Target Audience Feedback***

Explain why audience feedback is important to a production?

Receiving feedback is a vital stage in post production in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the final outcome.This is done by the target audience commenting on mis en scene, cinematography, editing and sound and whether or not they feel it effectively contributed to the making of a successful thriller opening. By receiving feedback, we can recognise whether the products were successful in appealing to the audience which in turn, will show if the research we did prior was valid and accurate. Not only does the feedback assist whether the products were successful but will also help us as media producers in the creation of our further products. If the feedback was negative, an analysis of the entire production process would be taken out so that we could improve this. An example of this is to ask a wider sample of our target audience to provide a increased source of feedback in regards to accuracy.


How did you receive audience feedback from your target audience?

Prior to the production stages, we asked different individuals that varied in age to complete a questionnaire as a part of the planning stages of our production. The questionnaire addressed the main components of a thriller which accumulated their preferences on such components as a result. Therefore we had gained the main elements that our target audience preferred, which logically should increase the appeal of our thriller opening.  It is important to receive target audience feedback prior to production stages so that we can establish what they prefer and therefore do not create a thriller opening sequence that they do not enjoy and therefore unsuccessful. We also received feedback after the opening sequence had been made to evaluate its success amongst them. To accumulate feedback from our target audience, we screened our production within a media lesson to an audience of aged 15 and above. After the screening, we held a focus group which gave our target audience a chance to share their opinions. This gave us the chance to have direct and immediate feedback which is vital in establishing the initial reaction of our target audience towards our thriller opening. This way, we were able to evaluate whether or no the opening created the desired effect we had intended. Furthermore, our media class consists of individuals that fall into our target audience in terms of age and therefore we were also evaluate whether or not the opening is appealing to them. This is so the production was viewed by our target audience and therefore we received valid feedback. We also put the production on YouTube. This benefited us as YouTube is easily accessible and used by many across the globe, therefore we could receive live feedback from a variety of viewers. As the viewers are personally unknown by us, they didn't have a connection to us that could possibly generate bias feedback. Also, they would have watched the production in a natural environment which may enhance the desired effect of the thriller as they are made to feel uncomfortable in their natural environment.


Include 3 positive comments and reflect on them

From the feedback we have received, we have decided to take a few of the comments directly on board to evaluate whether or not the target audience found the opening appealing. Below are some of the positive comments we have received and a reflection on them. It is important to also evaluate the positive feedback as this is how we can establish how our thriller opening is successful:

After the screening of the opening, we interviewed Lauren Vale who felt that; “the typing effect of the production company title effectively links to the opening scene and therefore made the narrative more coherent and easier to understand. The narrative itself was clear.' As a narrative based visual it is importance that the audience can follow the story in order for it to be understood and deemed appealing. Therefore this feedback is vital, as it establishes that the audience could understand the narrative which is important, as confusion toward the narrative may disengage the audience. Also, Lauren commented on the typing effect used on the opening credits, as being coherent with the narrative itself. We chose this effect as we felt this made the audience increasingly similar to the victim as they have a similar perception in terms of what they are seeing. Therefore the audience can relate to the victim more to create a mutual vulnerability between the two. Another comment we received whilst interviewing our target audience was stated by Max Heath, in which he claimed; “the shadow of someone’s hand reaching towards the main character adequately reflects the thriller theme. The use of low key lighting that created the shadows made the narrative more eerie.” Shadows and low key lighting are conventional to the thriller genre as it creates a mysterious atmosphere which keep the audience on edge due to their lack of knowledge and comfortability. The audience are aware that the antagonist is present through the use of shadows but are unaware of their identity because of this. We decided to create this because we felt it would make the audience more on edge, which Max has confirmed we have achieved through his feedback. Furthermore, Max stated 'the shadow of someone's hand reaching towards the main character adequately reflects the thriller theme' which also confirms that the target audience were able to recognise that is was a thriller, thus implying they understood the narrative as well as feeling on edge which is expected of an audience watching a thriller film. This feedback was positive as it implies that the target audience felt emotions that are often stimulated when watching a thriller film i.e. feeling uncomfortable. Furthermore, we also asked Emma Harris for her feedback during the focus group meeting. She said, 'By not knowing who the antagonist was, I felt more on edge because I didn't know who to look out for. I felt that I could relate to the victim more because of this which also made me feel vulnerable.' Keeping the antagonist's identity a mystery is a convention of the thriller genre, which we identified through the research and analysis of exisiting and successful thrillers such as Se7en. Therefore we planned to conform to this convention and not reveal who the antagonist was, but imply they were present to keep the audience on edge, much like the thriller Prom Night. Emma's feedback has confirmed that this was effective in keeping the audience on edge, as she claims this is how she felt by not knowing who the antagonist was. Also, she said that this assisted her in relating to the victim which is an effective method in making the audience vulnerable as well, increasing their emotions of feeling on edge. From the research I have conducted, successful thrillers achieve this and therefore as my own thriller opening does as well, it is fair to assume that the opening is also successful amongst the target audience.


