EVALUATION QUESTION 3:WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

QUANTITATIVE DATAAfter creating our three media products- trailer, film poster and magazine cover, we decided to gain audience feedback in order to gain a greater knowledge on what went well in our work and what we could have done to improve. To achieve this, we created a survey on surveymonkey.com and ensured that we gained 50 responses, both from in and beyond our target audience (15-25 years of age) in order to gain valid feedback after advertising ‘The Aftermath’ on social media.

As shown through the data, we achieved our aim of creating a film in the horror genre since more than half of the respondents identified conventions of the horror genre. From some of the more detailed feedback we got, we found that this was due to features such as the stabbing shots and use of fake blood and makeup, as well as the build in music, causing heightened fear amongst audiences. However, it is important to note that 3 of our respondents (6%) felt that our trailer was of the drama genre, which could be due to the fact that we explore the theme of relationships between people such as from brothers (characters of Alex and Jordan) and friendship (between Adrien and Samantha), which is typical of the drama genre.

This can also be applied to our apocalyptic sub-genre (as shown above) in which 59% of respondents felt that it was extremely relevant to the apocalypse sub-genre, from feedback it became evident that this was largely to do with the news clips, editing and the difference in the busy shots in London as well as the empty shots of train station and fields. However, the amount of people who felt that the apocalypse sub-genre was ‘somewhat relevant’ rather than ‘very relevant’ was close (48%) which could be due to the fact that we did not use a large amount of gore which may have been expected of a trailer with horror as the main genre. Additionally, audiences may have felt that the trailer was only ‘somewhat relevant’ due to the fact that it would have come across as more apocalyptic if we were able to gain a budget. This would have allowed us to spend money on makeup and costume, making the actors and infected people more suited to the genre and also allow us to create more destructed settings, adhering to the apocalyptic genre.

The fact that 84% of our respondents felt that they would see the film after watching the trailer, proves that our production was successful in its task of enticing audiences to see the film. The 16% who responded saying that they would not watch it may have chosen to due to the fact that they are not fans of the horror apocalyptic genre or felt that they would not enjoy the creation as a film due to various reasons. However, overall, the result we gained from this question is extremely positive and shows that a film version of ‘The Aftermath’ trailer is an idea which appeals to many who watched it. This feedback proves that our trailer is highly effective due to the fact that we were able to create enigma, convey the plot and also have a good structure in which we could demonstrate the plot to the audience clearly.

Our chosen age group during the creation of the trailer was 15-25 years of age, which caused us to be pleased by the fact that 92% of responses also felt that this was the age group in which our film trailer would appeal to. The reason that the film is likely to appeal to this audience is due to the fact that the main character of Samantha, is played by a 17 year old, therefore, audiences of this age may feel like they can identify with her character. Additionally, many of the infected characters were within the ages of the target market and therefore, this may cause audiences to have more interest in the film so that they can see how their age group has been represented. This would also help to explain why a respondent felt that the target audience would be suitable for those aged 25+ or 40+ since the main protagonist fits into both these categories and therefore, they may have felt that is could attract an older audience.

As a group, we spent a large amount of time deciding the settings we would film in due to the fact that it is a vital part of showing the world as ‘apocalyptic’ and deserted. It would not have made sense for there to be many people around during the filming, due to the fact that the population would have presumably decreased, therefore, we ensured that we filmed at times when there would not be many people and worked at places which we thought would suit the storyline through showing the characters’ isolation. For this reason, we filmed a large majority in places which were not highly populated and also used forests, therefore, it is good to know that 96% of respondents believed that these were highly effective locations and setting. These locations and settings were incredibly effective due to the fact that they emphasise the journey in which the protagonists have taken, as shown through the large range of locations, emphasising that they have travelled far, especially through the walking shots. The fact that many of the settings are shown with just the two main protagonists walking also emphasises the isolation of the post-apocalyptic world and the fact that they are excluded from society they experienced before the apocalypse.

