Audience Feedback Results

By Jodie-Leigh Barnham

Question 1Did you understand the film?

YesNoKind of

From the results, we know that a large majority of the audience understood the film. This is good because we know through research into the genre, that it can be easy to confuse an audience in a psychologically based plot. To have the majority that understood the plot and the minority ‘kind of’ understood positively relates to our film as we know that we didn’t completely lose the attention of the audience.Although, to have a minority that ‘kind of’ under stood the plot leaves open chance for us to change certain aspects of the film to make it more clear to the audience.

We knew that this was a closed quantitative question, so we added the next question with an open question to receive a qualitative answer so we could find select areas for the audience to give direct comments about the film.

Question 2We then asked the corresponding question ‘Explain why you chose the answer to the previous question’ to give the audience chance to explain why they understood/didn’t understand the film. We got a lot of compliments about the editing which is crucial as the plot is quite detailed so to know that the edits made the film a lot clearer is great feedback to us.The first response (shown right) mentions the quick editing making the film more exciting. For a typical thriller, a film would include this and to know that we fulfilled that condition of a conventional thriller film shows that our editing was quite successful in means of fulfilling the genre. The second response mentions that the shots ‘gel together’ and that this made the film a lot easier to understand. This is also mentioned in the third response shown. This is a completely crucial element in a film that involves a jigsaw narrative and has a plot based around a psychological sub-genre. It is an achievement to know that we almost ushered the audience in the right direction to avoid confusion as you can easily lose and audiences attention when you confuse them so to know we didn’t to this is reassuring.

Question 2Some of the answers to this question were:

To also have responses that mention the non-continuity (flashbacks) being effective is also reassuring to receive as this was almost the key thing that the audience had to rely on. Therefore, knowing that they could easily rely on the flashbacks to grasp the background information shows that we clearly portrayed what we wanted to.We received an answer that mentioned that the audience understood the clues that we left through out the film. This is promising to hear as the psychological jigsaw narrative idea that we went for in this plot line was effective.

Question 2We also received some less positive feedback from question 2. The main reason for this was that some of the respondents found that the plot was quite confusing and hard to follow. They also tended to lose track and also couldn’t understand everything that was happening in the film because of this. The first response says that they aren’t sure what it is the Employer is wanting from Kyle in order to kill him. Because of this response we are thinking of looking into the final confrontation scene between the 2 characters and seeing if all the information is clarified in the Employer’s monologue. If not we shall consider moving around some dialogue to help it to make sense when making the final cut.The next respondent overall found the plot confusing. Although this is something to consider, we also need to consider the fact that this genre of film isn’t to everyone’s interests and maybe this isn’t the typical film that they watch, therefore they might not understand it. Also we found that the majority of the respondents understood the narrative and only a minority didn’t. Because of this we are going to look into the film’s overall clarity again, but not particularly in fine detail as most of the respondents did actually understand and enjoy the film.The last 2 responses mentioned that they understood the beginning which is good as this was our chance to set up both characters to build an understanding of them to the audience, without giving too much away. They also said that they understood the ending which is also good as now we know that the narrative was cleared up and understood but they middle confused them.I feel that we need to look into the scene in which Kyle reads his first piece of paper. I feel that this scene needs to include chance for the audience to see what it says on the paper. We created the scene with the note on the off chance that the audience may just pick up on the fact that the envelope with the money is a bribe from the Employer and the note is instructions. I feel that in this case then, the paper needs to be shown to the audience for them to know that Kyle is going to people’s addresses on the paper. So when we look back into this shot, it needs to be included in the final cut.

Question 3

The next question was to ask if the audience understood who each character was. This follows on smoothly from the last question, as some were quite confused as to the middle of the plot and who the characters at the doors were.

The majority of the respondents understood each character but a minority (2 responses) were that they didn’t know or only partially understood the characters in the film. Like proposed in the previous slide, I feel that when we introduce the actual content of the letter, explaining why he goes to the houses, it may become more apparent to the audience in the final cut how the characters are used in the film to create a more effective narrative.

Did you understand who each character was?

YesNoOnly some of the charac-ters

Question 4Did the music fit to the film

relevently?

YesNoSometimes

Around 90% of the respondents felt that the music fit the film. The other 10% felt that music only fit at certain times.

The next question that we asked was another with a qualitative answer so we could completely understand why they chose this answer so it could be directly changed in the film for the final cut.

To have 90% of the respondents feel that the music fit well to the film was extremely successful on our behalf. This was because the score in a film is crucial, it is an indicator of behaviour, a mode of foreshadowing and it can tell an audience almost how to feel.The music is a very important attribution in a thriller as it can indicate the tense scenes, especially when the plot grows closer to our climax. So to have the majority think that our music choices fit to the film well means that we achieved that ideal.

Question 5

We then asked after this why the respondents chose the answer that they did.The majority of the answers were based around the music creating the right atmosphere for the film and developed tension in scene where it was necessary.

Question 5All the answers to the right commented on either atmosphere or tension. To know that the audience all commented on something that we thought as a necessity to create is extremely positive feedback. To know the music ‘grabbed the audiences attention’ is particularly effective as, as previously stated, conventionally in a thriller you have to be careful that you don’t lose the attention of your audience. So, in knowing that the music created or chosen reined the audience back in is beneficial for us. We also included the most suspenseful music in scene where the audience may need some guidance on how to feel and the most pivotal moments in the film that you need to pay attention to. Also, one respondent said that the music ‘created a sense of loneliness’ in regards to Kyle’s character. Knowing that the music we chose also gave clues to Kyle’s character that weren’t apparent shows that we successfully used conventions of a psychological thriller. This is because when looking at plot lines and theories, such as in Usual Suspects, things are more effective when implied through various elements such as lighting and music, so knowing that our film created those suggestions without obviously portraying it through internal monologue voice overs is good to know.

