We asked our focus group the following questions:
- What genre do you think the film is?
- Is the narrative clear?
- Is the soundtrack suitable?
- Did you notice our intertextual reference?
- Did you enjoy watching it and what parts did you enjoy the most?
- Would you carry on watching it?
- Do you empathise with the characters?
- What improvements would you make?
1. Not everyone from our focus group grasped the fact that our film was a crime drama. A range of people thought it was an action film or a drama rather than a crime drama. However, the majority knew it was a crime drama and a few people said our intertextual reference made them think of “Reservoir Dogs” which helped trigger their memory of what genre it is.
2. When asking our focus group if they understood the narrative, they believed parts were unclear. They thought that the bouncer was the character speaking in the voiceover so we will need to play the voiceover at a different time for our next cut. Also, a few people didn’t understand who the manager was calling at the end. However, they did understand Joey Bruce’s aim, to put his men on the door.
3. Our focus group enjoyed our soundtrack, they believed it fitted in well with the slow motion effect. However, they did say it was too loud at times and that we should try and fade the music out.
4. The males in our focus group all noticed our intertextual reference from “Reservoir dogs” which is positive as our target audience are males. One member of the females also recognised it out of the five females in our focus group resulting in 6 out of 10 people noticing our intertextual reference.
5. All of our focus group enjoyed watching our film. They said they enjoyed the intertextual reference part the most with the close ups of all characters. They also said they liked the panning shot showing the club after it had been smashed up along with the close up of the gangster’s shoes walking into the club, so we will not be cutting these shots out.
6. All of our focus group said they would carry on watching our film as it built up tension and they’d want to know what would happen next.
7. Our focus group said they empathised with the bouncer as we use a close up of him showing his bruise and we also show the gangsters intimidating him. They said they liked the manager as he secretly calls the hitman for revenge which they enjoyed. They also developed a hate for the gangsters which was our aim.
8. The focus group noticed that a JD bag was in the background in one of the shots so we will have to cut the shot out or cut it down. Also, they didn’t like the name of our production company “Grimes and Rhoda Films,” as they thought it was too simple and said we should make it more catchy and should make a logo. They also said certain shots are too long and need to be cut down.
Oliver Rhoda Media Blog 