The document discusses the importance of gathering audience feedback through test screenings and surveys. It provides examples of how feedback was collected and applied to improve a magazine cover, film poster, and horror trailer. Constructive feedback pointed out areas like unclear dialogue, jumpy music, and small text. Positive feedback praised effective use of conventions like locations and camera angles. Changes made included brightening cover lines, increasing text sizes, and adjusting music to improve pacing.

1. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM
YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
A2 Media Studies

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF AUDIENCE
FEEDBACK
The process of test screening a film is vital in order for that film to be as
successful as possible. The concept of test screening was invented by Harold
Lloyd after having done this for the first time in 1928. A test screening is a
preview screening of a movie or television show before its formal release in
order to test the audience’s reaction. These preview audiences would then be
asked to complete a questionnaire or to give feedback in some form. Test
screenings allow filmmakers to gain significant, honest and critical feedback
from their primary audience and possibly their secondary audience. By doing
this, they are then able to make the appropriate changes to the film, in order
for the film to be as successful as possible. This process plays a significant role
in the success of a film and has been used for many horror films in the past.
Along with The Woman in Black doing an extensive advertising campaign, they
also arranged two test screenings, receiving helpful feedback from their target
audience, advising them on areas of improvement and adding in more
suspending scenes. As a result of these test screenings and the advertising
campaign, the film was a massive success and made an impressive profit.
Although they are rare occasions where test screenings have resulted in films
being released earlier then expected. This was evident for The Conjuring, which
received glowing responses from their two test screenings. Generating these
types responses is virtually unheard of, overall the film scored around 90%-95%
when averaging the number of audience members who rated the film
“excellent” or “very good”. Also men under 25 scored even higher, giving a
rating just below 100%. For context, its incredibly rare for a film to receive

3. GATHERING FEEDBACK
We gathered audience feedback before and during the production of our media
products. This allowed us to get a sense of what our target audience wanted to see in
a trailer and what type of narrative they preferred to watch, whether that be a
supernatural horror or a psychological horror. We collected our first sample of
feedback through Survey Monkey before beginning the production stage of our trailer.
By doing this we were able to decide on what sub-genre of horror our narrative ought
to be, the result we received was majority ‘Supernatural’, so naturally we decided to
take that information on board and create a supernatural horror. Using Survey Monkey
also helped us to discover our demographics and psychographics. From the results we
received on our survey, it was evident that our primary target audience are female
teenagers aged between 17-19 years old, that prefer supernatural and slasher horrors.
As for psychographics, our target audience seem to be thrill-seeking socialisers with
high levels of conscientiousness and are commonly open-minded.
During the post-production stage of constructing our trailers we had a test screening
so that we could receive feedback on areas of improvement that we perhaps may have
missed. By getting feedback from our peers, we were able to make improvements on
any evident mistakes and but also get input on how to make our trailer have more
suspense and pace. By filming our feedback, we were able to see the audiences
general reaction, from their facial expressions and body language, for instance
covering their eyes or jumping with suspense.

4. FEEDBACK RECEIVED FOR MY
MAGAZINE COVER
Constructive feedback:
A couple of the improvements that I received were regarding the
“replacement of image” so that the masthead didn’t cover so much of the top
of the image as this may make the magazine cover more eye-catching. It was
also suggested that I added more information to “draw the readers in” so that
they are more likely to buy it. One of the criticisms from my secondary
audience said that “this could be mistaken for a fashion magazine” due to the
style of the masthead.
To gather feedback for my draft magazine cover, I decided to ask my primary
target what they thought worked well and what could be improved on in
order for my advertising campaign to be able to reach more people. However
I did also ask part of my secondary audience for their input as by doing this,
it may attract more people then intended.
Positive feedback:
The main commendations I received were regarding the “colour diversity over
the cover” and the “elegant layout” to draw in the readers attention. I was also
praised on the “element of symmetry” of the cover lines which adds to the
elegance of the cover.

