3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Feedback from class on the trailer rough cut: Demographic group B, C1, C2

They gave us feedback on music and sound effects such as they think there needs to be sound effects of high heels at the beginning. We discussed this and we wanted to add heel sound effects anyway so we added extra diegetic footsteps from the Mac at the beginning for the heels, we thought it was also necessary because the sound of the heels will automatically attract attention and connote importance and power of the female.

We also got feedback telling us to add music to our trailer to make the narrative flow better and get the audiences attention. We listened to all of the music on the Mac and found a piece of music which sounded like a modern pop song, it was upbeat and energetic. We added this non diegetic music to the whole trailer to help the narrative flow and keep the audience interested. The class also said the shot with the 'jack-the-lads' has laughing for a very short time at the end of the shot, they think this should either me extended or cut completely because they feel the shot should continue with the laughing or just cut it out so there is just a cheer. We discussed this in detail and first of all we decided we wanted to keep the little bit of laughter but then realised after watching again that it sounds like the shot us cut too short. So we extended the shot by a second and it flowed much better.

Also they said that the transition from the 'jack-the-lads' cheering is unconventional and quite tacky. We changed this transition to a cross dissolve. So from this feedback we learned that sticking to fades and cross dissolve transitions helped the narrative flow better and look neater.

They also said that they think there needs to be titles at the beginning, but as a group we said that it is not conventional to have titles at the beginning and that we are going to have a voice over with titles at the end.

Feedback from family and friends Demographic groups B, C1, C2, D

They repeated some feedback which can be a little unhelpful but the on other hand, reliable as it shows that a lot of people feel the same about some issues with the trailer and therefore these improvements will please a wide audience. Other feedback I gained from family and friends was that they thought some actions in the trailer could be emphasized with sound effects or music. We had planned to add an extra diegetic sound effect for the slap, so we had told them this and they thought that would be appropriate. Therefore we learned that the audience think that soap trailers should have melodramatic sounds and actions.

Feedback on magazine Feedback from class

The negative feedback helped me most as I could look at what they thought was wrong with my magazine and adjust it to improve it. My class said that the magazine cover is lacking colour and the layout is very bland. To improve this I looked at more existing products to see what colours are used, from my magazine research I have found that bright colours are used to make the cover stand out. So first of all I used a red block banner with white text for my important magazine information such as website and issue number.

However, after further feedback from my 2nd draft they still believed there should be more block colour on the magazine. So I used block red around the whole magazine cover apart from around the main image because the white connotes innocence which contrasts with the tag line, this would intrigue the reader to watch the soap to find out about the storyline. My class also said that the main tag line was a bit too comical and could be seen as a sexual reference, I discussed this with my group to see how they read it and they did not feel the same way. However, I believed changing it would be the best idea because some people obviously read it in different ways and therefore I picked a tag line which was more conventional and intriguing at the same time. They then agreed that this tag line was much better suited to the storyline of the pregnant teen.

Feedback From friends

They said my first draft seemed very bland and everything seemed placed and straight edged therefore I looked further at real media texts and found some taglines are placed over pictures and are diagonal with different shaped images. For my final draft I made my main tagline diagonal and overlapped the main image so the cover looked busier and more interesting and also more conventional for a soap magazine.

They also felt that there could be more information at the top of the magazine, therefore for my final magazine I put the Helen How road sign on a slant in the corner and put special edition in bold purple letters underneath. This meant that the road sign automatically referenced the soap and made the reader see the special edition in an image making it more appealing and interesting.

Feedback on Poster

Feedback from class

The feedback from my class on my first and second draft of my poster was that the font used for the tag line and information does not stand out and should be bolder. I listened to the audience feedback because the font on a poster is extremely important as it is the image that gets the audience attentions but the tag line and details that highlight the important information. Therefore I made my font white on my final magazine, so the white text contrasted with the black slate making it bold and easy to read. Also the colour white connotes innocence which highlights theme and characteristic on the poster.

Feedback From friends

From my first draft of my poster my friends said that the female character in green and white is odd because she is not central but stands out and there is no apparent colour code, or theme present on the poster. At first I did not want to use this feedback as I felt it was important her character was still on the poster. but after producing another poster with her still on it and receiving more negative feedback on the colour scheme I decided to crop the picture for my final draft. This then meant there was a clear colour scheme of black which connotes mystery and secrets and has an underlying theme of the soap being sinister due to events to come.

How did this audience feedback help me for my final products?

In conclusion, gaining audience feedback from more than one branch of people has helped me produce a product which is more professional, conventional to real media texts and more appealing to my target audience.

The feedback from my family and friends was most useful as the people are asked fit in a wide range of demographic groups and ages this therefore meant that by listening and improving my tasks with their feedback, I would then appeal to them. The wider the audience my product appeals to, the higher the viewer ratings and the bigger the success, so by using feedback from people in the demographic groups B-D I could appeal to a wider audience and attract my target audience of the younger audience too.