1. Lauren Rosenfeld
Units 4, 5, 24, 31
Evaluation P4 - Audience Feedback
To gain audience feedback, for Vibe Productions social action project The Redbridge
Rise in Crime, we put together a focus group. This consisted of 8 people, and they
were asked questions about the video. A focus group is a gathering of deliberately
selected people who participate in a planned discussion that is intended to provide
feedback about a particular topic or area of interest, such as a product, service,
concept, advertisement, idea, packaging, or documentary in my case. The feedback
gathered allows us to access whether the finished product meets the requirements of
the audience, and if not what changes need to be made to improve it. This feedback
helps us to determine any possible faults that we may have missed, in order for us to
polish up the product to a higher standard, and shows us if we effectively reached
the audience as planned. This follows the encoding - decoding model active
audience theory by Stuart Hall, in which us the producers construct a text and the
audience decode it (process, understand and interpret it).
I created a questionnaire with several questions open and closed, in order to gain an
adequate amount of feedback from the focus group. It was necessary that the
demographics suited the brief, thus 4/8 people were aged 16-25, whilst 2 were 36-45
and another 2 were 56-65. Due to the brief stating that the target audience should be
14-19 years of age, the majority of the people within the focus group were in this age
range, However, we also included a few older people in order to see if our
documentary was inclusive for all ages, and this would lead to community cohesion.
The second question in the questionnaire was gender. It was important to have a mix
of male and female audience to see if the documentary was intriguing to both. Thus,
we had 4 male and 4 female participants. This gave us a range of opinions,
particularly as crime doesn't affect just one gender, it can affect anyone in their
lifetime. It is a balanced gender representation and there is equility. The feedback we
received was that the documentary wasn't completely orientated on one gender and
there was a range in order to attract both genders. We tried to get a range of
ethnicities to watch the documentary, and we were able to get 4/8 white British, 1
white other, 1 black British, 1 Asian British and 1 Asian other. The majority of
participants were white British, as this is reflective of the Redbridge area being a
majority of white people, with growing immigration, shown through a range of other
ethnicities (Redbridge's largest ethnic group is White British (34.5%), followed by
Indian (16.4%), and Pakistan)i.
The results of the questionnaire show that most people are full time students,
followed by people in full time employment, this is due to the majority of participants
of the focus group being in the 16-25 age range, which is the target audience of the
documentary. The next question was town of residence. This was a mixed result with
⅜ in Barkingside, 1 in Hainault, 1 in Clayhall, 1 in Gants Hill and 2 in other. This was
2. Lauren Rosenfeld
Units 4, 5, 24, 31
followed by how long have you lived in Redbridge, all 8 stated that they have lived in
Redbridge for over 11 years, with a considerable amount (4/8) living there for more
than 19 years, implying that they like the area, which is why they continue to live
there. With this knowledge in mind, people may be more motivated to come together
as a community after the documentary ends and it will have a larger impact on them.
In order to relate to our topic of crime, we asked if participants felt safe in Redbridge.
The results were split with 5 saying no, and only 3 saying yes. This provided us with
further information that people wanted the community crime rates to change as it will
become detrimental to the area. Followed by have you seen crime rates improve or
worsen, to which all 8/8 saying it had gotten worse, and what changes they have
witnessed. Many stated that crime has been increasing in their local area,
specifically with more burglaries, theft and anti social behaviour. This showed us that
they may relate to the people shown in the documentary, and the documentary can
help them out, with links and phone numbers to guidance groups for support after
crimes. The last question was have you ever been a victim of crime, in which only ⅜
participants had been.
Once participants had watched the documentary, i wanted to find out instantly if they
feel that our social action project has made them more aware of the crime in
Redbridge and if so how. All participants stated yes (8/8) and they learnt about the
different types of crimes that were prevalent within the area, as well as learning that
the police station was closing and to be more aware of their surroundings. Audiences
were also offered guidance at the end of the documentary with support groups. They
were also asked if they find the information provided helpful, to which all 8 stated that
they did, which was reassuring to us. Another question was what audiences liked,
disliked, and what can be improved. Many people said they liked the interviews
especially with the police officer and victims, as they could identify with the victims.
The interview with the police officer showed that a high level of research had gone in
to the production and added to the professionalism. The reconstructions were well
done and there was a mix of content which meant it wasn't boring, and the
reconstruction situations were realistic, engaging and added to the realism
(verisimilitude). However, audiences did not like the chart on screen during the police
officer interview, as it swayed focus from what the police officer was saying and
made neither one clear. The way the logo came in looked unprofessional and had a
comical/cheap effect, and some of the interviews were too long, which made them a
bit boring and tedious, which was unsatisfactory for the audience of teenagers, as if
they become bored they will lose focus and not take in the information. They said
that some cuts should have been quicker, change color for the reconstruction and
extend transitions as they were too quick. Participants also answered that the hosts
could have been more professional, there could have been a wider range of shots in
the interviews, and more interviews with authority figures in order to improve the
production. There should have been more authority figure interviews, as it adds to
the believability of the documentary, and reflective of realism. Also, programmes that
3. Lauren Rosenfeld
Units 4, 5, 24, 31
we analysed during research had many authority figures involved, which is reflective
of professional practice, and is good for the audience as they are used to them.
Once we received this feedback, we went back to editing to make improvements, in
order to make the production more professional for our audience.
Another interesting piece of feedback was from the question do you believe that our
social action project met professional standards? 6 out of 8 believed that is was at a
professional level, and in turn has a large impact on the intended audiences,
specifically the filming, editing and the fact that the story was clear and it ran
smoothly, and flowed to the next topic. . Although many people thought it was at a
professional standard, some people (2) stated that to make it more professional
there should have been improvements in the camerawork (some shots out of focus),
the hosts could have been more professional and the sound could have been
improved. As filming progressed, we became more aware that the directional mic
picked up background noise, especially as it was broken, thus we should have
checked equipment before leaving to film. Using this feedback we went back to
editing to improve.
Participants were asked if they feel as though our documentary had an impact on
them, ⅝ stated that it did, which meant that out purpose had been fulfilled in
informing audiences. We also wanted to know if another purpose of ours had been
fulfilled - getting others to come together to make a change in the community, thus
we asked has our social action project influenced you to take action in Redbridge to
try and reduce crime rates. To which 4/8 people said that it did, specifically the
statistics from the police officer, which shocked the audience to see how high the
crime rates actually were. Lastly, we wanted to know if the project can bring about
social change and how, which was the most important aspect, ⅞ participants stated
that they think it can. Many people said that they are now more aware of the most
prevalent crimes in the area, and will now be more observant, thus the purpose has
been fulfilled.
To conclude, the focus group believed that Vibe Productions social action project
The Rise In Redbridge Crime will help to bring change within the Redbridge region
and bring the community together, as stated in the brief. Thus, the purpose of the
brief has been met.
