What have you learnt from audience feedback?

NOTE: All images compliment my response and can be enlarged by clicking the image.

Nearing the end of the completion of our main product we had a showing to class. We had our final product shown twice, each time allowing the audience to note down positive and negative aspects as well as personal opinion. They gave suggestions also, of horror conventions followed and trailer conventions followed. The reason we had a class viewing was largely due to the fact that they fitted with our target audience of young adults 15-24 (The largest target audience of the horror genre) as well as gathering general reaction and opinion we can address. We stated upon showing that there were elements we were intending to address and change such as the grading, as we were unable to have it fully completed for this time.

To begin, one of the main criticisms of our finalised piece was after the climatic sequence, where the tempo lowers and the suggested main protagonist (played by myself) cries at the loss of his companions and the inevitable doom of his situation. The collective comment on this scene was that of awkwardness or finding it odd to watch. The class came to conclusion that it was because they knew me and therefore struggled to create a connection between the character and themselves. This theory was then proven correct as members of my group showed the product to external third parties who didn’t know me and this sense of oddness did not arise and the original point of creating an emotional bond between character and viewer was achieved.

Secondly, the class collectively felt that the hand shot, that goes to grab the camera in the closing sequence, came across as staged which naturally took away from the tension and resulting climax. They suggested this was due to the cameras movement in the shot. The camera is pushed into the tree moving away from my face and to the hand; they suggested therefore that this takes away from the ‘shock factor’ as it isn’t a surprise considering the camera is already moving in that direction. From this our group agreed with this criticism and decided upon re-editing to shorten this clip and cut out the camera being moved towards the tree to increase the shock the climax should bring.

A third critical point links with the last shot. Members of the class felt that the hand didn’t provide a sizable enough ‘jolt’ for the ending of a trailer and decided this was down to the impact noise we had used either being the wrong noise or simply too quiet. We reviewed this again as a group and decided that we could improve this by increasing the decibels of the impact sound and cutting to black a little bit earlier and more in time with the noise, hopefully resulting in a sharper and ultimately more frightening ending scene.

The class then addressed the theme of our trailer itself. Some members suggested that our trailer seemed a bit generic in the sense that it was very similar to ‘The Blair Witch Project’. They argued that it was too similar as it was a film set in a forest which capitalised on the use of the Point of View (POV) shot and this therefore gave it no unique selling point (USP), which is essential in a modern competitive film market. However, our group defending that fact that our film, although similar to films such as ‘The Blair Witch Project’, did in fact focus on fear derived from the internal workings of a friendship group and the horror was as a result of a member of the group losing his sanity and hunting his friends, which is dissimilar to other POV films as they all focus on an external source of horror.

Although we stated upon showing our trailer that we had yet to address grading, the issue of lighting did come up. Class members rightly suggested that as the trailer was in the daylight the fear is diminished as horror is associated with the night. Naturally we agreed as we wished to darken the shots in grading, although surprisingly some class members liked the light and said it provided a twist on modern horror. However, in our final edit we did darken the shots to add to the fear factor.

Another point saw a divide in both the feedback group and our own group. Some people suggested that the ‘glitches’ or interference we used in our inter-titles should have been used more throughout the entirety of our piece as the POV convention is renowned for having them. However, it was also suggested that an increase in the interference could become irritating and repetitive. As a group we decided not to add anymore in as we felt we had already over used them as it was.

Continuing from this, some of the feedback suggested that the bleeps that accompanied the interference could also get irritating. We understood this point, but felt that if these ‘glitches’ were silent this would take away from the point of them, as we felt the noise added to the sense of supernatural interference.



A further critical interpretation was regarding that of a shot of police tap about half way through our product. A lot of people wished for an expansion on this shot in order to emphasise the suggestion that this was somewhere not to go or somewhere something bad had previously happened. This would have also linked in with the idea of the ‘Return of the Repressed’ theory of the ‘past’ coming back to haunt and torment. Although the points suggested were all very valid we did suggest that these were in fact our intentions. We deliberately only included a single shot of the police tape to entice the audience and to hopefully urge them into watching the film (the purpose of a trailer). As well as stating it was our intention we also argued the fact that the trailer is meant to be that of a teaser trailer, so therefore is not required to go too in-depth with story line as well as the fact that the trailer opens with a police report which clearly reinforces the horror convention of the ‘past’ anyway.

Linking again with the previous point, some feedback suggested a lack of narrative explained. Although we understood this criticism, not only did we suggest that the trailer does offer some narrative such as the police report at the start, but that there is no need for a trailer of this length to go into too much detail and they are designed to entice and leave questions in the minds of the audience.

The final point was a discussion also held within our group. It was over the suggestion of a camera effect that had a recording symbol on the screen at all times to add to the POV effect. We did explain we were in debate as to whether or not to put one in and during re-edits after putting the effect in as a trail decided against it as we felt it was clear it was a POV film and unnecessary to reinforce it to that extent.
As well as the critical points explained, the class also provided us with positive opinion on aspects of our completed product:

One thing they did like was the use of static and the static noises to add to the POV feel of the piece as well as the font we used with it for our inter-titles. They thought it was a clean crisp font that complimented our sub-genre well.

As well as this, they suggested that the sequence of running shots mixed with cuts to black and the heart beat noise built up tension well and allowed them to relate to the characters as they felt they were thrown into their position. Continuing from this, they felt the overall tension of the piece was well thought out and the steady build-up of tension through the application of music resulted in the audience feeling on edge.
Some particular shots they liked were the shots of David’s eye opening and the shot of the camera being dropped to the floor before David’s foot stomped in front of it. They said these shots were supported well by the application of the stings in the music as well as the use of the bad TV effect. They also suggested the overall composition of the shots was good and that it was nice to see a variety in shot even with the restricting of only POV.

In relation to POV, they largely enjoyed the continuous POV trailer and thought it was applied well and was effective as it linked to horror convention as well as gaining empathy and sympathy from the audience. As well as this, they suggested that as it was solely POV this could add to the marketability of the piece in advertising as it grabs the attention of the audience.

Linking back to the build-up of tension, the soundtrack was complimented as one of the trailers stronger aspects as it provided not only tension but the indication of fear and connection to the horror genre making it clear what the trailers intentions were.

In conclusion, as a group we gathered a lot of important criticisms and opinions that we based the changed of our final product on. I felt that a feedback session opened up a variety of view on something I had grown used to and therefore made it easier to see what changes needed making. However, although the information gained was beneficial, I did feel that a lot of it was things we already knew we were going to address, or things that would be unnecessary to change. Also I felt some feedback did come across as somewhat contradictory as different people disagreed with each other which ultimately didn’t always assist improvement. In saying this however, I do feel the process did help refine my group’s final piece for the better.