Recently, my film opening was shown to a group of media students, who filled in a response form anonymously, with their reactions to my work.
Generally, this feedback was very positive, with comments about the high quality of camerawork, fitting music, and use of different effects. I also had comments about the effectiveness of the changing outfits, which is positive, as that was one area I was concerned didn't have enough impact.
The only concern that repeatedly came up was that the storyline wasn't clear from the opening two minutes. However, as much as I will take in this criticism for any further work, I don't believe that it is important for any film to give much indication of the plot in the opening. This applies to my film especially, because of the two separate story worlds that are going on; one of the main protagonist in her normal life, and one of where she will assumedly end up. The idea was to not give away the plot in the opening of the film, and to perhaps cause the audience to question where the story was going, and what relevance the two scenes held to each other, which was achieved, given that people didn't understand the link between the worlds.
Overall, I am very pleased with the feedback I was given, as it has reassured me that the sorts of effects was hoping to create were achieved, and has also allowed me to think about areas where I can improve my work in the future.
