Having developed my designs, I carried out a focus group to determine whether people in my target audience understood and could interpret them. For example, I was feeling unsure about the design in the second question as I was concerned it did not portray the emotion I had hoped as, after speaking with Sebastiane, he suggested the bed could have unintended sexual connotations.
I gathered a group of people within my target audience, some of whom had experienced discrimination themselves. The participants were from a variety of backgrounds, with varying religious beliefs, sexual preferences and heritages. I displayed each question to them with no explanation, so every interpretation was unbiased and honest. The photos elicited some interesting discussions and views, which are summarised below.
1.
"I think the concept that the hair design is portraying is caged and gagged. The woman does not have a voice or an identity. She can see but her ears are also covered in an attempt to limit her."
"Imprisonment."
"I think it would be portraying someone who feels trapped."
"Spider’s web, as if she’s been caught, making her a victim."
"Entrapment."
"Trapped, caged, imprisoned person."
"Shy, wants their face to be hidden."
"If I saw that hairstyle it would give me the impression the girl was trapped because the hair looks like it represents a cage. I would also think of them as possibly being a Goth, because the hairstyle looks very dark and somewhat evil."
"Entrapment. The style of the hairstyle represents a caged life."
I was particularly pleased with the interpretation of this design, because the overall feedback was of entrapment and imprisonment, which was exactly the concept I had intended. New aspect of this hairstyle that arose were that it covered her ears and mouth, which I had not necessarily intended; however it was interesting to hear that people interpreted that the model was being even more physically limited by reducing her ability to hear and speak. The spiders web interpretation was unexpected. However, I can understand why you could interpret all the strips of hair as a web and, as a web is used by spiders to capture its prey, this is still evoking feelings of capture and entrapment, and works to develop my concept. Additionally, the interpretation that She is shy and trying to hide herself away, also works as an interpretation and would raise the question why she feels the need to hide and why she is not feeling accepted.
2.
"The feelings evoked are of darkness and despair, echoed by the shadows behind her and shadows across the bed which stretch across like bars. Half her face in in darkness and half in light which indicates hope of perhaps escape from her restricted life. I think she is in a situation that she is not comfortable with and wishes to leave."
"Despair or depression."
"I think from the dark clothes she feels depressed, but the white colour of the bed signifies hope. However because it’s broken, maybe her hope is breaking, so she’s in a situation of losing hope."
"Raped."
"Bondage and entrapment."
"Trapped but maybe portraying a mental health condition like depression, she feels trapped by it."
"Trapped but angry (maybe mental illness), can’t escape the feeling and frustration of feeling so trapped."
"The feeling I get when I see these photos is I feel free, because she is clearly ill and from a dark background, probably depressed. I get the impression of exorcism because of the way she is crumpled up and the bed is broken."
"Vulnerability and entrapment."
Overall, the comments were that the images portrayed depression, entrapment and despair, which is what I had intended for this opening scene. However, I was concerned that some participants used words such as 'raped' and 'bondage', bringing a sexual element to the image. This had been a concern brought up by Sebastiane and was clearly being translated to my target audience. I definitely do not want this element to be present, because I think some viewers will find it very distracting from the intended concept. I will therefore re-evaluate the styling and positioning of the model to ensure the depressed and entrapment elements are still present, but without the sexual connotations. It was interesting how many participants mentioned mental health because I had expected to have to add slow movement and haunting sound effects to develop She's entrapment and it turning into depression and therefore a mental health problem. This interpretation could be a result of the prominence currently given to the subject in the media and receiving support from the younger generation of The Royal Family.
3.
"I think the character is experiencing abuse (evident in the closed eye). I think the character is female but not evident from hair, makeup etc. The anguish is evident. Pent up emotions unable to be expressed."
"Rejection, she has an inability to speak, as if she has been rejected and left out, has no voice."
"I think the emotional/mental state would be someone who can’t express their feeling, like they have an inability to speak, and I think the red eyes shows how frustrated and angry they are."
"Savage."
"She looks like she is in pain and agony, like she is screaming."
"Probably some kind of physical issue had injured her, vulnerable and in able to talk about it."
"Not able to speak their mind, having their views suppressed or silenced. Maybe battling a life change secret?"
"Punishment or torture. This character looks like she would be feeling lots of pain but also feels lots of hate and anger."
"Pain and silenced. De-humanised."
"Is her mouth being forced open?"
My main concern when reviewing the participants' interpretations was the inference of physical harm. Many participants interpreted that the character had been physically abused, specifically because using a contact lens made her look blind in one eye. I had initially intended to use a contact lens in every scene as a constant to show that the hatred and mental pain of discrimination was always with the victim and never left her. However, I think the use of a white contact lens looks too dominant and portrays physical harm rather than mental harm. I will therefore remove the contact lens from this makeup look and consider removing them from the character's other looks as I think they pull too much focus and will limit the character's diverse looks, reflecting her different mental states.
