Evaluation Question No.3

Why is audience feedback important when creating media products?




Audience feedback is important when creating media products as it ensures that your products are suitable for your intended audience. If you get audience feedback you are able to find out if your intended audience actually like your products and if not can make changes in order to suit their needs and likes as part of yout target audience.


Short Film
We conducted two screenings of the short film and the feedback we received a wide range of constructive criticism. The audience of the screening were a selective part of our target audience who were from 17-19. After watching the short film, the audience filled out a brief feedback sheet.We also posted our short film to YouTube & Facebook, (where people of our audience would normally be on) and found good feedback.




























This is a video of our smaller secondary screening that we carried out.



The feedback we received was that the theme of our short film was clear, it achieved its purpose, was suitable for the audience: “Good range of shots, inventive storyline”, there was interesting cinematography editing, and sound worked well together: “Yeah loved it relationships is what appealed to audience because that’s what everyone goes through at this age”. Our audience especially liked the use of contrasting scores, the editing techniques of crosscutting and choice of narrative & casting.



Though our audience did think that there were a few changes that could be made. One member of the audience said: “Too much walking. CUT IT DOWN!!!”. This refers to the part in our short film, when Adam and Louise are walking to school. Another member of the audience suggested we cut back to the £10 note when Adam is walking away not only to remind the audience of the fact he has lost his £10, but to breakdown this part of the scene, making it less boring for the audience just to see continuous walking. We agreed with the comments and put the feedback straight into action with the non-linear, non-destructive software of I-movie, which allowed us to edit any part of the short film to suit the audience feedback. We cut down a lot of the walking, decreasing the repetition of the walking, avoiding the chance of the audience getting bored. We then cut to the £10 motif, breaking up the this part of the scene and making good use of the editing technique of crosscutting, once again.



Other criticisms that we received was that the transitions needed to be faded in and out to avoid a ‘Black Screen’, and again we agreed that this was right so we made instant changes. We made good use of the transitions in response to this feedback, as it made the short film run smoother and not have abrupt black screens, which would disrupt the running of the film. Most of the audience had a problem the credits – the font/colour and where they were placed. They said it was quite unclear when the title actually emerged and said: “just make sure you can see the credits & titles”. We did not agree to have the colour of the titles/credits changed, as we believe the colour red conveyed the theme of love, genre of romance and was great symbolism. Another reason for out decision not to change the colour of the titles/credits is the fact that the room, in which the screening was placed, was actually why the audience couldn’t see the titles/credits, not the colour. Though to make the title more visible to the audience we changed where it was placed, putting the title over black instead of over the clip of when Adam is coming out of the bathroom, so the audience would surely see it. If the audience don’t get to see the title of the film they miss the insight into what the film is about (having a title is an important part of the construction of all films).  In response to our feedback, instead of using the font: Zapfino we changed it to Arial making it much more clearer. The audience thought that some people would have thought the film finished (before it actually does), as we have after credits footage, but after the credits there is a black screen and then the footage plays. To avoid confusion we decided to put the credits over the after credits footage and it worked well. We also changed the font to a much clearer one of: Lucia Calligraphy, still a quite fancy one though to convey the Romantic side of the genre.



Poster
To get feedback for our poster we decided to use focus groups in order to gather information about what the audience of our poster thought about it. The audience of the focus group was all of the selected preferences for our poster target audience of 15-18 females. After having a brief look at the poster we asked each member of the focus group a series of  the same questions that would find out whether the poster was effective or not.

The questions we asked were:
1. Having seen the poster, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images are appropriate for the poster?
3. What do you understand about the narrative, theme & genre from the poster?

The feedback we received was that the poster made it very clear, what the narrative was based on: "The contrast is clear, because of the heading". They felt that the poster showed the theme and genre well because of the use of red writing and the fact that there was a female character, and a male character. Our audience felt that the images were made good use of: "I like the use of images, nice and simple", "good use of Photoshop". One audience member really liked the layout of the poster: "The heading shows the two characters and what’s in store for them". One found the poster really good but "a bit boring" for themselves personally. We disagreed with this and decided not to take any action on the poster in response to that particular bit of feedback as we know the conventions of a normal Romcom - taking particular influence from the Bridget Jones Diary poster. We feel it is simple yet eye-catching because the white space allows what is in colour to catch the readers eye: especially the red writing.

The audience of our feedback focus group really liked the Title of the film, as the "un" bit was in black, to show the unluckiness that then turns into lucky love as the "lucky in love part" is in red, showing the romance. They liked the fact that the title included "Love" and "Luck" because it made it easier for them to instantly identify what the film was about. They said the title made them curious about what sort of luck would be included in the film and how this "love" came about as a result of this.

Members of the focus group, really liked the use of the two images of the male and female character, as they thought they both resembled different things. They found the positioning of these to images very clever, as the male character was placed under the “UN” part of “Unlucky in love”, while the female character was under the “Lucky in Love” part of the title, instantly establishing in their mind that the male character would be the unlucky one. They said the images would make them want to see the film, because its not an "all male/female cast" and they are people of their age so would probably be able to relate to the events that happen to them in the film.

