Film trailer:
For this first question I decided to look at a variety of different aspects of my horror film trailer. They were:
- The title
- Setting/location
- Camerawork/editing
- Font style of titles
- Characters
- Plot/narrative
- Special effects
- How the genre is suggested
Film magazine front cover:
Film poster:
https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/e9E837FKRnq/media-question-2/?mode=movie#/
Applying media theories to my production:
Upon completing my horror film trailer I began seeking feedback from my audience in order to improve it. Below I have added some quotes from people who have seen the three media pieces.
Trailer:
Eddie Timmins: "I was really impressed with your editing and the final film trailer looks professional and something you might see in the cinema or on TV."
Alex Hedley: "I enjoyed watching it and it was very professional, it encouraged me to want to watch the real film."
Poster:
Ben Cunnold: "I really liked the main image of the church in the background, it helps set the tone and atmosphere. Additionally, the retro text style reinforces the apprehensive religious connotations also within the poster."
Dan Chapman: "I personally liked the way you added the eyes of the antagonist within the sky, and the images of the protagonists, it connotes good vs evil and emphasises the conflict within the film.
Magazine:
Zak Wilkins: "I was impressed with the Empire logo at the top of the page, it looks slick and professional, making the magazine front cover reminiscent of a real film magazine."
Liam Nixon: "I like the way you have added three images of other advertised films near the bottom of the page, making the film magazine conform to forms and conventions of existing products.
In addition to this audible feedback I created another questionnaire with the online technology Survey Monkey and then distributed it to pupils within my school.
From this questionnaire I was able to collect some audience feedback and represent it in these graphs:
The question two responses gave me an insight into the initial views of my products from the audience. The film trailer got 8.5 out of 10, the poster 7.1 and the magazine 6.75.
The responses from question three allowed me to gain an insight into how the trailer was perceived by my audience. The main aim of a film trailer is to engage the viewer and persuade them to watch the entire film. 22% of the audience would watch the film having seen the trailer, 34% said no, whilst the remaining 44% weren't sure. Whilst the number of potential viewers is perceptively small, this could be down to other factors e.g. the people who answered the survey may not be particularly interested in the horror genre. Additionally, the relatively small sample size could also explain the low figure.
I was very happy with the responses to question four, as the answers suggest that my film trailer was able to convey the plot without giving too much away, another main purpose of a film trailer.
I also quizzed the audience on my ancillaries. The film poster, the first of the print tasks, is designed to advertise and promote the film, enticing audiences to come and watch it. 89% of the audience who completed the survey claimed that the poster was successful in promoting the film.
The other print ancillary was the front cover of a film magazine. This is also utilised during the marketing stage of the film life cycle to persuade audiences to come and watch the film. I was keen for my film magazine front cover to adhere to forms and conventions and look exactly like existing media products. A 100% audience response stating my ancillary looks reminiscent of existing products demonstrates I succeeded in doing this.
Whilst researching several cohesive marketing campaigns during the early stage of this coursework, I discovered that the most successful film packages created some kind of link between the main film trailer and the print advertisement. As I was keen to do this for my own media products, I was really pleased with the response that 100% of the audience were able to see a link between the three products.
Question eight of the questionnaire gave the audience the opportunity to state they would change about the film trailer. I received no changes to make which I was both pleased and disappointed with, the former because it suggests my film trailer is already a polished package, and the latter because I am a perfectionist and believe that there is always room for improvement.
For the final question I gave the audience the opportunity to state any improvements to any of the ancillary tasks. I was pleased that the responses for this question gave me something to change on my print work, the things mentioned include:
- Make the antagonists eyes look realistic on the film poster
- Cut out the protagonists and re-add them in to give it a less artificial look.
- Make the sky darker.
These stated improvements were subsequently made.
I also conducted an audience response focus group:
I chose Dan and Lennon as my target audience example as they are the perfect representation of the audience I was trying to attract. Additionally, I chose one individual (Dan) who enjoys the horror genre, and another one (Lennon) who is not a huge fan of the genre, to compare their interpretations and how they each received my production.
Although their views on horror films contrast, both Dan and Lennon were united in some of their points and opinions. As stated by Stuart Hall's reception theory both seemed to be in a position of dominance, meaning that they both seemed to accept the messages my media product was stating. Given their contrasting views on horror films this suggests that my media product is a positive representation of the genre and the messages within can be understood by all individuals, regardless of their opinions of horror films.
Having obtained some audience feedback in various forms I was able to create a list of things I learnt from this feedback:
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