Question 5We also had a response (shown left) about the sound of the flashbacks being effective. We searched for a long time to find a sound that would created the right atmosphere through the volume and tone that would be appropriate for our film. To know that a respondent found it effective shows that we found the right sound for the fit and it fit appropriately.

We did receive some constructive criticism for the sound in the film. A respondent said that the music is a little dramatic at points. Maybe to solve this problem we could possibly turn down the music to be less obvious to an audience. This would attempt to subconsciously create an atmosphere instead of being too obvious with the music and forcefully telling an audience member that they should feel a certain way.This is something to consider when creating the final cut of the film.

Question 6What genre would you say 'The

Employer' is?ThrillerHorrorDramaCrimePsychological ThrillerPsychological DramaAction

When asked what genre the respondents thought the film was 50% of the responses said that they thought the film was a psychological thriller.We are happy to receive this result as this was our intended genre so we know that the conventions that we considered when making the film successfully put the film in the genre we wanted.

On the other hand, 25% of the respondents also thought that the film could have been a psychological drama. 8.3% of the vote was a drama and another 8.3% was for drama.I, personally, feel that this doesn’t mean this we didn’t completely achieve the goal of creating a film in the psychological thriller. Although 50% said the genre that we wanted, I feel that there is a fine line between the effect of a thriller and the effect of a genre. Both are to create tense entertainment. You can have a thrilling drama and you can have a dramatic thriller. So knowing that half of the respondents considered the psychological attributions that we tried so intensely to consider and involve shows that although some of the respondents maybe disagreed with our initial plan of a thriller, the majority picked up on the psychological factor.

Question 7Did you expect the ending?

YesNo

We asked the participants if they expected the ending because we felt that this moment in the film was something that the entire film was leading up to. This was the part in the film when you finally find out everything that had been alluded to in the rest of the film.

10 out of the 11 participants did not expect the ending. To know this shows that we achieved the surprising ending that we felt very strongly about including. From this is shows that the audience were successfully lead on by the ‘innocent’ and ‘vulnerable’ character that we created with Kyle through the film.

We also then asked the respondents why they didn’t expect the ending to see in detail what it was about the film that lead them to feel either surprised at the ending or didn’t…

Question 8These answers to the right got the basis of the idea to the ending.

They at least showed that they didn’t expect that was the way that the plot was going to go.

Every answer shows that they were all surprised, but I believe that the last answer specifically looks into the idea regarding human nature and moral conscience that we wanted audience to consider.

It says that Kyle ‘turned out to be violent’ so this shows that they were drawn in by the innocent way that we portrayed Kyle as. They understood Kyle being ‘violent’ towards the Employer in the flashbacks which shows that they saw the contrast in behaviour.The respondent also said that Kyle ‘finally got punishment for beating’ the Employer.

Question 8Many other answers also dipped a little further into the human nature side of the plot that we were trying to create attention to.Another person answered the question with the answer highlighted in red. This shows us that it is an opposing idea to the rest of the answers, particularly the one that said that Kyle received ‘punishment’ for what he had done in the past. It shows that this respondent actually sympathised with Kyle and still considered his as homeless state as a reason to support the idea that being violent and mugging someone was okay because he was homeless and it excused him for doing to. This is the correct effect that we wanted to create. We wanted to let the audience consider what was right or wrong in this situation. This explores the complex consideration of what an audience would consider as appropriate behaviour for the things that Kyle did in his past. Overall, this would make the audience consider what they would do in that situation and make the film a lot more relatable to the audience, even with a situation quite far from everyday life like this one.

Question 9What rating would you say the film is?

UPG12A1518

64% of the responses were that the film was of BBFC rating 15. This was good as we included elements in the film such as the bad language, violence, threats and violent themes that would make this rating up to 15.

The other 36% of the responses said that they believed the film was a 12A. This actually was quite surprising as I believe the things that we included, such as the bad language and the violence isn’t appropriate at all for anyone under the age of possibly 13. So for respondents to suggest that the film is appropriate for children around 12 or even under, regardless of whether they have an adult with them, we felt that this would be a little too inappropriate. But having over half of the respondents say that they believed the film was a 15 rating showed that we met the criteria to get the rating to the one we wanted.

Question 10We asked the respondents if they had anything that they would change about the film.The majority of the answers were relating to the middle of the plot. They wanted some form of clarity about who each character was so that it would make more sense and link to the end of the film a lot easier. I feel that this can be achieved either through a voice over of the scene of Kyle receiving the first letter explaining what it actually says and what he wants him to do or we could film the shot again with an actual shot that shows what the letter says. I feel that if we clarify that then the rest of the film might make a lot more sense to the audience and they would enjoy the film a lot more.

Question 11Did you enjoy 'The Employer'?

YesNo

91% of the responses were positive about the film and said that they did enjoyed the film.

Overall, to know that the majority of the respondents enjoyed the film shows that we did successfully create a film that was entertaining and an audience did enjoy it.Even though there was 9% that didn’t enjoy the film, I don’t personally feel that we need to take this so much into account because not every person enjoys every genre of film.

Conclusively, I feel that because of the feedback we received, we do have a lot of things to consider when making our final piece.I feel that once we have edited and adapted the rough cut we will have a successful psychological thriller.