What have you learned from your audience feedback? DEAD MAN’S HAND Joe Habben QUESTION 3

HOW TO COLLECT FEEDBACK There are several ways of collecting feedback for your film once it has been released or even before it has been released such as: Releasing the film to a specially selected audience who can give feedback on the pro’s and con’s of the film and what can be done to improve it. Collecting feedback from the trailers that have been released, for example by sharing them through social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Myspace etc. This would also create a strong buzz and increases the chances of it becoming viral. Creating questionnaires that viewers can fill in once they have watched the sample footage, this could either be filled in online or in person, the questions could be open e.g. they write what they want to, or they could be closed where the subject is given multiple choice questions. You can also collect feedback through other offline areas such as reviews such as magazines or on television, you can check the awards and nominations which the film has been nominated for or won.

HOW TO COLLECT FEEDBACK IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are film specialised websites which feature lots of data and information which fans and consumers will read about the film. They are also able to review the film and add what they thought about it. For our production we will air our trailer to a small group of people, we have created questionnaires and surveys where our audience can fill in information and give us feedback on what they liked, didn’t like and many other helpful questions which will aid us on how we could have improved it. In this survey we have created around 10 questions which consists of both qualitive and quantitive data, this allows the viewer to express themselves when they give their own feedback but also fill in simple questions such as the genre it fits into. If it were possible I think once the film was created, then we would air the film to a classified audience where they would pick out things wrong with the film, allowing us to change these minute details before it was fully released it. This is done quite commonly in the film industry but also in the game industry where they do the same procedure, they call it a ‘beta’.

TARGET AUDIENCE As I have mentioned before, our focus group is a range of males and females between the ages of years, who take interest in mainstream and independent crime films. They admire people who challenge the typical conventions in film such as featuring a female protagonist in a gritty male- crime. Before we target our main audience, we would like to find out who our trailer attracts to see if we have marketed and designed it for the correct focus group. To do this, we will release it to a mixed audience where we will receive a filled in survey giving info on how they found it. This survey will also include info about the person, such as gender, age, and genre preference. From this survey we will be able to work out if the audience that we targeted were entertained by our trailer and other ancillary texts. If not, then we will have to re-design certain aspects that appeal to the audience that we are trying to reach. From this survey we will also be receiving feedback from other audiences which we didn’t target, if the feedback is successful, it will mean that our products entertain multiple audiences, benefitting our total revenue and popularity.

TRAILER QUESTIONNAIRE

FEEDBACK FROM OUR TRAILER The feedback which we got back from our audience was rounded up, a lot of the same things were said a few times, which is what the ‘(*number*)’s are for. Camera work was done well and editing was clever (x3) The freeze frames and Mise-en-Scene were exciting (x2) The music worked well with the action and was suitable for the genre/narrative (x2) The choice of a Poker Scene (x3) and the Bank Robbery (x2) - Both were exciting and appropriate for their genre From this feedback we have learnt that the audience appreciated the cinematography and editing, I feel that the postmodern, stylish elements in the content contributed to the scenes which we filmed e.g. the poker and heist scene, this was recognised and was greatly appreciated. From all of the feedback, it seems that we identified the conventions of the crime genre well, which means that we must have also targeted our audiences correctly. There was also some constructive criticism which is always helpful, this will become useful in future, to not let the viewer see so much of the narrative, but also a few minor details in the editing that needed tweaking. There was too much of the main action shown, if it was cut down a bit there’d be more of a surprise factor (x2) The dialogue was not loud enough – this we could change by re- filming, or editing the sequence so the soundtrack is quieter.

POSTER/MAGAZINE COVER QUESTIONNAIRE

POSTER FEEDBACK PROS The slogan and title are bold, clear and easy to understand, they also signify the genre of the film which are reinforced by the props featured. This was helpful feedback because it tells us that we carrying the message across well and the audience can understand what they’re viewing. The props are interesting and create a connection between the trio, this makes them work well together. The main images are exciting and appropriate to the genre. The posters are dramatic and bold, the title are suitable and clever. The image used suggests the genre well from the gun, and the look on the girls face introduces the less serious, comic side of the film. The main title is big and bold, attracting your attention to the poster. The image doesn’t jump out at the audience, could have been more effective with a bolder image. The other actors/characters aren’t introduced at all. – In response to this we then created 2 other posters which had images of the 2 other main characters. CONS Did not understand why two characters were blurred out and one wasn’t. Soon after, I explained why and they thought that it was a very clever and challenging idea. The gun prop was hard to see at first glimpse, could maybe move the image up slightly or reduce the size.

MAGAZINE FEEDBACK PROS Really admire the composition Clever, humorous photograph Really like the props used, especially the poker chip in the eye. CONS Could have shown the mask a bit more.