Evaluation Question 3 Script Draft 3

Interviewer: That was Daniel with part 2 of How to Create a

Documentary, exploring what goes on behind the scenes. If
youre just tuning in this is Screen Sunday on BBC Radio 4.
Later on in the programme we will be talking to producer
Andrew Willard to discover why he has gone back to his roots to
find the story for his new film Commonside, and director Mark
Dean will be joining us to talk about his controversial casting
decision that sent shock waves through the UKs independent
film sector more on that later. Right now, Im [Interviewer]
and Im here interviewing young director Jordan Crichlow about
how important it is to listen to your audience when creating a
film, and how their input can be used to shape the creative
process.
Jordan Crichlow emerged last year with his directing debut in
Truant, a film dipped in social realism about a treacherous
absentee. This year hes taken a different route in creating his
first short film. Solitude is unexpected and compelling, as it
centres on a lonesome young man with his camera, and the
ultimatum he is faced with when approaching a young female.
With his directional debut achieving something of a cult
following on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter,
Jordan knows how important the audience is. But how far do
they influence elements beyond the main film such as
promotion and marketing? And how do you go about finding the
right audience? Jordan shares his experiences with audience
feedback with us now.
Hello Mr. Crichlow
Jordan: Hello, thank you for having me.
Interviewer: So, Jordan, lets start from the beginning. How
did you first establish who your audience would be?
Jordan: Well, we began by employing a mix of both
quantitative and qualitative types of research in a basic paperbased questionnaire
Interviewer: Sorry, could you explain for those at home what
the terms quantitative and qualitative mean?

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Jordan: Of course. Quantitative refers to research that deals
with measurable information, using closed questions to
generate numerical and statistical data, which are often shown
to us in the form of tables, charts or diagrams. On the other
hand, qualitative refers to research focused more on an
individuals or groups thoughts and feelings, using open
questions to allow the individual to go into more detail about
their opinions, attitudes and preferences.
Interviewer: Okay, thanks, as you were saying
Jordan: Yes. We employed a mixture of these two types of
research to gain information on whom our audience would be.
We began with simple questions about age and gender, to
establish a basic demographic, which eventually led to asking
their address to establish a geo-demographic. Then the
questions became more specifically centred around short films,
as that was the product we were creating, to learn more about
the psychographics. So such questions as where you consume
short films, and seeing what shorts they had already consumed.
Lastly, we ended the questionnaire by trying to gain a basic
knowledge of how they think short films could be developed, as
this would help us tailor our film more specifically towards our
audience. Overall, we found that most of our audience believed
a short films run time should be between 5 and 10 minutes.
Also, we found that they mostly watch short films yearly, in
comparison to watching feature-length films monthly; this
demonstrates the stereotypical popularity feature-length films
have over short films.
Interviewer: Okay, you mentioned three key terms there;
demographic, geodemographic and psychographics. Could you
please explain those for the people at home?
Jordan: Well, demographics are the measurable characteristics
of the audience, for example, gender and age, which I
mentioned earlier. Geo-demographics, on the other hand, is
information based upon regional identity, and understanding
the issues there, and how to reach them. And lastly,

