Evaluation Question 3 What have you learned from your audience feedback
Throughout the course of my work I have come to understand the importance of audience feed back. Audience feedback is by far one the most important and detrimental aspects of the film industry especially independent films. Audience feedback highlights key important features within a product that the producers may have or may not have been aware of, such as things that they could improve on or what the specified product product lacked. In doing so it establishes a mutual relationship between the audience and production team, this allows the audience to feel that their responses are being taken into consideration and not looked over. The reason as to why this is vital for independent film makers such as my group is that we lack the financial stability to pump out films every single year and have sufficient advertisements such as companies like marvel which have made over 10 movies within the past decade. So realising this it lets me and my group know that for independent films a slight mistake could spell out the end for our franchise, by considering everything that our audience says to us utilizing it we can prolong our footing within the film industry, in a sense a make or break scenario.
Carrying out the research prior to making the product enabled my group to understand what our audience essentially wanted from us from the beginning. This essentially was the foundation of what we built upon with further studying. Realising who our demographic was and essentially what their they preferences were for the genre and what they could identify themselves with,helped us construct a more catered product. The first couple of questions from my survey enabled us to establish who exactly we were catering for with our product. Establishing age, gender and preferences allowed my group to apply certain features into our trailer such as designer clothing which wouldn't of necessarily have been considered if we were just going along the lines with conventionality. What I mean by this is in terms of tropes and formalities there are certain dress codes associated with certain characters. For example the 'Jock' who is the dominant male character for some part of the film/trailer is seen wearing mainstream clothing and our audience helped us pick out the right clothing suited to him. Within this scene where the 'Jock' tells the killer to get out after begin rejected by Amy we get a glimpse of the clothes that he is wearing,a designer jacket along with Levi jeans which help illustrate his social status within the group of friends present and the narrative (the top dog).
Furthermore by us listening to our audience and recognising that the majority of our demographic is teens it helped me create ancillary products that related to them and also allow them to connect to certain characters within the trailer. Due to society now being mainly consumerist and glamorized with social media platforms helps us be more precise with what we aimed and set out to do with our product.
When we had finished construction/production side of our trailer we organised a screening group to where we acquired those of the age group of our main demographic. We decided to rather than play the trailer on one single screen to where everyone sat next to each other, have them watch the trailers on individuals computers with headphones on. The reason as to why is that this avoided peer pressure and also the Hawthorne effect it was simply down to what they gathered from the trailer.
After they had finished watching the trailer individually, we asked them to fill out our questionnaires that we had written up to see if they truly understood the plot and if we managed to implement certain features that were asked from us in prior surveys and questionnaires. Within the questionnaire that we had given them had 11 questions all together.
Question 1 - What did you like about the trailer - Me and my group felt that it was important that this question was introduced within the questionnaire from the beginning, to help us recognise what we did correctly throughout the process of creating and finalising the trailer. By seeing what we did correctly helps us understand that to some extent we were able to cater in some extent to the demands of our audience in terms of useful information from our survey before we initially started constructing the trailer.
Question 2 - Did you understand what was happening? - This question was derived from the thought that me and my group had realising that with some conventional slasher trailers and even with the movies there tends to be hidden symbolic meanings behind certain scenes and in terms of trailers too fast paced for some audiences to keep up. So by stating if they understood the trailer or not helps us understand whether or not if the trailer was too complicated and if we cluttered it with too much action or too many scenes in general thus keeping them interested.
Question 3 - How was the sound effects? - Establishing whether or not if the sound effects were useful with the trailer is very useful feedback. As it allowed us to know if any sound effects or even diagetic sounds were displaced throughout the trailer. We tried our best to keep our trailer as conventional as possible alongside it being realistic in terms of sound effects, in a sense not going overboard. One of the responses that were given through physical confrontation stated that the screams felt extremely authentic and held a lot of weight to certain scenes such as the final scene where Brittney screams Amy. So by understanding and knowing that we are doing okay alongside the sound section of the trailer is extremely useful information/feedback.
Question 4 - On a scale of 1-10 how was the editing? - Just like the previous question 'how was the sound effects?' this question is similar as it allows us to evaluate ourselves and implement the critiques given to us to usage. Understanding whether or not the editing was any good helps me and my group to know if the editing had any added effect subconsciously towards the narrative of the trailer. knowing that the trailer is a non-linear text meaning it doesn't necessarily follow the same story line the film would in terms of pacing and the narrative agency allows us to edit any scene to had tension within the trailer. The feedback we got from this question was all positive however does let us know that in other areas primarily as the editing isn't perfect we can improve certain things to make the trailer even better.
Question 5 - Did the locations reinforce the Horror themes- Primarily this is one of the most vital questions which we found to very useful upon reading up on the feedback we had got. Since we tried our best to keep the trailer as close to traditional slasher tropes and conventions,knowing whether or not the locations we used suited the genre is very important. The feedback we received once again were very positive and allowed me and my group to know that we appeased our demographic in terms of location and also the times that we filmed in different locations (morning and night).
