Class Screening | nataliekidd

1st Class Screening

This is the first time our short film had been shown in front of an audience, which was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. We were hoping for some positive comments to help us to know our work was to a good standard, to reassure us, however we also wanted some constructive comments, as we still were aiming to tweak our product and polish it. There is no way there would be nothing to improve on, especially as it was the first version of the film. Our main worry was about people understanding the narrative, a problem that did arise but needed audience research to confirm. It was important to get people who weren't involved in the creative process to see if it made sense, because naturally, Beth and I understood it completely, but this could only be because we created it.

Comment

Lessons Learnt

Reaction

This approach is effective and increases the enjoyment of the viewer, this is a technique I would endeavour to use in future products.

Good cutting, where it repeats the shot quickly is really good as it makes it fast paced, especially in the party scene but still seamlessly connected

I am glad that this worked, there was a small risk it would be too fast to be effective, however, the audience research confirms we do not need to change it

Lighting works well, it is effective when she goes to the bench a second time its darker as it shows the progression and meaning better

I was worried the colour correction to make it darket would look to false, rather than looking later in the day, this feedback showed they understood the metaphorical meaning, it was worth it

This could be because the target audience wasn’t there, all of the viewers were male and only two of the viewers had experienced teenage life completely and now were adult. This meant that very few of the people could look back and reflect on their own teenage experiencesIt also could have been that males found it harder to relate to and understand a female version and take on teenage years.

Narration is hard to understand

[three people in the class of 15 felt they fully understood it]

Titles could be a good way of helping explain the rest of the product to, maybe the definition should be looked at again

The title of Adolescence helped greatly in understanding the meaning of the piece, however, the definition at the end wasn’t useful in adding to the piece or helping to explain it

The use of titles could be incorporated throughout the piece, potentially titling each section. The use of a quote instead of the definition could be better tailored to explaining the piece and each section could have a quote explaining it

Lighting can be an accurate way to show moods and meaning, I would use this again in the future to clarify the feelings of my actress.

Use Action described above

Through the narrative, lighting, mise-en-scene and editing show the downward spiral and transition the girl goes through is made clearer

It is good that we know the audience understand the feelings we tried to create through these factors

It is important to always put emphasis on mise-en-scene, lighting and editing as it evidently is a good tool to use to support the narrative

If we deem it necassary to change after rewatching, we would need to see footage that would enable us to do this, if not, we would have to reshoot, which may be too hard to be worth it

In the final smoking scene it may be more effective if the girl doesn’t sit down and just walks past brushing off the cigarettes

However, another person commented saying liked it as it showed how rushed youth is, evidence that audience research isn't definitive and can contradict itself, we will try reediting it both ways before making a decision

Jump cuts instead of speeding up the footage [smoking scene] might be more effective, as the speeding up looks a bit gimmicky

Reedit the smoking scenes where necessary

Use Action described above

This was meant to act as a uniform, something many teenagers have to wear, it also brings the ambiguety over whether it is one day or a series of days

She wears the same clothes in all the smoking scenes

Focus on mise-en-scene and codes to dress more to stop confusion

I didn't understand the meaning of the water

There's water in all the sections, beach, party and bath, its a theme that runs throughout, as its experimental its not meant to be fully understood, the girl is constanly fluid and changing, like water

Make symbolism more obvious so that meaning is clear