1. What have you learned from
your audience feedback?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Script
Originally, 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.

5. Poster
The 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.

6. Review Page
In 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.

7. Editing
It 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.