The document discusses feedback from a focus group on a film trailer and ancillary products. Key findings include:
- 7/9 people felt the trailer appealed to both male and female audiences.
- Feedback confirmed the plot created mystery without revealing the villain.
- Suggestions were made to add establishing shots and more opening music.
- 100% of people said the posters and magazine complemented the trailer well.
2. To achieve audience feedback
we set up a focus group of 9
people who were in our target
audience age range. This was
how we were able to access
each product to see if they
were all successful individually
and as a promotional package.
The answers we received were
shown during the open
discussion revealed in the
video.
3. Our group handed out questionnaires so that each person could answer
honestly about what they thought of the trailer and ancillary products.
The questionnaires showed that 7/9 people believed that our trailer targets
both male and female gender, this was a success as we wanted our trailer
to appeal to both genders.
5/9 people said that the genre was horror because of the “short clips, shrill
noises and there is a constant theme of panic, danger and fear.”
Whereas 4/9 people said that it was a psychological thriller quoting that
“the trailer suggests mind games and a situation where one hides is
psychological.” Even though our trailer is a psychological thriller we are
happy with this result as the comments showed us that we followed the
codes and conventions of the chosen genre.
100% identified the correct target audience range of 15-25 this shows that
we chose the right audience as the people in the focus group believe it
should be aimed at their ages.
4. The three main images that stood out most for the audience were the shadowy figure walking up to
the camera, The one of Emily hiding under the stairs and the one of Emily banging on the door, trying
to escape.
We were happy with these shots as:
The shadow was used to hide the identity of the protagonist.
Emily hiding was important as it was a key shot to resemble the vulnerability of the character Emily.
The one of Emily at the door was to represent the feeling that Emily is trapped within her mind and
house. One person quoted “the feeling of desperation and of being trapped” this was the link we
wanted the audience to make with the character Emily.
These were the images that we wanted to be picked as they have the most significance throughout
the trailer.
No-one identified Emily as being the villain, however the majority of the people said that they
believed it was the dad that had come back for revenge, one person even compared Emily’s
innocence against the sinister nature of the dad, this was our intention with the trailer as we wanted
to keep the code of enigma about who the villain was and we portrayed Emily throughout the trailer
as being the innocent victim, creating a few red herrings that would make the audience question the
identity of the protagonist.
100% said that the soundtrack complimented the trailer however some suggested that there needed
to be more at the beginning.
Finally 8/9 people said that they would go to the cinema to watch it, we were extremely happy with
this result as our aim was that our trailer would entice the ages within our focus group to go and
watch it.
5. During our open discussion we asked the questions that we believed would
encourage a variety of different opinions, This worked well as the feedback we
received confirmed that the plot worked well as it created a sense of mystery in the
trailer. The one question that caused the most division was who they thought the
villain was as some people said the mum or dad while others suggested that it could
be Jack which was a surprise but a good one as we didn’t want it to be too obvious
as most psychological thrillers kept it a secret.
This process was the most important part as this was where we acknowledge the
improvements that were suggested to better our product, we learnt that we needed
to add an establishing shot of the house at the beginning to give the audience an
idea of where the characters were located, another thing we learnt from the
feedback was to create some sort of soundtrack at the beginning of the trailer to
help compliment where the equilibrium begins and where it ends.
This open discussion was a crucial part as we wanted honest opinions from people
in the general public who were looking at the trailer from a consumers point-of-view
therefore what they said provided us with more knowledge to improve our product
to make it more alluring to our target audience.
6. We showcased our film posters on a PowerPoint presentation, we first showed them
individually for three seconds, then we placed next to each other so that the audience
could compare them against one another.
The feedback about my film poster was mostly positive as they thought that the colour
scheme worked well with the chosen genre and they believed that she was represented
as the victim because of the reflection of the hand in her eye which suggests that
someone is coming after her, however one person said that “the expression on her face
and the blood splattered on her hands suggests that she has killed someone and can’t
believe she has done it” this was an interesting point as it shows that she could be
schizophrenic and unaware of her actions. 100% of people said that each poster
compliments the trailer well and they would go and research the trailer after viewing
the posters.
As well as getting some positive comments it was also important to gather some points
for improvements, one specific factor that was brought up was how my poster should
be made a little more realistic, this resulted in me toning down the blood on her hand
and fading the hand in the eye to make it seem more like a reflection in the eye rather
than it being edited in.
7. Next we presented our magazine covers up against each other.
The focus group thought that my main image was successful in
promoting the character Emily as her face was very monotone and
unreadable, which reflects the character as she is a complex individual,
they thought that the layout and colour scheme was good and it looked
like a legitimate film magazine cover.
The general feedback was positive as they said that it looked
professional and clear, however since then I have asked other people
about what they thought about my cover and one suggestion that was
made was to use a bright colour to make key features stand out, since
this suggestion I have added the colour yellow, which I chose after
looking back over film covers such as “Total Film” and “Empire” finding
that this colour was the most common one used to draw out important
information.
8. In conclusion I have learnt a lot from our audience feedback as it
has not only shown me that our trailer and ancillary products
are successful in targeting our chosen age range but has also
provided me with some crucial improvements that will make it
look more effective for my target audience.
We have also learnt that the majority of our focus group would
go and watch our film in the cinema showing that the product
we have constructed is professional looking and appeals to a
wide range of ages which was what we were aiming for.
