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,whichindicatestousthatlesstypicalconventionsofhorrorwereused
inourproduction.Howeverthiscanalsobechalkeduptothereputationoftheapocalypse
subgenrewhichcanbeseenasbothasathriller(i.e
BookofEli,TheMazeRunner
)ora
horror(i.e
28DaysLater,DawnoftheDead
)duetothetwoverydifferentmarketsforadults
andteensleadingtoapredominanceofthrillerfilmsalsowithinthisgenre.Inourown
productionwemayhavealsoadheredtothethrillergenreduetotheuseofeditingtobuild
tension,andlackoftypicalhorrorgorewhichwechosenottoincludeasitdidntfitintoour
parametersforatrailer,whichdoesntoftengiveawayaspectssuchasbodyhorror.

Thisdata[2]hasshownusthatnotonlyhavewe
successfullyconformedtoourchosengenre,butourmore
nichegenreisalsohighlyevidentinourtraileras59.18%
saiditwasveryrelevantinourtrailerforTheAftermath.
Whenfurtherquestionedpeoplesaidthattheprevalenceof
ourgenrecameprimarilyfromthemusicandbuildingof
fearthroughthecharacters.Manynotedthattheuseof
newsclipsandeditingatthebeginningwaseffectivein
outliningtheplotandindicatinggenre.

Ourdata[3]indicatedthatwewereoverallsuccessfulin
ourportrayalofgenreandcreationofourtraileras84%of
ouraudiencesaidfromthetraileralonetheywouldsee
thefilm.Thiscommunicatesthehowourresearchand
depthofknowledgelookingathorrorfilmsand
deconstructionoftrailerspaidoff,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%ofviewerssaidourchoiceoflocationsandsetting
waseffective[5].Wepredominantlyusedruralsettings
andopenspacestoencapsulatethevulnerabilityand
isolationofthecharacters.Movingfromthebusystreets
ofLondonandurbansettingssuchasthetrainstation,to
theopenspacesonFarthingDownscomplementedour
climacticbuildupandconveyedasenseofmovementin
thenarrative,aswellasusingtypicaltropesfromthe
horrorapocalypsesubgenre.Theruralareasinfilms
suchas
28WeeksLater
createthesolitudenecessaryto
communicatethedesperationofthecharactersthrough
settinginjuxtapositiontothemovementandrapidediting
thetrailerbeganwith.

Clarityofnarrativewasacrucialaspectwekeptin
mindwhileconstructingourtrailer,duetotheamount
offootagerecordedwewantedtoconveytheinitial
outlineoftheplotwithoutmeaningbeinglostorthe
apocalypsesubgenrenotbeingconveyedaswehad
tocreateaseparatenarrativecommunicatinghowthe
filmsworldwasdifferenttoourown.87.76%saidthat
throughthetrailernarrativewasmadeclear[6].We
usedthethreeactstructureasabaseforourtrailer,
thisallowedustoadheretothetypicaltrailerand
conveythebasisofourplotwithoutgivingawaythe
wholestory.Viewersnotedthatthetrailersexposition
anduseofnewsclipseffectivelyconveyedthe
narrativeandapocalypsesubgenrebybuildingupthe
fictiousworldourfilmissetin.Intheendweeditedalot
offootagefromourfirstactmakingitconciseand
thereforeclearertothemajorityofouraudience,asonly
12.24%feltwewereunsuccessfulinprovidingclarityof
thefilmsplot.


96%ofpeopleagreedthatourmusicwaseffective[7]andcomplementedourtrailersgrowing
tensionandclimacticbuildup.Weusedfourseparatetrackstoconstructthetrailers
escalationtomontage,thisworkedwiththenarrativesmultiplecrescendosthatarecommon
inthehorrorgenre,leadinguptothefasttrackfinalactwhereinthesoundtrackcomestoa
climax.Weusedcinematictrailersoundstoaccompanythetrailersmusicandshots,suchas
thedrummingintimewiththefilmsinstitutionalinformation.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.

Ourinspirationforourtitlecamefromourapocalypse
themedmoodboardandtheaftermathofanendofthe
worldscenario.Thiswouldhelpestablishgenrefromthe
titlealoneandcreateasenseofhopelessnessasthefilm
issetafteranapocalypticevent.94%ofpeopleagreed
thatthistitlewasrelevanttoourtrailerandconformedto
whattheyexpectedfromgenreandnarrative[9].Thismay
havecontributedto62%ofviewerswhoagreedourfilm
belongedtothehorrorgenre[1]andthe100%thatsaid
ourfilmwasveryorsomewhatrelevanttotheapocalypse
subgenre[2].

96%ofpeoplesaidthatthetrailer,posterandmagazine
covercomplementoneanother[10].Fromthisitsevident
weweresuccessfulincreatingacohesivebrandingimage
forourfilmwhichconveystheapocalypsesubgenre.
Acrossthemainandancillarytasksweusedmonochrome
coloursandminimalisttypographytoconformtoour
contemporarystyleofhorror,subvertingtheoftenovertuse
ofconventionsandhorroriconography.Similarlytheposter
andtrailerutilizethenaturalisticsettingandtypical
conventionsofgenre,suchasthecolourredanddarkened
shadowstoevokefeelingsofforebodingandterror,making
thegenreimmediatelyrecognizabletotheaudience.