Audience Feedback

During one of our media lessons, we had some people who hadn’t seen our thriller sequence view our product and give their feedback on the plot, the strengths ad the improvements. Audience feedback enables us to see how much the audience understood from our opening thriller sequence. It also allows our group to see what needs to be improved and worked one and also shows if the overall reviews were positive or negative.

Some of the reviews realized that the man was living in an‘apocalypse’ and with a last man ‘survivor’ in the world. They also worked out what the strings were being used for, to ‘trap’ and ‘hear’ when people are coming. These ideas are right which shows how we have portrayed the end of the world idea successfully. However, this idea wasn’t so clear to some of the other audience, with people thinking that ‘someone was being trapped’ this shows that we need to work on some shots to make sure that someone isn’t being trapped and that there is a trap to catch the things the other side of the door. The fact that people were making consumptions of what is the other side of the door, such as zombies, aliens and murderers, is good because this shows that our thriller is making the audience question and think about what is happening, this involves the audience more.

Secondly, the strengths allowed us to see the positive comments, which mainly consisted of the title sequence, which was described as consisting ‘artistic shots’ of the strings and the ‘sounds’ to ‘build up the tension.’ The fact that the audience noticed that the string shots and ‘sound’ builds up the tension shows that these areas have been successful in creating the tension where we wanted it to be. Also our editing was highlighted as being good and the reviews mention the titles located around the strings create a ‘professional’ element. Also our lack of sound was commented on making them ‘feel on edge’ this also shows that we have created tension effectively.

The improvements mainly consisted of including more of a ‘quite soundtrack’ and some ‘creepy’ music. However, we didn’t include a soundtrack because we felt to create tension it would be better with no soundtrack and there to be silence, with a small wind sound. Some good comments we that we used ‘slow editing’ on some of the string shots, this is what we could improve on my using faster editing because the slow editing could have resulted in the tension being lost. However, I feel that the long shots created more tension because the audience is waiting and wondering what is going to happen next and rhetorical questions are being asked.

Overall, I feel that the majority of the reviews contain positive comments, but has made me notice that we could have edited a bit more and contained some extra exciting thing, to make it more interesting and to increase the tension.

Evaluation Task 7:

Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learn't in the progression from it to the product? 

During our prelim we did simple shots and stuck to the sheet which showed us the shots to use. During our thriller we did several different shots such as movement shots when we followed along the strings and then we also panned alone when the main character walked towards the door. These movement shots are effective in our thriller because we have used them to build tension.

In the prelim there was no mise en scene, there was just one main object in my case was a rubix cube and a chair. In our thriller, we used quite a lot of mise en sceneto create the setting and to make our thriller look how we wanted it to. For example, we used lots of rubbish such as cans, carboard and bottles to be spread around the tent. We had a tent which had lots of strings and cans attached to it and we boarded up the windows. These all created a home like environment to show that the man had been living there for quite a long time and shows how he has adapted to living there.

In our thriller, our editing was much more effective. We cut on movement to ensure there was no jumpy movements. The editing in the thriller was also more smooth.

In our thriller, we decided to use no soundtrack or sound through the majority of it. When trap goes off there is the sound of the bells and there is a slight increase of a sound when the man is walking towards the door. There is also the eerie creak of the door handle when it is turned. When the title comes up there is a faint background sound. The fact that we have no music at the beginning allows the audience to question the string and the tent, it also allows them to focus on what they are watching.

During the editing of our final piece i learn't how to put the final piece into 3D which really improved the opening sequence because it improved the visual effect of the white string on the black background. 

I think during the filming i was best at giving directions to my other team mates and offering my ideas. I also enjoyed the filming, however when it came to my go at the following the string it took me several times to get a smooth run because a slight bit of movement created a jump in the shot.

From working with the other people in my group i have learn't that if you have a good idea to speak up and to mention it to them because this idea can angle of lost of other new good ideas.

For some of the shots we had to position the camera in different places:

Too get the inside tent close up shots of our main character, we had to bring the camera and tripod into the tent in order to get a good close up. This was quite tricky because the tent we were using was a small one and the camera was to close and we couldn't focus, however, we figured it out and got the shots.

Evaluation Task 6:

What have you learn't about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Task 5:

Evaluation Task 4:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our ideal target audience would be teenagers and young adults aged around 15-21 years because these are the ages which like to go to the cinema to see more scary and heart thrilling viewings.

To find a more specific target group for our thriller i asked our three different people from our primary audience some questions, ranging 15-21 years, all with a different background and general interest to narrow down and see our specific target group and which people are most likely to watch our product. I asked questions related to the peoples other interests such as music to see which other things interest the audience and which relate to our product.

Firstly i questioned a sports man aged 18. From the questioning him i found out that the type of music he likes and listened to is influenced by the top charts, which normally consist of a loud, catchy beat. The sort of TV programmes this person likes to watch is discovery channels, this would be a suitable person for our film because our films opening is based on discovering what§ the man id hiding from. The types of films he would go and see would be interesting films and films which he has heard about from social network and friends. Also thrillers and action films are of an interest to him because they are of interest and have a plot which makes you want to know more and think about the possibilities. I also explained the basic plot and asked them what they think of the idea and he thought that the idea is exciting and likes the fact they dont know whats going to happen at the end. Furthermore i asked which place he is most likely to watch the film and the answer was if the film was longer than 2 hours then he would download the film from itunes and less then 2 hours he would go to the cinema.

Secondly i interviewed a funny upbeat girl who likes shopping. She is interested in the popular top 10 chart music because it is the bestmusic to jam too. She likes to watch TV series because they are exciting and she likes that fact that you have to wait a week till the next one. This same idea imply's to our thriller because it is an end of the world apocalypse story with a plot which is enliched through out the whole film. The types of films she likes to watch are popular Hollywood action films because its exiting packed with excitement and she also likes to watch thrillers when she is with her friends, but not on her own and she doesnt like them to be that scary or she will get nightmares. She likes the sound of our thriller because it sounds exciting and unexpected and she is most likely to go and see it at the cinema with friends.

Thirdly i interviewed a woman from our secondry audience which is 30-35.
What music do I like? Pop music from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
What tv do I watch? Sitcoms, soaps and panel shows.
What types of films do I go and see? Comedy and romantic films.
What do I do with my life? I work as an actor. I like going to the cinema, theatre, comedy clubs, traveling, socializing with friends.
What do I like about the opening sequence? The tension and the mystery it creates. Having a good location helps to create the mystery. Also by moving the camera very slowly creates the tension.
How would I be likely to see the film? I would watch a film at the cinema, on tv or dvd.
Even though her preferable films are  comedy and romantic films, she did enjoy our thriller sequence, which shows that our product may attack other people who don't normally watch films in that category.

From looking at the 28 Days later votes on IMD i can see that the most votes are from people ages under 18 and males under 18. Also with just under 0.1 less voters were the females under 18 and the people aged between 18-29. This shows that 28 days later's target group ages from young adults. This is similar to our thriller, however our secondary audience is 30-35 and from looking at the graph the votes dropped 0.3, Because our thriller is similar to 28 days later and the young adults have voted a high average would convey that the same type of audience would be interested in our thriller.
30-35 secondary