Audience feedback

From the audience feedback we were able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our trailer. From the feedback we identified that our strengths were how we effectively used non- diegetic music to create tension and the use of the black screen with 'Based on a true story' written across it was successful as it also created tension for the audience. Also our shot types were successful. The over-the shoulder shot we used caused the audience to question why the victim is being followed and it encouraged them to continue watching the trailer in order to find out why he is being followed. Also, the close up of the murder weapon was seen as a strength of our film as it emphasises the size of the weapon which could be seen as more lethal to the audience. Another strength of our film was the way we used fast paced shots. This kept the audience enticed to our film and encouraged them to continue watching. The other close up we used was of the victims hand hitting the door at the very last scene. This was seen as effective as the audience will want to know what has happened to the victim and whether she is likely to survive or not. We also successfully used high- angle shots to show our victims are vulnerable and weak. This allowed the audience to understand that they don't have much power and are most likely to be targeted by the killer. These are all conventions of horror films which means our film can be relateable to successful horror films. Our mise-en-scene was also effective, especially the use of clothing. We adhered to the typical conventions of what a killer would wear- dark clothing to hide their identity. By adhering to this it meant the audience was able to recognise that our film genre is horror and therefore may make our trailer more scary for the audience. Also our story line was seen as quite mixed. This meant that the audience were seen small sections of the films which concerned different characters. This meant the audience would be wondering whats happening to each of them and if they are all linked to one another.
However, the weaknesses of our trailer were that we didn't differentiate the transitions we used between shots. This perhaps meant that the audience weren't as enticed to our trailer as we didn't offer anything different which could create tension. Another weakness of our production is that it was hard to understand how each of the characters were linked. This may make it hard for the audience to watch as they will be trying to work out what relevance each character has to one another. So to improve this we could have included a scene of all our characters together with some dialogue which gives the audience a bit of background information as to how they are all linked

Audience Theory Todorov's theory

Audience theories- Todorov

Todorov's theory states that a film and a trailer can be broken down into five sections. These sections are an equilibrium at the start, a disruption of that equilibrium, a recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and the final stage of where the equilibrium is restored.

Here narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one. The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium. However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium. Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption. The disruption itself usually takes place outside the normal social framework, outside the ‘normal’ social events.

For example:

A murder happens and people are terrified.

Someone vanishes and the characters have to solve the mystery.

The character start to work out the pattern and track down the murderer.

The characters try to catch the murderer by setting up traps and attempt to get the police involved.

The antagonist is caught or killed and the characters live the rest of their lives, well the ones that remain.

This links in to our film trailer as you see Cory die right at the start of the trailer and you also see Connor die later on. It also doesn't link in to our trailer as we have no one trying to find and kill the killer and so instead the killer carries on going around killing and so our trailer ends with the antagonist succeeding.

Todorov's theory states that a film and a trailer can be broken down into five sections. These sections are an equilibrium at the start, a disruption of that equilibrium, a recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and the final stage of where the equilibrium is restored. In our film we applied three parts of this theory. The first section of the trailer focuses on the character of Cory in his house, which seems to be an uneventful scene as he seems relaxed. Then Cory is followed and murdered in the woods-showing the disruption of the equilibrium. Other characters in the film recognise the disappearance of the victim and are then targeted themselves. The trailer then ends with a bloody hand print on the door suggesting our protagonist, Rachel, is in trouble. This flouts Todrov's theory as the equilibrium is left un-restored and instead an enigma is created, leaving the audience with more questions than answers.