Q3:WHATHAVEYOULEARNEDFROMYOURAUDIENCE

FEEDBACK?

(SurveyMonkeyLink
)

When creating our media package, we aimed to create a product that adhered to the
apocalyptic horror subgenre, with a modern approach that would work as a unique selling
point. This would have to be clear in all three of our products.Todiscovertowhatextentthis
was true and how successful we were in appealing to our target demographic we created a
survey on surveymonkey.com. Thisallowed ustocatalogueawideresponseandcollectdata
from beyond just our target audience, making sure it was not age/gender biased. We also
used social media to get more developed answers from our viewers making our feedback
more accurate. 50peopleparticipated giving us a wide range of data and responses to The
Aftermath.

Weweresuccessfulinourcreationofatrailerthatadheredtothehorrorgenreasevidenced
byourfeedback[1],62%ofpeoplesaidthatourtrailerwasreflectiveofthisgenre.Thisis
furtherbackedupbyallofouraudienceagreeingourproductwassomewhatorveryrelevant
tothehorrorapocalypsesubgenre[2].Manyagreedthattheinclusionoftypicalconventions
ofthehorrorgenresuchasblood,shadowsandlighting,andambiguityofthepursuersmade
thegenreclearandevidentfromthebeginning.Thefact32%ofpeoplesawourfilmasa
thriller,and6%interpreteditasadrama[1]canalsobeseeninapositivelight,asitshows
thatnarrativeislayersandhasfeaturesfromdifferentgenres,notjusthorror.Thereforeour
trailerappealstoawideraudience,asevidencedbythe84%whosaidthatbasedonthe
trailertheywouldwanttoseethefilm.Thisisimportantasnotallthepeoplewesurveyed
wouldstatisticallybefansofthehorrorgenre,andthereforetheuseofthehybridgenreinour
productmakesforamoreinterestinganddiversefilmwhichdoesnttotallyadheretowhatthe
genreexpect,suchasthefocusonhumanrelationshipsinTheAftermath,andappealstoa
widerdemographic.

Whileallviewerswereawareoftheapocalypsesubgenretosomeextent[2],32%sawThe
Aftermathasathriller,whichindicatestousthatlesstypicalconventionsofhorror
wereusedinourproduction.Howeverthiscanalso
bechalkeduptothereputationoftheapocalypse
subgenrewhichcanbeseenasbothasathriller(i.e
BookofEli,TheMazeRunner
)orahorror(i.e
28
DaysLater,DawnoftheDead
)duetothetwovery
differentmarketsforadultsandteensleadingtoa
predominanceofthrillerfilmsalsowithinthisgenre.
Inourownproductionwemayhavealsoadheredto
thethrillergenreduetotheuseofeditingtobuild
tension,andlackoftypicalhorrorgorewhichwe
chosenottoincludeasitdidntfitintoourparameters
foratrailer,whichdoesntoftengiveawayaspects
suchasbodyhorror.

Thisdata[2]hasshownusthatnotonlyhavewe
successfullyconformedtoourchosengenre,butourmorenichegenreisalsohighlyevident
inourtraileras59.18%saiditwasveryrelevantinourtrailerforTheAftermath.When
furtherquestionedpeoplesaidthattheprevalenceofourgenrecameprimarily
fromthemusicandbuildingoffearthroughthecharacters.Manynotedthatthe
useofnewsclipsandeditingatthebeginningwas
effectiveinoutliningtheplotandindicatinggenre.

Ourdata[3]indicatedthatwewereoverall
successfulinourportrayalofgenreandcreationof
ourtraileras84%ofouraudiencesaidfromthe
traileralonetheywouldseethefilm.This

communicatesthehowourresearchanddepthofknowledgelookingathorrorfilmsand
deconstructionoftrailerspaidoff,asamere8people(16%)indicatedtheywerenot
interestedinTheAftermath.

Ourproductwassuccessfulinappealtoitstargetdemographic,youngpeopleare
conventionallyfansofthehorrorgenreandthrillsitprovides.Thiswasreflectiveinoursurvey
[4]bytheoverwhelming92%thatsaidthatthe1525agegroupwastheaudiencethetrailer
wouldappealtothemost.Thisquestionwasonethatcouldhavemultipleanswers,ie.people
maybelieveTheAftermathwasbestsuitedfoteenagersaswellasyoungadults.Thisalso
effectivelyshowsthesizeofourpotentialaudience,andthereforethefilmspotentialsuccess
asitreachesmorepeoplewithoutdeviatingfromthegenre,asshownintheprevious
questions.

Ourtrailerwassuccessfulnotonlyinadheringtothetypicalhorrordemographic[1]butvaried
inthan22%saidthatitappealedtoanolderaudience,and12%saiditappealedtoayounger
audience.Fromthisitsclearthatourtrailerofferedsomethingnewtothehorrorgenre,asit
wasconstructedwithafocusonthecharactersandtheirinteractionssuchasSamand
Adrian'srelationship.Thisisnottypicaltomostfilmswithinthehorrorgenrewhichoften
discardtheircharactersandhavethempickedoffonebyone,asthisiswhatworkswithinthe
narrativeofthefilm.Comparatively,ournarrativeadheredtosomeaspectofthedrama
genreinthatthegrowingemotionsofthecharacterswereshown.Whenaskedtodevelopon
howtheythoughtthiswasshownourviewersclaimedthiswasmostacutelyfeltthroughthe
useofnarrativeandvoice.Ourdatashowsthat13peoplechosemorethanasingleage

groupforthisquestion,indicatingthattheuseofvarietywithingenreandthemodernaspects
thatappealtothemostyoungmoviegoersledtoawiderpotentialdemographic,as
somethingnewisbeingintroducedtoanalreadypopulargenre.

