Sabrina Carolan A2 Media Studies

What have we learnt from our audience feedback?

Trailer

Over the course of developing our trailer we found that audience feedback was very beneficial to us. We were able to talk to our target audience and give them questions etc. so that we could get useful feedback and advice. We were also fortunate enough to get feedback from our teachers, who gave us a more professional advice. We were able to produce several different cuts which we were given feedback on and told to improve before producing our final trailer. This feedback has helped us understand what we need and don’t need in our trailer as well as what draws in others, without the only influence of our own biased judgement.This feedback allowed us to get the best result we could from our trailer. It allowed us to appeal to a wide target audience as well as interesting those who we didn’t necessarily target the film towards. We found that most of the people who we asked for feedback suggested that they would be interested in watching the full length film, which is our aim.

Here are some examples of the feedback we have received from the different cuts of our trailer.

First Cut

We gave our target audience a questionnaire to fill out after they watched our first cut of our trailer. We received feedback that we haven't followed all the conventions of a trailer and that it looked more like an opening title sequence. To fix this it was suggested that we added in a blank screen with text, after a shot of the actors, with the actor's name. This is instead of having the actor's name displayed on the same shot as the footage.

Before
This is what the shot looked like in the first cut of our trailer. As you can see we initially had them placed beside them on their head-shots.

After

As you can see in our second cut we made these changes and it allowed the actors names to stick out more and grab the audience's attention. We added blank black screens with the actor’s names falling onto the screen.

Related Feedback

In a later feedback form given out after our second cut it was suggested that the names don’t look very professional and don’t necessarily fit with our genre. We decided to find a more suitable font and transition. We tried various different ones and consulted with each other and a few members of our target audience before we decided on the final one. It was also suggested that we add a different colour so that the names stand out from the rest of the text on screen. The image below shows the final changes that we made.

First Cut

Another piece of feedback that we received from our first cut questionnaire was to do with the scene shot with Gavin and Leanne, the sound became muffled due to the car engine, car radio and weather conditions outside. This scene was filmed in a car and on a day when it was raining so we had the umbrella to protect the camera, which became visible in shot and some of the audience noticed it.

Before

This image shows the first draft of the trailer and the scene we wanted to re-film. The picture does not show the sound difficulties so we have included a link to the first draft and indicated the time in which the scene takes place.

(Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p88z1lLdAzo)

The scene begins at 1:31 and ends at 2:00.

The umbrella can be seen at 1:37

After

This image shows the updated trailer once we had applied this section of the feedback. With the feedback, we filmed in an updated car with the engine and radio off to prevent the sound, again, being muffled. We also planned it so that we filmed on a day when rain wasn't scheduled so we didn't need an umbrella. We also ensured that any unwanted outdoor noise was eliminated in post- production (editing).

Here is a link to our second draft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5316vPl7GTo&t=79s

(The scene starts at 1:09 and ends at 1:43)

Second Cut

The feedback we received was overall very positive and indicated that we improved since the first cut. We gave our target audience a very similar questionnaire but also asked them individually for verbal feedback. We felt that this allowed us to ask more open ended questions and ask them to elaborate on the points that they were making.

One piece of feedback we received was that the newly added music didn't transition as subtly. We originally put this music in after the feedback from the first cut suggested that the music needed to be more dynamic, unfortunately this change in music was too drastic that a few members of our target audience noticed it and felt that it didn't work as well as we had hoped.

Before

This is a screenshot of the scene where the music begins to change; it is at this moment where the drastic change in music is most noticeable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5316vPl7GTo&t=69s

At 1:58 is where the music changes.

In this scene it was also said that the music change made the scene suggest that 'Maddie' was the suspect who did something to Faye, although this may not have been true it gave the audience that impression.

After

This is a screenshot of the final trailer where we changed the music and faded it more so that the change was less noticeable. Despite the feedback saying that it made 'Maddie' look guilty we still decided that the music should come in, in her scene. We have, since the second cut, moved the scenes around so now there is an emotional scene which follows this; this makes the music less suggestive that she done it and more of a smooth transition into the next scene and setting up the atmosphere for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSrpUwjW5sA (This is a link to the final trailer)

At 1:35 is when the music now comes in, ready for the transition to the final scene.

