What Have I Learnt From Audience Feedback?

Once we completed our Horror trailer, we showed it to around 30 of our peers that match the target audience of our work. From this we collected their responses; both positive remarks and constructive criticism that could be used to improve future media products. 

Strengths of DIABLOUS:

People thought the iconography of a
pendulum worked well in this part.

According to audience feedback, our hard work to find lots of interesting locations to film in paid off as many people mentioned that the locations fit the codes and conventions of a Horror trailer (e.g. they seemed isolated) and that this added to the overall professional look and atmosphere of the media product. Linked to this, we received positive remarks about the mise-en-scene and iconography of the shots especially in the first few caravan shots, as the use of the satanic symbols, candles, crystal pendulum and overall set up of the shots made the sub-genre apparent to the audience and the shots more eye catching.

We got positive feedback on this shot
as they liked the way it was laid out.

Lots of the audience remarked on the good use of angles, and the variety and composition of shots throughout- examples of moments they thought worked well were the use of a high angle when the characters were running through the warehouse, and the mediums hand hanging at the side of the shot, with the rest of the building in the background Something else that came up a lot as a positive of our trailer was the quick editing to create pace and the way the sound was synchronised to this well.

The feedback we got on the end of the
trailer was positive as they remarked
how the editing made it a good
 killer shot.

One audience member specifically pointed out the blown out candle moment about halfway through that sparks a further pace build-up and said this worked well not only to create atmosphere but also made the piece look well put together as the image matched the soundtrack. Lastly, we were told that the final shot of the medium screaming with edited eyes was a effective ending and killer shot as it startled them.



Weaknesses of DIABOLUS:



Where some people liked the handheld cam
on this part, others found it too unsteady.

A problem with creating your own media product, especially one with a narrative like a film trailer is that not only do you have to come up with an idea in the first place, you have to transfer this to the trailer in a way that makes sense to people that haven't read the idea brief. This is where we could have improved, as pointed out by quite a few audience members: the absence of either dialogue, a voice-over or titles throughout, means that unless you already know the background to the idea, you are a bit lost as to what is actually happening on screen.


This shot was intended to show
the DIABOLUS transfering to
chris, however, again due to lack of
explanation, many audience members
weren't sure what was happening.



This shot of chris walking was supposed
to connote him being possessed and
maybe travelling elsewhere to spread
the DIABOLUS. However because of the lack
of explanation, the audience found this part
confusing.

Another element of the trailer that the audience remarked could have been improved is that it lacks suspense, which is crucial in a horror trailer to fit the genre and entice people to see it. Part of the lack of suspense they said was due to seeing the antagonist too often. I think this is a valid point, but if we had made the storyline more obvious, it would have been apparent that the Medium is not necessarily the antagonist as the DIABOLUS demon jumps from body to body, meaning that in some shots throughout, Chris is actually the one being possessed. However, another thing they said that would have made the project more suspenseful would be better sound editing to create tension and jumpy parts.

In conclusion, although there are parts where our audience felt could be improved, for instance the suspense and overall telling of the storyline; we got lots of positive feedback about the strengths of our media product too. I think this shows that with enough research and planning and the right equipment, it is possible for a consumer to become a media producer themselves.