3. My target audience is young males and females aged between 15-18.
They are a well-educated individual who is still in school and obsessed
with all things horror.
I seeked feedback from my target audience by carrying out a focus
group. I felt that this would be much more appropriate and useful as a
questionnaire doesn’t allow me to present my audience with my multi-
media final pieces. A focus group also enables a more in depth response
and allowed me to get a fuller idea of how my audience have responded
to my pieces.
To ensure I used true representatives of my target audience, for this
focus group I used two of the same participants of my first focus group
during the research and planning stage. This is because I knew that they
are true Slasher fans and fit exactly into the profile of my target
audience.
During my focus group, I presented the representatives of my target
audience with a slideshow featuring my two ancillary pieces, my film
trailer and existing posters, trailers and front covers promoting a horror
film. This allowed the audience to compare the features of the different
pieces and easily identify what they liked and what they thought should
be changed.
4. I firstly asked the representatives, comparing my film poster
with the film poster of Friday the 13th, which one they
preferred and why. Both of them said they preferred my
film poster because the image is much clearer allowing you
to get a better view of the antagonist. They also liked the
bright colour scheme as it was different and more eye-
catching. They stated that out of the two film posters, they
are more attracted to the one I created and would choose
to see my film instead of Friday the 13th as they’re both
scared of clowns so this guarantees they’ll be scared whilst
watching my film but also because they are intrigued about
the antagonist. This gave me confidence in what I had
created as representatives of my target audience are
viewing it as more effective than an existing professional
film poster. I asked them if in their honest opinion, did they
think my poster looked like a professional film poster. They
both said yes due to the effectiveness of the fonts used, the
institutional information and the high quality image.
5. “Red colour scheme makes it
stand out, [Friday the 13th] is
quite dull in comparison.”
“Better focus on the main
character, it definitely grabs
your attention.”
“He’s scarier than the other
character.”
“[It’s ambiguous] so he
makes you wonder what he’s
going to do next.”
“It looks like a real film
poster, definitely.”
“The institutional
information and the fonts
make it look professional.”
6. I then asked them about my front cover, comparing it to a
Fangoria issue also promoting Friday the 13th. They stated that
they thought the Fangoria one had too much going on and didn’t
look professional even though it is a professional magazine. They
felt the background didn't compliment the image and that my
front cover allows all their focus to be on Jackson, which in turn
will generate their intrigue and curiosity about him as a character.
They also stated that my front cover had a much better use of
colour and the would definitely buy my magazine based on the
front cover rather than the Fangoria front cover. I asked them
what they liked about the two front covers and they stated that
they like how the character is hidden. They felt that both images
were quite ambiguous which makes them intrigued about the
character on the front cover. They would have to go on to buy the
magazine to read more about the antagonist.
7. “I don’t like the
[Fangoria] front cover,
the background is
really bad.”
“It focuses on the
Clown and grabs my
attention.”
“I’d definately buy the
your one, not the
second one.”
8. After showing them my trailer for the first time, I firstly asked
them what it was they liked about it. Katie stated that her
favourite part was the Non-diegetic sound. She said she liked the
heartbeat and thought was it was very effective in building
tension. They also both said that after watching the trailer they
want to watch the film. Hannah stated that she thought the Jack
in the Box scene was the most effective scene in the trailer as it
created a lot of tension. I then asked them what they would
change about the trailer. The only comment was that the final
montage could be a bit longer with faster cuts as it would be
more effective.
I then asked them how my promotional could be improved.
Hannah stated that the lighting on the front cover could be a bit
bright to emphasise Jackson more but make the background a bit
darker. I then asked them which of the three pieces makes them
want to watch the film the most. They both stated that it was the
trailer but you can’t really compare it to the ancillary pieces, and
they are just as effective as the trailer. They also went on to say
that they thought out of the two ancillary pieces, the Poster was
the most effective.
