2. Audience feedback is extremely important when making any
product, especially films as it acts as a test run before the
product is released. This allows the creators to receive honest
criticism, which could then help improve the product further.
In addition to this, it allows the producers of the product to see if
it fits the target audience and if it appeals to them, plus possibly
a larger audience. This gives an accurate representation of how
the film would be perceived on the actual release. If the
feedback is negative, it allows the producers to then change
parts of the product which would then appeal to the audience.
For example, ‘28 Days Later’ was screened and the audience
didn’t approve of the ending and described it being ‘too bleak’
because Jim ends up dying, whilst his female rescuers go off to
fight the zombie apocalypse. However, after negative feedback
the ending was changed so that Jim survived and the zombie’s
starved to death. The film went on to being described as ‘The
best purely British horror/science-fiction film in decades. And
the first great apocalypse movie of the new millennium’
IMPORTANCE OF AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
3. Before we started filming we
conducted an online survey which was
completed by a range of people,
primarily aged 17 and 18. This gave us
our main target audience age as well
as gender. In addition to this, we were
able to find out what sub-genre of
horror was most favourable of our
target audience. We also gave a brief
synopsis of an idea we had for a horror
trailer (we further developed this idea)
the results of this showed us that this
idea would be a success amongst this
target audience.
GATHERING OUR FEEDBACK
4. After we filmed and started to edit we screened a rough cut of
our trailer to the rest of our A2 media class. This enabled us
to gather positive comments about our trailer as well as
constructive criticism from students who understand the
conventions of a horror trailer and who are also in our prime
target audience. This gave us a realistic view of what people
think, letting us improve on the trailer to get the best
outcome possible.
As a group we also screened our trailer to friends who are not
media students to see what the general public would think.
This also gave us insight to what points were good and what
we needed to improve on.
GATHERING OUR FEEDBACK
5. We took the negative/constructive criticism on board and wanted
to make sure our trailer appealed to our audience. One point people
made was that our equilibrium was too long, because of this our group
agreed that we could cut it down a little bit as we realised it was quite
long. This made a big difference and allowed the trailer to flow
smoother than before.
Due to the trailer not being fully finished when we screened
it, it meant we had not been able to include everything. One
point people made was that there were no titles. We knew this
was necessary and included them after we had decided on effective
fonts. Alongside this, it was suggested we add more sound
effects in certain places. Once we watched the trailer over,
we agreed with the feedback; especially when we added a
cinematic bass sound effective over our jump scare. This made
it a lot more effective.
Another improvement that was suggested to us was to explain the narrative a bit more
in the trailer, and show who the killer was. However, as a group we decided against
this because we purposely wanted to keep the killer a secret and for the trailer to be
confusing as this would entice viewers. We wanted the trailer to play on the audiences
minds and their fear of the unknown. I think we were able to do this through
challenging the narrative structure, which in turn, made it a successful trailer.
OUR FEEDBACK - NEGATIVES
6. From our feedback we found there were many
positive points of our trailer which made it successful.
Our group agreed with this, as these were the main
parts we worked extremely hard on and also thought
were positive points of the trailer. The majority of
people said that we had good shots; this is something
we had paid close attention to throughout the filming
and editing. There were two main shots in particular
that people commented on, the under water shot and
the ‘head bang’ shot. Both of these took a great deal
of time and planning, so we were especially please
that people liked these.
Many people also commented on the fact our trailer
picked up pace in the right places, which was complemented
by the crescendo of music; this made the trailer more intense
and built suspense.
Another positive was that people thought the trailer was
scary, which is something we obviously wanted to achieve
seeing it is a horror trailer. Alongside this, there were comments
that we didn’t give away much of the story line, which again is
something we worked hard on as we wanted to make it confusing
and play on the audiences minds’.
OUR FEEDBACK- POSITIVES
7. MAGAZINE FEEDBACK
The feedback I received for my poster was firstly to include another colour. This is something I agreed with and once
I added another colour it made the magazine more eye-catching. As well as this, I changed the layout of some texts,
which again improved the aesthetic of the magazine.
Draft Final Design
8. POSTER FEEDBACK
I started with the first draft as my poster, however I received feedback
that the girl didn't look vulnerable but instead looked like she had the
power, due to direct mod of address. I then changed the image to
something that made the girl look scared and in trouble. The feed back
I received on this draft was to make certain text stand out ‘coming
soon’ and I added a drop shadow and a second layer to the title to
make it the most prominent text on the page. I also decided to add
more text which would intrigue the audience ‘a betrayal of friendship’.
Final Design
Draft 1 Draft 2
9. Overall our group took on the improvements we were given.
Although, most of these changes we made were minor they
made a big difference overall and helped our trailer more
successful. If it wasn’t for this feedback, our trailer might
not have appealed to our intended target audience.
Throughout this presentation, I have outlined why we made
these changes and how it effected our trailer. The main
points we needed to improve on was the jump scare and the
inter-titles. We changed this, and it made a big impact on
our trailer and improved it massively.
OVERALL…
