Qualitative Audience Research Analysis

“What are the issues and themes that you can see based on just looking at the storyboard?”

I asked this question to find out if I was making it clear that I was focusing on the issues and themes surrounding working class life and that of violence.

“From looking at the storyboard, I can see that the film deals with issues such as violence, perhaps prejudice too. I can infer this from the confrontation at the beginning of the film and from the title.”

“Bullying, fighting and status are prevalent themes and issues in the storyboard.”

Both participants of the survey have concluded that the issues and themes surround that of violence. One of them has also spotted prejudice/discrimination as an issue.

The issues and themes of my film do include that of violence, although the main issue is gender discrimination. One participant picked up on this, although they did not seem to be as sure about it as the clear violence theme. Overall, I think that I have clearly represented violence, although I could have thought a little more about the portrayal of prejudice and discrimination when drawing out my storyboard and thinking about the shots.

My next steps for ensuring that the themes are clear is to think about the iconography of the male and female genders to be certain that I can make clear that there is a divide between the two.

“Can you tell what the subject matter is from the storyboard? What is it?”

Other than seeing if people knew what my drawings were of, I asked this to see if the technical codes were constructing what I was seeing from other people’s point of view as well.

“The subject matter seems to be about a football team and perhaps there is some tension between the players due to some outside force.”

“A game of football that ends in an argument with one player being of a higher status than the other.”

The two participants have both identified that the subject matter is a game of football. One participant thinks that there is tension between the whole team, whilst the other thinks that the argument is because of a player that is of higher status.

The responses to this question suggest that I have thought about the conventions associated with sports/football and applied them to the mise-en-scene well. Although I still need to make it clear that there isn’t any one character to be portrayed as a higher status, but rather a group, i.e. the males at this time of the film, as they are forcing the females out of the football club, however, the females are the ones that are portrayed as dominant by kicking up a fuss.

To make this very clear, I will check the composition of each frame when it is on a character to show who is seen as more important to the scene. However, I think this will become clearer when portraying the divide between genders as discussed in the previous question.

“What are the key areas of representation?”

I wanted to know if my storyboard was displaying the obvious areas of representation that I could see to everyone else.

“The areas of representation I feel are present are gender and age, this shows the struggles of being socially accepted at this young age range within peers.”

“The key areas of representation may be age, gender, perhaps class and status.”

The two participants have successfully identified my key representations of gender and age. One identified my 

third key representation of class and status, whilst the other didn’t.

These responses show that I have thought about the representations of these through the technical codes already, and I am constructing representations that the participants are receiving. However, I should try harder to make class and status a more recognisable representation.

I will make the representation of class and status easier to identify by thinking about the iconography of a working class area and person, and apply these ideas to my film intro.

“Are there any social realism conventions within the storyboard? What ones can you identify?”

As the genre of the intro should be social realism, it was important to me to find out if this followed the conventions of a social realist film.

“The locations used are real and are not shot in a studio, the actors are unknown and there are no special effects used.”

“Some conventions of social realism that I can identify in this storyboard is the actors, I’m assuming, are young people and generally a lot of social realism films include coming of age themes. Another convention is the violent scene at the beginning which we see in some social realism films such as London to Brighton, which begins with an unseen violent scene”

Both participants have recognised different conventions for my intro, but have both commented on the actors.

I will be adhering to all of the conventions mentioned, and so the participants have read my storyboard and recognised these things. However, each participant said different things so I need to make sure that the other participant is also seeing the same as their other participant. For example, I need to make clear to participant 1 that my actors are young people, whilst I need to show participant 2 that I am using real locations.

Whilst I am following the conventions mentioned, I should try and make this clearer on my storyboard to show this.

 “Are there any technical codes that haven’t been clearly employed in the storyboard that would create a more meaningful representation?”

I was grateful for any suggestions on how to improve my intro, and so I asked for any feedback that could help me construct a better representation of the person/people/place.

"There are no technical codes ignored in this storyboard, though perhaps more diegetic sound could help to create more meaning and verisimilitude.”

“I think all the necessary elements have been used but if I was to suggest something I would add a canted angle to show the uneasy life of the character and how they struggle to keep up right and say on their feet with all the bullying that keeps trying to knock them down.”

Both participants said that the technical codes used were sufficient and appropriate. One suggested adding to the sound that I already had, and the other suggested adding to the camerawork.

The technical codes that I have included on my storyboard seem to be appropriate, as the participants didn't pick up on any that didn't fit in. I did get some suggestions to add in a canted angle to add more meaning to the representation of class and status, as well as diegetic sound to create verisimilitude.

My next steps are to evaluate the technical codes used, and take on board the suggestions made by the participants.

“What location do you think is appropriate for making an intro based on this storyboard?”

I asked this question because I wanted to find out if the participants had the same ideas that I did for the location, so I knew if I was on the right track.

“A field or park with a lot of space, and a room with an almost run down feel”

“I believe the location chosen, a park type area, fits the plot and style of the film perfectly.”

Both participants stated and agreed that a park with a large, open area was appropriate for my film intro.

My film is set in a park with a graffiti'd building to construct a representation of age, class and status. The participants have recommended location options that match this description, and so they clearly had the same ideas that I did when creating the storyboard. I will not need to think this through any further as the participants ideas agree with mine.