Question 6- What was your favourite part of the trailer - The aim of this question was to locate what the audience found to be the best part allowing us to know what we were doing correctly aesthetically and apply more of it throughout the trailer. Most of the results stated that the most liked part of the trailer was the bus scene to where the Killer disappeared as the white van drove past. This was a conventional slasher scene that we wanted implemented within our trailer and it evidently has paid off. Along side this there wasn't many scenes of blood or gore but it was hinted at with the stab scene where the killer stabs Ayo which some also enjoyed.
Question 7 - What was your least favourite part of the trailer - The aim of this question despite some bias from the results was to allow the audience to truly give their thoughts on what they may not have agreed or liked throughout the trailer. Some stated that there was nothing throughout the trailer that they didn't like and some gave somewhat an honest answer. Some wrote down that they didn't particularly enjoy the scene where the killer was walking behind the trees at the end sequence of the trailer as it could have been better edited in their opinion. Another stated that they didn't necessarily enjoy the cheesy phone call scene where Amy the final girl declines Brittneys proposal to attend the bar that evening. After further watching through the scene and re-analysing it myself I am myself able to agree with the respondent that that scene could have been done with a bit more life from Amy as it lacked the tonality and acting flare to make the phone call seem realistic. However all of the criticisms received enabled me and my group to understand the flaws within our trailer and judgements thus allowing us further along to the line to improve our work.
Question 8 - If this was a real movie would you go and watch it - This question conventionally was designed to see that even though within previous answers they stated that they did enjoy watching our trailer and what they didn't like about it aesthetically it enabled us to know if this was them just being nice or if they were genuine. Knowing that the majority of the responses received from this question stated that they would go and watch this movie as they believe it would be refreshing and something new due to the over saturation of marvel movies within the film industry over the past current years.
Question 9 - Are you able to identify who the characters are - This question enabled us to know if design wise if the subliminal hints were enough to establish subconsciously with the audience who each individual character was. All of the results stated yes allowing us to know we accomplished the basic task of creating the correct profile for each individual character throughout the trailer.
Question 10 - Does the trailer follow codes and conventions?- This question was inaccurate at I highly doubt the screening group we had understood slasher conventions and codes nevertheless understood what they mean.However to some extent when me and my group broke down the meaning of it they understood what it meant from there on, knowing this they answered yes nevertheless to some extent telling us that in regards to the basic underlined knowledge that they have of slasher tropes codes and conventions we followed it. This feedback was also vital as following traditional slasher conventions and codes were the main aim of us constructing this trailer.
Question 11 - How does the trailer make you feel?- This question was very basic in the sense that it was aimed at allowing us to understand if the trailer had any impact onto our audience to which it did. Some said that they were scared and some said that they were interested with the production side of the trailer and how we constructed it. through various different attempts and production phases of the trailer which I have mentioned within another evaluation question.
Carrying out the research prior to making the product enabled my group to understand what our audience essentially wanted from us from the beginning. This essentially was the foundation of what we built upon with further studying. Realising who our demographic was and essentially what their they preferences were for the genre and what they could identify themselves with,helped us construct a more catered product. The first couple of questions from my survey enabled us to establish who exactly we were catering for with our product. Establishing age, gender and preferences allowed my group to apply certain features into our trailer such as designer clothing which wouldn't of necessarily have been considered if we were just going along the lines with conventionality. What I mean by this is in terms of tropes and formalities there are certain dress codes associated with certain characters. For example the 'Jock' who is the dominant male character for some part of the film/trailer is seen wearing mainstream clothing and our audience helped us pick out the right clothing suited to him. Within this scene where the 'Jock' tells the killer to get out after begin rejected by Amy we get a glimpse of the clothes that he is wearing,a designer jacket along with Levi jeans which help illustrate his social status within the group of friends present and the narrative (the top dog).
Furthermore by us listening to our audience and recognising that the majority of our demographic is teens it helped me create ancillary products that related to them and also allow them to connect to certain characters within the trailer. Due to society now being mainly consumerist and glamorized with social media platforms helps us be more precise with what we aimed and set out to do with our product.
When we had finished construction/production side of our trailer we organised a screening group to where we acquired those of the age group of our main demographic. We decided to rather than play the trailer on one single screen to where everyone sat next to each other, have them watch the trailers on individuals computers with headphones on. The reason as to why is that this avoided peer pressure and also the Hawthorne effect it was simply down to what they gathered from the trailer.
After they had finished watching the trailer individually, we asked them to fill out our questionnaires that we had written up to see if they truly understood the plot and if we managed to implement certain features that were asked from us in prior surveys and questionnaires. Within the questionnaire that we had given them had 11 questions all together.
Question 1 - What did you like about the trailer - Me and my group felt that it was important that this question was introduced within the questionnaire from the beginning, to help us recognise what we did correctly throughout the process of creating and finalising the trailer. By seeing what we did correctly helps us understand that to some extent we were able to cater in some extent to the demands of our audience in terms of useful information from our survey before we initially started constructing the trailer.