5. FEEDBACK RECEIVED FOR MY FILM
POSTER
Along with the feedback for my magazine cover, I asked the same people to
evaluate my film poster. I asked the same people as I thought this may keep
the comments consistent and therefore help me to create an element of
unity between my magazine cover and film poster.
Constructive feedback:
There were a number of comments about there being “less colour in the
image” and so it may be more difficult to grab the target audiences
attention. Also there was a comment about some of the writing being
difficult to read, for instance the hashtag underneath the tagline.
Furthermore, there was a suggestion that the “tagline can be a little larger”
so that it can stand out more.
Positive feedback:
One re-occurring complement I received was about the image as it “portrays
a sense of horror” with all the mist, which obviously works well with the
genre of the film. Alongside that, the font style was commended for looking
more mature and “not being flashy” so that it doesn’t take too much
attention away from the image but at the same time catches the audiences
attention so that they would be interested.

6. FEEDBACK FOR OUR HORROR
TRAILER
As previously mentioned, in order for us to get feedback on our draft trailer, we provided
a test screening to allow our peers to navigate us on areas of improvement and to
highlight what worked well in our trailer.
Constructive feedback:
Numerous people pointed that the music needed to be worked on as it appeared to be
rather “jumpy” and “didn’t flow” properly, which is something we didn’t fully realise until
the test screening. Other areas of improvement included: re-recording dialogue that was
difficult to understand (in particular the scene with the priest), adding in “more titles to
explain the storyline” better and also that the “running scene shots needed to be polished
off”.
Positive feedback:
A significant comment said was that “the location (graveyard/church) was a good use of
horror convention”. This was reassuring as we were making a horror trailer. Along with
this, there were numerous remarks about the “good use of camera angles” and “pace”
which helps to build up the suspense throughout the trailer.

7. THE END RESULT – MAGAZINE
COVER
Draft Final
After receiving the feedback from my target
audience, it was important that I acted on the
constructive advise that I was given. Getting
feedback from my primary audience was crucial
as it allowed me to improve on my product so
that it would be more fitting for the audience I
was trying to reach and therefore would make my
advertising campaign a success. From the
feedback I was given, I decided to brighten up
my cover lines so that it would grab the readers
attention. I didn’t want to “add more information”
as I wanted the image to be the main focus point,
rather then the other films that were being
advertised. I also decided to keep the image in
the same place, but edited it differently so that
the gradient around the image pulled the focus
onto the woman in the image. As for the
comment regarding the magazine to look more
like a fashion magazine, my primary target
audience are female and so it seemed fitting to

8. THE END RESULT – FILM POSTER
Draft Final
Due to asking the same people to evaluate my
poster as well, I was able to pick out the key
problems with my poster as the people I asked
were my primary target audience. After reading
the list of improvements, I decided to make the
hashtag a little bit bigger, but not so much as to
cause to much attention to itself, I also placed
underneath the “coming soon” as I thought it
fitted better there because it was a darker
background, therefore making it easier to read. I
also took onboard the comments about the
tagline being too small, so to improve it, I made
it a little bit bigger and brighter so that it stood
out more from the dark background and as a
result is more eye-catching for the audience. I
didn’t decide to change the colouring of the
image as I believe that the darkness of it adds to
the atmosphere of a horror film. Although there
are changes I made that were not mentioned by
my target audience, like the actors names, adding

9. THE END RESULT - TRAILER
After receiving feedback for our trailer, it made us realise that we may have been
too harsh and critical on ourselves in regards to our trailer. By listening to the
positive feedback, we had restored some confidence in what we had created and
knew that we were on the right tracks to creating a conventional horror trailer.
Although, with this we did take on board the improvements we could make and
acted on them were we thought appropriate. The main change we made was the
music, we were all in agreement that even though the music worked in certain
places, it was not fitting for the entire trailer due to it feeling slightly out of place
and we wanted to build more pace towards the end of our trailer. Along with this
we also increased the volume on the scene with the priest in the church, as it is
crucial that that scene is clear due to it being one of the most significant scenes
in the entire trailer as it introduces the character of Miss Anderson to the target
audience. Finally, one of the last changes we made was to add more titles to the
trailer in order to give a hint of what the story is about so that the audience can
make some assumptions as to what to expect from the film. However, we were
careful to not give too much of the story away, otherwise this would make the