Audience research 2 - Analysis

Yasmin Schmitz
Audience research two Analysis

1) Is the opening scene to my film engaging? If so, why?
A lot of people answered yes to this question. This was because they wanted to know why Elaine had a box of old photographs and a locket in her wardrobe. The other minority that answered no either said, “it seemed like a normal evening for them” or said, “Nothing really happens until you get to the end.” These are two completely contrasting answers. Some people want to know what the story is about and are already questioning the narrative. Others think that this is an ordinary opening and nothing engaging happens. One person who thought this already gave an assumption about what the film was going to be about. He said, “This seems like an ordinary opening to a film to me, but the fact that it opens with a computer gives me an idea that the film is going to have something to do with computers, mainly the internet.” If people already have an idea of what the movie is going to be about, then there must be something engaging about my opening sequence. To make the opening to my film even more engaging, I have to make sure I include interesting and diverse scenes to the opening sequence so that people are drawn into my film. This can be done by lighting effects, music in the background and clear settings.


2) Can you classify any issues that may have occurred or are occurring in the opening sequence of my film? If so, please explain.
A lot of people managed to describe the background of the main character Elaine. Many people identified her father to be a neglectful drunk and others managed to identify the mother in the pictures. They stated that they either ran away or passed away. Some people didn’t understand why she went to the computer straight away. They thought she was just bored. On the other hand, some people said that she may be addicted to the internet. From the answers to this question, I can see that quite a few people have some sort of an understanding of the issues taking place in the film. They don’t know why exactly her father became that way or how her mother disappeared, but they understand the situation Elaine is in, without a mother and with a neglectful father. When filming, I have to make sure I show all emotions in Elaine’s face clearly so that the audience can empathize with her and realize the feelings she has towards her mother and towards her father.


3) Do any of the characters seem unrealistic or unbelievable to you?
The answers to this question were all yes, although the reasons were different. One person said, “Elaine deals with her loneliness in a way any other teenage girl would, there are no over exaggerated characters that would ruin the realism of the movie itself.” I like this answer because it shows me that I have portrayed Elaine in a natural way. Nothing is forced and everything is realistic. Another answer to this question was, “She turns to the internet and her friends for support, this is quite usual for a teenager. However she has no friends to support her and this can lead to engaging story.” This answer is very different to the first one because it tells me that the realistic character will help me create an engaging story. Both of those answers were relating to Elaine. This answer relates to Elaine’s father. “There is a lot of neglectful behavior from parents these days and Elaine’s father is a very common example or one.” I like this answer because it tells me that Elaine’s father is a realistic and believable character. The feedback tells me that the more realistic the characters are, the more realistic the film will turn out to be. When filming my movie, I have to make sure the acting is as realistic as the characters the actors are playing.


4) What does the setting tell you about the characters?
One answer that stood out for me was, “The area around the father always seems to be untidy but the area around Elaine is described to be quite empty and clean. This could reflect upon their personalities.” I tried to make Elaine walk away from all the mess her father has created and some people have realized that this is what I was trying to do. On the other hand, another person said “Every room in their house seems to be a mess so they must be quite poor, selfish and lazy families that don’t care about anything.” In this answer, this person is identifying the characteristics of the father but in tern is mixing up his characteristics with Elaine, because Elaine is not lazy or selfish. When making my movie, I have to try and show a clear difference between the rooms Elaine is in charge of, e.g. her bedroom, and the rooms Elaine’s father is in charge of, e.g. the kitchen and the living room. I want there to be an extreme contrast between these rooms so that people can justify the characters personalities clearly.


5) Do you have any assumptions over what will happen next?
As I said in the first question, there have already been some presumptions that the narrative of the film is about the internet. I think this is mainly because I start my movie off with a computer screen which has been left turned on. However, a lot of people do not know what the rest of the film is going to be about. One person said, “I believe that Elaine is going to get sick and tired of her lifestyle and will go on a quest to find her mother facing many gruelling tasks.” This would be a good storyline, but it would not be very realistic because cases like these do not happen every day. A popular assumption was that Elaine was going to commit suicide. This contrasts with the first answer because this is more realistic and happens on a day to day basis. I didn’t want to make my film into a dramatic tragedy. I think it would be more realistic if everything was kept simpler. I tried not to give away too much of the story because it is only the beginning. I think I have accomplished this because a lot of people were trying to guess what the rest of the film was going to be about.


