Evaluation Question #3 - what did you learn from your audience feedback?
In production teams we had to work together to produce a teaser trailer for a film concept (which was also broadcast on YouTube), horror film magazine featuring our film and film poster for the coursework unit of the A2 Media Qualification. We were assessed on team decisions and how each individual's skills and strengths were collaborated to produce the final products.
Initially we individually developed our own story concepts and presented these to the other production teams, gathering feedback before choosing the best one to develop further and take into production. In order to ensure preparation and planning was done thoroughly, different stages were completed in the lead-up to the completion of our final pieces:
Initially we individually developed our own story concepts and presented these to the other production teams, gathering feedback before choosing the best one to develop further and take into production. In order to ensure preparation and planning was done thoroughly, different stages were completed in the lead-up to the completion of our final pieces:
- Development (research, concepts and treatments, textual analyses)
- Pre-Production (drafting, moodboards, trailer storyboard/animation, audience resarch)
- Production (script planning, trailer filming prep, filming)
- Post-Production (evaluation of our work and progress)
Reflection on Audience Research
How was audience research used effectively when creating the final products?
Looking at the audience research, the target audience seemed to prefer the typical conventions of a horror film, e.g. most respondents preferred the antagonist's weapon of choice to be a knife as opposed to a pair of scissors and they preferred to music, dialogue and captions as opposed to not being accompanied with music. We went with these as music typically builds atmosphere, suspense and tension in a trailer which essentially aims to capture an audience and draw them in, persuading them to go and see the film. Our film concept was slasher and since the knife was the weapon most popular with our respondents and it is the weapon of choice used heavily in this slasher, we included this in the trailer.
Do the final products reflect the audience feedback?
I do feel that the final products reflect the audience research, which was also refiected in the audience feedback as it was mostly positive since we used the responses given as general outline in the production of the final products.
Looking at the audience research, the target audience seemed to prefer the typical conventions of a horror film, e.g. most respondents preferred the antagonist's weapon of choice to be a knife as opposed to a pair of scissors and they preferred to music, dialogue and captions as opposed to not being accompanied with music. We went with these as music typically builds atmosphere, suspense and tension in a trailer which essentially aims to capture an audience and draw them in, persuading them to go and see the film. Our film concept was slasher and since the knife was the weapon most popular with our respondents and it is the weapon of choice used heavily in this slasher, we included this in the trailer.
Do the final products reflect the audience feedback?
I do feel that the final products reflect the audience research, which was also refiected in the audience feedback as it was mostly positive since we used the responses given as general outline in the production of the final products.
Collecting Feedback
Upon completion of the final products I set out to gather feedback on them directly from the target audience. The final products were shown to the
other production teams and general feedback was gathered using tables, as displayed below.
other production teams and general feedback was gathered using tables, as displayed below.
Although the feedback from this session was very vague due to time constraints, they were good starting points for general opinions of what was liked, disliked and could have been improved, particularly as some points came up a few times. Concerning the poster, the respondents liked the layout, image. They also liked the colour scheme, which a few said linked well with and strongly connoted that it was horror although it wasn't made immediately obvious, and the heavy use of red which linked to the slasher subgenre and connoted blood, a convention of this subgenre. They said it looked very professional. On the other hand a lot of the respondents said the tagline should be smaller and the title should be bigger. In addition a few suggested that the image colour be a different colour as there was a bit too much red going on and that the details of the image were difficult to make out. Some also said the release date should not overlap thr title as it slightly distracted from what is a vital element of the poster.
Prep and Planning
Afterwards, in groups with people from the other production teams also answering this evaluation question we brainstormed different avenues for gathering data as well as what sorts of questions we'd ask and in what format(s), as shown below. In addition I individually made notes, planning the content and structure of my answer to the question. We focused mostly on what plaforms would be most effective for collecting feedback for each of the products due to their form, as well as thinking about different methods for collecting feedback and, after reviewing feedback, what practical or theoretical issues may have stopped you from including/excluding things or creating the products in ways that respondents may have suggested.
Prep and Planning
Afterwards, in groups with people from the other production teams also answering this evaluation question we brainstormed different avenues for gathering data as well as what sorts of questions we'd ask and in what format(s), as shown below. In addition I individually made notes, planning the content and structure of my answer to the question. We focused mostly on what plaforms would be most effective for collecting feedback for each of the products due to their form, as well as thinking about different methods for collecting feedback and, after reviewing feedback, what practical or theoretical issues may have stopped you from including/excluding things or creating the products in ways that respondents may have suggested.
