MAJOR PROJECT: Final Conversations with Cast

Throughout the post-production process, I have been updating the cast and crew. As I have done throughout the whole project, I want to act professionally and it wouldn't be professional if I didn't speak to them after the shoot or re-shoots. In addition to this, if I hadn't kept in contact and kept updating them it wouldn't have been right to ask for the re-shoots in the first place. We don't see the cast regularly like the crew so it was my priority to contact the cast directly, and then we were able to update the crew casually when we saw them around University. 

I first sent them a couple of messages about the edit and how well it was going. Then I arranged the specific re-shoots and voiceover day. Finally, I put the new footage and audio onto the timeline, had the final rough cut viewing and agreed we were completely finished with the cast. As soon as we knew we were finished with the cast I got in contact with all of them. Due to their own busy schedules, I didn't want them to be waiting for me to contact them for any other filming. By letting them know immediately, they know that can start planning their next projects without feeling the need to wait around in case we need them.

To follow with the final email, Alex suggested the idea of a feedback form. I have received feedback from the cast throughout production and I have documented this in the shoot day blog posts. However, the feedback was varied in terms of some cast members were more open about their opinions and some had more quiet personalities so we didn't hear as much from them. By creating the feedback form I am able to ask specific questions for each aspect of production - the organisational side, the direction and general feedback about the entirety of filming. Between Alex and myself, we couldn't think of any specific questions from Katie's point of view as the director of photography which is why we left it down to general questions at the end so they had the chance to comment on whatever they wanted - including the cinematography. Creating the form online gives the cast the opportunity to be as honest as they like. I like to think we did well on the shoot days and acted professionally, however, the cast may not think that. They will be more likely to be honest online, which is what we want for our evaluations, and we explained this at the beginning of the form. As a result of this, we agreed that putting the form online was the most appropriate way to gain feedback. 

I felt that the feedback form, initially suggested by Alex, would be very beneficial in helping our evaluation towards the end of the project, for example, what went well, what they felt didn't go so well, if anything and what we could improve on. As a result of this, I was eager to go with the idea and create the form.

Firstly, Alex and I thought of questions we could ask:

Direction
1. How do you find the casting process?
2. Did you feel as if you had a contribution to the script and direction?
3. Did you know what you were supposed to be doing in every scene? (i.e. was the direction clear and understandable?)
4. Any general feedback on the direction?

Organisation
1. How would you rate the organisation of the project?
2. Did you feel like you were updated regularly?
3. How did you find the food on set?
4. Did you find the reimbursement process efficient?
5. Any other feedback?

General
1. Did you feel as if you were looked after well?
2. Did you enjoy working on VET-MAN?
3. Any general comments?

Once we felt as if we asked about each aspect appropriately, we created a questionnaire on Google Docs. This seemed a more professional way to gather feedback rather than sending questions for them to answer over email - instead I just sent the link to the questionnaire with the final 'thank you' email. We were also able to give them the option for multiple choice which made it easier to answer if the cast were busy with new projects or shoots. In addition to the multiple choice questions, we added a couple of long-answer questions by asking them to explain their answer. We used these because some of the multiple choice questions were quite vague, such as "did you feel as if you were looked after well?". By adding in the long-answer question, the cast would be able to answer more specifically. This may have been beneficial if maybe one of the cast members felt as if they were looked after well in terms of warmth (enough breaks, not over-worked), but they may not have appreciated the food choices and didn't feel as if they were looked after well in terms of food. 

Feedback form