Test Screening Feedback

Sorry for posting up the test screening late guys... but I have finally done it.

For our test screening of our scenes for our film, we managed to get mostly B's and a few A's and C grades for media language, conventions , creativity, attention to detail and technical proficiency

Positive comments on cinematography

Surprisingly, we were commended for our use of the tracking shot, as we used our own additional equipment in the form of a tracking dolly and used it professionally in terms of movement. Similarly, the use of panning was good in our screening, as were signified the protagonist and other characters well. Also, our shots were well placed, as the characters were positioned accordingly.

Positive comments on mise en scene

For our screening, our locations were well chosen , as they were typical of the teen comedy genre such as the school, the school hall. Also, the use of props such as the cushion showed the clumsiness of the girl which was comical. The use of clothing were well suited to the genre, as the clothes were casual and typical of what teenagers wear.

Positive comments on lighting

The use of the lighting behind the characters as defined by the tracking shot in the school hall, which was was effective, as it gave an outlined effect of the characters showing their importance. The use of stage lighting was effective, as it related to the genre of teen comedy, as it takes place in school, and auditions are featured in teen comedies. The use of filler light and high key lighting was used well, as the natural light added to the humorous effect.

Positive comments on sound

The use of diegetic music was effective, as the use of the parallel sound of the Black Eyed Peas seemed to add comedy, as Zack was trying her best for the audition, but seems to mess up. The use of dialogue was clear in the scenes, as the characters could be heard and the use of the tone by the protagonist, Jenny added to the comical effect which related to teen comedy.

Positive comments on conventions which match the audience

The use of characters such as the teenage female protagonist, the jock, the geek and other characters are stereotypical of the teen comedy genre, as a female audience could identify with the protagonist, as she is in a school setting and is typical of what a teenager would do in school. Positively, the locations used seem to match the audience, as it is typical of where a teen comedy would be situated, as the audience could identify with certain characters.

Criticisms on the cinematography

Within the test screeing, the framing needed to be improved, as the characters were not wholly included in the frame and the use of shots medium shots and long shots could have been improved. Also, the tracking shot was seen to be too close to the subjects, for example, when the characters are in the auditions and are lined up. We could resolve these problems by arranging the frames , so that the subject is included fully when filming long shots. Also, we could film the tracking shot and long shot from a distance in order to avoid being too close, as the protagonist and other characters need to be included, as they are needed in the scene. The close up shot of the dance scene was filmed from a high angle which was not effective, as the characters such as Zack were not included fully in the frame. Also, the camera movement was too shaky when we used the tracking shots, close ups and long shots which resulted in poor framing. We could avoid this problem by keeping the camera steady and keeping the tracking dolly stable by using some sort of weight and suporting the tripod on the dolly better.

Criticism of the mise en scene

When we were filming the characters' reactions to the auditions, the shots of the rows of chairs could be angled so that the first few rows of chairs could be included as it would be similar to a scene from a teen comedy film. Similarly, we could have used more props, as teen comedy films typically have gags, jokes and certain props which are like action codes , which could create humour. Also, we could have the characters dressed in brighter clothing,which could be iconic of the teen comedy genre, as they are more bright which connotes happiness and humour.

Criticism of lighting

The use of lighting was poorly lit in places, for example Ms Dixon, as she could be light more brightly, so that she could be influential, as her reaction is important when the other charcters realise their result from the audition. We could improve and re shoot this scen, so that more high key lighting could be focused on Ms Dixon and other charcters in scenes. We could use external lighting in the scenes, so that the high key lighting on the charcters is included

Criticism of sound

For our film, we could use an external mic and other songs for certain scenes, as the sound was muffled and unclear at times. By using the microphone, we could achieve better sound, as the dialogue could be more clear, as we could position the microphone nearer to the characters in order to hear the dialogue . Furthermore, the feedback given in terms of the sound were to add more dialogue, as they was a limited amount. By having dialogue, the audience could have negotiated readings with what our film is about and be entertained with the use of humour and sounds. In some of the scenes there was too much background noise which was interfering with our scenes, therefore, we could use the external mic to capture dialogue whilst limiting other noise.

Criticisms of conventions? Are they matching the audience?

From the feedback from the screening, more brighter clothing was needed, as it is a convention of the teen comedy genre and is iconic with humour, as the charcters can have visual gags in the form of clothing and could genreate humour, as their clothing and style could be comical, for example the nerd, who would steretypically wear glasses and have his shirt tucked into his trousers. Alos, the humour could be exaggerated more, by having more gags and dialogue which generates humour.

What else would you(or the target audience) like to see in this production?

Within our production, we were suggested to include more comedy elements, as our scenes had a limited amount of humour. We could approach this , by including more props, action codes which would result in humour, clothing and other related elements. From the feedback, we were advised to vary the pace in the trailer, by focusing on humorous scenes and balancing it out with serious scenes. The target audience would like to see scenes which are shot from different angles and include high key lighting and filler light, as it could look effective and seem like a teen comedy genre film trailer. Also, the brighter clothing was suggested, as it looks effective, as the characters would look hilarious and generate humour.

Suggestions for post productions/editing(music? voice over?cutaways?montage?cross cutting?titles?slo-mo?

In regards to post production, we could add comic looking fonts such as the title for our production, as comedy movies tend to be more light hearted and comical. We could add contrapuntal sound over the scenes, as teen comedy trailers seem to use this. In addition , we could add a variety of soundtracks which could be light hearted, as the film is meant to entertain the audience through humour, visual gags, props, clothing, characters and other factors. In some ways, we could add a voice over, as teen comedy trailers such as Juno use a voiceover to recount their experience. In our production, the voiceover could be the protagonist, as the audience could identify with her , as she is retelling her experiience, which would be typical of what a teenager would do. We could vary the pace in the trailer, as the shots could condensed or be slithgly longer. In addition, we could emphasise the comedy scenes suchas the train scene and audition. We could use software such as Adobe Photoshop and related programmes to create the typhography using comic fonts and use the prgramms to create the institutional logo and title logo in a comical font