focus group

Over the past six months our group has been working towards completing a promotional package for an imaginary film, and today we’d like to gather your feedback on our trailer, film posters and magazine front covers. Please answer the written questions below once you’ve viewed the trailer. We will then begin a short verbal discussion about your views on our trailer. Thank you for your participation.

Questions

1.      In your opinion, which gender does our trailer target?

2.      What age range does our trailer target?

3.      Can you identify the genre of the film?

4.      List three points in the trailer that help you identify it with this genre?

·         “The Demons”, “The use of blood”, “Dramatic music”

·         Gun to the head”“Suspense”, “The unknown”, “Possession [theme of”

·          “bloody handprint”, “background music”, “finale scream [Nadine, basically!]

·         “bloody hand print on the book”, “music”, “gun scenes”

·         “loud scary noises”, “horrific imagery”, “implications of death”

·         “clothing”, “demons”, “blood”

·         “blood”, “scream”, “demons”

·         “high pitch long scream with no on screen image”, “bloody hand print on book”, “speech: you have to get out of here”

5.      Describe three shots that stood out to you as an audience member?

·         “the ending: boom boom boom – quick witch between shots”, “the ending scream”, “the gun shot”

·         “shooting [sequence]”, “gun found on the ground”, “signs presented on campsite [symbols on tent]”

·         “bloody hand print”, “gun to the head”, “dropping of the book”

·         “Gun to the head”, “the scream at the end”

·         “Girl crawling away from possessed friend”, “dude shooting himself”, “the line: there’s something wrong with meeeee”

·         “book with bloody hand print”, “ellie’s movement in the end shots”, “Josh shooting himself”

·         “wanna share a tent[no I don’t get it either??!]”, “sun drop”, “book handprint”

·         “scene in tents: warning from ellie to nadine”, “when book is first opened: its clear this has relevance and could be a contributor to the film”, “gun shot at the end”

6.      Can you identify the villain in this trailer? How are you able to recognise them?

·         “the freaky book – because when touched bad things happen”

·         “No. as far as I’m aware they have not appeared yet – only through characters”

·         “Ellie… dirty look”

·         “Ellie and Josh”

·         “Demons e.g. Ellie Reed”

·         “Book of demo – Ellie… make up is scary”

·         “Demon book?”

·         “Ellie?”

7.      Is the plot of the movie clear and understandable from the trailer? If so, please give us a brief description according to your knowledge from your viewings of the product?

·         “No, not entirely, introduced to clips of the film but for full understanding of the plot the whole film must be seen”

·         “Camping trip, book/scripture possess’ woman, and so forth?”

·         “Yes, it suggests whats going to happen leaving you inquisitive, wanting to find out more”

·         “someone gets possessed and people are at risk”

·         “camping in the woods, possessed by demons, murder and carnage”

·         “goes to woods, book possesses people, people die and wounded”

·         Yeah… Ellie is possessed, someone kills themselves, ellie kills people”

·         Yes because the beginning shows how the group are preparing for a camping trip, later on the use of sound, imagery and props shows the demonic possession which occurs in the trip. It leave you wondering what is to follow with regards to the group and their mental state”

8.      Does the soundtrack compliment the shots used in the trailer? If so, why?

·         “Yes, it adds to the intensity”

·         “Yes. Dramatic moments matched with music”

·         “yes, adds to the “on edge” feeling”

·         “yes, it builds tension”

·         “yes but too “action” in places”

·         “yes matched shots and cutting”

·         “yes, at the end it adds dramatic effect”

·         “yes, it adds suspense and dynamics to accentuate the mood, but also silence to further build suspense and mystery”

9.      Does this trailer interest you? Would you go to see this film?

·         “no, because I would be too scared”

·         “It would be interesting to find out the reasons behind the events and whose responsible. However I’m personally not a fan of horror films”

·         “yes”

·         “yes”

·         “yes”

·         “yes”

·         “yes?”

·         “Yes…”

Epilogue

Thank you for completing this survey and participating in this focus group. We will now begin a discussion about the trailer, with the aim of gathering your views on the product, as well as show you the other areas of our promotional package.