One participant felt She was 'de-humanised'. This took the interpretation further than I had intended, but if She is being ostracised by her fellow humans, this would lead to her feeling she does not belong in their society and is not being treated equally as a fellow human being.
Overall the comments clearly expressed the character's inability to voice her views and opinions, shown through the restrictive mouth piece, a black cross, also a symbol of negativity; I was pleased that the majority of participants interpreted the styling as I had intended and that my portrayal of She's emotional pain, rejection and inability to speak out, and behave, as her true self was clear to the audience.
4.
"I believe the character feels freer being able to write and express herself. There is plenty of blank paper for expression. There is restriction evident with the darkness behind her and something sinister lurking in the background of the second picture. A reminder of something still in her past?"
"Oppressed. Haunted."
"I think she feels oppressed, like she has to do something because she has someone watching over her shoulder, but the fact her hair is covering her face, it shows she can’t do anything about it, she has no choice."
"Dark and haunting, oppression."
"Trapped in a job, like she is a robot of the industry."
"Stressed/anxious, feeling trapped and constantly watched over, can’t breathe, judged."
"I think she is feeling very trapped. She looks as if she has got to be very cautious because there is a dark figure looking over her."
"Helpless and controlled."
This was another styling I was particularly pleased with, as all the participants mentioned elements of being trapped, oppressed or controlled, all feelings I had hoped to portray in this scene. I was concerned, after speaking with Sebastiane, that my target audience would not recognise the black styling as a figure. However, the feedback of being controlled and watched over clarified to me that the black haunting figure was being recognised as authoritative and intimidating. I also understood Sebastiane's point of view, where he suggested the authoritative figure should be more humanised, and therefore I will combine a more obvious human styling with this phantom figure to create an overall feeling of being controlled by not just one person, but by society as a whole.
One comment that did concern me was "I believe the character feels freer being able to write and express herself" because I wanted the audience to continue to feel the character's entrapment at this stage in the film. I can understand this participant's interpretation when seeing these images in isolation and not in the context of the film, because She has been given an opportunity with pen and paper to express herself through art. However, I think when this scene is viewed in conjunction with the more restrictive hair styling (photos in 1 above) and the accompanying chaotic soundtrack, it will be evident that the model does not feel comfortable enough to express herself on paper. There will be a number of restricted, repetitive movements, with very little actually being drawn on the paper, portraying her ability to express herself as the paper remains blank.
5.
"The character in the dress is clearly feminine and beautiful. She appears open about her feelings and her freedom and ‘bares all’ confidently. Nothing is hidden and she is relaxed about this as is evident in her relaxed hands and her feet apart stance. Virginal white perhaps represents her purity of being and innocence. She is fearless."
"I think their state of mind is all over the place, their thoughts are broken up."
"Broken cage."
"Light and carefree, freedom of movement."
"Daring and rebellious."
"Bound, restricted."
"Confident and open."
"Caged and broken."
This was the feedback that gave me the most concern, because only half the participants were able to interpret the styling as I had intended. Aspects of breaking of a cage, confidence and freedom were mentioned, which supported my styling concept of her having the confidence and strength to break free from the restrictions of society's discrimination. A couple of participants interpreted the design as portraying her 'mind is all over the place' and she is 'caged and broken', which concerned me as the character's state of mind at this point is composed, confident and strong. This emphasised to me the importance of the makeup and hair styling for the model in this scene, together with her posture and attitude, to portray her new found confidence. This is therefore something I will pay particular attention to and I am confident that I can portray this emotion when the complete styling is seen in context.
All the photos were shown to the participants totally out of context and with no background information on the purpose or content of the film. I was therefore really pleased that the majority of interpretations were what I had originally intended, and found unexpected interpretations very informative and enlightening, helping me to develop my ideas further than initially intended. I need to make sure I transfer these designs into my film carefully complemented by appropriate surroundings, including lighting, sound and model movement, to ensure this interpretation continues, and is possibly developed further, within the context of Ostracised.
I found this focus group extremely rewarding, because all the participants engaged fully with the exercise and interpreted my work in ways I had hoped, but also in ways I had not thought of myself. I deliberately did not make the looks obvious, as part of the concept for my film is that it forces the audience to ask questions of themselves and make their own interpretation on She's circumstances - why she is feeling a victim, what sort of discrimination she might be suffering, etc. I look forward to adapting designs that were not as well received and to then conducting a final focus group once my film is complete.
