Evaluation Question 3:What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from you audience feedback?

Videos

Trailer

Focus Group

Focus Group

As a group, we organised an event for 10 minutes with selected target audience members to get their viewpoint on our finished products. We recorded them

analysing our trailer to provide evidence and determine what parts were effective to them as the target audience and what, if anything, didn’t connect with them

based on their opinion which was, unlike our own, unbiased, but also able to recognise conventions. By the end of this stage we had received praise and

criticism for our products which highlight moments of strength and weakness, making this a valuable process with meaning, as the main foundational point in

creating a movie product is for the target audience.

Initial responses were both positive and critical, the first person to speak stated it had the “music, as most of them do” but concluded that the trailer gave away “the entire plot”. This suggests that the soundtrack was effective in conveying the genre of the trailer, like many other trailers, but also suggests that the plot is revealed throughout the trailer through the story segments that are featured in the trailer. The next person stated that an effective part of the trailer was Sarah’s role when she is discovered to be defaced, holding a knife. This suggested to him though that she might be into it herself, which is partly true, but also partly inaccurate, as her character no longer exists at that point in the trailer, but clearly this was not obvious enough.

The next person thought that the reveal of information in the trailer was effective as it gave “you an idea of what was going to happen” but added that because of the scale of its reveal, it could have been “more abstract” and agreed with the first person that it “gave too much away”, but reaffirming his point saying that as an audience member, it drew him in initially. The final person commented that she agreed and thought it was “very good” as a trailer in general.

Initial Reactions

When asked “What aspects of the trailer gave it to you as a horror?”, the second person replied immediately saying the “jumping between scenes was quite a giveaway”, which suggests that the editing of the footage is one of the primary reasons the genre could be identified, and went on to say the trailer looked “sketchy”, meaning that the atmosphere created by the trailers aspects combined gave the impression that the genre was more negative than positive.

This was further supported by the third person adding that it seemed “dark, because of the dark music as well”, re-supporting the first persons earlier claim of the music being conventional for this type of trailer. He also claims here that the representation of an empty village is a typical feature that suggests the genre. The third person finally concluded that it was “what you expect a horror trailer to be” which was good in his opinion, but stated that one thing that could’ve been improved was the transition from the past to present day, whereas the second person stated that the shots were also fitting to the genre as well as editing.

Identifying the Genre

When discussing key shots or moments in the trailer that made the trailer effective, one person replied that the grainy, sepia effect at the beginning stood out to him, while the match dropping on the floor was an iconic moment, and adding that the special effects and gore in the trailer were his personal highlights of appreciating the trailer. We then asked to clarify that the sepia effect at the beginning of the trailer helped distinguish the past from present stages in the trailer, to which they all replied yes in some form. The first person then said that his iconic moment was when Mark was screaming at himself to “run!”, to which the third person agreed, and he continued by saying that the match scene “sets it up” in regards to disaster and fear, but Mark’s scene “tips it over the edge”. This suggests to us as a group that the equilibrium was mainly, effectively broken with this scene. The third person added his views saying that another iconic, climax moment for him was the iconographic shot we used of Lewis, tied up and screaming, which to him also suggested the genre being a more “extreme horror, rather than just a subtle ‘I’ll scare you’ sort of horror”.

Iconic Moments

Due to complications with battery charge on the camera and laptop projector, we were unable to record feedback from the group in regards to our individual products, but made written notes instead for reference. The first person felt that my poster was a “clean, stand-out image” that directly refers to the film, and believed that it looked conventional to other horror posters he had seen before. The second person agreed with this statement, but added that he felt the editing of the image could’ve been carried out “more smoothly” as it looked “rough” and “jagged” in parts, but nonetheless worked as a representational image. The fourth person thought it was “impressive” and appreciated the conventional use of a billing block at the bottom and social networking sites, as it appeals to a younger generation of audience such as herself. This was useful for me, as it confirmed that I had successfully advertised to the correct age group of 18-25 year-olds, by advertising an application that is commonly used by this age range. In regards to my magazine, the third person thought that the typical use of references to other films besides the main feature, was a “good part of the cover” as it added “interest” into the product, while the first person argued that while that was so, he felt the colours and fonts could’ve been selected “more carefully”, implying that it did not look as dignified as typical film magazines. Finally the second person thought that the image here was “effective” as it suggests fear with her expression, but concluded by saying that he felt it did not suggest the theme of the film it was promoting.

Poster/Magazine

In conclusion, I felt the audience feedback was successful for gaining useful, unbiased insight from other points of view that, not only was not linked to the

process of development, but also qualify as our target audience of a mixed gender group of teens/young adults. It is interesting to be made aware of certain aspects in the products that I had not noticed myself due to being to busy in the development,

such as the transition between past and present, or the question as to how a patient in an asylum is able to obtain matches in a secure environment. I am

however pleased with my products and pleased with the feedback given, as it was both positive for successful parts, but honest when parts of the trailer didn’t seem

to work effectively as planned in terms of appealing to our target audience.

Conclusion