What have you learnt from the audience feedback?

I used I-Movie to interview people who classify as my target audience (British teenagers over 18), and ask them what they think about certain aspects of my trailer. Here are the results:






The interviews, which are an effective form of primary research, suggest that my trailer is effective and conventional for my genre. I think my use of music and camera shots are effective due to their reactions when watching the trailer. However, these two suggested some improvements:

• To include more gore in my trailer - Looking back, this is a very valid point and I think if i made my trailer again, I would incorporate more blood and gore. However, my initial fear of doing this was the chance that it may look very fake and ineffective due to my lack of resources compared to the real horror film industry. I would rather imply pain and gore than portray it ineffectively
• The trailer is not in chronological order, and maybe it should be - I think this is a valid point as an audience may find it easier to follow in chronological order. However in horror trailers, there is often a montage of the scarier clips in the film and this is often not in chronological order.

I done further audience research where I screen my trailer for my media class and asked them to simply write some suggestions for improvements. This saved time as interviewing everyone would have been very time consuming! Some suggestions were:

• Use more hand held camera footage as this part was very effective - this is a point that I acknowleged myself after I had made the trailer. Due to deadlines I did not have tim to film it again but if I repeated this experience, I would include more hand held camera techniques and point of view shots.
• Include more gore - As above
• You cannot hear the dialogue of a male character in the circle - This is true. I increased the volume so it is audible but it would be more effective overall. However this part is essential to my trailer so I could not remove it completely. It establishes the fact that Emily is missing and that there is danger.

Although there are many suggestions for improvements, my classmates had positive comments also:

• You use a variety of shots which is good. The close ups show fear on the victim and the long shots show both the killer and main girl in conventional ways - moving slowly with the knife and running away in a panic
• The shot where the door opens slowly to reveal bloody hand prints is really good! It shocked me when I seen it and I think it looks realistic
• Your use of sound effects establishes the horror genre and create tension
• The main girl acts really well and it seems realistic
• The plot is conveyed well as the beginning shows the parents going away and the voice over also explains it.

Overall, I have learned that my trailer has both negative and positive features, which I expected. Also, my target audience seem to like it and many commented that they would watch the film!