Group: Audience feedback on Wilderness Wood film short

We showed our Wilderness Wood completed film short to an audience with the targets of understanding what techniques are the most effective, what could be improved, and how we can utilise this feedback in order to improve for our next filming task.

GENERAL FEEDBACK

STRENGTHS

• Editing and effects that we added in post production; in particular the 'ghost' effect and colour distortion, which helped create an immersive experience.
•  POV shots - meant that the audience could easily empathise with the protagonist and also allowed for a comprehendable narrative.
•  Soundtrack was said to have made the audience feel more "on edge" and nervous about the action about to take place, meaning that it worked successfully.
• Transitions between shots were clean on the whole, leading to the story seeming more realistic and so the audience could really believe the action.

We feel that as the editing was seen as the strongest aspect of our short, it would be wise to use elements of this in future projects, however will attempt to further explore the effectiveness of other editing techniques.

WEAKNESSES

• In some significant places the cut rate was too slow.
• With the jump cuts it was suggested there were perhaps too many shots - meaning that it slowed the tempo of the action and created somewhat of an anticlimax: almost the opposite of the desired effect.
• Audio levels - at the beginning the dialogue was too quiet and was difficult to understand.
• Background noise was an issue, even if only subtle - our audience noted that at some points when the on screen actor was still but the camera movement wasn't, you could hear the camera man's movement.
•  As a group we noticed that the last shot - fairly important to the plot of our piece - went unnoticed and this was perhaps because we cut it so it was only there for a split second with the impression this would shock the audience more, but such a significant shot should have more time for the audience to truly consume and understand it as in a small time the audience may not even acknowledge the pivotal shot.

Whilst these may not see, a prominent issue they are still ones that could potentially spoil the feeling of suspense and tension - key to the success of our future horror opening, and so they must be eradicated in future projects.

POSSIBLE TARGETS FOR FUTURE PRODUCTIONS

• Overdub - record dialogue away from location where background noise and clarity are no longer problematic. Sound issues are no longer a problem however this then creates a difficulty in syncing with the action as it would have to be frame perfect, so dialogue would have to be identical in both the recording of the sound and action.
•  A higher cutting rate and generally quicker action would enhance our next project and prove to be more exciting for the audience - creating visceral pleasure.

These are what we, as a group, felt were the two main issues mainly based on the feedback and so what we have prioritised to ensure are not recurring issues in our productions.