What have you learned from your audience feedback? In order to grasp an idea of what my target audience thought about the trailer, I showed a group of 17-19 students the trailer. They then commented on what they found most effective and what they found didn’t work as well throughout the trailer. There were many comments which surrounded the sound effects used throughout the trailer. Some comments from the audience included:

Sound works well with the addition of dialogue

Sound track worked well as it had ‘rock’ elements, which created fast pace and impact

The use of dialogue made the trailer easy to understand, and was a good indication into the plot of the film itself

The use of dialogue made it very descriptive, and in some cases seemed like more of a short film than a trailer

In some cases the background sound overpowered the dialogue

Introductory dialogue goes on for too long

It is clear from the feedback that in some cases people did enjoy the use of dialogue, whereas in others they didn’t. I personally feel that the dialogue at the beginning of the trailer acts as an indication as to what is going to happen, and in terms of Todorov’s narrative structure, this sets the equilibrium. I do agree that it could be seen as too long in comparison to the rest of the trailer; however, I do feel that it was necessary to be placed at the beginning as it does clarify the storyline. I was pleased that the majority of the audience felt that the backing track worked well, since, as they started, it does add impact and pace to the trailer, as music does in all horror trailers. I also agree that in some cases the dialogue is overpowered by the backing track. This feedback was very helpful since in the future, if I make another trailer; I think it will be necessary to use a microphone to record the dialogue, rather than just the one on the camera itself. Further comments from the audience seemed to surround shot choices including:

Point of View shots allows the audience to engage with the victim

The final shot is a point of view shot, with handheld camera work. This allows the audience to imagine

they are the victim, and makes the killer shot have more impact.

Banister shot was very dark and eerie

The use of lighting was successful with the stalker is standing in front of the headlights

The final shot was scary, jumpy and shocking, the scream intensified this

Many killer shots throughout the trailer kept the audience on their toes

Could be more establishing shots to show where everything is happening

The banister shot has extremely low light up and is an extreme close up. The slow pace of the

shot, along with these other things allows just a simple hand to create fear and tension.

This is one of the only establishing shots in my trailer, so in some cases it could be argued

that the audience may be confused with the whereabouts of the characters, though in some

cases it is fairly self-explanatory.

A greater alteration in shot types would add more pace to the trailer

Broke 4th wall rule

The audience feedback shows many positive comments about the shot types, the first of which surrounding the point of view shot. I agree that is allows the audience to relate and engage to the character, and in some cases this is why there is a target market for the female audience, since females may relate to Kelly, and therefore want her to defeat the stalker. This point links to the break of the 4th wall. Since this character looks into the character, it could be argued that the 4th wall is now broken, however, I feel that by challenging this approach the audience is able to feel more involved in the film. This is complemented by the pull focus since the audience is aware the stalker is there, whereas the victim isn’t. The audience also picked up on the use of killer shots throughout the trailer. This is an extremely important aspect of any horror trailer, since their aim is to add suspense and tension, and I feel that the audience agreed that my trailer successfully did this. Overall I am happy with the finished product of my trailer, and I feel confident after hearing the audience feedback that they also agree that there are some successful elements within my trailer, which represent the horror genre. Although I feel that it was successful, I agree with one criticism that there should have been more changes in light levels, and some iconography to represent the horror genre, such as blood. Although my trailer isn’t based around a gore horror, I feel that some further iconography could have benefited it, and added further suspense and tension. Although this is the case, I feel that overall my trailer does suit my target audience, and appeals to both females and males through interactive shots during the trailer.

It could be argued that this shot breaks the 4th wall, which ultimately confuses the viewer,

though I believe that it draws them in further, and simply challenges conventions.