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.

1)

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
2)
subgenretosomeextent[2],32%sawThe
Aftermathasathriller,whichindicatestousthat
lesstypicalconventionsofhorrorwereusedinour
production.Howeverthiscanalsobechalkedupto
thereputationoftheapocalypsesubgenrewhich
canbeseenasbothasathriller(i.eBookofEli,
TheMazeRunner)orahorror(i.e28DaysLater,
DawnoftheDead)duetothetwoverydifferent
marketsforadultsandteensleadingtoa
predominanceofthrillerfilmsalsowithinthisgenre.
Inourownproductionwemayhavealsoadhered
tothethrillergenreduetotheuseofeditingtobuild
tension,andlackoftypicalhorrorgorewhichwe
chosenottoincludeasitdidntfitintoourparametersforatrailer,whichdoesntoftengive
awayaspectssuchasbodyhorror.

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

3)

4)

Ourdata[3]indicatedthatwewereoverallsuccessful
inourportrayalofgenreandcreationofourtraileras
84%ofouraudiencesaidfromthetraileralonethey
wouldseethefilm.Thiscommunicatesthehowour
researchanddepthofknowledgelookingathorror
filmsanddeconstructionoftrailerspaidoff,asamere
8people(16%)indicatedtheywerenotinterestedin
TheAftermath.

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.

5)
96%ofviewerssaidourchoiceoflocationsand
settingwaseffective[5].Wepredominantlyused
ruralsettingsandopenspacestoencapsulatethe
vulnerabilityandisolationofthecharacters.Moving
fromthebusystreetsofLondonandurbansettings
suchasthetrainstation,totheopenspaceson
FarthingDownscomplementedourclimacticbuild
upandconveyedasenseofmovementinthe
narrative,aswellasusingtypicaltropesfromthe
horrorapocalypsesubgenre.Theruralareasin
filmssuchas28WeeksLatercreatethesolitude
necessarytocommunicatethedesperationofthe
charactersthroughsettinginjuxtapositiontothe
movementandrapideditingthetrailerbeganwith.

6)
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]
7)
andcomplementedourtrailersgrowingtensionand
climacticbuildup.Weusedfourseparatetracksto
constructthetrailersescalationtomontage,thisworked
withthenarrativesmultiplecrescendosthatarecommon
inthehorrorgenre,leadinguptothefasttrackfinalact
whereinthesoundtrackcomestoaclimax.Weused
cinematictrailersoundstoaccompanythetrailersmusic
andshots,suchasthedrummingintimewiththefilms
institutionalinformation.Thishelpeddrawthevisualand
auditoryaspectsofofourtrailertogetherintoone
cohesiveproject.Wesucceededinthisendeavouras
evidencedbythelargepercentageofpeoplewhoagreedthatourmusicwaseffectivelyused
inthecreationofourproduct.

8)

Wedecidedthatoneofproductsuniquesellingpointswastheuseofmodernconventionsin
thehorrorgenre.59.18%peopleagreedthiswasevidentinourtrailer[8].Weusedawide

9)

spacedwhitefontoverfootagetocreateacontemporarylookingstyleaswellasanoften
brightvibrantshotchoiceandbinarycolours,suchasthebrightskyinjuxtapositiontothe
darkerforeground.Thiscomplementedourapocalypsesubgenreasthenarrative
presumablytakesplaceinthefuturethereforetheuseofmodernconventionshelpsconstruct
thisgenreandconstructavariedtakeonanalreadypopulargenre.34.69%ofviewers
believedthattherewasevidenceofconventionsfrombothclassicandmodernhorrorfilmsas
weusedtypicalconventionsofhorrorinourproductalsosotheviewercouldrecognizethe
genreandidentifywiththecharacters.Forexamplethetypicaldimlighting,enclosedsetting
ofthegarageandcloseupoftherattlingdoorknobarealltoanextentstereotypesofthe
horrorgenre.Howeveronly6.12%ofouraudiencethoughtthatourfilmutilizedconventions
onlyfromclassichorroranditsstereotypes.Thebalancebetweentherepetitionandvariation
ofgenreallowedustocreatesomethingnewinourproduct,asacleancontemporarystyle
helpedconstructgenreandaUSPforourfilm.

Ourinspirationforourtitlecamefromour
apocalypsethemedmoodboardandtheaftermath
ofanendoftheworldscenario.Thiswouldhelp
establishgenrefromthetitlealoneandcreatea
senseofhopelessnessasthefilmissetafteran
apocalypticevent.94%ofpeopleagreedthatthis
titlewasrelevanttoourtrailerandconformedto
whattheyexpectedfromgenreandnarrative[9].
Thismayhavecontributedto62%ofviewerswho
agreedourfilmbelongedtothehorrorgenre[1]
andthe100%thatsaidourfilmwasveryor
somewhatrelevanttotheapocalypsesubgenre
[2].

10)

96%ofpeoplesaidthatthetrailer,posterandmagazinecovercomplementoneanother[10].
Fromthisitsevidentweweresuccessfulincreatingacohesivebrandingimageforourfilm
whichconveystheapocalypsesubgenre.Acrossthemainandancillarytasksweused
monochromecoloursandminimalisttypographytoconformtoourcontemporarystyleof
horror,subvertingtheoftenovertuseofconventionsandhorroriconography.Similarlythe
posterandtrailerutilizethenaturalisticsettingandtypicalconventionsofgenre,suchasthe
colourredanddarkenedshadowstoevokefeelingsofforebodingandterror,makingthe
genreimmediatelyrecognizabletotheaudience.