Evaluation 3

Our intention was to create a 5 minute fiction film that would explore PTSD and make the audience empathise with the character of Georgie. We made several changes to the film in response to audience feedback, such as adding an extra scene of dialogue in the hallway, and cutting out the bus scene. Many audience members said they felt there was too much walking, and not enough dialogue, which is why we made those changes.

How did we create meaning?
We used a two shot of Georgie and Charlotte in the kitchen, but positioned them at either end of the shot to convey how Georgie has become detached from herself and reality through her mental illness, and to reinforce the physical separation of the two characters. The fact it is a two shot highlights Georgie's reluctance to let go of Charlotte, and presents her trying to keep the memory of Charlotte close. 

We used a slight low angle on the shot of Charlotte on the stairs to present the degree of power she holds over Georgie's life. Although Charlotte is not really there, the effect Charlotte's death has had on Georgie is holding her to ransom and stopping her from moving on. Piano music is used throughout to add a sense of melancholy, which, when teamed with the slow paced editing throughout, creates a sluggish feel, mirroring Georgie's emotions.

Elliptical editing was used to cut out some of the less interesting parts, such as walking, as these non-essential scenes slowed down the pace of the film and made it less engaging. This can be seen from the first rough cut to the final project. I think that including more elliptical editing was a good idea as it made our film much more enjoyable to watch, and stopped some parts dragging. Click here for evidence of elliptical editing. Arguably,  the car acts as a partial wipe,  and allows a smooth transition into the next scene. We used backgrounds with similar colours, stone, blue and yellow, to again, allow a smooth transition between shots. 

An over the shoulder shot is used to show Georgie's therapy letter. We used this prop to reinforce where she was and the significance of this meeting for her recovery. This is also shown in the close up of her phone, which shows a reminder text regarding the appointment. This reinforcement of the therapy session throughout depicts it as an important event and pivotal point in Georgie's recovery. The mis en scene of this letter is paired with the posters on the wall in the therapy room to give a more convincing look to the set. 

These particular shots and edits were used to add emotion to the film. In the research video 'How did Aftermath make you feel?', it is reported that the emotion surrounding Georgie's PTSD was successfully translated to the audience. One of the main reasons for this was the shots and edits used, including the ones depicted above, and the close ups of Georgie's face at the beginning and end.




Questionnaires:
Below is our video questionnaire, which is the first bit of audience feedback we received. We asked 5 people in our target demographic. All were students at Barnsley College, and were between the ages of 15 and 20.

Results gathered from the first questionnaire

Most people said they liked the sound of our film, and would watch it. Many people said You tube would be a good place to exhibit the film, which we agree with as You tube is a good place to showcase independent films. A lot of people said they would expect to see the film in the cinemas, but our budget would not allow for this scale of distribution. If we were to re-make the film professionally, it may be distributed to cinemas.

Results gathered from the final questionnaire

Looking at the results as a whole, we received much more positive feedback in the later questionnaires. This is probably down the the changes we made, such as cutting out scenes of walking and including more dialogue. In the final questionnaire, 100% of people gave the film 8 or above out of 10. If we were to generalise this to the rest of the population, it would suggest success for our film.

In the final questionnaire, 100% of people said they understood the plot, which is an improvement from the 80% of people who said they understood it in the second questionnaire. This shows we were successful in developing the film into a much better piece.

Most people said they thought our film was a drama,which corrilates with the genre we intended our film to be. 20% of people said they thought our film fell into the action genre, which is probably because of the military theme and dramatic dream sequence at the beginning. No one said the film was romance, horror or other, which shows we were effective in translating our message to the audience.


How did we change the film in response to audience feedback?

In response to feedback, we made alterations to the sound levels in order for the dialogue to be easier to hear. As a consensus, the audience felt that there could have been more close ups included in our film in order to create more intimacy, and allow the emotions of the characters to translate more effectively. In response to this, we added close ups getting tighter in around Georgie's face in the final scene. Additionally, the audience commented on the sound levels throughout, with one suggesting we used external mics, which is something to consider next time we produce a film.

The genre of our film was understood to be a Drama which correlates with the one intended for Aftermath. This shows that our film has been successful in displaying the conventions of the genre, such as using the army jackets and the sound of gunshots in the opening scene, and so suits the context of the film. People generally expected to see our film in the cinema or through film festivals, which is what we too expected for our film, as Dramas are a popular and successful genre. However, the low budget of our film would probably mean it would have to be an independent project, and the most likely place to distribute it would be to Youtube.

Changes can be seen between the different cuts of the film:

Click Here for link to first rough cut

Click Here for link to second rough cut

Click Here for link to final cut

How did our film make the audience feel?

87% of the people that watched our film understood it's plot and the twist that came at the end of the clip. Georgie's PTSD caused her hallucinations, which we attempted to represent through Charlotte's character. We tried to make Charlotte's death subtle in order to capture the sensitive and heartfelt nature of Aftermath. Due to the limited timeframe we had, we had to make the ending of the film more prominent so that the message could be understood better and be more impactful. Most of our responses said that they wish that Charlotte's status had been referenced earlier in the film so that the ending was more clear, so we added some extra scenes to show Charlotte jumping around the house, such as Charlotte's sudden appearance in the kitchen, through the use of jump cuts in editing.

We used music to create a melancholy tone, and many people agreed that the music fitted well. Some people suggested we remove the clock ticking from the counselling scene as it was distracting and made our actors difficult to hear, which we agreed with, so removed for the final cut. They also suggested reducing the volume or replacing the sound of ringing after the gun is fired in the flashback scene, which smoothed the transition from the war scenes to the bedroom scenes. All of these suggestions were very helpful and helped to make our final piece successful.


I decided to gather some final feedback from social media sites on how our film made people feel. Some responses are evidenced below:

Overall, considering all the feedback we have received, I believe our film to be a success as we have achieved everything we aimed to. Our intention was to create a 5 minute fiction film that would explore PTSD and make the audience empathise with the character of Georgie, which I believe we have done. This is supported by the questionnaires and graphs, as well as social media feedback.