Due to the large amount of shots we had taken, we were extremely careful in the way in which our narrative was constructed and therefore kept checking with others that the trailer was making sense. Although a lot of our clips were not used, I feel that this ensured that there were no unnecessary clips which would have made the trailer feel long and confusing. To achieve this, we planned a three act structure and the particular shots which would go into these to check that the shots we planned on using were effective without giving away too much information about the storyline. This worked well for us due to the fact that 87.76% of our responses agreed that the narrative was made clear in the trailer. In our qualitative data we received a response which stated that “the storyline was slightly unclear” which may be due to the amount of montages and quick cuts we had, however, it is more important to note that the majority felt the narrative was clear.In order to ensure that the trailer had a clear narrative, we planned the storyline in terms of a three act structure, which we found was done by many other film trailers. Therefore, before editing we planned out every detail of the film into acts (as shown below) and ensured that these acts were separated clearly through use of different musical items and types of shots. For example, act three differs to act one due to the fact that it is heavily based on the montage which is incorporated with fast paced music and a crescendo, whereas, act one is based on the introduction of the storyline and therefore a more monotone musical item, keeping the focus on the shots.

A large majority of our time was spent on looking for music and ensuring that it fitted in well with the clips we had put into the sequence. We wished to have many shots which were in time with the music in order to keep the audience interested in the trailer and enticed into wanting to know what would happen next. A good example of this is through the fact that we had three different music pieces to separate each act and deliberately got music which was increasingly building towards the end of the trailer, to heighten suspense and tension. Our trailer began with a piece called ‘Intimidation’ which was mainly made up of beats with a monotone sound in the background, keeping the focus on the busy shots of London which lead up to the news flashes and montages on them in which we used various ‘cinematic noises’. After this, we used a piece called Wrong Turn in which a dull sound was played throughout the clip with random small drum beats. Using a diminuendo, we were then able to progress onto a piece called ‘The Escalation’ which then led onto various other pieces and back to ‘The Escalation’ for the ending of our trailer and the montage.

We decided to focus our trailer on modern conventions of the horror genre as well in incorporate classical conventions of the genre such as the use of gore (achieved by our fake blood and makeup). The modern intake of the horror genre can be seen in the fact that our titles have a clear and modern look to them due to the fact that they are on the shots themselves rather than after on a black screen which would have been a feature of classic horror films. We kept to all our media products being a modern example of the horror genre through the characters we used as well. For example, conventional horror films usually base their trailer on the female role being vulnerable and in need of rescuing. However, we decided to go against this and modernise gender roles in our trailer through making our protagonists both have heroic roles within the storyline, as also emphasised through the use of both characters on the film poster and also that there is no hierarchy of power shown through their positioning on the film poster. Despite this, we also used many conventions of the horror genre such as the dim lighting, used to emphasise the post-apocalyptic world due to the fact that it would not have made sense to have bright lighting which would have connoted a positive and utopian world.

We chose the title due to the fact that it holds relevance with the apocalyptic sub-genre since it is based in a post-apocalyptic time. Therefore, the narrative matches the name ‘The Aftermath’ and from the action shown in the trailer, it is clear as to why this is the cause of the title. However, after gaining feedback from respondents who claimed to have said no to this question, I became aware that the reason as to why the title did not seem relevant to the trailer is due to the fact that they had a lack of understanding as to what the word aftermath means. Another reason for this could also be due to the fact that we may not have made it clear that the film world was based in a post-apocalyptic time and it may have been presumed to have been based in the time of the apocalypse, making the title seem irrelevant.

We deliberately worked with the same colour schemes, characters, font types and many other qualities to ensure that they worked well and complimented each other, which is shown to have

been effective through the fact that 96% of our respondents felt the three components did complement each other. The colour scheme of the poster and trailer were well incorporated due to the fact that they all had edited lighting, in order to ensure that it created an apocalyptic look. Although we could not incorporate this into the magazine cover (due to the fact that magazine covers all follow their own colour schemes and not one matched to the film they promote), the fact that the cover was mainly based on the colour white, it provided the clear, modern look we had achieved in the trailer and poster. Additionally, the font types we had chosen to use (Futura, Times and Dedicus Putro) were used across the poster and trailer and therefore complimented each other, especially due to the fact that the title is recognisable by the font, which is bold and in capitals. The same can be said for the ‘FilmMaker’ title of the magazine cover in which it is in a bold, modern looking font which matches our own title choice.