Q3 WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

BY PHILIP LYNN

• I felt a great need to get opinions from my target audience, on my products, as they are they are ones who will be interested in seeing it, so it’s important they like it.

• I first wanted to get an idea on what specific horror films my target audience liked to gain an idea on what is liked from horror films (in terms of plot, sub-genre etc.). I wanted to do this to get an idea on what genres they like, and the specific films give me ideas for what makes a horror film good. From the results I found such films as insidious, red dragon, silence of the lambs, 28 days later and Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter. From this I can see a variety of different horror sub genres. This may not have given me specific genre. But it does give a larger choice to play with.

• I decided to recreate such classics as the silence of lambs by introducing the cannibal genre. This was an idea my target audience found intriguing, and said they would be interested in seeing.

• When I decided on setting, I found using a school setting to introduce the plot and characters was a good idea as it was a recognizable setting, and one that plays on the idea of “the one place where you should be safe is where the evil is happening”. My audience liked this twist, as they found the setting more relatable which made the horror more real and frightening.

• This helped with the characters, as they to felt more relatable for the audience. I found making the characters the same age as my target market made the plot immediately more personal. With the protagonist some suggested having a group of friends for Sam, but I found having her alone without anyone to support her raised the issue that Sam was struggling with, and made plot more interesting as sam.

Most shots that the protagonist Sam is featured in show her alone to enforce the lone background and the loneliness of the character

• When I asked the audience on how many characters should be in the trailer. A large number suggested that there should be 4, as four is a large enough number of characters to have an interesting plot, and not to many that the audience get confused, and lose interest in certain characters.

• When discussing the plot I asked the audience on what the relationship of the pro and antagonist should be like. I was interested in the antagonist manipulating the mind of the protagonist. This idea went well with my audience as they felt it was something new and would be interested in seeing it play out. The one thing that the audience did advise was that there relation not become too strong, as it would hinder plausibility. I thought this was correct, and kept their relationship on edge and more interesting for the audience.

• Towards the end of the trailer I wanted the pace of the scene to quicken, to build the tension and excitement as the trailer ends to peak to excitement. The audiences founds that very effective in the trailer, and many found it to be the best part of the trailer. I received positive attention for the way it builds the plot to an intense climax, and many liked the way the action that built up, and the way the music made it more shocking and terrifying.

• Overall I am happy with the audience feedback. I feel I have generally had good reviews and feedback to take from this. I am pleased with the way the audience have reacted to the film, and the way I have shown it.