Evaluation Question 3

This question is regarding the significance of audience feedback. Audience feedback has been an essential part of our project - we ended up creating three drafts of our trailer due to this. Without it, we wouldn't have been able to create a trailer that appealed fully to our target audience, which would cut down on viewing figures. It was also useful in finding out whether our ideas for story lines and characters appealed to our target audience or whether we would have to reconsider anything. The questionnaire I carried out during the research and planning stages showed me that out of the people who answered, the majority preferred story lines that were shocking or based around relationships and so I tried to ensure that these types of story lines were evident in my trailer. For example, the central character in the trailer, Helen, is seen joining the community and how she has an impact on the other characters; the boys who cheer as she walks past and Richard winking at her connotes that she will be sought after by the male characters in the soap and implies that future story lines will focus on this. The reveal shot I used of Danielle being pregnant was intended to shock viewers because of her young age and would get viewers interested in seeing how the rest of the story line would be explored.

The majority of those who answered my survey were male and so the answers given perhaps represented a more masculine opinion. However, we didn't stick entirely to the ideas given in this survey and regularly asked for audience feedback throughout the creation of the trailer, magazine cover and poster, and so I think that we managed to get a more balanced opinion that wasn't gender specific. In regards to the magazine cover, I made three drafts, each of which I changed and adapted due to audience feed back. My final magazine cover looks very different to my first, and that is due to audience feedback I received from classmates, teachers and people in my target audience. My colour scheme changed in order to be in keeping with existing products - I was told that I needed to use brighter, bolder colours to make it more eye catching and so I stuck mainly to primary colours which I think was effective. It was also suggested that I make the font of the titles and tag lines bigger and bolder, which I did for my final draft. The significance of audience feedback regarding my magazine cover is I need to know what it is that people want so that I can make it stand out on a news stand next to established products.

My poster had minimal changes suggested but I took them all on board for the simple fact that I wanted to appeal directly to my target audience. It was suggested that I cut down on the amount of photographs used and when I did this it looked a lot more effective because it was simpler and less cluttered. If I hadn't received the audience feed back then I would have left it as it was and it wouldn't be as successful.