What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Changes to trailer (first draft):
Positive:
Change 1: Use better music/sound effects - Originally, we only had one music track that we used when the main antagonist was revealed and kept it playing from there. As part of our feedback, we were told to use more sound. As a result we put in more clips that we were originally unable to use due to the computer not displaying them and put a "boom" sound effect over each of them to make it seem like more of a surprise to the viewer. In addition, our audience wasn't a fan of the scream at the end of the trailer, we contemplated putting it elsewhere in the trailer but ultimately decided it would be better without it as it is overused and more fitting for a film of the horror genre.
Change 2: Make it faster paced - Our first draft was too slow paced for a film of the thriller genre. Thriller films typically use multiple fast paced shots. In the case of V for Vendetta, the overall speed of the trailer is fast, but it slows down at points especially where the characters are talking, we tried to mirror this as we want to keep the antagonist somewhat enigmatic whilst making the protagonists somewhat likable so the audience can connect. Originally we weren't able to use some of our shots which made it difficult to make the trailer fast while still being a decent length but, we later figured out how we could which allowed us to have more shots and speed up the trailer.
Change 3: Make it less chronological - Our audience felt that our trailer was too chronological, it started with the protagonists sitting together and then deciding to break into the school, which is what would have happened in the film. As a result we decided to put a bit at the start of the trailer showing one of the characters being abducted/taken by the antagonist leaving the audience questioning what is going on from the start, especially when they see the character sitting with their friends later. Also, we moved the news report to a later point in the trailer, this was mainly inspired by the trailer for The Snowman where a women is seen and then a scream is heard, followed by a news report. This makes the situation seem a lot more dire and puts the audience on edge through the rest of the trailer.
Change 4: Use more inter-titles - At first, we only had inter-titles at the end of the trailer saying it was "coming soon" and displaying the title. One suggestion was to include inter-titles at different points to build up tension e.g. "The scariest night of your life...". In the end we decided to go with two extra ones, one said "It's time..." which keeps the audience wondering, and the second one said "to draw". We felt this was appropriate as it is the tagline for our film and drawing can have two different meanings, the first being drawing with stationary, and the other being drawing a weapon such as a knife which our antagonist uses.
Changes to poster:
Positive:
Positive:
- Good characters
- Good lighting
- Nice name/title (design)
Improvements:
- Music/Sound effects (scream)
- Pace
- Chronology (News report at start?)
- Inter-titles
Change 1: Use better music/sound effects - Originally, we only had one music track that we used when the main antagonist was revealed and kept it playing from there. As part of our feedback, we were told to use more sound. As a result we put in more clips that we were originally unable to use due to the computer not displaying them and put a "boom" sound effect over each of them to make it seem like more of a surprise to the viewer. In addition, our audience wasn't a fan of the scream at the end of the trailer, we contemplated putting it elsewhere in the trailer but ultimately decided it would be better without it as it is overused and more fitting for a film of the horror genre.
Change 2: Make it faster paced - Our first draft was too slow paced for a film of the thriller genre. Thriller films typically use multiple fast paced shots. In the case of V for Vendetta, the overall speed of the trailer is fast, but it slows down at points especially where the characters are talking, we tried to mirror this as we want to keep the antagonist somewhat enigmatic whilst making the protagonists somewhat likable so the audience can connect. Originally we weren't able to use some of our shots which made it difficult to make the trailer fast while still being a decent length but, we later figured out how we could which allowed us to have more shots and speed up the trailer.
Change 3: Make it less chronological - Our audience felt that our trailer was too chronological, it started with the protagonists sitting together and then deciding to break into the school, which is what would have happened in the film. As a result we decided to put a bit at the start of the trailer showing one of the characters being abducted/taken by the antagonist leaving the audience questioning what is going on from the start, especially when they see the character sitting with their friends later. Also, we moved the news report to a later point in the trailer, this was mainly inspired by the trailer for The Snowman where a women is seen and then a scream is heard, followed by a news report. This makes the situation seem a lot more dire and puts the audience on edge through the rest of the trailer.
Change 4: Use more inter-titles - At first, we only had inter-titles at the end of the trailer saying it was "coming soon" and displaying the title. One suggestion was to include inter-titles at different points to build up tension e.g. "The scariest night of your life...". In the end we decided to go with two extra ones, one said "It's time..." which keeps the audience wondering, and the second one said "to draw". We felt this was appropriate as it is the tagline for our film and drawing can have two different meanings, the first being drawing with stationary, and the other being drawing a weapon such as a knife which our antagonist uses.
Changes to poster:
Positive:
- Good layout (Key conventions displayed)
- Nice fonts/design
Improvements:
- Main image
- Background
Change 1: Use a better main image - Originally I had planned to use an image of the antagonist's mask, but my audience said that it would be better to use something more interesting. I was basing it off of a trailer for the film "The Hole" where the main image is of a woman's face, but I later moved to other film posters where there is a character and setting such as: Shutter Island. In the end I feel as though it turned out a lot better. In addition, I used the burn tool on the mask and building, this made the building look a lot darker (which is a key mise-en-scene paradigm of the thriller genre) and made the antagonist look a lot more dangerous due to the mask being messed up.
Change 2: Use a background - At first I just had a black background with the mask covering it. But I felt this was too boring, I tried to make it look like a chalkboard to represent the fact the antagonist draws around his victims. However, through messing with the settings I made it look like a dark fog covering the black background. This was all behind a fog effect that I made (which through trying various things now looks like a dark cloud which I like as it combines two key conventional forms of pathetic fallacy to set the scene).
Changes to magazine:
Positive:
- Good layout (Key conventions displayed)
- Nice fonts/design
- Background
- Good effects
- Good colours
Improvements:
- Main image
- Puff on left
Change 1: Use a better main image - Originally I had a picture of the antagonist standing in front of the woods but the quality wasn't very good so I retook it which meant I could change the size without it looking terrible and also apply various effects such as the gradient (to make it look like he is appearing from the forest) and the burn tool on the mask (to make it look more dangerous). I also positioned his head in front of the title as it made him look as though he was engaging the viewer, especially combined with the fact that he is centered and staring directly at the viewer.
Change 2: Replace the puff on the left hand side - My first draft featured an image of another film on the left hand side, which was surrounded by a disfigured square shape where the edges where contorted. I was unsure of how well this looked so made a back up which featured the text for a new film in a red circle which is outlined, but used the original idea anyway. Following feedback from my teachers I was told that it would look better without the box, so i went and used the circular puff instead, which I feel does improve the overall design by making it look less cluttered and of higher quality.
Change 2: Replace the puff on the left hand side - My first draft featured an image of another film on the left hand side, which was surrounded by a disfigured square shape where the edges where contorted. I was unsure of how well this looked so made a back up which featured the text for a new film in a red circle which is outlined, but used the original idea anyway. Following feedback from my teachers I was told that it would look better without the box, so i went and used the circular puff instead, which I feel does improve the overall design by making it look less cluttered and of higher quality.
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