Evaluation

Question 3:
What have I
learnt from my
audience
feedback?

The Focus Group

I referred to a focus group of target and secondary audience members, who
watched the film then looked at the ancillary products. This is the same
group I referred to at various stages throughout my production, such as
evaluating the first edited version of my film.
My primary audience: Females aged 14 25 with the psychographic
category aspirer or explorer in a middle class socio economic category.
My secondary audience
I predicted that target audience members would mediate my product with a
Preferred Reading (Stuart Hall audience reception theory). They would
interpret the presenter as an aspirational source of authority on vintage
fashion, be gratified by the alternative music and the destinct retro colourful
aesthetic perpetuated through clothing and titling in my ancillary products.
The secondary audience may have a negotiated reading. They may find the
subject matter interesting/engaging and be able to reminisce about their
youth but may disagree with the idea of second hand clothing only increasing
in youth culture. However, hopefully any initial prejudice towards teenagers
will be challenged.

The Focus Group

Charli age 16

Steff age 17

Abbie age 18

Izzie age 14

Izzy age 18

Liz age 47 (secondary

Initial Feedback
I gave my focus group a survey after
showing them the first draft of my film,
so that I could make changes according
to audience demand. These were the
responses:

Q: What aspect of the documentary so far would you say has been presented well?
the amount of cutaways in the teenage girl interview
The intro is my favourite part, love the different shot types
The introduction to the extract stood out the most to me. I feel that the audio went particularly well with the
fast paced editing, as well as the various shots representing youth culture.
I like the montage part at the beginning as I think it goes well with the soundtrack
I really like the opening. It has excellent editing which creates a sense of energy and excitement that
engages
the target audience. I like the sociological/political point of view that raises the question of cultural identity v
corporate profit.
I like the link between the dreamy music and gentle, slow camera panning and colours
It presents a new outlook on second hand clothing; the items that emilie shows the camera look cool and the
kind of things that any teenager would wear, not just old people as are stereotypical charity shoppers
Q: what could be improved
- clear introductory shots, maybe quieter music
- The sound quality could be improved, the music is perhaps too loud and its hard to hear any of the speech
in the documentary
- Maybe the interview with the charity shop worker, I felt it stood out a little from the rest of the extract. (didn't
have the same atmosphere or 'pace' of the rest of the clip) as suggested, that could be improved b a few
cutaways to break up the interview a little.
- There was a bit of background noise in the interview making the speaking less clear, and as the music starts
at the beginning of the interview the presenter's voice is drowned out.
- Add more examples of where to buy vintage.

Learning from initial feedback

Successes
I really like the opening.
I like the montage part
The introduction to the extract stood out the most to me.
The intro is my favourite part. < it is clear that the opening titles is the most gratifying part of
my product. I therefore decided to keep this part and add in more interesting cutaways to the
rest of the film.

Improvements
Maybe the interview with the charity shop worker, I felt it stood out a little from the rest of the
extract. (didn't have the same atmosphere or 'pace' of the rest of the clip) as suggested, that
could be improved b a few cutaways to break up the interview a little.
The initial draft of my film the charity shop interview was a lot longer. After this feedback, I
filmed more cutaway shots, changed the background music to a faster tempo to create a quick
pace and edited out any interview content that wasnt directly contributing to the documentary
narrative.
clear introductory shots
I made sure each interview and segment was anchored with introductory shots, such as Emilie
walking into shot or establishing shots of brick lane at the end of the extract.

Final Feedback

The final feedback allowed me to assess how successful my three products were: how well the
ancillary products linked to my main film, whether the film gratified the target audience, whether
the products looked to a professional standard and whether my documentary would be popular if
it were shown on the channel e4.

The Documentary
Adopting codes and conventions from my case
study This Old Thing was clearly successful.
Audience members also recognised these
codes.

My editing skills vastly improved since the

initial draft of the film, therefore making my
products more professional. According to the
feedback, this was a key strength.

In a full length documentary, I

would aim to include a diverse
range of youth subcultures. I was
of course limited by the extract
length.

Sound quality was a clear limitation in my film.

This was largely due to a lack of professional
sound recording equipment. If my
documentary was adopted by an institution
such as channel 4, professional sound editors
would dramatically improve the films overall
quality.

Although the sound levels were an issue, the narration anchored the cutaway
shots and narrative well according to the feedback. The music appealed to the TA
who are young fans of alternative music.

The inclusion of a presenter was a successful aspect of the product. A respectable

presenter added weight to the information portrayed in the film and her interest in the
subject clearly transferred onto the audience. This is arguably a preferred reading
(Stuart Hall)

The way in which I chose to represent the teenage

girl (in a positive light) positively affected the
audience.

The inclusion of statistics resonated with

the audience, anchored with bold text
Every audience member gained knowledge from the
documentary, suggesting the film fulfilled my initial aim of
educating the audience in an interesting manner.

I found this particular feedback very

useful. If my extract was longer I could
perhaps interview teenagers who
never wear vintage clothing to
juxtapose with vintage enthusiasts.

This could be a
negotiated reading from
a secondary audience
member, whos
knowledge of previous
vintage trends would be
in their cultural
competence.

In terms of brand identity, my

newspaper advert proved successful.
All audience members agreed
aesthetically linked to the
documentary.

Youth focus
still appeals to
secondary
audience

Primary audience who is

already interested in the
topic is gratified by the
aesthetic

My documentary clearly adhered to the generic conventions

of a fashion documentary. As established in evaluation
question 1, I researched documentaries about fashion,
thrifting and retrospective fashion. I am therefore pleased
with this piece of feedback because the generic conventions I
chose to adopt from these gratified the audience.

Conclusion
I have learned that audience feedback was a vital component
of my production process and ensured that my products were
the best quality they could be. If I never received initial
audience feedback at the planning stages of my production,
my documentary may have been far less gratifying for the
target audience.
Audience feedback has also acted as evidence of what was
successful about my products, enabling my to effectively and
meaningfully evaluate my product in other evaluation questions
as well as during production.
I can now also apply audience theories such as Audience
reception theory and uses and gratifications theory using my
focus group feedback as evidence for my analysis.