Evaluation

Please click on the link below to be taken to our new blog, which we have used to present our evaluation. 

 

 

http://katieandbeckimedia.edublogs.org/

Trailer Audience Feedback

We filmed 2 potential target audience members watching our finished trailer. We recorded their reactions and asked them a few questions, about how effective our media product is and whether there are any improvements they can think of. 

Question 1: What was your initial response to the trailer?

• The antagonist was effective as she made the viewer feel scared.
• The end sequence was effective and made the viewers' fear reach a climax.

Question 2: What did you think of the editing?

• They liked the straight cuts used in the 3 shot sequence of the antagonist gradually moving forward in the woods. 
• When the protagonist fell in the woods it looked effective and realistic. The sequence seemed smooth and continuous.

Question 3: What did you think of the sound we used?

• Sound change was effective half way through where the happy music changed to creepy sound. The contrast highlighted that something wasn't right somewhere. 
• Certain parts of the sounds used gave the impression of creepy children songs which was effective within our genre. 

Question 4: What did you think of the camera angles we used?

• Good variety of different shot types.
• Low angle shots were effective, as it gave the impression we were watching the protagonist alongside the antagonist. 

Question 5: What did you think of the settings we used?

• Unusual how the furnished house contrasted with the creepy woods. 
• House has connotations of comfort, whereas we went against conventions by using it as the location of terror.
• Gave the impression that, "even if she escapes the house, she still can't escape from the antagonist in the woods."
• The dress used added to the creepy girl representation.
• The dress looked like it had blood on which added to the fear. 

Question 6: Do you think it conforms to the psychological horror genre?

• Yes, as it follows the conventions of current horror films/trailers.
• Similar music choices make it clear that it is a horror film. 

Question 7: Are there any improvements you can think of?

• The protagonist is almost smiling at certain point during the trailer, which isn't usually in horror trailers. 
• We should have kept the shoes on the characters in the house, as existing horror trailers keep the shoes on their characters. However this wasn't necessarily seen as a drawback that needed to be improved - our viewer said it was just something she noticed, which shows we may not have followed every convention within the horror genre. 

Question 8: Overall, why did you think of our trailer?

• Both viewers enjoyed watching the trailer for entertainment purposes.
• It would fit in with other 2015 horror trailer releases.
• It has been effective in persuading the viewers to go and watch the film if it were to be released in cinemas.

Poster Audience Feedback

Following the completion of our poster, we devised a questionnaire which asked people what they thought about our poster; giving us invaluable feedback about features of our final edit that they like and dislike. By gaining this information, we can conclude whether or not we used our research and planning to create a successful production which our genre's target audience would buy alongside existing horror posters such as the Insidious and The Conjuring posters.

 

 

Above are just a few examples of the response we got from our target audience in relation to their thoughts on our film poster.

 

 

Results

 

 

Question 1: What is your favourite feature of the film poster? Why?

 

After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that their favourite feature of the poster was either: 

• The background colours as it looks very creepy and fitting to the horror genre
• The fact that the picture fills the whole page
• The girl on the front cover looks very creepy and scary
• The setting- the trees are eerie and make it look isolated
  
  
  
  Question 2: What is your least favourite feature of the poster? Why?
  
  After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that their least favourite feature of the poster was either: 
• The fact that they thought the writing wasn't very clear; specifically the text above the film name and the release date
• Some responses said that the text was to cliché when it came to fitting in with the horror genre whilst others said that the text didn't conform to the horror genre enough
• Some thought that the size of the film name was too big and would have looked better at the bottom of the page
  
  
  Question 3: Do you think that the colour scheme is effective? If not what colours do you think would have looked more effective?
  
  After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that they thought the colour scheme was:
  
• That they liked the colour scheme, it fitted in to the horror genre and looked effective
• Black and white look creepy which sets the scene for the film
• Some thought that the use of the colour red or having the image in completely black and white could have looked more effective
  
  
  Question 4: In comparison to existing posters, do you think that it looks realistic?
  

  After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that:

   
• It looked effective and all of the audience members that we asked said that they thought that it looked realistic when bearing in mind existing film posters
  
  
  Question 5: Do you think that it fits into the horror genre? Why?
  
  After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that: 
• All said that they though it fitted into the horror genre because, it looked creepy, it looked sinister, it looked scary and it looks like horror film posters that already exist
  
  
  Question 6: What do you think of the main image that has been used? Please comment on the image itself, the effect used to manipulate the image and the overall effectiveness of it
  
  After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that: 
• They thought the main image was really good because it sets the scene for a horror film
• The dark contrast of the image makes the overall look of the poster more creepy and scary
• The location that the image is taken in is really good because it makes the image look very simplistic yet scary
• The image looks realistic and catches your eye straight away
  
  
  Question 7: What do you think of the fonts that have been used on the poster?
  

