Audience Feedback Opening Sequence (Evasion)

Audience Feedback

Evasion: Opening Sequence Lucy Pearson

My first question was to do with the genre of my opening sequence, because this is vital to every film produced. The genre of our film, Evasion, was a thriller, and we worked extremely hard to try and portray this in the first few minutes of the film.In order to do this, we used main thriller connotations such as keeping a sense of mystery about the sequence and also keeping it fast paced, to both build suspense and imply a sense of urgency and danger. The soundtracks we used were also carefully selected to be creepy and mysterious – so they would hopefully built tension for the audience. Judging by the responses collected, I can be extremely confident that our opening

sequence fitted the thriller genre – because 100% of responses correctly selected thriller from the options. I purposely included a selection in order to allow them to put these genres into consideration, and decide which one fitted the sequence best.

My second question focused on the soundtracks used, because a lot of our sequence included non diegetic backing tracks.

The first soundtrack used for the title sequence was very creepy at the start, but then sped up dramatically when the beginning scene started of the figure running. This therefore correlated well with the fast paced scenes of running etc., both helping to build tension.

Judging by 100% of the previous responses choosing thriller, I can imply that all of the answers to this question were based on the thriller genre, too. This therefore tells me that my soundtracks were both effective and useful, because they worked well with the genre and all of the people who answered chose “yes.”

As mentioned previously, my main aim of using the soundtracks were to create suspense and tension. Therefore, with this question, I wanted to know the audiences opinion on whether this was successful.

Looking at the responses collected, I can feel confident that my soundtracks were successful in impacting the audience the way which I wanted to. This is because all responses were positive, with 95% saying “yes” and 5% saying “sometimes.”These responses help me to understand that the soundtracks were a main part of my

opening sequence, and helped to piece it together to be as successful as possible. This is definitely interesting, since I specifically gathered the idea of using creepy music from the very successful opening sequence of “The Woman In Black”, which was one of the best opening sequences I have seen.

My next question focused on the mise en scene I used throughout the sequence e.g. lighting, props, make up, body language, decor etc.

As a group, we worked really hard during the planning process to ensure that the mise en scene used was effective, realistic and accurate. For example, we focused specifically on the costume of one of the lead protagonists, Jackson Ralph, who was represented as a dangerous/mysterious figure from the very start.

We done this by using clothing and accessories to conceal his face, therefore keeping that theme of mystery. My responses tell me that this was effective, because 100% answered yes = therefore suggesting success.

In the opening sequences of films, its very important that the audience gather a basic understanding of the plot – enough to make them want to watch more, but little enough that the whole plot isn’t given away and the mystery is obtained.

We aimed to keep the sense of mystery by keeping some characters identity hidden and leaving the characters themselves unsure of exactly what is happening to them. This puts the audience in the same position as the characters, so they find out more information at the same time as the characters do.My responses make me confident that I was successful in achieving my aim, because the

majority answered “yes” and the only other comment answered “sometimes.” This is good because the audience were supposed to feel a bit confused at some points, especially if they’re the type of people to want to know exactly what’s going on and when!

My next question focused on the actors themselves, because they are a main part of any opening sequence. This is because their body language, facial expressions and responses to certain situations are supposed to hint to the audience the atmosphere of the scenario.

We therefore made sure that our actors payed close attention to their body language etc. at all times, in order to make the opening sequence as realistic as possible and let the audience know of their emotions at all times.

We achieved this via camera shots e.g. close ups on characters faces to focus on their reactions after different events. Looking at our events, I can understand that our actors were very successful in this, because 100% of responses answered “yes.”

My next question was probably the most important, as it focused on whether the audiences interest was engaged. This is vital for any opening sequence, as it is usually the deciding factor as to whether they’ll carry on watching the film.

We tried really hard using a variety of factors to try and engage interested as much as possible, as we knew that the opening sequence could not be boring at all.

Looking at the majority of our positive results, I can conclude that our opening sequence was successful in engaging interest. This therefore boosts my confidence as to how successful the film would be, if it were to actually be produced professionally.

My final question was to with the presentation of the title sequence, and how professional it looked. I used a different data collection feature for this, and used the dropdown box option in order to include a scale from 1 to 10.

Looking at my results, I can see that overall, they titles did look professional. Although the results vary, the lowest score is a 7 which is still above halfway, and the majority of the results lay around the 8/9 category.

Therefore, I can gather an understanding that the titles were professional looking – but they could be altered if I were to redo them in order to make them as good as possible.

Bias?After looking at my results from my audience feedback, I am very happy with the responses and the success of my sequence. However, its important that I take into consideration the fact that this survey was mainly completed by my classmates – so they may be a little extra generous with their responses because they know me and wont want to be too harsh. However, I did post the link on the YouTube channel where it was public and anonymous – which therefore means that some of my results will have been from people online who do not know me personally, which therefore increases my confidence in their results because they will be judging the sequence solidly on the content, and not the producer.