MEDIA EVALUATION QUESTION 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

During the process of constructing my main product and ancillary texts I have received feedback throughout from my target audience, which has helped me a lot. It has enabled me to see what features they thought were effective and appealed to them as well as what I could improve on when creating the film trailer, magazine front cover and film poster. As well as this I created a survey for my target audience, which permitted me to find out more about my target audience, their hobbies, what media platforms they use, what social network sites they use, how often they see a film, if they like the genre of action thriller films, what locations they find effective in an action thriller film, what media products entice them to see a film, what techniques appeal to them as well as the adrenalin they receive when watching an action thriller film. By asking my target audience these range of questions I get a better feel for what appeals to them making sure I include all of these techniques into the main product and ancillary texts creating promotion and longer term success for my film.

Magazine Front Cover:

I initially started by researching a range of different film front cover magazines, looking at the type of shots of models they used as their main image, the house style, the articles they included as well as the layout of the front cover. By looking at successful magazine front cover magazines I had a clearer vision of all the conventions I needed to include in my own magazine front cover in order to gain a high grade. I then created three magazine drafts being able to compare all three I was able to combine all the ideas together to create one final draft. This enabled me to get feedback from my target audience for my final draft, they said:

Very professional looking and uses clever design techniques which make it stand out

Well established entertainment magazine

Name of magazine is appropriate

Not clear whether the title of the magazine was a spelling error or whether it has another meaning

Very appealing making me interested in the magazine

I have learnt from my target audience feedback it is clear, that they liked the layout of my magazine front cover as well as the house style making my magazine front cover look like a well established entertainment magazine appealing to them. Other articles I included were On-set hook ups When stars collide All the latest new films all in which appeal to them as my target audience are girls, all girls love gossip therefore these articles appeal to them making the magazine front cover effective. However, the main article was about the new film Obsess featuring the protagonist character Ricky as the main image played by Ricardo Vieira. Ricardo is a male whom has similar facial features to Daniel Craig with brown hair, facial hair and distinctive jaw line, therefore the model appealed to them. As I followed the conventions of the magazine Entertainment this could be the reason behind why my magazine front cover appealed to them so much. In addition to this, it was the first time I came into terms with the fact that the name of the film Obses looked like a spelling error. The name Obses was the Latin word for hostage; we initially decided to go with the Latin word Obses as our film institution is Uada films with uada meaning haunted therefore it had an underlining meaning. As our film was targeted at London based females we decided that they might not understand the word Obses so decided to change it to Obsess which then linked to the narrative of the film. Overall I have learnt from my target audience feedback for my magazine that I must include one main image in order to create a focus for the readers as well as a house style, which works effectively combined with the image used, plus to portray the genre which my film is about as well as make sure the name of the film is now Obsess on all products and ancillary texts.

Film Poster:

I started constructing my film poster, again by researching film posters for action thriller films such as The Bourne Ultimatum, Face/Off, Fast & Furious 6, Gone Girl and The Dark Knight all which are successful films with high box office hits. I looked at the type of images they had use as well as position of the images and texts and how they were combined together to work effectively. I looked at what the poster denotes to the audience as well as the connotation of each element included in the action thriller film posters and why these elements appealed to the target audience. A film poster is one of the initial times in which the audience come to terms with the film, therefore needs to be impressive and powerful encouraging the target audience to go and see the film when it is finally released. I then created three drafts of the film poster being able to compare all three I was able to combine all the ideas together to create one final draft. This enabled me to get feedback from my target audience for my final draft, they said:

Enough information on them to let me know everything about the movie

All the text and information that has been provided is positively satisfying

Depending on what colours and type of font, you use, it gives the audience knowledge on what your film genre may be about

Inclusion of the quote on the final film poster definitely improved this

Protagonist on the motorbike would have also made it clear it was an action film

Taking this feedback into consideration, it suggests that there is no other elements I need to include on my film poster as it lets the audience know the main information about the film such as the release date, the name of the film, the main character who features in the film as well as a memorable tagline in which they will particularly look out for to hear when watching the film. They also liked the colours used in my final draft as they thought it revealed the genre of the film a bit more through the use of blue, black and red. As well as the quote/tagline of the film from the protagonist character revealed that the film is an action thriller film. The feedback for my film poster drafts gave me enough information in what the conventions I should include when constructing the final draft of my film poster.

