What have you learnt from audience feedback? Cold Blood Evaluation 4

1. Cold Blood
Evaluation 4
Beth Quittenton

2. What have you
learnt from
audience
feedback?

3. The focus group feedback for our psychological horror trailer
Cold Blood helped my group to improve the trailer through the
use of positive comments, as well as constructive criticism. A lot
of people said that the use of loud music is suitable for our type
of trailer, and it is also conventional due to the use of
“breakbeat” style music in the popular Evil Dead (2013) trailer.
We also used a variety of shots throughout the trailer which was
highlighted by many in the class feedback session. Another
positive comment was about how the trailer didn’t give too
much of the overall narrative away, but it gives the audience
enough to understand the plot and become intrigued as to how
the film is going to end.

4. Our trailer also received some criticism, some of the
audience members didn’t like how frequent the black-
outs are throughout the trailer. Another common
comment was about how the use of inter-titles would
explain the overall narrative of the story better to the
audience. During our focus group, the audience also
said that the ending needs to be more dramatic, and
that the use of a jump scare could create this.

5. I agreed with some of the comments after the initial focus group
screening. We saw how inter-titles would help to explain the
narrative more clearly to the audience. I also agreed with how
the use of a jump scare at the end would build a lot of tension
and make our trailer fit more into the genre of horror, rather
than thriller. I disagree with the comment about how the black-
outs are too frequent. Our group has focused on matching the
pacing of the music with the editing, this would therefore build a
tense atmosphere; therefore I think that the black-outs are not
too frequent, I think that they help to build tension throughout
the trailer. Although I disagreed with the comment my group
opted to remove some of the black-outs to see whether or not it
improved the overall atmosphere of the trailer.

6. Our average score was 8 out of 10. I was happy with this score
as this was our first rough cut, and after the focus group
screening we set about to re-edit our trailer to increase the
score even further. We first decided to add inter-titles
throughout the trailer so that the narrative was explained
better. We made sure that the inter-titles were strategically
placed throughout the trailer so that it still fitted with the
music and built tension throughout. We also added a jump
scare at the end, where the new “Lizard-Man” jumps towards
the camera. We also moved some of the footage at the start,
and the middle about so that the trailer built a more tense
atmosphere in preparation for the final jump scare. We
thought that this would have an emotional effect on the
audience and persuade them to watch the final film. We also
decided to add in some more footage of Jason in the chair
after he has been captured and tied up. These additional
shots meant we could remove some of the black-outs and
made the trailer more conventional and enticing.

7. Cold Blood subsequently received a range of praise as well as
constructive criticism during the evaluation screening. There
were a lot of comments on how well the jump scare at the end
of the trailer works, and how the range of shot distances, as well
as different highs and angles gave out trailer an edge. The
audience also liked how well the editing fits with the music, and
how the editing as well as the music helps to build tension in
preparation for the jump scare at the end. The inter-titles also
helped the audience to understand the plot more clearly than
before. The use of darker shots in the second half of the trailer
are also effective when bringing the audience into the second
half of the trailer’s narrative. This contrast in the mise-en-scene
allows the audience to get a sense of how the second half of the
trailer is more darker and more intense than the first half.

8. We still received a few criticisms. Some of the
audience members thought that some of the
inter-titles were too short, and that they didn’t
have enough time to read them when they were
on screen. A few people said that there are too
many blackouts during the trailer, and that this
made the trailer lose effect. One person said
that we should try adding dialogue to the trailer
too.

9. When reviewing some of the criticisms that Cold
Blood received I understood why some of the
criticisms were made, but I couldn’t see how we
could resolve some of them without putting the
trailer and the music out of sync. The comments
about how some of the inter-titles were too short is
unfixable unless we want the footage and music to
be out of sync, and if that happens then the trailer
will lose the tense effect that it builds throughout.
Also, the blackouts are in time with the music, so if
we got rid of a few of them then it wouldn’t build as
much suspense. We have decided as a group that
we are going to try and add some dialogue into the
trailer, but we are not going to keep it in if it doesn’t
fit with the overall mood of the trailer.

10. Throughout the editing of our trailer, we have
posted ‘webisodes’ onto our blog. In the
majority of them there is dialogue, therefore
this introduces the characters and their
character roles. Stake Land (2011) also uses this
technique as a strategy campaign for the
advertisement of their film.

11. Cold Blood received mostly nines out of ten. I
am very happy with this score as I think that
Cold Blood has many good points within the
trailer, and it follows typical horror trailer
conventions. The jump scare now adds drama to
the end of the trailer, while the fast-paced
editing throughout managed to maintain
interest with the rest of the students in our
group.

12. Evaluation Screening

13. Focus Group Screening

14. Final Trailer