The focus group found the tagline quite humorous and were able to establish the comedy side of the short film. They liked the enjambment of the tagline and thought that it was very intriguing, making them want to find out what was so unlucky, and how it landed him in love. They again liked the fact that the words of “love” and “luck” were used to remind them about the themes of the short film.

The focus group liked the fact that the actors names were in red, to emphasise the theme of love, and liked where the actors names were positioned on the poster.

The members of the focus group thought that this image especially, was an appropriate choice, because it clearly gave them direct insight into the narrative, and they were able to know what kind of luck was in store for the characters. They also found it humorous, at the fact that the male character was loosing the £10, while the female character was finding it, and were interested about what other kind of un(lucky) events would happen to these two characters.

The feedback that was given about the billing block was that it was a very inventive idea (using the £10 as a background for the billing block) as they thought it would look boring without it. The audience again liked the use of the red writing.




Magazine
A magazine is needed in order to get a third party view of the film that people intend to watch. To get feedback for our magazine we decided to use focus groups in order to get responses about our magazine and if it gave a clear insight into the our short film. With our casual and informal mode of address we decided our magazine audience would be 17-20 females. The audience of the magazine focus group were selective part of our target audience, being females from 17-19, while also including others. After having a brief look and read of the magazine we asked each member of the focus group a series of  the same questions that would find out whether the magazine helped them understand the short film, or if it made their final decision of watching the film a positive one.
The questions we asked were:
1. Having read the magazine, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images, breakout boxed and graphics are appropriate?
3. Is the article engaging and do you get insight into the narrative & themes of the film?
 
The feedback that we received was that the overall layout for the magazine was very easy to read and that it was very engaging. "Yes, looks very interesting". they felt that the magazine gave a very clear insight into the theme: "The images work well, the colours work well also, showing the theme". They also thought the magazine clearly stated in an interesting way: the genre and narrative, particularly through the use of images. "The image of the heart really captures the essence of the film". Overall, our audience though the images were the best bit of the magazine and said they defiantly would watch the film after reading this magazine review. Although our magazine audience is 17-20 females, we still wanted to get audience feedback from others. The two males of the focus group responded with very good comments. One male did say he would like to watch the short film after reading the review but another wasn’t sure if he would because of the focus on romance in the magazine review. We took this feedback into account and decided not to make any changes in response to this bit of feedback because it wasn't from target audience of 17-19 females, and his comment indirectly reflected how well the magazine portrayed the genre of Romance and the theme of love.



 The focus group really liked the title of the magazine review, and felt that they got a great insight into the narrative as it said it was a story about love and fate. They believed this would be an interesting story and wanted to watch the film from seeing this.

The focus group liked the name of the magazine, because it was very catchy and they liked the use of the pink colour to emphasise the romance in the film.

The focus group thought all the images were appropriate and worked well together as a range of pictures. They liked the fact that these two images on the left showed the contrast in luck, and showed what they believed to be main parts of the film. The audience said that the images helped them to gain understanding about the comedy side of the short film and would definitely want to watch it after seeing the images which had allowed them to get a peek at the kind of lucky/unlucky situations that were happening in the film. The third image of the two characters was a hit with the focus group as they really though it showed the theme of love and the genre of romance. They thought that this image showed the good choice of casting, and thought they looked really well together as a couple for the short film. The focus group found all the images very clear and though the images helped well in engaging them to read further into the magazine review.

The audience for the focus group really liked the graphics and especially liked the fact that the film was given a 4 star rating out of 5, so it really made them want to watch the film. They found the review truthful because of the fact that it was given 4 instead of 5 stars, so trusted that it was worth seeing.

 
The audience of the focus group really liked the breakout boxes and said that it made them really want to watch the film, as all of them had seen all three of these films and said as these films (about unlucky characters) were so good that the fact that this magazine review mentioned them, made them want to see the short film "Unlucky in Love" which clearly had a spin on it. The audience liked the breakout box because it was something else to look at, rather than just having to read a lot of information.





     

The audience of the feedback group said that they really liked the layout of the magazine review as it was really easy to read and the content was engaging. They liked the casual approach of the review and felt that it wasn't pressuring them into watching it but enticed them into wanting to watch the film. They liked the fact that there was two columns as it made it easy to read and consume the information. They liked that the information was brief and not too much, feeling that the actual content gave them all the information they needed in order to make a decision about watching "Unlucky In Love".  They liked the font of the magazine review, and said it was clear to read. They liked the colour of some bits of the magazine review, where the colour was red because they said it made them understand that the theme of love and genre of romance was very much prevalent in the short film.

The audience really liked the use of the firework heart in the background of the review as like one said it gave them an "essence of what the film was about". They thought that it gave them a great insight into the romantic side of the film and the fact that it wasn't just a normal heart, but a firework one left them thinking about what the film could have in store for them and left them really wanting to see what kind of love was included in the short film.