Question 4) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I used Stuart Hall’s Encoder-Decoder model to create the Wonderland trailer, poster and the Exposure magazine cover. As the encoder I researched what our target audience expects from a trailer, poster and magazine cover then when I found that out I created the storyboard for what the audience wants and expects to see. When it went to filming I was involved in what needed to be shot and Callum Deeney was involved in how it needed to be shot, then when it went to editing Michael Fenton was involved in how it went together. This meant we all knew what our role was when creating the trailer and had a grasp on what the target audience needed from our job.

Wonderland Presentation for Audience Feedback:

Wonderland presentation

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We started with research, looking at trailers that fitted the genre we wanted to use and see the common conventions we could play with.  We then created a PowerPoint presentation that we showed to our target audience and received feedback from it. Originally we wanted to go with a trailer that mixed the dramatic world of Trainspotting with the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland. People understood the plot of the film but came to the conclusion that the links to Alice in Wonderland were just there to fit in with the concept. So then we decided to scrap scenes where we introduced a mad hatter, a carving of a Cheshire cat etc. instead we decided to focus on the plot and the gritty drama that people seemed to like.

Mr. Morris' Audience Feedback:

When we created a draft we would upload it to YouTube and promote it on Facebook because the target audience for our film would use these social network sites. We received feedback saying the different locations were good and explained the plot of the story well but the length of the shots were too long for a trailer and needed to be shorter.

The main feedback we got was about the scenes, suggesting different angles and a voiceover to explain the story and make it clearer, which we took on board and used to varying degrees, based off of what we want to show and what they want to see. For instance, we received a lot of comments saying we explained the plot but didn’t give too much away but they had to focus on the scenes a lot to do that, so we did incorporate a voiceover into our trailer to explain the characters decision in the film.

The mode of address we wanted to portray was that of a fly on the wall. The audience saw the shots in the trailer as if they are there watching the drama and action happen in front of them. Our target audience has a grasp on drug problems in modern culture and so can understand the realism in a story told like this; creating a prospect of an entertaining, gritty and realistic view on drug culture. We did this by using shots that stood back from the action and just showed what other eyes would see.

When creating my poster I wanted the audience to gain information about the film, without revealing too much information. This meant that I didn’t want to show shots of scenes that would ruin the plot of the film but an image that would give the audience information about the characters. This received a lot of praise although people did notice the similarities between my approach and my inspiration, Trainspotting. I was concerned this would happen and I decided to alter colours and images to have differences that separated the two but still followed the same pattern.

I wanted my magazines mode of address to have an informative approach. Giving the audience the information they need to know about the film with the entertainment elements there for all to see. I started this off with shots from the film to give the magazine the idea of going behind-the-scenes but audience feedback told me the still footage didn’t explain too much and was quite blurry. So I then changed to the idea of an interview with the main character and going in depth on his life and his opinion on the film. This got a better reaction as the shot was simple and anchored the text; people knew what they were going to read if they bought the magazine. The only problem the target audience had left was the colour of the magazine. So I changed that to more distinct colour to give impact to the cover.

Doing research without audience feedback will have limited success because you are only going off of what you and the people you work with thinks effective. Where as with audience feedback you can work on getting the best out of scenes, and plot to a film trailer and the images and text to put on a magazine cover and film poster.