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.

Whileallviewerswereawareoftheapocalypse
subgenretosomeextent[2],32%sawThe
Aftermathasathriller,whichindicatestousthat
lesstypicalconventionsofhorrorwereusedinour
production.Howeverthiscanalsobechalkedupto
thereputationoftheapocalypsesubgenrewhich
canbeseenasbothasathriller(i.e
BookofEli,
TheMazeRunner
)orahorror(i.e
28DaysLater,
DawnoftheDead
)duetothetwoverydifferent
marketsforadultsandteensleadingtoa
predominanceofthrillerfilmsalsowithinthisgenre.
Inourownproductionwemayhavealsoadhered
tothethrillergenreduetotheuseofeditingtobuild
tension,andlackoftypicalhorrorgorewhichwe
chosenottoincludeasitdidntfitintoourparametersforatrailer,whichdoesntoftengive
awayaspectssuchasbodyhorror.

Thisdata[2]hasshownusthatnotonlyhavewesuccessfullyconformedtoourchosen
genre,butourmorenichegenreisalsohighlyevidentinourtraileras59.18%saiditwasvery
relevantinourtrailerforTheAftermath.Whenfurtherquestionedpeoplesaidthatthe
prevalenceofourgenrecameprimarilyfromthemusicandbuildingoffearthroughthe
characters.Manynotedthattheuseofnewsclipsandeditingatthebeginningwaseffective
inoutliningtheplotandindicatinggenre.

Ourdata[3]indicatedthatwewereoverallsuccessful
inourportrayalofgenreandcreationofourtraileras

84%ofouraudiencesaidfromthetraileralonetheywouldseethefilm.Thiscommunicates
thehowourresearchanddepthofknowledgelookingathorrorfilmsanddeconstructionof
trailerspaidoff,asamere8people(16%)indicatedtheywerenotinterestedinThe
Aftermath.

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%ofviewerssaidourchoiceoflocationsand
settingwaseffective[5].Wepredominantlyused
ruralsettingsandopenspacestoencapsulatethe
vulnerabilityandisolationofthecharacters.Moving
fromthebusystreetsofLondonandurbansettings
suchasthetrainstation,totheopenspaceson
FarthingDownscomplementedourclimacticbuild
upandconveyedasenseofmovementinthe
narrative,aswellasusingtypicaltropesfromthe
horrorapocalypsesubgenre.Theruralareasin
filmssuchas
28WeeksLater
createthesolitude
necessarytocommunicatethedesperationofthe
charactersthroughsettinginjuxtapositiontothe
movementandrapideditingthetrailerbeganwith.

Clarityofnarrativewasacrucialaspectwekept
inmindwhileconstructingourtrailer,duetothe
amountoffootagerecordedwewantedto
conveytheinitialoutlineoftheplotwithout
meaningbeinglostortheapocalypse
subgenrenotbeingconveyedaswehadto
createaseparatenarrativecommunicatinghow
thefilmsworldwasdifferenttoourown.
87.76%saidthatthroughthetrailernarrative
wasmadeclear[6].Weusedthethreeact
structureasabaseforourtrailer,thisallowed
ustoadheretothetypicaltrailerandconveythe
basisofourplotwithoutgivingawaythewhole
story.Viewersnotedthatthetrailersexpositionanduseofnewsclipseffectivelyconveyed
thenarrativeandapocalypsesubgenrebybuildingupthefictiousworldourfilmissetin.In
theendweeditedalotoffootagefromourfirstactmakingitconciseandthereforeclearerto
themajorityofouraudience,asonly12.24%feltwewereunsuccessfulinprovidingclarityof
thefilmsplot.

96%ofpeopleagreedthatourmusicwaseffective[7]
andcomplementedourtrailersgrowingtensionand

climacticbuildup.Weusedfourseparatetrackstoconstructthetrailersescalationto
montage,thisworkedwiththenarrativesmultiplecrescendosthatarecommoninthehorror
genre,leadinguptothefasttrackfinalactwhereinthesoundtrackcomestoaclimax.We
usedcinematictrailersoundstoaccompanythetrailersmusicandshots,suchasthe
drummingintimewiththefilmsinstitutionalinformation.Thishelpeddrawthevisualand
auditoryaspectsofofourtrailertogetherintoonecohesiveproject.Wesucceededinthis
endeavourasevidencedbythelargepercentageofpeoplewhoagreedthatourmusicwas
effectivelyusedinthecreationofourproduct.

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
wouldhelpestablishgenrefromthetitlealoneand
createasenseofhopelessnessasthefilmisset
afteranapocalypticevent.94%ofpeopleagreed
thatthistitlewasrelevanttoourtrailerand
conformedtowhattheyexpectedfromgenreand
narrative[9].Thismayhavecontributedto62%of
viewerswhoagreedourfilmbelongedtothe
horrorgenre[1]andthe100%thatsaidourfilm
wasveryorsomewhatrelevanttotheapocalypse
subgenre[2].

96%ofpeoplesaidthatthetrailer,posterand
magazinecovercomplementoneanother[10].
Fromthisitsevidentweweresuccessfulin
creatingacohesivebrandingimageforourfilm
whichconveystheapocalypsesubgenre.Across
themainandancillarytasksweusedmonochrome
coloursandminimalisttypographytoconformto
ourcontemporarystyleofhorror,subvertingthe
oftenovertuseofconventionsandhorror
iconography.Similarlytheposterandtrailerutilize
thenaturalisticsettingandtypicalconventionsof
genre,suchasthecolourredanddarkened
shadowstoevokefeelingsofforebodingandterror,
makingthegenreimmediatelyrecognizabletotheaudience.