Survey Monkey on First Draft

I had created a short survey on Survey Monkey to understand what people had thought about my first run-through of the production. At this stage a few scenes were missing or were not developed yet and as it was a run-through I hadn’t added make up or a hairstyle to my actress only adding costume and props.

The majority of the people that took my survey felt that the music fitted well with the time period. I agree with this however the first comment I also agree that I should have picked slightly more depressing music. But, finding depressing music on an archive for this time period deemed difficult, but I feel I need to. I want to change the music at least twice throughout my final production including when I want the anti-hero to be presented through a few Polaroids, because of this I understand that some may not understand the concept and the narrative towards the OTS without looking on my blog. Someone also wrote that I should include a feather band in the actresses’ hair, of which I did, however with the dark contrast it is barely noticeable and therefore I am going to re –do the scene but with the feather located on the other side of her face.

For this question many thought that the style fitted excellently with the film noir genre, although a few suggestions made were that foleying could have been added and that it does not fit with the usual crime genre of a film noir. I was going to add foleying into the scenes such as the beads and paper falling on the floor and her gulping down her drink, or I may even include a short voiceover along with the Polaroids to introduce the narrative better. Someone was very happy with the sexual movements at the beginning as that is the way of ‘flappers’ although they wanted more crime involved. What they didn’t know is that when adding the Polaroids to the scenes I wanted the video to capture the femme fatale gasping and pulling the trigger on the anti-hero. Therefore all suggestions will be made.

The next question on the last page was whether the audience felt there were enough camera angles. The majority of people had said straight up yes there were enough angles, one person had said that he wasn’t sure as not a lot happens, however this is the point, it is meant to be a slow start where she is breaking down, like the anti-hero in a typical film noir convention. Many had said the lighting fitted appropriately which I agree with as the contrast was so dark and gloomy as though it was set in the 20s. One person had also said that there was a good variety however more scenes could be added, of which I will be coming to for the final production.

The next question was whether they understood the femme fatale was meant to be lost in the narrative. This didn’t have as many positive comments. Many had suggested adding food colouring to the drink to make it more like whiskey, therefore I am going to add green tea bags for an added colour and because my actress enjoys that. I agree with those that had said I needed more drinking shots of her, however the film can only be 2.5 minutes long and I still have much to add considering the enigma. I may even add some close up shots of the mouth drinking. I understand that instead of using a pretty decanter I should have used more of an old-fashioned labelled bottle however, I could not find any in a good price range and thought the pretty decanter was perfect for a female. Someone said I should add a close-up of her face and therefore I am considering her talking to herself slightly in the mirror and asking sudden questions about what she has just done, to make her seem drunk and disorderly but I do not want much of her face in to make it seem gloomy and hidden.

An important question was whether they felt drawn into the film at the beginning. The majority had said they were very drawn in especially to the music and the props. Although I did have a couple of people say that they were not as they did not understand the storyline, of which I appreciate them telling the truth. In all honestly I don’t feel I would have understood as much either if I hadn’t looked at my blog. Some said that the shots were provocative and drew attention quickly and that it kept the character involved. One person also noticed that some of the scenes were missing ‘she went from being in her dress to dressing gown too quickly’ this is because this scene was deleted when I had problems with my computer. I feel the audience will be much more drawn into the OTS once the anti-hero becomes involved in my final production.

At the end of the survey I also asked whether anyone had any comments on how I could improve. Some had said that it needs more scenes on why she is drinking to encourage viewers to want to watch more such as the anti-hero scenes. One person had said that there should have been more violence such as something being ripped up or destroyed which gave me the idea of after the anti-hero scenes with his Polaroid to the video I was going to get the actress to rip the photos up in aggression. I agree with one person saying about taking the heels off the actress could have been more practiced as they seemed very slow and not very drunkenly. I like the idea someone has given me about making the film grainy and I will definitely practice how to use tools to make this work once my final production is finished. I have gone through all suggestions and made a list of things I need to improve on.