Evaluation: Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For our primary research into target audiences we created a questionnaire and sent it via Facebook users for them to fill in, this was effective because it targeted a larger audience and we could access information from a range of different audiences instead of limiting ourselves. This then helped us create our audience profile which I created and gave an example of (link to post). This questionnaire also gave us the information on what typical storylines audiences would be expecting and the conventions they associate this genre with. A typical answer to question that we got from our audience questionnaire was that gangs, violence and drug use was a typical convention and expectation within the storyline. Here is an example of a typical answer:

To get feedback on our media products we created a basic questionnaire which gave a rating on each of the products and whether or not our audience thought any improvements
 were needed. We handed the questionnaires out to 15 individuals both target and accidental audiences, this way we could gather the positive and negative responses to get an unbiased view on areas we could improve on and what aspects were a success. Overall the feedback we got was fairly positive and everyone recognised our genre through the codes and conventions we used within the main product and ancillary products which was the most important aspect.

http://gracereohorn.blogspot.com/2011/01/audience-feedback.html

Film Poster:
The film poster got rated highest between 7 and 8 out of 10. A lot of feedback was given on areas of improvement especially on the positioning of the tagline. The majority of our audiences said the tagline was too big and distracted them from the imagery and title. By repositioning it and shrinking it this may have worked more effectively and left the imagery to speak for itself more. However the problem we would then face if we chose to reposition the tagline is that we would have a large gap which would ruin the layout and rule of three within the frame. Instead we may have had to add in another character and we wanted the tagline to be against the iron fencing to create the impression of graffiti. Another comment made in an interview with Jenny was that she did not think the title 'Skrilla' stood out enough against the image, this was something we tried hard to work at because we wanted to create a similar effect to 1 Day with the distorted font however the problem we had was that it did not stand out against many of the background colours. I wouldn't change this though because I think the font is effective and important as a convention itself of the genre. Positive feedback around the layout and mise en scene of the poster was an occurrence in the questionnaires which means we successfully created a film poster that was recognisable in the genre through the clothing, props and lighting. Also the positioning of the characters was an important feature because I thought it was important to create a menacing approach by having the muggers in the background. This was picked up by Melody and Jenny who we interviewed for further feedback. Overall for the film poster the majority of people said it was finished to a professional standard and was eye catching, although it needed more information or hints to the storyline to maintain recognition and interest.

http://boos.audioboo.fm/attachments/999322/Recording.mp3?audio_clip_id=301363

Magazine Front Cover:
Again the feedback from our questionnaire was positive and similar to the suggestions on our film poster we have learnt that more experimental use of colour for typography would have achieved a more dramatic and purpose a more successful product as many of the audiences who gave feedback suggested that we should try using different fonts and colours for the cover stories and articles on the front page. Perhaps if we changed the white font with more vibrant colours or even experimented with outlining similar to our tagline on the film poster this would have worked more effectively. Looking back I agree with some of the comments made on the mast head because I think although we have developed it from our mock up to make it look more professional it is still lacking the excitement and appeal that the mast head of 'Empire' has. I am pleased with the final product and I think the drafting and development in our groups Photoshop skills from our first mock up has defiantly improved. We got a lot of praise on the articles we chose for the front cover and 5 out of the 15 individuals we asked rated our magazine cover 9 out of 10 which I am satisfied with. No one rated it lower then a 7.

 

Film Teaser Trailer:
The feedback we got from the teaser trailer I found was the most constructive because a lot of time was spent on this during the interviews and many of our audiences had varied opinions on what worked well and what needed to be improved on. Overall our film trailer got rated highest 8 out of 10 which shows that we successfully portrayed the genre through our use of mise en scene in the shots, edits, character stereotyping, prop and storyline. However the majority of the criticism we got were for amount of storyline we gave away, many of the comments made were that our teaser trailer was too similar to a short story rather then a teaser. If we had the chance to reconstruct our trailer I would agree and would probably have re-shot a few scenes and focused more on the edits and speeding up the shots to create that fast pace that is so apparent in Adulthood and Kidulthood. I am however proud of how we constructed our teaser against the music produced by Tim; it gave our trailer the sense of pace and did speed up the trailer slightly. Overall the majority of people said it was exciting and they understood the storyline and genre and I am pleased with the final outcome.
I think that these questionnaires have been constructive in the comments we have received and I am pleased with the outcomes. The interviews that me and Ellie conducted also gave us more in depth information we needed to see the range of views and whether or not the gender or age of the audience had an impact in their opinions. We had the issue that by taking the rick and using the gun and the intimidating shot of Steon on the magazine front cover some audiences may see us as glamorising gun crime when this is not what we are trying to achieve. However from the feedback we got back I don't think this misrepresentation was made and if anything we got positive feedback in the power that the image holds. If we had more time I may have suggested we try a similar experiment to '500 Days Of Summer' and 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' were they produced three or four film posters and posted them virally on the internet for their audience to choose which one they preferred. This way you are actively getting your audience involved in the production and at the same time subconsciously making them aware of the product. It also remains anonymous and is an unbiased approach to not only promoting the film but also finalising the product.