What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Target Audience

The target audience of psychological thrillers are those under 25 and adults up to their fifties, with a slight majority belonging to females, thought to be due to the lack of physical conflict in the genre (though it is not entirely absent.) The category and age rating ‘Mind Games’ would fall into would most likely be a fifteen; this in my film can be attributed to the fact there are younger actors in it, and the covering of topics such as drugs and Hector’s nihilism.

Focus Group

The focus group consisted of twenty people, aged between sixteen to twenty five with equal gender distribution. Through Facebook I was able to contact and consult these people, and give them a number of polls that helped me to create the finished production. Their advice, often coupled with certain limitations and adherence to codes and conventions of psychological thrillers (such as Barthes’ Hermeneutic Code,) proved invaluable in creating a piece that led to an enjoyable viewing experience.

ScriptOriginally, the script for the production followed that Hector was in truth a drug dealer speaking to someone over the phone, and Hannah was a real person who felt he had spurred her drug addiction. The uncertain end of this script would see Hannah approaching the flat door and knocking on it, armed with a knife, and Hector answering. The focus group felt this trite; their suggestion was that Hector should be in a more sympathetic role, and that the speaker on the telephone should either have more relevance (i.e. a name or an appearance) or be cut out completely. It was this that led to the idea that Hannah would instead be a figment of Hector’s imagination, both ‘helping’ and tormenting him, and he is the one dealing with a drug problem, replacing the phone-friend with the therapist. This not only saw that Hector was in a more sympathetic role, but it also replaced the less relevant character to a more prominent one with a more significant function in the story. The script allowed for the tone of the film to be more flexible and sinister, therefore affording more surreal editing that helped cut out any mistakes or inconsistencies in the piece, such as Hector’s beard changing from therapist scene to outdoor scenes, as the actor himself had shaved in the period between shots.

PosterThe focus group advised that the poster show both Hannah and Hector while eliminating the therapist or minor characters, as this would ensure mystery while not giving too much away, in accordance with Barthes’ Hermeneutic Code. The original idea that Hannah and Hector would be near or next to each other did well in polls, but the focus group suggested that there be some hint to their one-mindedness; and it was decided the way to portray this was to have Hannah appear transparent beside him, both depicting that she is ever present in his mind but, also, is illusory.

Review PageIn the polls, it was seen that Empire and Total Film appealed to a larger number of voters, and so it was decided that the review page would be inspired by the styles of these two examples. However, there were some that thought the way Sight and Sound reviews are written would be more apt for the film, and to adhere to this the review page combines the style of exhibition of Empire and Total Film with the style of writing found in Sight and Sound.

EditingIt was the focus group’s suggestion that the therapist should be heard during the quote at the beginning of the production, as before it was entirely silent. To adhere to this the voice-over was introduced, but also to create a sense of mystery so as not to give much away, I decided to bookend the quote; part of it at the beginning, and part of it at the end. The focus group felt this was a good idea as it not only made audiences intrigued at the start, but also gave a sort of resolution at the end, almost adding an optimistic note not commonly seen in psychological thrillers. Due to the fragmented nature of the piece and the fact that character’s names were not often said, the focus group suggested that there be a sequence in which the actors and their respective roles were introduced. This in turn allowed for me to put in shots that otherwise would not be added, for I felt they were too appealing to the eye to pass up.