I then went through the process of creating my final film poster through the development of my drafts and research I decided to include three images of scenes from the film as it gave the audience an insight to the film in which when getting feedback from my class they thought it was effective as again it made the scenes memorable to them as they were also included in my film trailer. Furthermore, I included a image of Ricky which took up the left hand side of the film poster which again by getting feedback from my class appealed to them and worked well mainly due to the fact the two sets of images one was faded with slight colour and the scenes were in a black and white effect and therefore were effective. I included the conventions of a film poster such as the film title, the main actors name, a credit block, a film website and a tagline/quote from the film. When asking for overall feedback from some of my media class it was clear they my film poster appealed to them and the layout worked well as they were able to identify all the information they needed immediately as well as becoming familiar with the film such as the characters included and scenes that occur.

Film Trailer:

We started our film trailer by creating a storyboard for our trailer including the type of shots, camera movements, edits, sounds, dialogue, action, timing and mise-en-scene. We looked at film trailers for successful action thriller films such as Fast and Furious 6, The Dark Knight Rises, Gone Girl, Face/Off and The Bourne Ultimatum. I looked at the type of shots they had included at particular moments and the range of sound to create suspense and thrill for the audience. The film trailer gives a large insight into the film prior to the films release and therefore is a vital part of a films success. By creating a storyboard draft, I was able to get feedback from my target audience on the narrative of the film as well as the type of shots we would include as well as the range of sounds which would also be included. Here is the feedback from my target audience on the storyboard of the film trailer:

I am now with knowledge of what Tias film layout is going to be. Exceptional understanding

Wrote all her information up, provided pictures and a very detailed, in depth insight to her film

From this feedback for the storyboard draft of the film trailer, I have learnt that my target audience gained a clearer understanding of my film and the narrative appealed to them. After receiving this feedback, we then went on to take some initial shots for our film trailer such as shot of the motorbike in action using a GoPro camera as well as the establishing shot. We then got feedback from our media class who are our primary target audience who said the shots show the fast paced action and were of a high quality suggesting that we included more shots like this throughout our film trailer. From this I learnt that we should include more shots like this, as we are able to speed them up on iMovie, which create thrill and suspense for the audience.

We then went on to shoot scenes which included the characters in, after shooting these we started to include them in our trailer by editing them. Once we had included them, we again got feedback from our primary target audience and they started by saying they liked the scenes of Ricky running, Chloe being taken and how Sarah and Jessica were involved. However, they stated the narrative wasnt clear enough in comparison to what they had previously read and established before by looking at the storyboard. As we are producing a film trailer, when filming scenes we felt that we wouldnt have to film scenes in much detail due to the fact we were producing a film trailer so it was just short clips of scenes. Ultimately, this wasnt the case and the narrative did have to be precise and clear to the audience in order for the audience to get a better feel for what the narrative actually was when watching the film trailer.

To solve this problem, we went on to re-shoot scenes as well as shoot more scenes of the antagonist characters Michael, Sarah and Jessica to make it clear to the audience who the antagonist characters are and what they aiming to do to the protagonist character Rickys loved one Chloe. In addition to this, we wanted these scenes to show the relationship links between the characters in order to create anxiety for the audience making them more gripped on the film. We recorded some long shots of Sarah and Jessica throwing a picture of Sarah and Chloe in a burning fire, Sarah and Jessica talking about how they are going to get rid of Chloe before the party occurs with the main focus being on the antagonist characters. The audience gave us feedback to make the scenes clearer with the antagonist characters planning the event when they are going to kidnap Chloe a particular scene in the trailer a main focus. This is because this scene is a vital part in the film being the disruption of the equilibrium stage, which causes the recognition of the disruption stage and the attempt to repair the damage stage to occur. From this, we learnt how to build up suspense and thrill throughout the film trailer. To entice the audience to our film trailer and watch our film we decided to include motorbike scenes which are fast paced in order to create action as well as break the clip up as it could potentially be seen as boring after a while. Nonetheless, with the motorbike scenes included in-between it creates an edge and thrill for the audience.

When editing our film trailer, getting feedback from our media class it was clear that the soundtrack and sound effects in the background didnt work well in combination with the scenes. We had also included voiceovers, which helped tell the narrative. The sounds altogether didnt work well. To solve this, we recorded another soundtrack on the piano in which we then edited to work effectively with our trailer. For example, in scenes where we had voiceovers we would make the soundtrack quieter in order for the voiceovers to be heard. However, we had to make sure all sounds were at the same level. The finished sound improved our trailer as it helped build up suspense and thrill for the audience.