purpose of the presentation was to demonstrate our knowledge of film-noir theory by stating what we already know, and explaining how we plan to apply it.

I was the first to speak, introducing our basic ideas, describing the core aspects of film noir, and explaining how these will be applied in our production.

An Introduction to Semiotics

The Italian intellectual Umberto Eco stated that 'a sign is anything that can be used to tell a lie.' Whilst this idea might initially seem arrogant and irrational, it begins to make sense with a basic understanding of what 'semiotics' means.

The Dictionary.com definition of Semiotics is:

–noun (used with a singular verb)

1. the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.

2. a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.

Therefore, semiotics is basically an area of study looking at signs as a means of communication. When used with regard to media, then, semiotics must refer to the use of signs as a communicative medium within this field.

It is important to understand that semiotics is by no means a narrow spectrum of study, because signs can take on an extremely wide variety of forms. If we divide a sign into its fundamental components, we are left with the Signifier and the Signified. The Signifier is the material of which the sign is composed, whether that be text, images, sounds, etc. The Signified is the concept that the Signifier alludes to.

Signifiers work because they represent thoughts and ideas that have been associated with them in a given society or culture. For example, in modern Britain, on the most basic level, a green man connotes safety. It is important, however, to realise that semiotics are culturally relative; the meaning expressed by a sign will change depending on context. For example, although a green man in Britain may connote road safety, a green man in parts of America could imply alien activity.

Once this understanding is established, it isn't hard to recognise semiotics at work.

• The BBFC, as explored in an earlier post, use symbols to represent their classifications.
• The ostentatious use of red in movie titles.
• The exploitative use of celebrities in advertising.

The media industry use signs because they are an efficient way of expressing a large amount of information with very little material. If a film director wanted to instill a sense of mystery in a city setting, they wouldn't have the main character walk into the scene and express his thoughts about the city in a long and detailed monologue. Instead, they would choose something more subtle and visceral, such as a layer of fog on the setting, with dim lighting, creating only patches of light. Whilst they still might include a reference to the character's thoughts, this would be ambiguous, creating an even deeper sense of mystery.

When working to produce a film that fits into the conventions of such a disinguished style as film noir, it is important to consider semiotics as a powerful method of creating the desired effect. I am certain that my new found knowledge of semiotics will prove helpful in allowing me to replicate the conventions of film noir in my practical task later in the year.

Click here for a more in-depth exploration of semiotics with particular focus on advertising.