The document discusses the importance of receiving audience feedback throughout the process of creating various media projects, including a short film, posters, and a magazine film review. The author conducted surveys and questionnaires of their target audience to inform the direction of their projects. They received feedback on drafts to improve the works to better suit the audience. Feedback was positive and helped the author recognize what elements were effective and aspects that could be improved. The author found audience feedback to be very valuable for creating the best final products.

1. 3.WHAT HAVEYOU
LEARNED FROMYOUR
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

2. When producing a project like a short film
it it’s important to receive feedback from
a target audience, as their comments
make the work improved so that it can
attract to them. For each of the tasks I
completed (short film, posters and
magazine film review), I asked the
audience what they like about it and what
could be improved, through the stages of
creating these tasks.This is so I could get
the best final outcome possible to suit the
audience, otherwise they all won’t be
effective. I used ‘SurveyMonkey’, group
questionnaires and social media to get
feedback.

3. During the planning of my short film, I created a
questionnaire on ‘SurveyMonkey’ to see what my target
audience would be/what they like. After these questions
were answered I analysed them to further my knowledge
on my target audience. For instance, one question was
‘What is your favourite genre, concerning short films?’The
genre that was most popular was drama, which was good
because my short film is a drama so therefore it would
appeal to this audience. Another question I asked was
‘What is your age?’The most popular answers were 18-24,
and 31-49, which matches my target audience, therefore I
know that any audience feedback I got throughout my
project was from my target audience. An example of
another question is ‘What is the point in short films?’This
was answered, “to tell a story” and “to portray a message.”
This was good because the aim of my short film is to tell
the story of a man with schizophrenia, and to portray the
message that people with this illness aren’t crazy and
frightening, like the stigma attached to them in the media.

4. After my first poster draft, I got both positive and negative
feedback. “it shows the dark and serious
nature of a drama” however, “it doesn’t
represent Schizophrenia well/doesn’t
come across clearly.” When receiving this
feedback, I re-drafted the poster to make it more suitable
to these comments as in the end this product needs to
attract the audience.The re-draft I completed from this
feedback was improved, as I asked for feedback again and
the audience said “you can tell there is
something not right about this
character as he is playing chess alone,
so it hints at an illness without giving it
away.” This comment showed me that this poster
improved from the last draft, making me realise how
important audience feedback is.

5. Once all of my tasks were complete, I carried out a group
feedback session, whereby I showed young adults both of
my posters, magazine film review and my short film.
First poster feedback:
- “It links well with the concept of the film, as
you can see the chessboard and that no-one
is on the other side playing with him, which
shows Schizophrenia more clearly.”
However…
- “I think the house is too in focus; it isn’t as
relevant as the chessboard or anything else
in the frame.”
– From this comment, in the future I would blur the
house or even take it out.

6. Second poster feedback:
- “This is a good alternative to the first poster,
has the same links, for example the
chessboard.”
- “I think it’s too dark, however it does fit with
the theme because it has a dark subject
matter.”
– If I were to do it again I would lighten the image slightly
so that it is a little clearer.
However…
- “You can’t really see that he is alone unlike the
other poster.” – As this is the alternative poster for my
film, I decided to keep it how it is, because it is a different
angle, showing the chessboard more in focus than the
first one, which is a key symbol in my film, as it represents
Schizophrenia: the two different colours on the
chessboard can be seen as the ‘split’ mind attached to the
illness.

7. When preparing my magazine film review, the feedback I got was positive.They said “it looks
like a typical magazine review” and “I like the layout because it looks
simple and easy to get around.” Because I got positive feedback from my first draft I
knew I was on the right track and would only need to change a few things in production.

8. From the group feedback session, I got a lot of positive feedback as
well as some improvements I could have made.
Magazine Film Review feedback:
- “I like the black and white theme, it’s simple and
thought-provoking.”
- “Good critic quotes, I like the layout of them and
how they are more noticeable than the other text.”
- “Good detail in the writing about the plot etc.”
- “Font is good and easy to read.” –This is good because it
needs to be clear for the audience.
However…
- “It should be more than 3 ½ stars.”
- Perhaps I should have put the rating higher, so that it makes the
film more appealing.
- “I think the pictures are too dark, can’t see the
chessboard clearly, so there needs to be more focus
on the chessboard.”
– If I were to do this again I would brighten the photos, however I
wanted it to come straight from my short film.

9. I also showed the group my short film, these are some of the comments
made:
- “You have a good use of locations.”
- “The camera angles are good and effective.”
- “The music creates a good ambience.”
-This is good because I decided to add some background music in
nearing the end of post-production so that it adds some drama to
the film, so now I know the audience like this I know I made the right
decision.
- “When the character is talking on the swing, it could be
louder.”
– I attempted to do this, however it was very difficult to make his
voice louder than the background.
- “The noises of camera feedback are a little distracting.”
– From this comment, in the future I would look closely into the
sound and remove this noise as much as I can.
- “I think that you demonstrated it really well by whispering
to show he has voices in his head, and the colour f the film
is good and how he is always lonely.This chess aspect was
really cool too.”

10. To widen my audience feedback, I then put my short film on
YouTube, followed by sharing it on my Facebook page, where I got
a few comments from both young adults my age, and older adults
as well, which is good because this is my target audience. These
were some of my comments:
- “Good editing! Good use of camera angles! Mise-en-
scene for mental illness is good too.”
- “Good cinematography.Very thought-provoking.”
- “I feel really emotional, fantastic.”
- “This is great! Awesome cinematography and mise-en-
scene, really creates a professional look and the way
you brought the mental illness connotations into it
made it really interesting to watch.”
- “Very good…not an easy subject to portray.”
- ”Excellent portrayal of a very difficult subject.”
All of these comments are really helpful, I have learned that
audience feedback is very important as the product needs to
please them so that they are attracted to it. From all of the
positive feedback I have heard from both young adults, older
adults, media students and non-media students, it proves that
getting feedback throughout the process was effective in
making my products better.

11. I received more feedback of my film via
YouTube, from a young adult.This is important
as they are part of my target audience so their
opinion was crucial.
- “Well what a very well thought
out piece of cinematography,
very interesting shot angles
when walking on the street.
Well done!”

12. After I posted my film onYouTube, I got an
email from Sam Richards, who studied
media at University, and now works for a
film company in London. He reviews films
and documentaries and writes a blog about
them.
This piece of feedback was very useful, as it
comes from somebody in the industry,
meaning they know what works well and
what looks effective. I learned from this
feedback that I managed to convey what I
wanted in my film, as he described that it
created tension, which was one of my aims,
and also that he understood that ‘the chess
game was conveying the battle between
the subject and his voices’, which was what I
was after when choosing this piece of
symbolism.