   After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that:

   
• The fonts were clear
• The fonts were easy to read
• The fonts were bold and stood out
• Some thought the font wasn't clear enough and didn't look very scary
  
  
  Question 8: Do you think that there are any improvements that could be made to the poster?
  

   After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded suggesting that these improvements could be made:
• The writing could be made clearer
• The release date could be bigger
• Directors names, actors names etc, could have been included on the poster
• There could have been a wider variety of colours used on the poster
  
  
  Question 9: Overall, what is your response to our poster? What do you think of it?
  

   After collating all of the results, we found that most people responded saying that:
• They thought it was really effective
• It was really good
• It looked like a really good horror film poster
• They would want to watch the trailer after seeing the poster 

  
  

  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magazine Audience Feedback

Following the completion of our magazine cover, we devised a questionnaire which asked people what they thought about our magazine front cover, giving us invaluable feedback about features of our final edit that they like and dislike. By gaining this information, we can conclude whether or not we used our research and planning to create a successful production which our genre's target audience would buy alongside existing horror magazines such as Scream and Fangoria.

Results

Question 1: What is your favourite feature of the magazine front cover? And why?

• They liked the 'ouija' and 'crimson peak' fonts used, as they were the ones used for the film. They said this made the magazine look professional and similar to pre-existing publications, rather than just using a normal font. 
• They liked the photo, because it looked as though the antagonist was looking up at the audience, which conformed to the eerie nature of the genre.
• It has many film names dotted around on the page, which allows readers to easily identify whether the films included interest them or not. 
• The font used for 'UNCUT' was very professional and a good size.

Question 2: What is your least favourite feature of the magazine? And why? 

• The 'TORMENT' title font was said to look slightly less professional than the other features of the magazine. 
• They said the cover looked a little bare, as there would usually be more sub cover stories and images on horror magazines such as Scream. 
• The dark colour scheme may not stand out on a shelf alongside others with iconic house colours. 

Question 3: What do you think of the colour scheme? If not, what colours do you think would have looked more effective? *when filling out the questionnaire, we realised we made an error; it is meant to be 'Do you like the colour scheme...'?*

• The majority liked the colour scheme as they said it looked subtle, yet fitted in with the darkness associated with the horror genre. 
• Some said they would have liked one more bright colour, such as bright blue, to make the cover stand out more from afar. 
• The majority liked the use of amber, as it conformed to the red colour scheme usually associated with horror, however the amber looked more striking on top of the black background.
• More would have liked to see red on the cover, as that is the colour they think of alongside black, when they think of the horror genre. 

Question 4: In comparison to existing products, can you imagine this front cover on a real magazine? 

• They said it looked professional and would fit in on a magazine shelf alongside Scream and Fangoria. 
• The image conformed to what is usually on a horror magazine front cover, and her expression also draws attention as you feel like the antagonist is watching you. 
• Quote one participant - "I feel like I'm being watched, so I have to buy it!" 
• The majority said yes, as they thought the overall layout was good.
• They liked how we clearly communicated to a specific audience as of whether this magazine would appeal to them or not, by naming film names included in this edition. 

Question 5: Do you think it fits into the horror genre?

• All participants agreed that 'UNCUT' wouldn't look out of place on a shelf alongside other horror magazines. 
• They said layout, image and majority of fonts used worked well together to look eerie. 
• Ultimately the image and colour scheme of the image defined the genre of the magazine, when initially seeing the cover.
• They all agreed that this belongs to the horror genre. Although our trailer belongs to the psychological horror sub genre, our magazine would be featured in a general horror magazine. 

Question 6: What do you think of the main image that has been used? Please comment on the image itself, the effect used to manipulate the image and the overall effectiveness of it. 

• The main image was said to be a definite highlight of the production.
• They thought the image represented the psychological horror genre of the trailer very well, as the shot looked as though the antagonist was looked up at the reader, with an angry face.
• The majority of participants appreciated the use of a black and white effect, as it reduced the nature of a natural image, and made it look more artificial, similar to what a large magazine company would use to make their horror magazine.  
• They liked the size of the image.
• They liked how the effect added a visual haze around the girl, as it made her look more ghostly and therefore it looked more effective considering the genre. 

Question 7: What do you think of the fonts that have been used on the magazine? 

