Today I presented my film to Debbie and my peers in an informal environment. I was a lot more confident about sharing my work this time around as I felt that my sound piece had improved substantially and, despite not being pleased with my film in its current form, I was very eager to receive feedback on it in order to make the necessary improvements. Whilst working on this piece I have become very passionate about it and I feel a need to do the concept justice.
This time around, my peers were unfortunately a lot less vocal than when I had first showcased my work. This was somewhat disheartening at first, however Debbie had some solid advice to give and when I finished my presentation I realised that I had received a lot of written feedback. Whilst it is good to sometimes hear what your audience has to say right after viewing your work, written feedback is often the most articulate and has the benefit of being documented for future use. As before, I compiled all of the post-its I received and placed them on my wall for reviewing when working on my piece. Below is a selection of points raised about my piece that I feel are valid, accompanied by a strategy for implementing these improvements before the deadline.
"The pace is too slow/consistent/repetitive"
The main critique my classmates had to offer is that my piece was too constant in its pace. Whilst I was aiming for a purely structuralist film in which I broke none of my rules, I appreciate that the audience needs to be engaged by the piece. As such, I plan on adding some form of rhythmic disruption to the structure; briefly removing the circles was a suggestion made on more than one occasion, and so I shall explore this. However, if I do not feel that my work has been improved by this implementation, I shall not include it as I feel it would do more damage than good.
"The colours are too bright"
My classmates agreed with me that the colours were too bright, being described as "neon" and "candy", which are not words usually connotative of Hell. Whilst I did not intend for them to become so garish, something went wrong during the editing and the result has put me off using colours altogether. It was suggested by Debbie that I try for something more tonal, which I had already considered and I am interesting in experimenting with. It was also suggested that I use more of a matte finish instead of the shining, flickering and pulsating lights. I agree with this wholeheartedly - mainly because this element made it impossible to choose one colour for each circle, as they were constantly shifting in their brightness and contrast.
"The painting does not work"
Whilst I had been unsure whether the introduction of Botticelli's La carte d'enfer was a bad idea, or whether the way in which it had been sped up during rendering made it seem so, it became apparent after sharing my work with my class that it did not 'work'. I have no qualms removing this as it was never part of my original vision - it was introduced as a means of engaging and subverting the expectations of the audience. Now, with my intent to explore other ways of disrupting the pace, this element is no longer necessary, and it shall be removed.
"The visuals do not reach a climax"
Another point that was mentioned was that, whilst my soundtrack has a very definitely climax at its end, my film piece just 'ended'. As a result, I shall explore ways in which I can bring a more climatic ending to the piece. This may only be subtle, as my film is minimalistic, but it could make a big difference.
As well as this criticism, my peers also provided me with elements of my piece that they enjoyed and thought I had done well. Positive feedback on my piece includes:
- The piece was very creative and unique
- The circular frames were interesting
- The piece engages the audience as it constantly changes
- The concept was thorough and well developed
- The footage was well-shot and represented the sins well
- The piece was very emotive and had strong images and sounds
Using this positive feedback, I can identify which elements of my film resonated with my audience. This will allow me to build upon and emphasise them in the future, or to ensure that I do not change an aspect of the film that is well-received. The amount of positive criticism I received was refreshing and gave me the confidence and motivation I need to continue with my work.
No comments:
Post a Comment