Audience Feedback

For the audience survey feedback, I created a form on Google Docs (link can be found here) detailing some of the questions which I wished to be answered in order to create my ancillary tasks. From this feedback, I have gained valuable knowledge about the way in which many audience members think my product should be made. I will, naturally, take on board some of this feedback and suggestions, whereas I feel as if I will be using my better judgement for most of the task, and any feedback received here is by no means necessary.

One of the first things I picked up on was the mixed response to whether my poster should be simple or complex, with 3 people definitively stating it should be simple, whereas 4 people state that a mixture of simplicity and complexity should be incorporated within the design. Because of this, it is clear that a simplistic design should be the main focus, whereas adding more complex elements was met with a mixed response. I will experiment with a simplistic design for now, adding complex elements/information if required.

For the colour scheme of the horror movie poster, it is clear to see a very melancholy colour scheme should be included, with the majority stating that scary colours such as blacks and reds should be implemented over a more colourful design, with one person specifying I should implement 'empty' colours such as white and greys.

Once again, I received a mixed response as to which reaction would best suit the subject of the image used on the movie poster. 3 of the 7 participants said an intense expression such as screaming/crying would work better, whereas 3 of the 7 said an emptier expression would work better, with one person saying both would work well. Because of this, I have the option to experiment with both alternatives and see how effective each version is before developing on these concepts.

I also received input regarding the name of the movie itself that would appear on the poster, the magazine cover as well as the film trailer. A lot of suggestions seemed to like the name 'Voices' or 'Whispers'. Because both 'Voices' and 'Whispers' were both noted as being the optimal choice by 4 participants each, I have decided to choose the name 'Voices' as I believe this is the name that works the best in context of the movie.

Regarding the most important aspects of a magazine which prominently features movies from the horror genre, the majority of participants responded that all elements featured (such as colour, fonts/layout, background image etc.) were of equal importance. This reinstates the fact that there is no 'sole' component which makes a piece good or bad, and all features combine together to create an overall effective piece.

6 of the 7 participants agreed that the magazine cover should have a dark colour scheme, featuring lots of reds, blacks and greys. This is a convention that is typically associated with magazines which focus primarily on the horror genre, as they (much like their film counterparts) are also designed in such a way to make it apparently clear to any readers that they are advertising a film within the horror genre. Because of this, I will utilise a dark colour scheme across the magazine cover to fully reflect the theme of the trailer and also to help create a sense of cohesion across the three tasks.

For the body language, 5 of the 7 participants suggested I use a full-body shot to emphasise the subject's stance and body language in response to a particular situation. 2 of the 7 suggested I use variations of a close-up shot to emphasise the subject's facial expressions over their body language. Despite this, however, looking at existing media products that are centred around magazine horror posters (via this previous blog post), I believe a full body shot does not conform to the standard conventions of a horror magazine, and would therefore be far more beneficial to have the subject featured in a close up/extreme close up shot rather than a full-body shot.

Regarding the fonts which will be used on my main cover, 4 of the 7 participants suggested I use a scary font, whereas 3 suggested this would make the magazine appear unprofessional. Once again, through previous research, I can see that use of stereotypically 'scary' fonts is scarce, and magazines tend to adopt a much more 'simplistic' and 'traditional' font. Especially considering the theme of my movie does not follow this stereotypically 'scary' aspect, and is far more psychological. Because of this, I believe I will most likely stick to simplistic fonts, especially for the magazine cover.

Finally, I once again received mixed responses when I asked whether or not the magazine cover should be simplistic or complex, with 4 stating that it should be simplistic and minimal, whereas 3 stating that it should be complex and feature lots of information. Once again, by taking a look at existing products of a similar nature, I can see that magazines featuring complex information are not very common, and many tend to adopt a far simpler and minimalistic approach towards their designs. Because of this, I believe I will try and aim to create a magazine cover that is quite simplistic, all the while following conventions, however I will also include more information wherever necessary, as this feedback suggests people are of mixed opinion about the amount of information that should be included on a horror magazine front cover.