Audience Expectations

My primary audience (40-65 year old females) should be expecting a film which they can relate to in relation to themes such as growing old and wanting leave a legacy. They should also expect a film which will empathise with their feeling of losing touch in the modern world. I want them to have high emotive expectations for the film and an open mind. They cannot be too focused on trying to figure out what the film 'means' because there is not a definitive meaning due to the avant-guarde genre. I hope when they have watched it they feel that I have used metaphors which can be associated with the feelings of loneliness and abandonment which become more obvious as you get older. The younger side of my audience will probably relate more to the characters in the interview scenario and their stories. If I can make the characters captivating and interesting for the audience, then I believe I can meet their expectations. 

Targeting my Audience

When I finished the film, I knew I had to do audience screenings and target them to see whether it was well received and that I had met their expectations. 

1. The Pre- Constituted Group

The first thing I did to get a sense of whether the film worked on a basic level, was show it to a Pre- Constituted Research Group. This group consisted of friends and family, and the overwhelming feedback was strong. They all seemed to understand the concept, and I asked them to be honest with me if anything really wasn't working. Everyone from my 80 year old grandmother to my 22 year old cousin seemed to enjoy it, which enforced my belief that my film was possibly meant to target multiple audiences. They all said that it looked cinematic, and that the sound levels never seemed out of place. Their neutral perspective was what I needed to hear before I targeted different audiences, to make sure there wasn't something obviously wrong with the film that I was overlooking. All of this feedback was verbal, apart from a few Facebook comments.

2. The Researcher- Constituted Group

This was the stage where I decided to actively target my audience through Facebook. I thought the best way to do this, because I wasn't completely sure what my audience was, was to ask my actors to share the video with their friends and ask for their honest opinion. I got the video shared over 80 times, and collated some of the comments I received.

YOUTUBE COMMENT:

"Ngl, for the first 10 minutes I had no idea what was going on (not a bad thing), Euiva is a well written character, because I found myself loving her and wanting to cry for her when the cameras were switched off. I loved the idea of her giving away her colour, making herself grey, for  other people. I don't know much about film making, but the beginning intrigued me, which can only be a good thing. The shots at the beginning left me questioning if you really did film and edit this all yourself (in a good way), because it looked professional. So yay, great job and a well spent two years. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVywKW15EW8

FACEBOOK COMMENTS (FROM TARGET AUDIENCE)

"An interesting and creative way of showing how peculiar life is. Well Done!!"

"good story, interesting editing which created another layer (visual) to the dialog/conversations...."

"Very powerful and something everyone can appreciate!"

"This is an excellent, allegory laden, extended metaphor of a piece which works on more than one level as, by its very nature, it is open to interpretation, yet not to the point that it denies the viewer the satisfaction of a that degree of mutual comprehension that provides narrative closure. Like much of the work you present, it is very abstract and artistic. A very fine piece of film-making. Well done all of you. A pleasure to enjoy."

"I love the people in it and the thankfulness to life itself. Working with colors for many years I see the depth of what you are expressing."

Of all the comments I received, the only problem was that I did not receive any constructive criticism. I think this was because the people who the video was shared to felt too close to the actor to criticise their work. 

3. Peer Group- Technical feedback

The third research session I attended was one organised by the Media Production Students .

This was where I received the most variety of feedback. I showed my film to my peers plus a group of around twenty of the general public who had attended the screening. Apart from all the good parts of my film, there were a few things which were pointed out that I could improve on:

-The clarity of the ending. Almost too interpretative, some people wanted a slightly clearer message.

-Sound levelling- there was one clip where the sound was out of sync and another where the levels were slightly too high.

-Slightly too long. Maybe experiment with a version that is under 15 minutes which can be used in shorter film festivals.

I will take this audience feedback on board and change the parts of the film that are needed if I believe it will improve the overall product. I think having all three screenings was important because I meant I limited the threat of bias and I managed to get a good portion of my target audience. 

Screenings and Festivals

I enrolled my film and uploaded in to Film Freeway and Without a Box so I could easily submit my film to the festivals in the UK that were open for submission. These were the ones I applied to:

I am hoping from this to receive some recognition even if I do not win anything. This is the final part of the process where I see whether my audience feedback and all of my work has truly produced a quality film.