N I S H I L PAT E L A 2 M E D I A S T U D I E S .

E VA LU AT I O N .

Q 3 . W H AT H AV E YO U L E A R N T F R O M YO U R

A U D I E N C E F E E D B A C K ?

MAIN TASK.

MAIN TASK: CINEMATOGRAPHY.• When the audience was asked about the cinematography of our main task, we received generally

positive feedback. One of the first things the audiences commented on was the positioning of the camera. Whilst researching existing documentary texts, we saw that generally in all of the documentaries the interviewee is positioned more to one of the sides of the frame. They also thought that face of the interviewee filled the frame perfectly and therefore was able to show their facial expressions properly. One piece of constructive criticism we received was to do with the framing of the ex-detainee. Although the audience liked the framing of the singular interviews, they thought we could have improved on the layout of the interview with ex-detainee to make it look more engaging. This could have been achieved with either a closer shot or even filming the two people separately. 

• One thing that the audience mentioned they liked was the opening sequence to our documentary. They liked the Google searches in conjunction with the audio from short news reports about the recent refugee crisis. We were pleased to learn that the audience like this part of the documentary because we thought it would it appeal to their age group and our target audience.

MAIN TASK: MISE-EN-SCENE. • One thing the audience liked about our main task was the cohesive house

style with our fonts. They liked the fact that the fonts used for the title and then for the other information throughout the documentary was the same. They said it gave the documentary a more professional look. Some of the audience also commented on the off-white colour of the font. They thought it worked much better than if it was completely white.

MAIN TASK: WAYS TO IMPROVE.• When asked how we could have improved our main task, the one thing that

was said by the audience was the horizontal lines across the interviews. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to fix this problem. We searched for solutions online but they were unsuccessful. However we learnt that the lines are the result of the artificial light coming from the lights we had set up for the interview. When filming, the lines were not as prominent on the camera screen so we thought we had fixed the issue, however it wasn’t until post-production when we realised the severity of the issue. If I was to do our main task again, I would definitely like to make sure that we complete test shots in the conditions that we would be filming on the day.

ANCILLARY TASK 1

ANCILLARY TASK 1: OVERALL EFFECT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY.• From the audience feedback I have received a lot of positive feedback for my ancillary task. Commenting on the overall effect

of the photography of my first ancillary task, the audience has said that my image is tack sharp and the extreme close up of the young boy’s face and the focusing in on his eye, is very effective in emphasising a deep and emotional mood. The audience also said that the cropping of the photograph also emphasises the innocence of the child. The original photograph for my poster was, although still an extreme close up, actually photographed with a wider frame. I cropped the photograph so the young boy’s face filled the entire frame to show more emotion and encourage the audience to sympathise with him. In addition to the cropping, the audience also said that the use of the black and white filter also aids in the emphasis of the child’s innocence. The last thing the audience liked was my use of a shallow depth of field while shooting the young boy. They liked that half of his face was in focus whilst the other was not. They thought that the use of the shallow depth of field really made the tears on his face stand out. I was originally surprised with how well they photograph turned out as I hand held the camera instead of using a tripod. I am very pleased by the audience feedback I had received for the overall effect of the photography for my first ancillary task because photography was one my strong point whilst creating the poster.

ANCILLARY TASK 1: FONT SELCTION.• Commenting on their thoughts about my selection of fonts, the audience has said that they thought the font I used for the title of our documentary was bold and powerful. I chose a serif font for the title to make the poster look professional but also because I wanted to emphasise that it was for a documentary based on a serious topic. Whilst choosing the font for my ancillary task I had to choose a font that was similar to the font used for the title in our documentary. I had to do this because the original font, ‘Virtus’ was not available on Photoshop CC. Instead I used ‘Bodini Smallcaps 72’, it was the closest font that resembled ‘Virtus’. One of piece of constructive criticism I received from the audience about the font was the opacity of the title. One of the audience that gave me feedback on my final product, was unsure why I had reduced the opacity of the title. I reduced the opacity of the title because it overlaps the main image of the young boy. By reducing the opacity, the main focus of the poster is still the young boy. The last thing the audience commented on was the use of the Channel 4 style text for the date and timing of the documentary. They said my use of the Channel 4 font made the poster look more professional and they also liked the white contrasting against the dark background.

