Question 4 & 5 Evaluation Writing – Ella Amoroso

When I showed my dad and sister my film noir opening sequence – BUST – I got a very mixed but also a great response from them.

My sister, aged 19, thought that overall the film noir was very conventional. She looked overall at the whole film noir opening sequence. She mainly commented on the shots we used, e.g. close ups, and the lighting. She thought that the lighting was very conventional for a film noir, and we displayed this well in our opening sequence. My sister also thought that we showed a variety of shot types, which she thought added tension and created a mysterious atmosphere in the opening sequence. My sister thought the same of the timing of the music that we used in the sequence, especially how dramatic the music got when the title came onto the screen. This was something that we hoped the audience would like and notice, as we payed a lot of attention to detail to this part of the sequence. She also thought that the costumes and props were very authentic in the sequence, and were conventional for a film noir set. However, she did think that the editing on the credits was not as good as it could of been, and she thought that the editing of this part could be improved by avoiding overlap of words as they fade in and they fade out. However, she thought that the fading of the credits should still be included because the idea of fading was appropriate for the sequence. This could therefore enhance viewing experience in her opinion.

However, my dad who is aged 57 which was the target audience of our film noir opening sequence, commented a lot on effective continuity; for example with the positioning of the glasses and drink. He also agreed with the comments made by my sister about the authenticity of the music, the costume, and the props. He also noticed the loud creaking of the door; both my sister and my dad agreed that the creaking added to the conventionality and tension of the sequence. However they thought it needed to be a little quieter. This was something Gvidas and I thought wasn’t a good element. Therefore, I wasn’t surprised by this criticism. My dad also thought that the lighting of the set created the right atmosphere for the film noir. He also said that he has seen films similar to this opening sequence in his time, and he said that he thought that it looked very conventional as an opening sequence. My dad also thought that the sequence was ‘very conventional and very representative of the genre.’I am pleased with the feedback of my sequence, especially as I used two people from completely different age groups. This is something I am glad I have achieved and definitely found the feedback helpful for the future.