What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is one of the most important factors in making a good film. We valued the information from our fellow peers, who were very complementary and critical of our trailer. This feedback gave us a good insight into the effective and restraining factors of our trailer, which was very beneficial into us addressing these factors and eventually improving our trailer. The use of audience feedback is vital to all film producers, as this gives a chance for the makers of the film, to receive some 'outside' opinion, before their film is released, so any modifications or adjustments can be easily and quickly addressed.

In order to receive audience feedback we had a class screening which using questions such as 'Identify a convention of horror films which has been used in this trailer' and 'identify an element of the trailer which is particularly effective' gave us positive feedback on what we had received. However there were also questions such as 'Suggest how any weaknesses could be improved' which also gave us a chance to address the problems which our fellow peers had noted. However this was not the only method of audience feedback that I used. Our trailer was quickly posted on youtube, which gave a chance for me to show it easily to the majority of my friends and colleagues, and therefore receive further opinion on what they felt worked well, or need improving.

The feedback we received noted that we should modify the dialogue in order to make it more realistic and effective for a horror film. We quickly addressed this criticism, and attempted to modify some of the dialogue to the best of our ability. It was also noted that in some places the trailer needed more sound, this was especially evident at the beginning of the trailer, as we used basic sounds in order just compliment the footage. This was also linked in with the suggestion of our audience wanting more war related sounds, which we quickly addressed, and I believe the suggestion of this was a very pivotal one, into making our trailer stick to our desired war theme. 

However people did enjoy the unconventional use of a gas mask in our film, and also the use of the jump cuts at the beginning and end of the trailer. Many people noticed the final scene of the gas mask, and it did manage to frighten a couple of people within the class, so this was a very effective addition to round off our trailer. The simplicity of the location, was also picked up on by many, and this is a very conventional feature of a horror film, and with the unconventional theme of the gas mask soldier, located in a modern house, many people enjoyed the unexpected and peculiar use of this.

The feedback I received for my magazine cover was to add a sepia effect to the picture. I believe that this feedback really enhanced my magazine cover, and I managed to play on the use of this very well, and made it look like a conventional 'Total Film' cover. It was also suggested to me that I should give the masthead and tag line of 'Diederich' an outer glow, in order to make it stand out a lot more against the sepia background. I tried out this suggestion and was blown away by the effect that it had, so the criticism I received for my magazine cover was well appreciated, as overall, it did increase the final effect of my cover.

I also received some good criticism and compliments for my film poster, following audience feedback. However mostly the suggestions were just to increase the font size, and change the position of the "and you thought the war was over," which I quickly reassessed. However, I did receive many compliments on the use of picture on this poster, and also the enhancing of the glow from the eye, which creates a lot of mystery and fear.

I used the feedback which i received from all three elements of my work, very constructively in order to create better elements for all of my work. I believe the feedback which was received for our film trailer, was the most effective in creating a good and effective film trailer, as it pointed out key elements which we had not noticed before the audience suggested their input.