Evaulation; What have you learnt from your audience feedback

Notable points within our feedback video:

Danah Hussain;


- Good Variety of camera shots, angles.
Having the responsibility of directing cinematography it was my sole intention to include a variety of shots within our production. This was purely to compliment shooting style and make it somewhat more interesting for the audience by having a diverse amount of camera shots, its not necessarily fundamental to include completely obscure and original shots to have a interesting shooting style, but by having a range of different shots was successful.

- Sound consistency was good.
Sound was somewhat of a worry and we tended to sound levelling perhaps more than any other element in post production. By having a focus on sound we could reassure that it flow throughout the film, not effecting continuity in anyway. In my opinion however there was a number of things he could of picked up on such as the severity of sound on a door slam and the canteen atmosphere, perhaps the aesthetics of the film whilst viewing makes these things obsolete. We picked up on these things anyhow and corrected them in the final cut.

Camilla Braine

- Casting and script, realistic .
One of our main goals as such in Toast was to put across a realistic product, not be bound by sensationalism and typical productions which involve teenagers. To make Toast as relatable and realistic as possible it was essential for our casting and dialogue to suit our conventions, in that being realistic. Our script was not completely followed, in that we had a vast amount of improvisation to add to realism. We chose a number of drama students to participate in the acting, which i feel was a necessary decision to make. She states that she "could imagine being in that situation " which was exactly the intention we wanted to put across.

- Good costume.
She stated that costume was very informative and notable. The fact we portrayed a 18 year old girl as a late twenties single mother simply though costume and make up design i feel was one of our main standpoints mise en scene wise, and I'm glad that it was noticed.

- Progressive nature of the plot.
She further stated that "it gets worse and worse everyday" in reference to Amelia's lifestyle. This was one of our main focus points story wise, getting to learn Amelia's routine and how it effects her. The fact the audience can relate to her ever building stress makes it more realistic as such.

- Confusion in the canteen scene.
Concerning the sound within the canteen scene caused some confusion, as well as a continuity error. Firstly the sound was very loud, although we wanted an atmosphere of a busy canteen as such, it was too loud. This disrupted dialogue leaving the audience at somewhat of a confusion. Secondly after stating that Amelia does not have enough money to pay for her food, she takes it anyway. These two points are fair to make and are problematic within our film. In the final cut we managed to make the sound levels tolerable in the canteen after some revision of the sound levelling in that scene. The continuity error should of not occurred and we take fault for it. If we was to film this scene again, as a production team we should be organised within gaining availability for locations. The canteen was not available for long and resulted in us rushing takes as such, leading to us missing that error.

- Confusion with two people playing football and previous scene where Amelia looks outside though a window.
This shot was simply for scenery and complimented a voice over which was not present in the rough cut.

- Focus on a single character.
This was also a main focus which we wanted to put across, that the film gives an insight into Amelia's lifestyle, representing teenage stress. A vast amount of characters and casting were not necessary because she is the center of the film. It's somewhat conventional for a short film to explore an individuals lifestyle, whether not that its a realistic representation or a surreal one. In this sense we have filled a primary convention of short film successfully, the fact that the audience have recognised our central focus on Amelia and her experience further compliments the films success in my opinion.

Emma Horton

- Setting in scene 1 was good.
The purpose of scene 1 was to somewhat introduce Amelia's character, not necessarily to establish it. Through elements that she mentioned such as costume (pyjamas) make up (mascara down her face, implying that she had previously been crying) set design (posters on the wall, putting across her age and some of her interests) and props ( a vast amount of books on the floor creating a mess, displaying her over emphasised work ethic). However she did state concerning the costume that pyjamas represent her age. This wasn't completely intentional, and the costume could be misinterpreted to represent Amelia as being young, which she isn't.  Perhaps a different more mature style of costume may have been effective here.

-  Good variety of locations as opposed to a little amount of places.
Our variety of locations are all necessary. Each location either holds an event which effects Amelia, or is particular in her life, such as her school and home.

- Also commented on the canteen scene.

Summary;
It's somewhat interesting that they didn't pick up upon a number of problems within the film. Perhaps from a production standpoint it's easy to see some of the errors within your own film. This version of our film was a rough cut, and the extent of it being a rough was emphasised which they probably took into account. The main point i recived from this feedback as such was the fact that i was aware of the errors that they brought up, which was pretty reassuring considering it being my own production.