Ancillary Product: Audience Feedback on Poster

After finishing my poster after editing it to fit the improvements that my target audience suggested for my previous drafts,  I decided to create one more questionnaire to make sure that my final product is effective. With this questionnaire I have decided to ask people from my school, aged between 16-18, a large chunk of our target audience. Below are the results:

1. Does the poster represent a supernatural horror genre effectively?

YES: ||||| |||||
NO:

2. Does the poster present the stereotypical codes and conventions of a real film poster?

YES: ||||| |||||
NO:

3. Does the focal image relate to the title of the film Occupied?

YES: ||||| |||
NO: ||

4. Does the colour palette used effectively link to the genre and focal image?

YES: ||||| ||
NO: |||

5. Do you feel the poster is memorable?

YES: ||||| ||
NO: |||

6. Is the poster eye catching?

YES: ||||| |||
NO: ||

7. Do you like the poster?

YES: ||||| |||||
NO:

8. Would you watch Occupied based off this poster?

YES: ||||| ||||
NO: |

I asked 10 people today. I decided to ask 5 boys and 5 girls in order to have mixed answers from both genders within my young adult target audience. As you can see from the final results that all 10 people that I asked liked the poster which I was really happy with. Also, all 10 people felt that the poster represents the supernatural horror genre clearly, and all 10 people felt that the poster presented the typical codes and conventions of a film poster. This meant that my target audience felt my design was effective at portraying the genre and resembling a professional and convincing film poster. The majority of my voters voted yes on all of the other questions, which I was extremely happy with.I was initially worried that my target audience may not find the poster eye catching due to the lack of bright colours on the poster, but from the feedback it is clear that this is not an issue and the colours can remain like they are.

Overall, I am happy with my final product poster and that it is clear to my audience that it is for a supernatural horror film and that it is convincing as a genuine film poster. As all of the people I asked said they liked the poster and that all but one said they would watch the film because of it, it is clear that my poster appeals to my target audience.

Ancillary Product: Making Changes to Magazine Cover (Draft 3)

From reflecting on the feedback that I received for my second draft, it is clear that my audience still believe that some of the information (particularly the magazine name) needs to be more noticeable against the background focal image. To do this, I played and experimented with some of the effects and filters that are available on Photoshop and I came across the Burn tool (seen in the screenshot on the right). This tool allowed me to burn the top of the focal image so that became darker, meaning the magazine's name could stand out more.

The finished effect is pictured directly above. I feel like this added effect really makes the magazine's logo stand out a lot more than it originally did. As well as this, I think further creates an ominous look to my magazine cover, further making the cover look like a horror film magazine, as the Burn tool has meant that the top of the cover has been made darker, almost resembling a shadow; an icon of the genre.

Another change that I made to the text on the magazine cover was changing the font for our film's name Occupied, so that it stood out against the focal image more, whilst still retaining a colour that fit within the cover's colour palette to keep a professional and uniform look. I decided to add an ombré effect on the text (the second effect on the second row in the screenshot on the right), and sampling one of the main beige/dull creamy brown colours that is featured within the focal image and applying it to the text. I feel this made it more noticeable against some of the other pieces of text on the cover, as it is the only one with an effect apart from the magazine name, as the title of the film should be one of the most important pieces of text on the cover as it is something the reader needs to know if they are thinking of watching the film. Also, effects like these make the overall look of the magazine more professional and interesting to look at for the reader.

Ancillary Product: Audience Feedback on Magazine Cover (2nd Draft)

After improving my magazine cover from the comments that I received after uploading it on Flickr, I then wanted to make sure that my next draft is definitely suitable and effective for my genre and target audience. Therefore, I have created a questionnaire that I can now ask people around my school, students aged 15-18, to fill in. I decided to ask a wide range of people in that age demographic, from different areas and social groups within my school, some who I may not necessarily be friends with so I can prevent any biased opinions. I also asked people who had previously given me feedback on my previous draft, as well as people who have not seen any other previous versions to further ensure that I have a wide range of feedback. Below are the results:

1. Does this magazine cover follow the conventions comparing it to other film magazine covers, such as Empire and Total Film?

YES: ||||| |||||
NO:

2. Does the focal image intrigue you and make you want to watch the film/read the magazine?

YES: ||||| ||
NO: |||

3. Is the cover eye catching?

YES: ||||| |||
NO: ||

4. Is it clear that the magazine is specifically a horror film magazine?

YES: ||||| |||||
NO:

5. Is all of the information featured on the magazine clear against the focal image?

YES: |||||
NO: |||||

6. Do you think the focal image effectively relates to our film's narrative and themes?

YES: ||||| ||||
NO: |

7. Is it clear that the film is a supernatural horror film?

YES: ||||| ||
NO: |||

8. Do you like the magazine cover?

YES: ||||| |||
NO: ||

I am fairly pleased with the results that I have collected based on my second draft magazine cover. It is clear from certain questions, 1, 4 and 6, that my magazine cover effectively resembles that of a real horror film publication, and that it represents the narrative of our film effectively through it's focal image. As the focal image is similar to a scene within the trailer in which Melissa and Josh are sat together on the sofa reassuring each other, I'm glad that our target audience picked up on this and felt that it was recognisable of Occupied and it's themes.