96%ofviewerssaidourchoiceoflocationsandsetting
waseffective[5].Wepredominantlyusedruralsettings
andopenspacestoencapsulatethevulnerabilityand
isolationofthecharacters.Movingfromthebusy
streetsofLondonandurbansettingssuchasthetrain
station,totheopenspacesonFarthingDowns
complementedourclimacticbuildupandconveyeda
senseofmovementinthenarrative,aswellasusing
typicaltropesfromthehorrorapocalypsesubgenre.
Theruralareasinfilmssuchas
28WeeksLater
create
thesolitudenecessarytocommunicatethedesperation
ofthecharactersthroughsettinginjuxtapositiontothe
movementandrapideditingthetrailerbeganwith.

Clarityofnarrativewasacrucialaspectwekeptin
mindwhileconstructingourtrailer,duetotheamount
offootagerecordedwewantedtoconveytheinitial
outlineoftheplotwithoutmeaningbeinglostorthe
apocalypsesubgenrenotbeingconveyedaswehad
tocreateaseparatenarrativecommunicatinghowthe
filmsworldwasdifferenttoourown.87.76%saidthat
throughthetrailernarrativewasmadeclear[6].We
usedthethreeactstructureasabaseforourtrailer,
thisallowedustoadheretothetypicaltrailerand
conveythebasisofourplotwithoutgivingawaythe
wholestory.Viewersnotedthatthetrailersexposition
anduseofnewsclipseffectivelyconveyedthenarrativeandapocalypsesubgenreby
buildingupthefictiousworldourfilmissetin.Intheendweeditedalotof
footagefromourfirstactmakingitconciseandthereforeclearertothemajority
ofouraudience,asonly12.24%feltwewere
unsuccessfulinprovidingclarityofthefilmsplot.

96%ofpeopleagreedthatourmusicwas
effective[7]andcomplementedourtrailers
growingtensionandclimacticbuildup.Weused
fourseparatetrackstoconstructthetrailers
escalationtomontage,thisworkedwiththe

narrativesmultiplecrescendosthatarecommoninthehorrorgenre,leadinguptothefast
trackfinalactwhereinthesoundtrackcomestoaclimax.Weusedcinematictrailersoundsto
accompanythetrailersmusicandshots,suchasthedrummingintimewiththefilms
institutionalinformation.Thishelpeddrawthevisualandauditoryaspectsofofourtrailer
togetherintoonecohesiveproject.Wesucceededinthisendeavourasevidencedbythe
largepercentageofpeoplewhoagreedthatourmusicwaseffectivelyusedinthecreationof
ourproduct.

Wedecidedthatoneofproductsuniquesellingpointswastheuseofmodernconventionsin
thehorrorgenre.59.18%peopleagreedthiswasevidentinourtrailer[8].Weusedawide
spacedwhitefontoverfootagetocreateacontemporarylookingstyleaswellasanoften
brightvibrantshotchoiceandbinarycolours,suchasthebrightskyinjuxtapositiontothe
darkerforeground.Thiscomplementedourapocalypsesubgenreasthenarrative
presumablytakesplaceinthefuturethereforetheuseofmodernconventionshelpsconstruct
thisgenreandconstructavariedtakeonanalreadypopulargenre.34.69%ofviewers
believedthattherewasevidenceofconventionsfrombothclassicandmodernhorrorfilmsas
weusedtypicalconventionsofhorrorinourproductalsosotheviewercouldrecognizethe
genreandidentifywiththecharacters.Forexamplethetypicaldimlighting,enclosedsetting
ofthegarageandcloseupoftherattlingdoorknobarealltoanextentstereotypesofthe
horrorgenre.Howeveronly6.12%ofouraudiencethoughtthatourfilmutilizedconventions

only
fromclassichorroranditsstereotypes.Thebalancebetweentherepetitionandvariation
ofgenreallowedustocreatesomethingnewinourproduct,asacleancontemporarystyle
helpedconstructgenreandaUSPforourfilm.

Ourinspirationforourtitlecamefromour
apocalypsethemedmoodboardandthe
aftermathofanendoftheworldscenario.This
wouldhelpestablishgenrefromthetitlealone
andcreateasenseofhopelessnessasthefilm
issetafteranapocalypticevent.94%ofpeople
agreedthatthistitlewasrelevanttoourtrailer
andconformedtowhattheyexpectedfrom
genreandnarrative[9].Thismayhave
contributedto62%ofviewerswhoagreedour
filmbelongedtothehorrorgenre[1]andthe
100%thatsaidourfilmwasveryorsomewhatrelevanttotheapocalypsesubgenre[2].

96%ofpeoplesaidthatthetrailer,posterand
magazinecovercomplementoneanother[10].
Fromthisitsevidentweweresuccessfulincreating
acohesivebrandingimageforourfilmwhich
conveystheapocalypsesubgenre.Acrossthemain
andancillarytasksweusedmonochromecolours
andminimalisttypographytoconformtoour
contemporarystyleofhorror,subvertingtheoften
overtuseofconventionsandhorroriconography.
Similarlytheposterandtrailerutilizethenaturalistic
settingandtypicalconventionsofgenre,suchasthe
colourredanddarkenedshadowstoevokefeelings
offorebodingandterror,makingthegenre
immediatelyrecognizabletotheaudience.