Audience Feedback
We decided to get a range of audiences as well as our target audience of teenagers to watch our horror trailer because we felt that it would be a more coherent response due to our target audience also being teenagers.
We asked them a variety of questions about our horror trailer and from this we were able to conclude a form of evaluation for our final media product/s.
Below Melissa and I have created a video of our audience giving feedback on our horror trailer:
QUESTION 3
We asked our audience a variety of questions and recorded their responses…
What went well?
One main audience feedback was their enjoyment of the variety of camera shots and angles that we had used in our trailer. Our audience really thought that the different camera shots, angels and movements that were included within our trailer significantly helped to showcase the horror genre well and often made them feel quite tense. For example, at the beginning of our trailer we make use of high and low angle shots with canted angles when tracking Callum’s character when he is following Rhianna. Many of the audience members said that it made them feel quite ‘off edge’ when watching the video because of the way the camera shots were constantly changing.
Another particular audience feedback that was picked up on was the build up of tension using sound/music. The audience particularly thought that the diegetic sound such as the sound effects that overlapped the clips, emulated the tension in sections of the trailer. This in particular was seen at the end of the trailer where the sound pitch gradually increases and gets louder as the shots cross cut to one another, creating panic in the audience. The music from this point directly correlates to the action in the shot as it slows down and a heart beat is heard before suddenly a loud jump scare sound effects is used when the zombie jumps out at the screen.
The audience also noted that they liked the editing techniques. In particular, the found the various glitches and VHS overlays that were used over images and typography very effective. This in particular is seen at the start when the warning sign appears on the screen and a variety of glitches appear to break up the warning that is flashes at the audience. The audience felt that this effect made the trailer seem more real which created more tension in them due to the distortion they were viewing.
The audience feedback also showed that we effectively created a narrative/storyline that they would find enjoyable. They also noted that the narrative did not give too much of the plot away which left them on edge and wanting more, however it gave enough away for them to understand what was going in throughout the trailer. We notified the audience of the Narrative theory we had used: Disruption, Recognition and Attempt to repair, and from this information they informed us that we had successfully achieved these narrative points throughout our trailer. This was important for it to effectively fit to the conventions of modern horror trailers that we had found from our research.
What could we improve on?
There were a few things that the audience said that we could have improved to make our horror trailer more effective. One audience feedback that we had was in regards to lighting. Audience members informed us that our trailer may have had a more tense atmosphere if we had darkened more shots and filmed in more low-key lighting. For example, many of our shots in the stages of disruption were shot in the light and this meant that the shots may have not been as scary for the audience. This could have been improved by filming later on in the evening for the shots to be darker and more frightening for the viewers. Although we did add a grey overlay over all of our shots, in some of the clips this was not always effective and this could have been improved with this use of low-key lighting. To improve on this feedback we could have filmed more shots in low-key lighting or re-film the shots in low lighting, or we could have also added a darker tint. Despite this improvement, our audience felt that our general shots were effective and linked well to the horror genre.
Some audience members thought that us going against conventions of zombie horror could have helped our trailer be more abstract and would attract a wider demographic of people. We were informed that we could have achieved this by reducing gore, making the zombies more human like and making them more ‘paranormal like’.
One audience feedback stated that we could of used setting a bit more for effect. For example, they said that we should use more outdoor shots rather than the large proportion of indoor shots that we used. They felt that outdoor shots may have created a greater sense of ‘Exposure’ to the audience because the victim would have no where to hide. To combat this, we could have filmed additional shot outside and implemented them into the disruption section of the trailer to showcase the extreme fear that the characters were feeling. Despite this, audiences still proposed that our use of many indoor shots created an extreme sense of isolation, which was our original intention therefore we still achieved what we intended to as well as following the conventions of zombie horror.
Overall, receiving feedback from our audience allowed us to see that we had effectively aimed at our target audience in a suitable way.
Louise Richardson 