This document provides feedback from test viewers of a film opening about an autistic teenage boy. Around 10 people viewed the opening and completed a questionnaire. Their responses were overall positive, with most agreeing the opening was appropriate for a 12 rating and finding the sped-up math scene most effective. However, some noted the lighting was too bright and the main character's face was cut off in one shot. The filmmaker learns about technologies used and received both positive and negative feedback on camera qualities.

1. Evaluation for AS media
coursework
6ixteen- Joey Helsby

2. 1. having watched my film opening what was your initial reaction?
2. It is difficult to place my film in a particular genre as there is no genre for
autism. However if you were to pick a genre for my film what would it be?
3. what are your views on the lighting in my opening?
4. My opening stereotypes an autistic boy with a great knowledge in maths.
How forced (if forced at all) is this stereotype?
5. I have regulated this film (with help from my previous questionnaire) as a 12.
having watched the opening would you agree with this age certification?
6. which scenes did you find most effective?
7. Having watched the opening to what extent were you left with a cliff hanger
wanting to watch more?
8. Did you think the sound track worked well in my opening?
9. If you were to change an element of the opening, what would it be?
10. What did you think of the mise-en-scene in my opening?
Audience having watched 6ixteen
opening questionnaire
As you can see
these
questions
enable the
viewer to
express their
own opinions
and be creative
in their
answersThe questions
are easy
questions
asked to non-
media studies
students
enabling me
to get more
of a honest
answer

3. Around 10 people took part in the questionnaire and here is some of the
feedback, views and opinions I received.
Results of questionnaire
1.Results split
roughly down
the middle.
Some found the
main character
very intriguing.
Others found
him funny and
couldn’t take
him seriously.
2.
0 5 10
Comedy
Drama
Romantic
Thriller
Column2
Column1
No. of people
Q. 3
Too
Bright
Good
Too
dark
4.
8/10 said
too forced
5. All agreed
6. Everyone
seemed to
agree that they
found the sped
up scene where
the boy is
writing down
maths the most
effective.
7 & 8. All said
yes
9. Some said
they wouldn’t
change
anything but
most said they
would change
the lighting
from bright
and sunny to a
darker lighting
to match the
mood of the
project
10. All good mise-en-
scene apart from when
the boy is drinking
water and the bottom
of his face is cut out

4. Example of an answer from my
questionnaire (on Facebook)

5. In my film opening I tried to incorporate many
different forms and conventions of real media
products as I felt that this would engage the
audience more. I tried to include many
interesting shots in order to maintain my
viewers interest.
There are certain techniques that I have used
in order to hint at what the sub-genres of the
film might be. For example the opening shot
being a still, long shot with the boy looking
directly at the camera suggests it will be a
drama as there is little noise and it is a rather
awkward stare.
I tried to incorporate many fast moving action
cuts in order to make the sense of time
apparent in my opening. I also did this by
speeding up certain shots like the fast
forwarded math’s scene. Here I shoot it from
many different angles making the cuts as
sharp as possible in order to create the sense
of time going by and a progression of stability
within the boy himself.
In what ways does your media product use develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

6. Social groups represented
Gender
The main gender represented in my opening is of a male.
In it we can see the struggle of his life coping with an
alcoholic mother. It is clear that he needs an escape of this
life due to the stress that his mother is causing him, thus
being why there is a competition that will eventually
enable him to leave home.
Age
The protagonist in my film opening is aged sixteen hence
the title 6ixteen. This being because from having done
research in my planning to the film opening I was lead to
believe that teenagers around that age tend to suffer the
most from depression.
Class
The boy is from a middle class background. This is
understood from the clothing he wears (a shirt in the
opening scene) and from the house that the film opening
is filmed in.
Stereotypes
In my film opening it is evident that there is a lot of
stereotypes. The protagonist being autistic has to cope
with a lot of social issues. These were portrayed through
his lack of dialogue. Highlighting how much autistic people
struggle with communication. The fact that he is a genius
at maths is also a stereotype. In fact it tends to only be a
small handful of autistic people that are extremely good at
math's and the majority tend to not have this trait.
How does your media project represent particular
social groups?
There is also a stereotype within the
“alcoholic” category. We see the
protagonists mother passed out on a
table with a bottle of wine in front of
her. This is a pretty strong and harsh
representation of how an alcoholic
might act in front of their children.
Nonetheless despite this being a
stereotype it does not mean that it is
not true

7. I think one of the French based film
production companies might distribute
my media product as from the French
films that I have seen they all tend to
have strong emotional values to them.
They are very moving which I believe
my film could be received as. So for
example I would like to think that the
“Canal + cinema” might be interested.
It is similar to other films that have been
based around autism. However
different at the same time. I looked into
“Rainman” when I was planning my film
and there are defiantly similar aspects
that I have taken from it and
incorporated in my own project. For
instance the lack of ability in social
situations I have portrayed in my
character as they do with Raymond in
Rainman. However the connection
between autism and math's is
something that I haven't seen before in
film and believe it could be of interest
as it is quite a peculiar topic. Therefore I
believe that the French film companies
might be interested in my film as they
seem to warm towards films wit a little
more thought process than some of the
American films.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
I would be comfortable releasing this film
and I feel it would get a good reception as
I think it may be seen as an inspiration to
those not just with autism but also other
illnesses that certain individuals may suffer
from. It may also arise some of the issues
that some kids are dealing with and make
the general public more aware of some of
these issues.

