The focus group provided mostly positive feedback on the film trailer with some suggestions for improvement. They felt the trailer appropriately targeted young males and understood the philosophical elements. However, the dialogue in one scene was difficult to hear over the soundtrack. They grasped the original narrative but felt it could be expanded with more action. Feedback on the film poster was also positive, praising the unconventional yet recognizable design that represented the psychological genre. While the film magazine's layout was professionally done, it lacked information and its genre was not clearly conveyed through the color scheme and font choices.

1. What Have You Learnt from Your
Audience Feedback?
Cameron Vaughan

2. Film Trailer
 During the focus group our products received mixed criticism, generally positive with
areas on how to improve being given for only one or two shots. The questionnaire
reveals that our audience believes the trailer is aimed at predominantly males, which
is true. We aimed our product at males because our main character, Morgan, is
supposed to be a mascot for young men suffering from mental illnesses and who are
too scared to speak about it. One volunteer in our focus group thought that ‘having a
male main character would appeal more’ to men in the public, which was our aim.
 The majority of our target audience watched films either once a week or more than
once a week. We asked this with the hopes of gaining an understanding as to their
knowledge of films, knowing that they may not be media studies students. One
volunteer in particular showed an understanding of the philosophical qualities our
mise-en-scene represented, such as the mask worn by the hallucination meant to
symbolise the ‘darkness’ and delusion, which is what our trailer promotes.
 One problem with the trailer, which was all agreed with in the focus group, was the
lack of sound during our psychiatrist scene. This moment of dialogue was ‘difficult to
hear’ over the soundtrack and with time to improve, would either be shot again using
different audio equipment, or edited more thoroughly to discover a way of further
amplifying the speech.
 In terms of our narrative, the volunteers felt they could grasp and understood the idea
and felt it was ‘original’, seeing it as a new and exciting film if it were to be released in
cinema. However, one individual stated the narrative should be ‘expanded’ upon as
the film should need more sense of pursuit and action if it were to be developed.

3. Example Results
How Often Do You Watch Films? What Film Genre Do You Prefer?
Are You Interested In Our Plot? What Is The Best Part To A Trailer?

4. Film Poster
 My poster was received the best out of each product I created or
took part in creating. Even though it clearly is unconventional
compared to normal film posters, the different, modern and simplified
approach is what appealed most to my target audience. I asked
whether the volunteers of the focus group thought it ‘represented the
psychological genre of film’, to which they all agreed it did, and to an
original standard. One even commented saying ‘I could see this on
my bedroom wall’. Despite perhaps not suiting public advertising
standards, the volunteers decided it was easily recognisable as a
poster and was the most attractive to them.
 They specifically felt the main image was what worked best on the
product. It is large, clear and ‘well edited’ and provides connotations
that go hand in hand with our trailer and the type of genre we are
trying to convey. One volunteer commented saying ‘it really makes
you think about what is real and what isn’t’.
 I am incredibly pleased with the group’s reactions to my poster. I put
a great amount of effort into expressing the dramatic narrative of our
psychological, almost revenge tragedy plot. It is the media text I was
able to put the most creative freedom into out of the three.

5. Film Magazine
 The audience specifically praised the professional approach I took to the layout of my
magazine cover. They thought it was simple and appealing because it didn’t feel ‘too
cluttered’, however at the same time some decided it just lacked on the amount of
information it provided a reader. Like my poster, the main image was praised for its
simplicity and attempt at giving the audience more room for interpreting the product for
themselves.
 The magazine was found appealing because of its ‘conventional style’, however it was
also criticised on its difficulty at conveying the genre of the film it contains an article
about. One volunteer of the focus group decided it could easily be mistaken for a
‘horror’ film, although the background and character expressions in the image are not
sinister enough and there is ‘no weapon’, which is expected in a horror film.
 An individual outside of my target audience commented on the possibility of it being a
crime drama or thriller, interpreted from the way the character with the mask is
positioned ‘behind the young boy’, symbolising an alter ego or alias to the character
who seems entirely innocent.
 My masthead, pug and splash were commented on as being the main areas for
improvement if given more time. The pug is an unconventional yellow which doesn’t
generally appeal to the technophile generation I am targeting, who don’t normally read
hard copy magazines. On the internet, platforms like YouTube and Netflix use solid
reds and so this was suggested as a colour needing more appearance on my
magazine cover. The splash is apparently too plain, and the font could have been
altered to ‘clearly represent a psychological genre’. This must mean having a font style
that is consistent with the title of our film. Overall however, the product was praised.