Question 2 - Did you understand what was happening? - This question was derived from the thought that me and my group had realising that with some conventional slasher trailers and even with the movies there tends to be hidden symbolic meanings behind certain scenes and in terms of trailers too fast paced for some audiences to keep up. So by stating if they understood the trailer or not helps us understand whether or not if the trailer was too complicated and if we cluttered it with too much action or too many scenes in general thus keeping them interested.
Question 3 - How was the sound effects? - Establishing whether or not if the sound effects were useful with the trailer is very useful feedback. As it allowed us to know if any sound effects or even diagetic sounds were displaced throughout the trailer. We tried our best to keep our trailer as conventional as possible alongside it being realistic in terms of sound effects, in a sense not going overboard. One of the responses that were given through physical confrontation stated that the screams felt extremely authentic and held a lot of weight to certain scenes such as the final scene where Brittney screams Amy. So by understanding and knowing that we are doing okay alongside the sound section of the trailer is extremely useful information/feedback.
Question 4 - On a scale of 1-10 how was the editing? - Just like the previous question 'how was the sound effects?' this question is similar as it allows us to evaluate ourselves and implement the critiques given to us to usage. Understanding whether or not the editing was any good helps me and my group to know if the editing had any added effect subconsciously towards the narrative of the trailer. knowing that the trailer is a non-linear text meaning it doesn't necessarily follow the same story line the film would in terms of pacing and the narrative agency allows us to edit any scene to had tension within the trailer. The feedback we got from this question was all positive however does let us know that in other areas primarily as the editing isn't perfect we can improve certain things to make the trailer even better.
Question 5 - Did the locations reinforce the Horror themes- Primarily this is one of the most vital questions which we found to very useful upon reading up on the feedback we had got. Since we tried our best to keep the trailer as close to traditional slasher tropes and conventions,knowing whether or not the locations we used suited the genre is very important. The feedback we received once again were very positive and allowed me and my group to know that we appeased our demographic in terms of location and also the times that we filmed in different locations (morning and night).
Question 6- What was your favourite part of the trailer - The aim of this question was to locate what the audience found to be the best part allowing us to know what we were doing correctly aesthetically and apply more of it throughout the trailer. Most of the results stated that the most liked part of the trailer was the bus scene to where the Killer disappeared as the white van drove past. This was a conventional slasher scene that we wanted implemented within our trailer and it evidently has paid off. Along side this there wasn't many scenes of blood or gore but it was hinted at with the stab scene where the killer stabs Ayo which some also enjoyed.
Question 7 - What was your least favourite part of the trailer - The aim of this question despite some bias from the results was to allow the audience to truly give their thoughts on what they may not have agreed or liked throughout the trailer. Some stated that there was nothing throughout the trailer that they didn't like and some gave somewhat an honest answer. Some wrote down that they didn't particularly enjoy the scene where the killer was walking behind the trees at the end sequence of the trailer as it could have been better edited in their opinion. Another stated that they didn't necessarily enjoy the cheesy phone call scene where Amy the final girl declines Brittneys proposal to attend the bar that evening. After further watching through the scene and re-analysing it myself I am myself able to agree with the respondent that that scene could have been done with a bit more life from Amy as it lacked the tonality and acting flare to make the phone call seem realistic. However all of the criticisms received enabled me and my group to understand the flaws within our trailer and judgements thus allowing us further along to the line to improve our work.
Question 8 - If this was a real movie would you go and watch it - This question conventionally was designed to see that even though within previous answers they stated that they did enjoy watching our trailer and what they didn't like about it aesthetically it enabled us to know if this was them just being nice or if they were genuine. Knowing that the majority of the responses received from this question stated that they would go and watch this movie as they believe it would be refreshing and something new due to the over saturation of marvel movies within the film industry over the past current years.
Question 9 - Are you able to identify who the characters are - This question enabled us to know if design wise if the subliminal hints were enough to establish subconsciously with the audience who each individual character was. All of the results stated yes allowing us to know we accomplished the basic task of creating the correct profile for each individual character throughout the trailer.
Question 10 - Does the trailer follow codes and conventions?- This question was inaccurate at I highly doubt the screening group we had understood slasher conventions and codes nevertheless understood what they mean.However to some extent when me and my group broke down the meaning of it they understood what it meant from there on, knowing this they answered yes nevertheless to some extent telling us that in regards to the basic underlined knowledge that they have of slasher tropes codes and conventions we followed it. This feedback was also vital as following traditional slasher conventions and codes were the main aim of us constructing this trailer.
Question 11 - How does the trailer make you feel?- This question was very basic in the sense that it was aimed at allowing us to understand if the trailer had any impact onto our audience to which it did. Some said that they were scared and some said that they were interested with the production side of the trailer and how we constructed it. through various different attempts and production phases of the trailer which I have mentioned within another evaluation question.
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