Part 1 - Questionnaire Feedback

So far I've only managed to get around half of my questionnaires completed. However, this has still proven to provide good feedback.

All of the participants have concluded with the idea that the male character is not what he seems. This shows that the transition of his character, from pleasent to accussing, was successfully communicated to the audience. Another aspect that all participants (so far) have agreed on is their favourite opening credit being the panning around the mug. Comments explained their reasoning being that they found it effective how the camera pans around the mug and it is then lifted out of the shot; saying it flowed well.

Also the comments I recieved concerning the volume, for example music and dialogue, overall was positive. None expressed any concerns or complaints about the sound.

As I continue to get my other questionnaires filled out I hope to recieve similar positive comments as I have done previously.

Volume Feedback

I decided to re-view my opening sequence to check any final factors that I could spot myself when I realised a serious adjustment that I missed previously. Before the exchange of dialogue between the two characters I dip the volume of the music so the speech can be heard. However, I failed to raise the volume afterwards. Once I had done this I asked a peer to listen to my adjustments and ask their opinion. They suggested that I should stop the music when Adam grabs Natalie to show the transformation of the atmosphere being quite friendly to tense. I tried this new idea and conformed to the suggestion. I agree with this idea and what it helps to represent.

Planning Feedback Questionaire

After finally completing my first edit of my opening sequence I plan to create a questionnaire that will accompany a viewing of my first edit. From this I hope to find some improvements that can be made, as well as some comments from people about what they think is effective about my opening sequence.

A majority of my questions are asking if they can spot any areas of improvement, but also if I've managed to communicate across to my audience what I wanted to be seen in the sequence.

For example,

My aim relating to the characters was not to stereotype the male character of 'Adam', causing the audience to immediately assume that he is abusive. This could have been done through the mise-en-scene when 'Adam' was introduced into the storyline. His costume could have been possibly being bald, tattoos, as well as a low gruff voice and shouting at 'Natalie' the moment he saw her. The lighting around  him would have been dim, casting shadows across around; overall giving him a very dark and unnerving persona.

However, I wanted 'Adam' to remain non-stereotyped in his appearance. This would give a better sense of realism to the character as those who are abusive do not always look as they are stereotyped. Although in his dialogue at the end of the opening sequence I wanted the audience to start assuming what Adam's character is like.

Question number 10 simply asks the question of whether or not I have been successful in conforming to enough conventions of the social realism genre to make it recognisable.

Completed Production Logos

I am very pleased with the turn out of my production logos. One displaying the use of Live Type and the other showing creativity without the use of technology. As well as the music selected compliments them well. After editing the volume of the music I have found that they flow a lot more easily into the next clip.

Adjusting the Volume

Finally after choosinng the music to accompany the 'Carrot Cake' production logo I repeatedly played the opening the get a feel for what the different music sounded like starting one after the other. This luckily revealed to me that the music ending in a straight cut, followed immediately by the mext, sounded horribly and unfinished. Therefore the resolve this issue I adjusted the volume to gradually fade out as the next piece of music came in. This proved to be very effective and improved the quality of the opening sequence.

When I played through the opening a few times more, I felt that the volume needed to be further adjusted. I did this with both the 'Carrot Cake' and 'Tricky Films' production logos.

(Left: the first edit of the volume for a 'Carrot Cake' production. Right: the readjusted edit of the volume for a 'Carrot Cake' production.)

Music For A 'Carrot Cake' Production

Having already selected a piece of music for the 'Tricky Films' production logo, I moved my search to look for music to match the creation of a 'Carrot Cake' production. After listening to a variety of different clips of music, I ask some other students to listen to my selected ones to help narrow down which one would be more suited to the production logo. It is now down between two different pieces of music.

The first clip of music is of a collection of string instruments (violins, etc), which was well received. And the other is made from an acoustic guitar, known as noodling. This was also liked. However I think that I will put both pieces of music with the finished production logo, and then ask for feedback from peers as to which one is best suited.

Sound Edit

After some feedback from a couple of other students I discovered that the volume of the dialogue from my actors was too quiet. Although they could hear what was being said, it was not entirely clear. Therefore I further adjusted the sound of the dialogue to all clips that included speech, making sure the volume was even. However there was one section of dialogue spoken by Barney (Adam), that was more quietly delivered than other lines. So this was increased to an even higher level of volume.