Include 3 constructive comments and reflect on them

As well as evaluating the positive feedback we received, we also analysed the negative feedback we received in order to identify what elements of the opening were deemed unappealing amongst our target audience.This allows us to recognise where and how we went wrong to ensure that the nest product created increases in appeal, thus improving our production skills. Below are the negative comments we considered directly and a reflection on how they could have been avoided, as well as how they could be improved. When interviewing Daisy Morecroft, she claimed, “the sound effects seem rather basic and could be improved upon.” The sound effects we used consisted of a storm effect, to imply to the audience that something bad was going to happen. Also, creates as eerie atmosphere is it is both threatening inside and outside the house, thus making the victim more vulnerable which makes the audience feel on edge. However, Daisy has an important point as the sound effects in the thriller genre are vital in the manipulation of the audience's emotions, as it can make them feel more on edge. From the research I have conducted, I found that fluctuations of the sound often occur to make the visual more 'jumpy', in order to make the audience feel more on edge, evident in the thriller 'Obsessed'. However although the sound effects did fluctuate through the use of thunder, it did not match the visual to stress a certain moment, making it 'jumpy'. Therefore if we were to make a similar product again, we would ensure that the sound effects differed thus not to remain monotonous or predictable. The product would be more successful if the sound effects were more complex as well as matching the visual. For example, the sound fluctuates when a sharp, quick shot was used to make the visual unpredictable and jumpy. Furthermore, we also considered Drew Wyllie's comment, “the camera is slightly out of focus at one point during the opening sequence.” When the victim hears a noise from another room, she comes from out of her bedroom, into the hallway and then into the bathroom to check where the noise came from. During this sequence, the camera goes out of focus on two separate occasions, because he lighting was too dark for the camera to adjust straight away. Because of this, the narrative becomes interrupted which may cause confusion amongst the target audience, thus making the opening unappealing. Although we considered the possibility of this happening in the risk assessment, it was hard to incorporate low key lighting without this happening and therefore if we were to create this product again, we would have to either increase the lighting in order for the camera to focus, or use a camera that was suited to low key lighting. Finally, Jamie Gregory claimed, 'the opening lacks a variety of camera angles and therefore the narrative appeared disengaging at times.' In the thriller genre, frames are usually very static and prolonged in order to create suspense, however our target audience felt we emphasised this convention too much and therefore the visual lack a variety of angles. Throughout our opening sequence, we used a lot of mid shots, tacking shots and close ups. However, we could have used different shots in order to make the visual more engaging and also showed variety of terms of pace in editing. The two combined would have made a more engaging narrative that the audience deem appealing and therefore are interested in it.


Did you change anything from the feedback you have received?

From the feedback we received, we had both successes and problems within our opening. Viewers felt the editing of the credits were effective and coherent with the narrative, thus making the visual more appealing. It also made this feel similar to the victim which in turn, made them more vulnerable and on edge. Another positive viewers felt was successful in creating tension in the opening, is the use of shadows. When the shadow of victim is shown, the shadow of the villain appears to be going out to reach her. Our target audience felt this was affective as both victim and audience were unaware of the identity of the villain and therefore this created mystery and suspense. It also effectively made the audience anxious as they had built a relationship with the victim and consequently felt under threat and tense when the victim did. As a result of both factors, the audience claimed they wanted to carry on watching to find out the identity of the villain as this had captured their attention. However, an aspect of our production that was viewed as a negative was the simplistic sound effects. Sound effects are vital in the manipulation of the audience's emotions and therefore play a significant role. As a result, we slightly changed the sound effects so that they fluctuated at important points in the narrative. For example, when the victim is in the hallway, quieter sound effects are used to build suspense, however the sound becomes much louder when the victim opens the door into the bathroom, stressing this climatic moment to the audience which makes the narrative more jumpy and unpredictable. Therefore, the sound effects conform to  the conventions of the thriller genre, thus making them appealing to the audience. They are now more complex to avoid appearing predictable and boring. Furthermore, the target audience claimed that the narrative lack a variety of camera angles, which appeared disengaging and unappealing. Therefore we also made changes to this so that the visual was more interesting. We achieved this by altering the camera angles we already had as it was not possible to re-film part of the narrative as this would disrupt the continuity, thus decreasing it's realism. Using Final Cut Pro, we duplicated the shot and then cropped it, so that it appeared the the frame went from a mid shot, to a close up to increase the variety of shots. For example, when the victim is walking back to be bedroom, there is an over the shoulder shot of her going to open the door. We then used this shot again, but zoomed in on her hand so that it emphasised to the audience she was going back into her bedroom where the antagonist may be, building suspense. This also provided the audience with a variety of shots as we used this method in other scenes as well. Therefore the narrative is more engaging for the audience, thus making it more appealing and successful.