ANCILLARY TASK 1: COMPOSITION.• The audience has said that the composition of my poster was great. They

said that the composition of my poster was well laid out and with the correct amount of information so it did not look overcrowded. Some of the audience was not too sure about the placement of the Channel 4 logo on the poster, however some of the audience knew what I was aiming for by putting the logo there. Whilst doing my research on the Channel 4 house style, I found out that Channel 4 place their logo on the far right hand side, of the poster, in the near centre. To follow the Channel 4 house style and to try and make the poster look as realistic as possible, I placed the logo there on my poster.

ANCILLARY TASK 1: NARRATIVE.• The audience generally understood the narrative I tried to construct for my

poster. They thought that there was a clear message, being portrayed through the poster, of the feeling of sorrow or pain. One thing audience picked up on was the fact that, even though there was a child on my poster, no children were actually depicted in our documentary. I thought about this when originally planning what I was going to do for my poster. However, I noticed that in the brief for our project, we were asked to create a short extract from the documentary and not the entire piece. If we were to carry on the documentary, we could include the young boy or another child during cutaway shots during interviews.

ANCILLARY TASK 1: REPRESENTATION.• Audiences also generally understood the preferred reading I attempted to create

for representation of the young boy. They noticed that the boy was depicted as sad/solemn. I created this preferred reading through the way I cropped and edited the photograph. They also saw that the way the boy is represented targets the audience emotionally and causes discussion which most documentaries do.

ANCILLARY TASK 2

ANCILLARY TASK 2: OVERALL EFFECT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY.• From the audience feedback, I have gained a lot of positive feedback for my

second ancillary task. Commenting on the overall effect of the photography of my second ancillary task, the audience has said that my images are tack sharp and the lighting across the photos connote the documentary has an uplifting documentary. They also said that they liked the lighting and selective focus on the boy in the central image. One piece of constructive criticism I received about the photographs featured on the magazine spread, was the top image of the right hand side, which was a screenshot of one of cutaway shots in the documentary. Some of the audience said that they weren’t too sure what the image was of and thought it could be misleading to the readers of the magazine.

ANCILLARY TASK 2: FONT SELECTION.• Commenting on their thoughts about my selection of fonts, the audience

has said that they thought the font I used for the title for the documentary because it made the magazine spread look professional. They thought that the font selection was a good choice as it was the same as the font on poster, which created a cohesive style throughout my work. They also liked the fact the font was not completely opaque. They thought that the transparency was a good choice because it is ‘getting straight to the point’.

ANCILLARY TASK 2: COMPOSITION.• The audience has said that the composition of my magazine spread was

good and they thought it followed the conventions of an article from EMPIRE magazine. They also thought that the image to text ratio was correct. When planning the layout for my magazine spread, I analysed how many images were displayed on a standard EMPIRE article and I then took inspiration from that. The last thing the audience commented on about the composition of my magazine spread was how they liked the layering of the images and text.

ANCILLARY TASK 2: NARRATIVE.• The audience understood the narrative I attempted to construct for my

magazine spread. They thought that there was a clear message of innocence and features of emotional triggers especially through the image of the boy and also the question mark faces. One piece of constructive criticism I received from the audience was once again about the featuring of the boy on the magazine spread but not in the documentary. As I explained when talking about my poster, I thought about this when originally planning what I was going to do for my poster. However, I noticed that in the brief for our project, we were asked to create a short extract from the documentary and not the entire piece. If we were to carry on the documentary, we could include the young boy or another child during cutaway shots during interviews.

ANCILLARY TASK 2: REPRESENTATION.• Audiences also generally understood the preferred reading I attempted to

create for representation of the young boy. The said that the main image creates sympathy as they related the image of the boy to the title Refuge. This was one of the reasons why I overlapped the title of the image of the boy. The text being above the image makes the audience want to relate the two together. One piece of constructive criticism I received from the audience was that, in order to aid in the representation, that I should have included a quote from the documentary into the article.