Afterwards I asked people to watch the trailer and recorded their reactions to it.
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Next I brainstormed ideas for things I would ask people in my video interviews before making a list of questions I'd use, as displayed below.
Then I conducted my interviews with four people using the questions I came up with.
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Next I gathered feedback on the print products using Facebook, a popular social network platform. I used this because it is easy to use and is versatile for using different types of media which made it easy to use in displaying the three final products. In addition, as so many people use this platform I found it very easy to gather a large amount of useful feedback in a relatively short space of time.
Film Poster - Facebook
Film Poster - Facebook
Magazine - Facebook
Trailer
I then gathered feedback on the trailer from people using Facebook, YouTube and BlackBerry Messenger, asking them to comment on their likes, dislikes and what could be improved. However I did find this more difficult than gathering feedback for the print products as many seemed to think it was time-consuming to watch the trailer and then provide sufficient feedback. On Facebook I did find it hard to gather feedback for these reasons, in addition to the fact that people were much more focused on giving feedback on the print products since pictures are much more popular in terms of user engagement than videos on this platform. On BlackBerry Messenger I was able to reach out and engage with people individually so I found that it was harder for them to refuse and therefore I gathered more feedback. In addition it is available across many different brands of mobile phone which meant there were many more people available to reach out to. On YouTube we received very little feedback because so few people had seen the trailer in relation to the amount of users that engage with this platform.
From YouTube, the results show that most of our viewers were males/females, ages of each gender. This information could help us know how to effectively market or advertise the film as it helps provide a target audience which this teaser is already popular with and look at other films which have been successful with this target audience and use inspiration from them in order to better our products.
E.G. advertising through gaming sites for example would be appropriate as a majority of male between the ages of 13-24 go on such sites. YouTube may be a helpful site in accessing information about how well the teaser did, no comments where left making it difficult to know what the audiences opinion were on it. Whether or not the audience liked the teaser and would watch it is not presented. Useful criticism can also not be gained, which is a drawback as it's unclear what could have been done to improve the trailer. However, there is a 'likes' bar present where viewers may either like or dislike the trailer. We only received likes and no dislikes which is a positive, on the other hand it was from a small portion of the people which did view the teaser as a result an over all conclusion can not be drawn.
I then gathered feedback on the trailer from people using Facebook, YouTube and BlackBerry Messenger, asking them to comment on their likes, dislikes and what could be improved. However I did find this more difficult than gathering feedback for the print products as many seemed to think it was time-consuming to watch the trailer and then provide sufficient feedback. On Facebook I did find it hard to gather feedback for these reasons, in addition to the fact that people were much more focused on giving feedback on the print products since pictures are much more popular in terms of user engagement than videos on this platform. On BlackBerry Messenger I was able to reach out and engage with people individually so I found that it was harder for them to refuse and therefore I gathered more feedback. In addition it is available across many different brands of mobile phone which meant there were many more people available to reach out to. On YouTube we received very little feedback because so few people had seen the trailer in relation to the amount of users that engage with this platform.
From YouTube, the results show that most of our viewers were males/females, ages of each gender. This information could help us know how to effectively market or advertise the film as it helps provide a target audience which this teaser is already popular with and look at other films which have been successful with this target audience and use inspiration from them in order to better our products.
E.G. advertising through gaming sites for example would be appropriate as a majority of male between the ages of 13-24 go on such sites. YouTube may be a helpful site in accessing information about how well the teaser did, no comments where left making it difficult to know what the audiences opinion were on it. Whether or not the audience liked the teaser and would watch it is not presented. Useful criticism can also not be gained, which is a drawback as it's unclear what could have been done to improve the trailer. However, there is a 'likes' bar present where viewers may either like or dislike the trailer. We only received likes and no dislikes which is a positive, on the other hand it was from a small portion of the people which did view the teaser as a result an over all conclusion can not be drawn.
BlackBerry Messenger
Then I held a session with a group of peple from our target audience, showing them the final products and invited them to express any opinions they had. This was good as none of them had seen these before and so I was able to collect genuine feedback.
Conclusion
From the audience feedback I have collected I have found that we received overall a positive response to our products and although there was room for minor tweaks and improvement, the products were received very well.