Second Cut

Another piece of feedback suggests that there are audio issues with one of the scenes, one in particular being the scene shot with Josh and Leanne in the nearby park. Other feedback suggested that there needs to be a more dramatic scene because at that moment everything was all one toned and to make it more interesting to the audience a dramatic scene should be shown.

Before

The screenshot (below left) is from the scene where the audio is muffled due to the wind on the day of filming. This wind made it difficult to hear the actor’s voices and therefore the dialogue often went unnoticed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5316vPl7GTo

This scene takes place from 0:49 - 1:00

After

This screenshot (above right) is from our final trailer where we changed the location of the scene. We followed the feedback we were given so we changed the location to an inside location, so that we can control for any sounds that we do not want to hear such as the wind or other external noises. We also changed the script for this scene in order to make it more dramatic and interesting for our audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSrpUwjW5sA

This scene takes place from 1:46 - 1:54

Significant ongoing changes throughout all cuts

Another piece of feedback we received was related to the text on screen. In the first draft, the text on screen was written in a basic font with falling letters onto the screen. We were advised to change the falling letters as it didn't fit the trailer, wasn't conventional and didn't look professional. We took this feedback on-board and changed it to a more distinct font with less of an effect. We also got advised to add in more blank screens with text on them, slightly describing the trailer but not in too much detail as it needs to provide the audience with more enigma codes. We took this advice on board and added in multiple statements between shots into our second cut. From our second cut, it was suggested that we use a different sized text and font for the quote/review to the text on screen so the audience can differentiate between the statements and the review - also the actors names as they were written with colour. From our second cut, we were also advised to take out some of the wording for the statements to make them more punchy and dramatic for the audience to read. All of this feedback was taken on board and we made the edits we felt necessary.

Looking back now if we were to do this whole process again, there would be little that we would change. I think we would, if possible, make use of a better camera, and find one that films in a higher quality. I think this would make our trailer look more professional. I also think we would film the Councillor scene in a different room; the one that we used wasn’t beneficial for the sound recording, so we would want to make the sound quality better.

Ancillary Tasks

When we received feedback for both tasks, there was never anything too big to change. The feedback we received from both of these tasks was very useful to us and we were extremely beneficial of.

The main feedback was to do with presentation and we got told that although the two photos we used were very simple, but the text and images around made it look better and more professional. We were asked to explore different ways to present the information on the poster and find one which works well with the image. The colours were a key factor of the feedback we received. For example, the colour on the magazine cover needed to be the same shade of yellow and not too many different ones otherwise it doesn’t look very appealing and it looks too busy. With regards to the poster, it wasn't so much the colours; it was the harshness of the bottom line to the four headshots at the top of this page. The main feedback we received for the poster was to fade that line so that the central image wasn't cut off.

Evidence of Feedback: Some evidence of how we applied our feedback to our ancillary tasks.

Here are a few images of the difference between our first draft magazine cover and our final product. The left image (below) shows our first draft and where I have annotated the parts that were suggested for change. The image below (on the right) is the final products of our magazine cover with a short conclusion of what happened. The process of gaining feedback has taught me that it is important to take on constructive criticism and to make the improvements so the products appeal to our target audience.

We also received feedback on our film poster. The process of gaining feedback has taught me that it is important to take on constructive criticism and to make the improvements so the products appeal to our target audience. The image below (left) is a short analysis of the feedback we received from the drafts of our poster before creating the final product. The feedback helped us realise (similarly to the magazine cover) that it was slight changes that made a huge difference to the appearance. We believe the feedback we received from our target audience was extremely useful.

These were the main pieces of feedback that we received from our target audience about our poster. We feel like each of these are very beneficial and will help us to create a more professional and appealing poster. One of the main pieces of feedback suggested that we move the suspect photos to the top of the page and the credit block to the bottom. This was suggested as our layout in our first draft isn’t completely in line with the conventions of a film poster.

Overall

Overall the feedback we received from our target audience, teachers and peers, on all aspects of our production work, was very beneficial to us. It has allowed us to create professional looking products that we are proud of as well as please our target audience.