Figure 1 James Blake’s My Willing Heart music clip. Note from James Blake’s Video. (https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/03/20/520842585/a-pregnant-natalie-portman-stars-in-james-blakes-video-for-my-willing-heart). Copyright 2016 by James Blake.
It’s been really interesting comparing these two surveys after applying my lessons from the first two assessments – concentrating on emotion, making concepts simpler, all while applying Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey theory.
Your Participant Recruitment Statement
In the end, because I was using Facebook, WhatsApp and my yoga mailing list to do the call out, I decided (again) to keep my statement casual and to the point.
Hello yogis, last one! It would mean the world to me if you can do these surveys! It is for my final assessment this term.
Your Participation Request Communication
1. Watch film A: https://vimeo.com/martineallars/testa?share=copy
2. Then do survey A: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CYTD368
3. Watch film B: https://vimeo.com/martineallars/test?share=copy
4. Then do survey B: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CY95CNY
It should take about five to six minutes in total to complete it all. Many thanks in advance!
Details of Your Survey Data
I followed the survey instructions to the letter.
Test A
Link: https://vimeo.com/martineallars/testa?share=copy
Test B
Link: https://vimeo.com/martineallars/test?share=copy
Details of Your Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses
I wanted to get as many participants as possible, so I could have comprehensive data from which to make the best key findings. In the end I had 31participants for Test A and 27 for Test B.
This was a large drop from the 48 for test A, and the 42 for test B that I had for my first survey. I think this was because, in part, the first videos were quite boring and my audience wasn’t keen for a repeat. On reflection, I should have said that is was a film rather than and animation, which may have helped the numbers stay high(er).
Quantitative
Test A
The majority or 90.32% believed that the film told a story, a huge increase on my first assessment pieces.
70.97% of the group said that the film was interesting to watch, it’s OK but not great.
83.87% believed that film A communicated a message.
Thankfully, this assessment, 77.42% of viewers believed the film evoked an emotion.
This result was really interesting, reflective won out with 54.84% and inspired came in second with 12.90%. Frustration and sadness, came in equal third.
Test B
The answer here is clear, with 92.59% believing that the film does tell a story.
Really pleased with this response, 96.3% said that yes, it was interesting to watch.
Same result, 96.3% believed that the film B communicated a message.
I am really happy with this result, because it was important to me that these films did create and emotional response, 92.59%
It’s an interesting split here, an almost even split between reflective and joy, with happiness and inspired in a near equal second.
Reviewing these results, I am really pleased because I did want to have these films move people. Test A did evoke reflection and feelings of frustration and sadness. Test B evoked feelings too, and stronger ones, showing reflection and joy in close to equal measure with happiness and inspired coming in second.
Qualitative
For me, these answers were the most useful in reflecting on how to make the final version, and gave me lots to consider.
Test A
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “A life path – from birth to adulthood.”
2. “A life starting to happen and the reflection of how people are living it, wasting it or living it meaningfully?”
3. “Beautiful poem and imagery of birth and children only to watch them turn into lifeless corporate.”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “Live your life, take every opportunity to achieve everything you can don’t waste this opportunity.”
2. “Something like ‘life is a treadmill’.”
3. “Choose what you love or else you may regret it at the end of your life.”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “To make you think about the point of living.”
2. “Questioning whether there is meaning in what we do or are we going through the motions.”
3. “To make you think about what does success mean for you?”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1.”The progression from child to career man seemed to skip a few steps, maybe required a longer transition?”
2.”Better flow towards the end.”
3.”It’s poignant as it is.”
Test B
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1.”Very similar to previous film – the female version but more optimistic.”
2.”Life beginning. Life connected, meaningful.”
3.”A child is born and the world is open to choose what she wants to do. She chooses nature, adventures, things that make her feel happy and connected.”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “Live your life.”
2. “Choose what you love and joy will be in your life. You won’t have any regrets.”
3. “Living with meaning.”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “To get you to think about the journey of life and take every opportunity and if you do this your life is worthwhile.”
2. “To prompt someone to ask whether they found meaning in life.”
3. “Wake you up to knowing that love and nature is more important than work.”
Here are a few selected responses from this section:
1. “Perhaps the transience of life so have old person as part of story.”
2. “Maybe the voice could be more uplifting like the color, images.”
3. “The film makes sense and is more uplifting than the first one.”
The viewers again linked test A and test B as two parts, they also really wanted the cycle to be completed – the group preferred B to A.
Your Key Findings
1.The viewers preferred the uplifting story of test B – they found that it flowed better and made them reflect on their own life choices.
2. Using footage of people for the tests, helped viewers make quicker and clearer connections. Instead of seeing an individual the audience saw the deeper meaning of the film – what kind of life do you want to live?
3. People are very literal – several viewers brought up the grasshopper and wanting to either see one or have it represented more clearly in the piece, proving that the words are just as powerful as visuals.
4. Projection – people do see themselves, and their own stories in the film. Viewers gave insights about the drudgery and misery of work, corporate evil and the need to work to pay for life.
5. Picking an emotion at the outset of a project, really helps to develop stronger content. With the animations I made viewers had neutral responses, during these tests, viewers are having real emotional responses and adding deeper meaning to the content too.
Your Comparative Report
So how did I go in the end? Let’s look at what I hoped that the viewers would see:
1. For A, a child growing up and choosing work. For B, a child growing up and choosing adventure / life.
2. For A, that work takes its toll on us. For B, that exploring and being in nature, gives us a more meaningful life.
3. For A, that you can choose a mechanical existence or for B, a natural one.
4.That life is short, and that work isn’t all there is.
5. Consider how they are spending the time in their own lives.
These test films were much more successful than the animations.
1. They saw the choice of a corporate life in A, vs the choice of life in B.
2. Yes, the large majority viewers saw the choice between work and a more meaningful path with nature.
3. There were limited mentions of mechanical and machine for A, but test B consistently returned natural and life options.
4. There were repeated mentions in the qualitative feedback on the meaning, shortness and preciousness of life.
5. Reflection performed well in best in A, 54.84% and 33.33% in B.
Making content that succeeds in delivering chosen outcomes is multi-faced, requires a great deal of thought and planning, and, even then testing is essential to give you the insights to make your work better.
How did I go?
On the whole, I think both films were successful.
Test A, did make viewers reflect on the work life balance and left the audience in a reflective state about life choices, and (many) frustrated.
Test B, was better enjoyed by the audiences but still left them wanting closure, they wanted to see the hero get old or start the cycle again.
When I made my revised piece I chose test B, the one that made the audience feel more optimistic, and I made it sharper with the clear life cycle – birth to child, to worker... I then did a Sliding Doors sequence between the choice of work and life.
I then ended the story where we started, with the hero preparing to be a mother herself.
Leaving, I hope, viewers to contemplate their own future stories and choices.
Revised film(C)
Presentation
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