A Focus Group

Focus group- Box Head from Bethany on Vimeo.

(When showing my clip the computer was being really slow and annoying and wasn't playing my clip smoothly, just wanted to make sure people knew it wasn't supposed to look like that)

I showed a group of people from the ages of 15-30 (my intended focus group's age) a short raw footage clip from my short movie. I decided to show them a clip in which you can see from the point of view of the main character (a fish eye lens is used) and the surreal box-head people. I asked them what their first reactions were and I think they were slightly confused by it, which is sort of what I intended and thought, I wanted them to have no understanding but just give me their first impressions with no prior knowledge. One of the boys said how there was room there for the audience to be asking questions in their heads.

I then asked them what they thought the plot might have been, and I liked the fact that one of my focus group knew straight away that it was from the point of view of one of my characters. Interestingly someone said it could be political based, as they associate political adverts with weird things "like boxes on their heads". Another said it could be linked with identity and categorisation. This same person made the assumption that my characters were wearing similar clothes, and whilst this was not my intention when choosing what costume my characters wore, I think it fits in well with how I want everyone one of my characters (what with the box heads) to look the same, with not much of an individual identity. The idea of taking the a clothing item or the box head off to "fight the power" is an idea I had previously thought of and was planning on using.

I asked does the silence annoy them when watching the clip. Most agreed no, as it adds mystery and suspense. My focus group followed my question up with a question of their own which I liked as it showed they were interested and wanted to find out more. They asked if there would be a score underneath. Obviously I had already thought about my options of sound and had decided on getting my musically talented friend to help my play and record an original song or my own version of a song already done. One of my focus group (a male) said it was good there isn't any background noise (diegetic sound) and I agree with this as it builds tension of the unknown, he also added it would be good if there was an eerie noise.

I really appreciated that a female from my focus group spoke up when I asked a question. She noticed and liked how it was and looked different to the norm. Another of the boys from my focus group cleverly noticed the enigma, making you want to watch more, and amazingly I even impressed another person (who is usually hard to please) as he would be interested in watching the rest of it.

I asked if there were any improvements that could be made, even though the clip I showed them was quite short.  The lighting was mentioned, but as a good things, how it made it look realistic like every day life. He liked that even though the plot has a dark underlay, the lighting does not portray this, confusing the audience by giving them a red herring. I asked their opinions on it being edited to black and white as I wasn't too sure and they said it would be better in colour to keep it realistic as though it is the actual future. Maybe the only reason it would be in black and white would be for a reason- "does someone take their box off at the end?" Suggestions are that I could change it to colour/black and white with fuzzy blending as he takes off his box.

What I have learnt from this focus group is that they like my ideas, which is a plus, and they appreciate the surreal idea which is different from the crowd. They seemed to get my ideas which is what I was surprised about. Their interest in sound (diegetic or non-diegetic) made me realise how important it is to creating emotional response. I appreciated all of the input and liked that it was coming from both genders.


The only thing I disagree with what my focus group said was about the black and white. I want it to look bleak, their futures are bleak and so are their lives and so I want to reflect this. Editing/changing the black and white monotones with dull repetition of manner and style really match my box-heads characters lives, making it seem even more brave and rebellious to go against the regime that the government has imposed on them.

As an added bonus, I was proud of myself on this day as I overcame a technology problem with showing the clip as I had to convert it into a different file. When me, a technophobe, overcomes a technology related barrier problem, it is a good day :) .