Evaluation 3 - What Have I Learnt From My Audience Feedback?

The main way I participated in getting feedback to make my film trailer, film poster and film magazine better was by asking the pupils around me there opinions on my pieces and writing down there responses to the changes. This has allowed me to make sure that my creative pieces are at the highest level I feel like I could make them which overall would lead to a higher grade in my coursework. As the teachers opinion counted the most to me as they have the real knowledge of how to improve my attributes in order to make the trailer, poster and magazine look more realistic to a viewer, as well as helping me to try and create the sense of professionalism which would make the viewer or audience member question whether it is actually real or not as it looks so professional.

Film Trailer
After producing and finish the final film piece of the film trailer, as a group we felt as if we needed feedback to ensure that our grade could be at the highest possible. Therefor, we held a group session of our class where all of the students and both teachers watched the trailer in order to give us the feedback on what they felt, needed to be improved within our trailer. After the first rough cut production that we had finished, the teachers suggested that we should work on our fine cuts more. After reviewing this specific feedback, we decided to act upon it by making sure that every shot of footage that we had captured, was finely cut down to the last possible frame. This allowed us to make the whole of the film trailer to become more professional as the cuts allowed the trailer to flow smoother and easier on the eye as the footage wasn't dragged out. Also we decided on the fact that we should've added more fade to blacks to show the passing of time and allow for the transitions to flow smoother as the audience aren't confused by all the quick cuts, which would normally really emphasize the fact of panic and carnage when the trailer is supposed to be more slow with a build up to show the breaking of the main character, therefore the cuts helped us portray this. Also in the latest feedback that i had received from my teacher is that we should implement extra text screens. This is because originally our trailer had no dialogue or extra text screens. This made it hard for the viewer to comprehend what was happening in the trailer as a psychological film has such an complex story line. Therefore, with the inclusion of the text screens, we can now give an audience, an extended viewing of the trailer, with proper understanding of whats actually happening within the film trailer. This should allow for the trailer to have more success, due to the fact that people can now understand the story line which should make them more excited for the viewing of the whole film. Also the teacher has told us that if we do this, our grade will raise higher as it becomes more professional. The last main piece of feedback that we had gained from the overall class is that we needed to change our film production logo and name from last year as soon as possible. First of all we tried to create a mythical sense by using 'Prophit Productions' which should've enhanced the story line, but overall they couldn't understand why we used it as we spelled the word prophet wrong, as well as it looked very unprofessional due to the fact we made it in five minutes. Therefore we tried to go for a more professional approach by making sure that we had a moving production company logo which every film has and changed it to 'Eclipse Studio's' which allowed us to emphasize the unknowing and darkness of the film which should give them anticipation towards the actual trailer. This allowed for the whole film to become more professional as it normally occurs in every professionally made film.

Film Magazine
Once again I decided to use the feedback from the teacher and some students as I feel that provides the best outcomes for me. The first big bit of feedback that i had got from the teacher was that I need to fill in the darker bits a lot more. This is because without the promotions, there are so many blank dark spaces that need to be filled by some competitions, interviews and promotions. After researching other film magazines from the feedback, i could identify that my teachers were right and without those conventions, the magazine was very bare and required a lot more conventions. This allowed for my magazine to look more professional as every aspect which i added in allowed for the readers eye to be caught quickly and always keep them interested. Also it allowed for my magazine cover to be on the more professional side as the blank dark pieces of the magazine cover which would make the cover more boring and would inspire a reader to pick up the magazine as all they see is darkness. Also I was told by another student that i should add other images of actors, companies and events to appear on the cover. This is because in a magazine the reader likes to be notified of what is happening in the film world and they would prefer to look at the picture which would prompt them to read further. Therefore I added a picture of a production company, the main actor of our film and Robert Downey Jr. to the cover which added more success to the overall review. After showing my final magazine cover piece I was advised by a teacher to keep to a certain color scheme which was easy on the eye. This is because it allows for the magazine cover to look more professional as when a reader see's it on the side they can identify that its my magazine straight away due to the consistent colorway of the cover. The colors that i decided to use was related to the genre of my 'Psychosis' film piece. The main two colors i used were red and black and then added white to contrast and stand out. However the red color was used in order to emphasize the fact that blood and danger is always occurring in our film which should give the audience an added intention of viewing the film as has the stereotypical features. Also the teacher suggested the color black as it represents mystery and the mood of the film due to the psychological damage that has occurred on the main character and would allow for a small insight into the film.

Film Poster
The main and only real use once again for feedback, was talking to teachers and students that had a good opinion and knowledge of how to make the poster a better and more professional looking poster. The first main feedback that my teacher gave me was to try and remove the white outline of the main character on the cover. This was because it completely juxtaposed the color and mood of the rest of the poster. Therefore, after removing the white outline i could see that the juxtaposition of the colors had been removed and that wouldn't draw the eye of the viewer too much it's about the whole film poster, instead of one thing taking the viewers pleasure away which would lead to a more professional poster. Also he recommended that other character that was in the main part of the poster should have a different filter and brightness. This was because the filter that i had originally used, looked very tacky and cheap due to enlarged brush strokes looking like i hadn't put much thought into the making of the poster. Therefore, the changes i made what to just blur the face, so that the audience couldn't identify who the person was and to also lower the brightness to create a much darker mood and feeling towards the poster. This became very relevant in the poster as my main goal was to focus on the mood which allows the viewers to have an insight into the changes i have made for the audiences pleasure. Lastly i was made to change the review quote that i had used, to suit the genre more thoroughly. The first quote said 'The new look, to the ever-changing thriller genre' and after the feedback i could see that this was very broad and didn't promote the film very well. Therefore i changed it instead to 'A terrifying twist to the thriller genre' which became more prominent in the poster as it related to the genre much more as the word 'terrifying' normally occurs within the thriller genre and made the quote look much more professional, overall creating a more realistic view towards my poster.