What have you learned from your audience feedback?

1. EVALUATION QUESTION THREE:
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM
YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

2. In order to complete this evaluation question, myself, Caitlin and
Hannah created a set of evaluation questions to hand out to the class
who then watched our short film and filled in their answers. The
questions were:
• How far do you agree that our short film ‘Eighteen’ represents our
target audience?
• What do you like about our film?
• Could you suggest any improvements for our short film?
• What are your opinions on the voice over used in our short film,
rather than a written script?
• What, in your opinion, makes our film stand out?
• Do you think our short film portrays any messages to the audience?
If so, what are these messages?
• Was the mise-en-scene effective in representing these themes and
issues?
• What do you think about the structure of our short film being a
montage rather than a linear narrative?
These are the answers we collected…

3. How far do you agree that our short film ‘Eighteen’
represents our target audience?
After comparing each answer, we can conclude that our audience agree that our short film
appeals to the target audience we were hoping to aim for; young females. In their opinion,
‘Eighteen’ ‘represents the audience well through mise-en-scene’ and the decision to use
only female actresses. The audience feedback also concludes that the link to typically
‘female’ issues also helped with the development of our target audience as young women
should be able to watch it and relate to the issues in some way or another; ‘I think that
‘Eighteen’ does represent the target audience well as it focuses on female
characters/actresses, and it focuses on issues associated with girls’. I agree with this
feedback we have gathered since we originally wanted to focus our short film towards a target
audience of young women, and we want them to be able to watch the film and relate to the
topics it covers.

4. What do you like about our short film?
Although this question produced a range of answers, mostly the audience enjoyed the poetic
feel of the film since it offered ‘good narration and flow’ to the film. Some even believe the
poem made the film more ‘exstesential’, which is something we didn’t previously consider but
appreciate more now that we know people feel that way about it. Our audience feedback also
shows that people enjoy the real life elements that the film covers; ‘I like the ideas put behind
the film and the fact that it focuses on modern issues associated with girls’. I agree with
these answers as I feel the poem allows our film to stand out amongst the crowd, and the
topics covered do give audiences the opportunity to relate to the film.

5. Could you suggest any improvements for our short film?
For this question, our audience feedback has produced a range of different ideas. Some
believe that including music alongside the poem read over the top would help to ‘improve the
flow of the film’, as well as lengthen the time, therefore this is something we will be
considering as we complete our editing. Another improvement suggested included ‘a short
scene about the pressures of social media to young women’ and we agree that this would be
a good idea as it would not only improve the depth of our film but it would also allow it to
focus on more modern day issues.

6. What are your opinion on the voice over used in our short film,
rather than a written script?
This question in particularly produced a lot of positive feedback. This is because people feel
the use of a poem is an ‘authentic and powerful’ approach towards the issues the film
touches upon, and it also makes the film ‘unique’. I agree with this feedback as I believe the
use of a strong, emotional poem to cover such deep issues means that the audience are able
to interpret the words for themselves and relate to them in any way that best suits them.

7. What, in your opinion, makes our film stand out?
The answers to this question relate closely to the use of the poem as the narration of the film,
as most people feel it allows the audience to ‘interpret their own ideas on what they are
viewing’, and this is an interesting concept to use. The fact that our film covers real life
issues is another answer that people believe makes our short film stand out, and this is
important to us as this is originally what wee wanted our film to stand out for the most.
Overall, I agree with the feedback to this question as I feel these two elements of the film are
definitely what help our film to stand out the most.

8. Do you think our short film portrays any messages to the
audience? If so, what are these messages?
Our audience feedback shows that our film has represented the issues we wanted to portray
effectively; ‘it is a coming of age story for young women’, ‘it allows audiences to relate to
everyday issues that they have perhaps experienced themselves’. Some believe that it
particularly focuses on social pressures on young women, and others believe that it is a
representation of ‘liberation’ from the struggles you face when you are young. I think this
feedback is very positive for us as we want people to watch the film and interpret it in their
own ways, relating it to their own lives. The fact that our audience feedback shows that this
happens as a result of watching our film proves that we have been successful in this aspect.

9. Was the mise-en-scene effective in representing these
themes and issues?
Our audience feedback shows that people feel the mise-en-scene used throughout our film
‘represents femininity very well’. Some believe that the film showing flowers and magazines
being destroyed represents how female issues are ‘being challenged’ and others believe the
mise-en-scene ‘links to the poem really well’. I agree with this feedback as I feel the props
and outfits we have used throughout the film represent young females very well, however I
feel with more time and resources we could have expanded the mise-en-scene to give the film
more of an artistic and clever approach towards the issues the film represents.

10. What do you think about the structure of our short film being a
montage rather than a linear narrative?
After reading the feedback, most people agree that the use of a montage ‘allows the film to
flow well’ and also makes it ‘more unique 'compared to films with a typical linear narrative.
One piece of feedback in particularly stated that the use of a montage allowed us to
‘represent the issues of the film more effectively’ as it allowed us to concentrate on the
message of the film more closely, making it more prominent and powerful. I think this is right
as it allowed us to create a film that questions typical conventions of most short films.

11. Conclusion:
In conclusion, I think that the audience feedback we have received has been very helpful to us
as we have not only been able to pick up opinions on how our film could be improved but we
have also been able to see whether our film represents the issues we want it to cover
effectively or not, and most people believe this has been done in an artistic and authentic way.
The feedback has also given us plenty of improvement suggestions that we will now be
considering putting into our film, in particularly the idea of showing the impact of social media
and including background music.