For question 3, it is clear that most of my target audience felt that my cover was eye catching, however, from looking at question 5 I can see that quite a few people felt that some of the information still got lost within the focal image, despite the efforts I made to make it stand out more. When asking about the response each audience member made for that question, many of them mentioned the magazine's logo and how they felt it should stand out more, similar to the feedback I have previously received. This means I am going to have to make further attempts at trying to make the logo and other information on the cover stand out.

For the other questions, the majority of my target audience voted yes and therefore I will take on board that my magazine cover is clearly for a supernatural horror film, that the focal image intrigues the reader and that many of my audience liked the overall product.

Ancillary Product: Magazine Cover Second Draft

Ancillary Product: Making Changes to Magazine Cover (Draft 2)

One of the changes I have made to my magazine cover after reflecting upon my audience feedback is changing the typography style of my magazine's logo to try and make it stand out more against the background focal image. I added an effect on the text that meant that it became more 3D, and added a fuzzy white and grey effect that resembles an analog television screen (something that is often seen within supernatural horror films as being quite creepy, iconically Poltergeist (1982)). I did this by choosing the second style on the bottom row in the screenshot shown on the right. This added a subtle whiteness to the font that I think makes it more noticeable against the focal image, whilst still remaining the dull, grey and ominous look I wanted for my magazine cover, as I didn't want to change it too drastically by making it a really bright and vibrant colour as this would contrast too much against the other colours featured on my cover and wouldn't maintain the iconic dull and ominous colours that are often associated with supernatural horrors.

One of the main pieces of feedback that I received for the first draft was that there was a lack of information on the cover and that meant it looked quite bare and didn't persuade the reader to watch the film or buy the magazine enough. I have circled the extra pieces of information I have added in yellow on the image on the left. One of the main pieces of information that I have added is the film's title which is something that I completely forgot during the production of my first draft. I had to include this as this is a vital piece of information as I can't guarantee that all of the readers will recognise the image and "The Sanders" and automatically know that it is for Occupied. I also decided to put this information in white to make it stand out against the focal image and the other pieces of information which are in red, to make it clear that this is the main article featured within the magazine, that it is for the main focal image featured, and because the magazine's logo and the film's title are the two most important pieces of information on the cover. I decided to use the font used for the film's logo as well as this makes it recognisable for fans who have already seen the poster and the teaser trailer.

With the extra pieces of information, I incorporated the star system with the use of "James Wan" on the right hand third of the cover, a popular and acclaimed director of many successful supernatural horror films, thus meaning that horror fans will be attracted to the magazine as they will recognise his name and want to know why he is featured in it.

Ancillary Product: Magazine Cover Feedback (1st Draft)

I decided to ask our target audience and industry professionals what they thought about the first draft of my magazine cover. I decided to post my first draft on Flickr and below are some examples of the feedback that I received:

• "This magazine cover effectively resembles the conventional style of other film magazines such as Empire and Total Film."
• "The main focal image definitely helps me get an idea of what your film is about and it's narrative."
• "I really like this magazine cover, it's very interesting and the focal image is intriguing. I would include more information on it and make it more eye catching, making it more persuading for me to buy it. Other than that, the design and colour scheme are effective and make it look really professional, well done!"
• "I feel that the typography and colouring is really effective at capturing the supernatural horror genre. I would try to make the magazine's logo more eye catching and bold as it might be hard to notice from afar."
• "The use of conventional elements of other magazine covers make the product seem really convincing and professional. I would include much more information and features that would persuade the reader to buy it, and maybe use a different effect on the magazine logo as it needs to stand out more."

I have clearly received a mixture of positive and negative comments. Most of the comments established that I had captured the conventional layout of a film magazine and that the overall style of my first draft was very professional. One of my commenters said that they felt they were intrigued into what the film is about with the use of the focal image, and that it made them want to read the magazine to know more about it, which is what I really wanted with the use of the image. However, one commenter thought that the magazine's logo wasn't very clear and eye catching, which I agree with now that I have reflected upon it, and I will rectify this when developing my final magazine cover. A few of my commenters felt that the use of colours and the typography was effective at establishing that the film and magazine was about supernatural horror films, something that I really wanted to focus on as it is clear to me that the image could be quite ambiguous in what it is trying to portray and that it doesn't connote supernatural horror immediately. Now, I am going to focus on adding some extra information on my magazine as a couple of my comments alluded to the fact that my cover was quite bare, and I am going to work on making my magazine's logo stand out against the focal image more.

Ancillary Product: Magazine Cover First Draft