8. 20+
Males and females
For those that find looking into emotional
relationships interesting. Those that enjoy
seeing a sort of “rags to riches” aspect of
film.
Those that are interested in mental illnesses
and their effects.
Who would be the target audience for your
media product?
6ixteen would be an interesting film for those
that like to look at life from hindsight and and
understand personal difficulties from those
around them
Other films that are similar to ours and therefore have a
similar audience…
Rainman- this is similar as it is based around the
relationship of an autistic boy; something that is
explored in my film.
Good will hunting- some may also draw relations
between my film and good will hunting as there are
clear connections in the sense that they are both
predominantly about math's. However in my films
case, this boy makes use of his math's from the
beginning.
I therefore also believe that audiences that enjoyed
these films would take pleasure in watching mine.
Why I chose this target audience…
I chose this target audience purely because
I take pleasure from watching films that
take a little more thought process than
other films may do. I’m sure that many
others are like me and therefore would be
keen to watch my film.
I have seen many films involving personal
issues including bad relationships and
personal, mental problems however I have
never seen a film (that I have enjoyed) that
highlights the rise of someone with both
mental and personal problems and it is
something that I have always wanted to see
exploited in a film.

9. There are many fast moving cuts that I
have incorporated in my film opening in
order to engage the attention and attract
my audience. I have also tried to add an
interesting plot to the film opening
without giving the viewer too much
information just enough for them to be
focusing on what could potentially be
coming next.
How did you attract/address the audience?
There are certain scenes where I have tried to
shock the audience just to keep them on the edge
of their seats and maintain their attention. For
example the scene where the boy finds his mother
passed out on the table from having drunken too
much alcohol would be seen as quite shocking
and we may sympathies with the boy or even
potentially relate with him.
In my film opening there is also almost a sense of
the supernatural with the boy being so talented at
math's. I feel that these elements to the film
opening would attract the audience as it is one of
those fascinating moments when you see quite
how talented he is at math's. Through the camera
being sped up despite this obviously not being in
real time it does however add a sense of energy to
the opening and therefore would reduce audience
members loosing concentration.

10. Camera positives and
negatives
What have you learnt about technologies and
the process of constructing the product?
• Difficult to control the
zoom in and out. All
shots therefore had no
zoom in or out effect
• Didn’t quite screw onto
the tripod
properly, some shots
not as stable as I would
have hoped.
• At times it struggled to
cope with the natural
lighting and therefore
images were not as
clear.
• One scene I had a
problem with the light
where a shadow was
shown.
• On the whole a good
quality camera
providing me with
clear shots.
• Very mobile- easy to
place camera in
certain places that a
bigger camera would
have struggled with.
• Easy to connect and
download images
onto iMovie 11.
Equipment used
I used a tripod for stabilizing my shots however in
some cases I had to hold the camera personally to get
shots from tight angles where the tripod would not
have been able to fit. This meant that some shots
were a bit shaky however I do not think that this was
a major problem.
Editing software
I used iMovie 11 when editing my short film which I
found very easy to use particularly as I was slightly
familiar with it having used it also to edit my preliminary
task. There were certain things that I picked up from
spending more time on iMovie. For instance having
explored the software there were new editing skills that
I did not know about before. For instance I worked out
how to fast forward my footage and also how to put a
song in the background of my piece. I learnt how to fade
shots in and out as they were coming to an end making
the project flow much nicer. On the whole it was a very
basic, yet effective editing software for me.
There were certain problems that I faced when
filming my short film. The main problem being that I
had no access to a tripod until quite late on. This
meant that it slowed the whole process down as I
realized through trial and error that I would not be
able to produce an effective short film without having
a stable camera shot.

11. Planning
By researching a lot into other films with
similar themes I looked into what techniques
they used to portray certain topics and tried
to manifest these techniques into my own
project.
By creating a few storyboards I was able to
look at what my original ideas were and then
constantly build upon these ideas. Whenever
I thought of a new idea I would put it in a
new storyboard. This meant that in my final
product there were more ideas involved than
if I had done no storyboard.
Through using a questionnaire in my planning
I was able to see what my target audience
may have wanted to see in my film. This was
useful as it gave me an outsiders point of
view so my final product would appeal to a
wider audience rather than just me.
Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel that
you have learnt in the process from it to the full product?
Through doing a preliminary task this gave me
the confidence in using the basic technology
that was provided to me. I was then able to build
on what I already knew for my final product. Had
I not done a preliminary task my final product
would have been a lot more basic and less
interesting. I picked up basic camera shots in my
preliminary task such as “over the shoulder
shot” and key elements to making a film such as
continuity.
Throughout the course of creating this film opening I
have become much more confident in not only how to
edit my footage but also thinking about shots and
their meaning. I have picked up ideas like
iconography, mise-en-scene and looked into different
types of shots. All of which I have tried to represent in
my film opening. I have looked at real films in a
different way so rather than thinking purely of the
storyline I now think about the construction process.
All of which has helped me in creating my own film
opening.
Overall I feel that I have created a decent film opening that has caught the eye of audience
members. I feel that I have created the task successfully and that it looks professional. I
have been alone and not in a group in this process however I feel that has actually been to
my benefit as I have been able to focus more with no distraction from friends.

12. There were certain key scenes in my film opening that I believe are of great significance had
the film been made in full. For example the scene in which we see the boy looking directly at
the camera for an awkwardly long time. This portrays the boys inner self and is the only time
in which I believe we get a greater understanding as to what the boys inner emotions might
be. We understand from this shot that he is a slight odd ball and are lead to believe that he
may have some mental problems (like autism). Prior to this shot we have no understanding
as to what is so “special” about the boy. We understand that he is great at math’s however
this is not explained as such for there is no dialogue in the opening. When he looks directly
into the camera it adds an emphasis to the boys mental issues as it is not natural for humans
to look at one another in the eye for that length of time.
Certain shots of significance