What have you learned from

your audience feedback?

By Harry Preston

Before creating my production I documented some audience research. This audience research consisted of video documentation of me asking questions about my product and a questionnaire which I turned into graphs to give clear indication of my participants answers. Through gaining this information I was able to see what my target audience wanted from my products and I was able to adapt my work around these answers. By doing this I was able to make my production appeal towards the correct demographic. For my video documentation I created Vox Pox which is when I recorded my participant’s answers to the questions I provided. I was able to re-watch these videos and find key conventions between my participants. This helped me directed my production towards the correct audience. I tried to ask a wide variety of people for my Vox Pox, this gave me a large selection of views and made it simpler to pick the correct group to direct my production towards. The information I gathered from the Vox Pox changed the rest of my research and planning as I began to direct all work towards the information I had gathered from my audience research. The questionnaire was more successful at gaining audience information as I was able to ask a larger group however many of the questions were limited to yes or no answers which didn’t give the extent of answers I got form my video documentations. The use of a digital questionnaire also meant I could transfer the answers over to excel and create graph out of the information for clearer display purposes. The research I gathered also provided me with information of previous products that’s my target audience like. By having access to these productions I used them as inspiration for my productions. An example of this was I asked my audience what posters stand out to them. I then researched these posters and discovered what makes them so memorable and then implement these conventions into my final production. Without this initial audience research I would have still had some idea of conventions and what my target audience wanted through other sources of research but I would have not had the direct question answers which I received from my questions I created myself

Audience research before production

Audience feedback for Short Film

After I had completed the final edit for my short film I sent it to a large body of peers. I asked for them to send me back their thoughts on my films through any source of communication. I would then document these responses and check that my target audience enjoys the film. I also asked for negative feedback. This was asked because if a reoccurring problem kept arising I would return to fix the problem before I send my portfolio. I have noticed how important audience research is when creating a product as they will notice certain aspects that’s you could have missed.

PositiveThe majority of responses for my short film were positive. Which makes me feel confident that I created my short film using the correct conventions and I followed what the audience wanted. The main positive was the actors. I was very fortunate with my actors and their acting ability, both were completing a B-Tec in Performing arts and they both did especially well at portraying the characters in such a short time. Another aspect of my short film which was accredited by a large number of my participants was the location. The location I picked for my short film was perfect and provided my short film with a more professional style as it helped the Mise-en-scene.

NegativeI didn’t receive much negative feedback on my short film however one problem kept occurring and that was near the end of the video. The score sounded “Jumpy” when placed over the fast cuts. This problem was mentioned by nearly 60% of my asked viewers. This problem was noticed by to many people for me to avoid so I had to return back to my edit and fix the sound. I found what part of the film my participants were mentioning and fix the sound problems.

Short Film Audience Research

Audience feedback for Poster

Once I finished my posters I asked my class for feedback on my work. I asked for positive and negative feedback so I could obtain a rounded evaluation and fix improvements. Gaining this feedback is very important as peer review are more responsive for picking out mistakes that I would have otherwise missed. The chance to be given negative feedback is very useful. As it provide me with area of improvement that I can focus on to fix.

PositiveI was most proud of my poster out of all my other productions. I believed I had created a very professional and high quality looking product. When creating the poster I followed all of the conventions that would be expected from an action thriller poster. The feedback I received from my poster was all very positive. The main attraction that my audience was impressed with was the simplicity of my product but it still managed to explain all the themes needed. My audience understood all of the conventions I used and were able to pick out all of the features of my poster.

NegativeMy poster had very little negative feedback but I still asked for negativity just encase I could improve on anything. All of the negative feedback was so minute and focused on different area. Since nothing big was in need for improvement I didn’t change my poster a both me and the audience were happy and received it well.

Poster Audience Research