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psychographics are the individuals attitudes and opinions,
hence the more specific questions around short film.
Interviewer: So what did you learn from my audience
research?
Jordan: Well, after every piece of audience research, we set
about analysing our results. From this first piece of research, we
learned that our audience were young adults, with a slightly
greater distribution of males compared with females, all around
Surrey. From the results of their current educational status, we
reasoned that our audience had, at the least, a basic
knowledge of film, and issues of today, meaning they were
likely not strangers to the format. Therefore, we figured we had
the challenge of creating a film with elements of thriller and
drama, whilst still being as original as possible, whilst still being
accessible. Our audience also taught us that issues in the film
would engage them more if they were better relevant to today,
and more easily relatable. We could do this by trying to convey
a wider representation of classes, so our audience could easily
understand, and relate to them.
Interviewer: I see. From there, what did you go on to do?
Jordan: From there, we then went and made a synopsis of the
film. With this synopsis, we asked a select group of our target
demographic to read it, and offer feedback. From this we
established that there were definite things we needed to
develop.
Interviewer: What sort of things were these?
Jordan: Well, one said his dilemma is not clear enough, what
is happening in the frame? He was here referring to the
unclear dilemma of the main character, so we had to expand on
what would make his dilemma clearer, and how we would
undertake this process. We were advised to, and I quote, show
moments of non-isolation, for the main character, and work
with visual ways of introducing the audience to his situation.
Undertaking these tasks allowed me to enhance the storyline
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for this specific character, allowing me to provide the actor
himself with an enhanced background of the character he was
playing.
Interviewer: Would you say your audience feedback had an
impact?
Jordan: Absolutely, a very significant one.
Interviewer: What happened next?
Jordan: After the synopsis came the script. Once wed written
what we thought was a decent script, we got in our target
demographic again and conducted 1-on-1 interviews. Now, this
format reaps benefits; 1-on-1 interviews focus more around
qualitative research, which is ideal because it allows the
audience to expand upon their feedback and provide us with
more detailed analysis. It also helped develop our
communication skills, which is never a bad thing. What we
learned from our interviews helped shape the film into what it is
today. Our audience conveyed to us how our script sounded
too theatrical, which is not a necessary quality needed for my
short film. We were advised to create a more meaningful
climax, as the climax has an ultimate effect on the audiences
interpretations of the film. I believe this process in particular
was crucial, as it allowed me to expand upon what kind of final
message the audience should receive; the ultimatum of both
characters actions. One member advised me on some dialogue
to include; he said Your female character should say What do
you think of the view? and your male character should reply
with Its beautiful, which is a sub-meaning, as he means the
woman is beautiful, not necessarily the environment.
Interviewer: Speaking of dialogue, thats something that
always seems to be typically controversial within the filming
business. What typified how much dialogue you used within
your short film?
Jordan: Im glad you asked me that. Our audience conveyed to
us the need to develop dialogue, by either adding more lines,
or refining the ones we already had. However, they also showed
a like for visual action. Therefore, we decided to follow Marilyn
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Milgroms advice and minimise dialogue, as this will inevitably
help establish the world and the character, and allow the visual
action to advance the story. Minimal dialogue will also ensure
that a short is more cinematic, and less televisual in feel.
Interviewer: I see. Theres something else that has a major
impact on the storyline and that is setting did your audience
advise you on what the location of your film should be?
Jordan: Well originally I was going to base my film by the lake
based on the outskirts of Grove Park. Due to several issues
however, we decided to film it within the basis of Grove Park,
by a stream. This was because the lake is based by the main
road, meaning there was the high risk of outside interference
from vehicles and pedestrians that could potentially disrupt
myself, my characters or any aspect of my film altogether. The
stream provided a much more naturalistic environment, and I
know for a fact we all felt extremely comfortable around this
setting. Without a doubt, my audience feedback for the script
was extremely important.
Interviewer: So, what happened next?
Jordan: Well, after wed established our audience and received
feedback on two of arguably the most important aspects of preproduction, we moved on to our ancillary tasks, namely the
magazine review and poster.
Lets take the magazine review first; after conducting the first
draft of my magazine review, I found there were many flaws in
this draft, which were pointed out by our target demographic.
For example, one persons response was, Close conventions
need to be altered. You have separated each section with
horizontal lines. Instead of this, section them off with the
conventional dotted lines. There are no lines separating each
unit of essential infoadd them. I decided to follow on from
this feedback, and used Online Desktop Publishing Software to
create conventional dotted lines, therefore using traditional
Sight and Sound layout conventions. Another flaw noted was
the notable absence of a snapshot of my film within the review.
One respondent said The absence of a snapshot of your film
challenges the industry conventions. Despite this notable
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challenge, the best idea is to add a snapshot, as it helps convey
the message of your film to your audience through simplistic
imagery. From this, I concluded that adding a snapshot would
certainly help develop certain conventions, such as integrating
with the text, making it more eye-catching and appealing to the
audience.
After the review, came the poster. As a basis, the image and
text are the key elements located on my poster. My audience
noticed that the image of the stream and wildlife was
particularly, and I quote, tenuous and vague, as it did not fully
connect with the story. The absence of characters within the
frame was highlighted as another weakness, and I was advised
to recreate the image with the girl in shot, providing us with
something more visually intriguing. As my film is mainly
focused on my male character filming the young woman
through his camera, I was advised to, and again, I quote,
mimic play/pause buttons that are likeable to a normal
camera; you could potentially undertake this task using
advanced ICT software, such as Photoshop, or even basic
software, such as PowerPoint.
Interviewer: Well thank you for that, Jordan. So that concludes
my segment. Ive been (Interviewers Name), talking to Jordan
Crichlow about how important listening to your target
demographic is. Next up is Andrew Willard talking about his
new film, Commonside.