"Valedictorian" Focus Group

Today we shared our film with other people for the first time. Over the years working in different projects I realize the immense importance of audience feedback and how we can greatly benefit the final product; it is something that is commonly used throughout the industry to I'm sure that film will be enticing for their intended audiences. Last year I sent my AS level project to a focus group so that they could provide some feedback, this year Jake and I decided that it would be a good idea to do the same.

Earlier today I texted multiple individuals within our age group (which is our intended target audience) with the following message:

“Hey [Name]!”

“I hope all is well and that you're family and you are safe and healthy!”

“As you know, Jake and I have spent the last 5 months working on our short film "Valedictorian" and we would like for you to participate in a small focus group which will be among the first people ever to watch the director's cut and giving us some feedback. Would you be interested in participating?”

The response from everyone I texted it was a resounding yes! Our sample was made up of sophomores through seniors in high school attending school from the west to the east coast and ranging in media knowledge. The sample was also diverse which is important because it should represent Gen Z which is the most diverse generation in history.

Thankfully, we received a lot of great feedback! Some participants did not respond at all and others responded with a wealth of feedback which was extremely valuable I'm going back to revise the project one last time. There was a lot of good technical feedback from fellow AICE media students and CBtv members, but there was also valuable feedback about the content of the story and the messages it conveyed from fellow high school students (some all the way in California and Australia).

I took a lot of the most detailed feedback (Shout out to Gus and Alexa) and decided to do one more run of editing fixing up quick things like audio matching and volume. This time around I also decided to apply the “stabilizer” function on the video, a BETA effect still in testing which helps make the shots more stable through the use of software.

The focus group also provided very valuable insight into how the website help them understand and develop the story in their own heads. They were all blown away by how immersive the site was and how it enriched their overall experience of the film! That's exactly the result we were looking for! Making the website like that had its potential risks (there's always the possibility that it's confusing or that the audience simply won't get it), but thankfully we had a great response to the concept!  I'm glad that gamble paid off well!

Finally, after running it through our focus group we are finalized “Valedictorian” once and for all! I am so excited to share the results!

Coming soon!

Signing off,