• Most participants liked the sub cover story fonts because they were bold enough to grab attention, however blended into the rest of the cover, allowing the main cover story to be the main focus.
• Sub cover story fonts worked well, as they conformed to the genre because they were serif.
• Half of them didn't like the font used for 'TORMENT' as they said it wasn't as professional as the rest of the magazine.
• The fonts used for the film names at the top were effective and a good size. 
• They create a unique house style, however look subtle on the page which doesn't draw too much attention away from the main cover story. 

Question 8: Do you think that there are any improvements that could be made to the magazine? 

• A new font could be used for the main cover story.
• Make the sub cover stories a little bit bigger to fill the page, and balance the attention of all cover stories alongside the main cover story.
• Add another colour to the colour scheme which will stand out on the black.
• Have more cover stories, or images to fill all space. 

Question 9: Overall, what is your response to our magazine? What do you think of it?

• The overall response was that they like the cover because it emphasises the films featured in the magazine, which would attract and persuade the audience when they come to buying it. 
• They think it conforms to the genre and would attract an audience interested in horror films.  

Voice Overs

In existing trailers that we have watched and analysed, there has always been a lot of narrative to help tell the story that is unravelling in front of the audience. However, we didn't want to include too much narrative in ours because we didn't want to break the naturalism of the trailer and didn't want to add in too much into a short trailer.

We wanted to include some dialogue in the form of a voice over on our trailer though because we wanted to explore different creative techniques and we wanted to make it clear to the audience what was going on in the trailer from the outset. From then on, we compiled different sound effects and soundtracks to fill in the rest of a trailer; adding to the dramatic effect and tension that we wanted to build up throughout the trailer.

The process of recording our voice overs was relatively straight forward. On IMovie we clicked on the clip that we wanted to do a voice over on and from there we clicked the little microphone icon. There was then a countdown, and after three seconds we would simply talk into the computer what we wanted to say in our trailer. We were then able to adjust this using clip trimmer to make it fit perfectly with the shot that was being shown at the time. Although at first the voice overs were very loud and drowned out the background music, by going onto the settings and adjusting the volume we were able to make the voice overs sound a lot more natural without having to add any other effects onto it.

Our voice overs included us saying:

'So how long has the house been empty?'

'I don't know, she moved out when my cousin died.'

Updated Task Completion Sheet

Name	Date	Task Completed
Katie Taylor	First week of July	Created the blog
Katie Taylor	First week of July	Introduction, brief and proposal posted on the blog
Rebecca Jackson and Katie Taylor	Second week of July	AS Coursework posted on the blog
Rebecca Jackson	Second week of September	The Conjuring trailer- textual analysis
Katie Taylor	Second week of September	Insidious trailer- textual analysis
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of September	The Damned trailer- textual analysis
Katie Taylor	Third week of September	Print based analysis on the film posters- The Conjuring, Insidious 2 and Sinister
Rebecca Jackson	Third week of September	Print based analysis on three magazine covers
Katie Taylor	Last week of September	Common features in film posters
Rebecca Jackson	Last week of September	Common features in film magazines
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	First week of October	Iconography- screenshots of ideas for our trailer
Katie Taylor		First impression of target audience
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	First week of October	Create questionnaires
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	First week of October	Carry out questionnaires
Katie Taylor	First week of October	Put questionnaire findings on the blog, evaluate them and create various pie/bar charts
Rebecca Jackson	Second week of October	Social media- audience research
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of October	Research into film institutions
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of October	Research into films e.g. marketing techniques, gross earnings etc
Rebecca Jackson	First week of November	Initial ideas before blocking and storyboarding
Katie Taylor	Second week of November	Blocking
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of November	Recce Shots
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of November	Storyboarding
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of November	Cast list and roles
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of November	Film name research
Rebecca Jackson	Third week of November	Print based research/planning- magazine cover
Katie Taylor	Fourth week of November	Print based research/planning- poster
Katie Taylor	Second week of December	Equipment list
Rebecca Jackson	Third week of December	Uploading storyboarding
Rebecca Jackson	Third week of December	Magazine cover planning/layout
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Third week of December	Uses and Gratifications in relation to our products
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Frist week of January	Production log
Katie Taylor	First week of January	Poster planning- questionnaires and results included
Rebecca Jackson	First week of January	Magazine questionnaire and results
Rebecca Jackson	Second week of March	Magazine choices
Rebecca Jackson	Second week of March	Editing Choices
Katie Taylor	Second week of March	Sound Choices
Rebecca Jackson	Second week of March	Magazine cover uploaded
Katie Taylor	Second week of March	Poster uploaded
Katie Taylor and Rebecca Jackson	Second week of March	Trailer uploaded

Trailer

Our finished trailer...