6) What works well for you in the following cases? A) Sound
B) Visual
And what doesn’t. Please explain in both cases.
When talking about sound, a lot of people thought that there wasn’t enough. The majority of answers I got related to the sounds Elaine should have been making. They said they should be hearing more groans, coughing, sneezes and sighs because it will make the film seem more realistic. One answer I got was, “We should be hearing more sounds the human body makes to give it more of a realistic effect.” I agree with this answer. I think adding more sounds made by Elaine will help the audience empathize with her and understand how she is feeling better. The majority of people thought that the sounds objects where making were fully described and didn’t need more attention.
When talking about visual, a vast minority thought there wasn’t enough description of objects. One person said, “You should describe what Elaine’s room looks like in better detail.” I agree with this. If I describe what Elaine’s room looks like in greater detail then it will be easier to differentiate the difference between her room and her father’s room. A majority of the feedback said that there was a lot of detail in the description of the kitchen, the living room and the old locket. One person said “The neglect of the living room symbolizes the neglect of Elaine.” This is what I was trying to do. When filming, I have to try and lay down my props correctly to give the description of the setting a more realistic feel to it.


7) Does anything about the intro emphasize anything like the current social environment?
One answer that stood out for me was this; “usually when people are in situation like these, they live in a deprived area. I think the introduction specifically highlights how poor this family is.” This is what I was trying to achieve. I didn’t say what area they lived in or whether they lived in a council flat or not, I just described what was inside the house. From this, people managed to realize that Elaine and her father live in a very poor environment. Another person said, “it seems as though Elaine has had a lot of neglect in her life, from her parents and even from her friends.” I think that people notice this because of the empty friends list Elaine has when signing into her msn account. I didn’t show people these things in an obvious way, I wanted them to guess and think for themselves so that it encourages them to want to watch the rest of the movie. All of these answers were positive and link to question 4. A lot of people can create the personalities of the characters from the social setting around them. When making my film, I have to make sure I create the perfect atmosphere for my movie so that the characters and the setting all fits in place.


8) What do you understand about the relationship the main character has with her family?
There were mixed answers to this question but everyone seemed to understand Elaine’s relationship with her family. One answer was, “She doesn’t speak to her father and she doesn’t see her mother so she must hate her family.” This answer tells me that people understand the distant relationship Elaine has with her father. This answer is completely contrasted by another answer someone gave which said, “She gives the impression that she wants to speak to her dad because she is concerned about the mess he has put himself in. She stops at the living room door meaning she is disappointed with her father’s actions.” This is a good answer and is completely right. It contrasts with the first answer because Elaine doesn’t hate her father; she just wants to help him. She is very concerned about him. A lot of people noticed the distance between her and the rest of her family aka her dad. Another interesting answer I received was, “he has so little family left and the only family she has is wasting away on alcohol. She must feel a lot of anger towards her father.” This answer agrees with both of the answers above. It is saying that she wants her fathers love, but can’t reach it because of his alcohol barrier.


9) What is your first impression of the main character?
Everyone recognized who the main character is, Elaine. A lot of people think that she is an outcast and have the impression that she has no friends because of her empty friends list. On the other hand, some people have said that she has friends, but they are unavailable to her because she chooses to try and contact them at such a late hour. This means that she usually has trouble sleeping. A lot of people have realized that she has had a lot of struggles in her life which she hasn’t yet overcome. One person said, “The loss of her mother and the neglect of her father has turned her into someone relying on the internet for help.” This is a very good explanation of Elaine because as the movie progresses she will find herself relying on the internet. Another person said, “I feel sorry for her. She has had to deal with so many things in her life. It must be hard for her to cope with so little friends.” This tells me that I have managed to create a character that people can sympathize with. People already feel sorry for her based on their assumptions because they don’t know exactly what has taken place in her life. When making my movie, I have to make sure the audience can read the emotions on Elaine’s face so that they can justify what type of person she is.


10) Please can you specify any other strengths/weaknesses that haven’t been pointed out in the previous questions?
Here are some of the strengths that people mentioned:
The description of the living room is very clear.
The description of the kitchen is very clear.
People understand who the characters are.
People can empathize with Elaine.
People feel a hatred towards Elaine’s father.

I think this will give me a clear understanding of what to do when making my film. I can directly follow the descriptions of the settings because people are happy with the quality of description in my script. Also, I will be able to create a more loveable character with Elaine and a more unlikable character with Elaine’s father. This will help me create a character people can empathize with. I think that is the most important factor when creating a character.

Here are some of the weaknesses that people mentioned:
Not enough description of Elaine’s room.
Nothing engaging happens.
Elaine should burst into tears.

Although there are fewer weaknesses than strengths, one point really caught my attention. When someone said, “nothing engaging happens.” It made me wonder what I could do to make the intro more engaging. However, I think people are expecting too much in the first scene and I can’t give away the whole story in the first two minutes. When someone said that Elaine should burst into tears, it made me think, “should I include a crying scene?” But then I realized that it would be too commercial if I did so. I don’t think people realize that this is a social realism genre. Not everything has to be obvious. People will be able to read Elaine’s emotions by her facial expressions. I agree with the first point. “There is not enough description of Elaine’s room.” When making my movie, I will have to clearly differentiate the rooms Elaine and Elaine’s father are in charge of so that people know Elaine doesn’t want to end up like her father.