2. As a class we sat down and carried out a focus group which
allowed everybody to see each other’s trailers and give
feedback on what they thought of each trailer. From this
focus group my group received a variety of praise and
criticism. Some of the positive comments we received
included: “it was easily understood”, “good use of handheld
camera”, and “the use of montaging shots”. We were happy
with the largely good feedback we received but we also
knew we had to respond to some of the criticism, such as the
need for: “more shots of the psychopath”, “improvement of
the jump scare”, “a cut was visible and the sound could be a
little louder”, and “ the music was a little slow”.
3. I agreed with the majority of the comments as I thought a lot could
be improved to make our trailer even better. I realised that the
music could do with having a faster pace, to create more tension, so
we set about finding an extra copyright free track that would
enhance The Demented. I also agreed with the fact that there was a
cut visible during the jump scare (when Libby places her hand of
Frankie’s mouth before she is replaced by the black-haired
antagonist) which was due to a mishap during editing. This was
easily changed and now looks very fluid. For part of the feedback
we had to give a score out of ten on if we liked the trailer or not.
The majority gave my trailer a 7/10 and we also received a 6/10.
I agreed with the score and was also happy with them because they
allowed us to make improvements and get us a higher score during
the final evaluation.
4. The image below shows a print screen of a
shot in my rough cut trailer which doesn’t
contain a filter.
The image below shows a print screen of a
shot in my final trailer which has been
edited with a filter.
5. My group didn’t really make many last minute changes to our trailer,
but we did respond to audience feedback in the appropriate way.
We did a couple more reshoots which included a majority of close
ups and reaction shots. We also went back into Premiere Pro and
finessed the editing somewhat to make it more fluid and eye-
catching. We firstly readjusted the brightness and contrast of each
piece of footage to make them all equal. We also quickly dealt with
the issue on the jump scare, and it now seems completely seamless.
Most importantly, we also changed the music we originally had
because we didn’t think it really suited our first rough cut, so we
decided to go with something slightly faster and more interesting.
This created more of a sense of a slow to quick montage, enhancing
the psychological horror of the trailer.
6. Once we acted upon the feedback we were previously given
and completed our trailers, we then had The Demented
watched again in its evaluation screening. Similar to the focus
group, we all sat down and watched each other’s trailers and
gave feedback and a score on what we thought of the trailers.
We felt an immediate better response from the audience, and
overall I was extremely happy with the evaluation screening
and the feedback we received.
7. Members of the class realised the changes we had made and gave as more
positive feedback. Some the comments we received included: “I like the fast
pace and ending” and “the jump scare is done really”. We aimed to make
a psychological horror trailer before we started production, and I think our
trailer really shows that sub-genre of horror. Real life trailers which are
psychological horrors includes Insidious (2011), and The Woman In Black
(2012). As a group we also aimed to reach out to a certain target
audience. The target audience we tried to aim are trailer at were young
teenagers to young adults in the age range of 12-25, and the positive
responses showed we successfully aimed at 17-19 year olds in the class.
We also aimed to make our trailer for both male and females, and were
happy that the positive comments were split evenly between male and
female members of our class. Looking at the trailer I think we managed to
make the trailer appeal to our chosen target audience simply because it
contains the essentials from the horror checklist. There are enough generic
conventions to appeal to a wide audience of horror fans.
9. This image shows one of the
shots in which we added to
out final trailer. It shows the
words “you’re next” which
seems to look like it has
been written in blood.
10. I am happy with the way in which the trailer for The Demented has
turned out and how my group merged psychological horror with rare
moments of body horror to create an engrossing trailer. My
favourite aspect of my trailer would have to be the middle section
with the montage of quick shots, and the heart beat music playing
over it. I think this part of the trailer is the most exciting because it
has a fast pace. I also think this part of the trailer creates action
and suspense which draws the audience into the trailer even more.
The final version of the parallel music is also successful, the scratchy
noises links well to this part of the trailer and really sets it off,
making it an exciting part of the trailer.
