I feel that our focus group was a success and that we gained useful knowledge to apply to creating our own British Drama Trailer. Personally I feel that one or two people in the group could have committed themselves more to the discussion which could have been done via myself or another member of my group asking them a direct question.
On the other hand the rest of the group made some very useful suggestions. Firstly I have learnt that a trailer such as Legend is more engaging in terms of narrative than This is England because it is set in non-chronological order. The audience we showed the trailers to said that by showing us the chronological events of This is England in the trailer it made it a lot easier for them to predict the outcome of events. Therefore I believe we should use a non chronological trailer as it will keep the audience guessing on what sequence follows leads to each clip and so will find it harder to predict the events of the full film.
If we use women in our trailer the audience, especially females, found it more appealing if the women weren't just eye candy and instead had character to them and personality, as shown in This Is England and Legend, whereas in Bronson the trailer only showed one woman in barely any clothing. I think it would be good to have a narrative that included a female character as it broadens the appeal for a wider audience.
When asked if the audience preferred the film to be relatable or a more unique lifestyle such as Legend, the majority answered unique because they want to watch a film that will be more exciting than their everyday life. Although I agree it is on the whole more interesting to a larger percentage of people, I feel that we don't have the resources to make a trailer like that with the extravagant furniture and materialistic things which we can't afford, so it is more achievable for us to make a film that is more on the lines of Kidulthood because of budget issues.
Another subject of the narrative was whether or not we should have a focus on one character, a couple of characters or a group of characters. Here we got divided opinions. Some argued that the story structure won't be as focused with many main characters whereas a focus on one to three characters will help build a stronger character with a more interesting tale as more screen time can be devoted to them. Others argued that a group has more opportunities in it.
On the topic of music we asked if the music should fit the period in which the film is set. They said that to a point no because if it doesn't fit the narrative and tempo of the trailer then if will feel very jarring and off putting. It therefore has to fit the narrative for instance they liked how This is England purposefully used the music to make you feel emotional and feel sad for Shaun, whereas the more action focused Legend had music that matched the effects on screen creating a more exciting experience. Beth made a useful comment saying that when she watched the clockwork orange trailer it had a classical soundtrack that was the opposite to what was happening on screen and the effect it had was making the world seem crazy and that she felt it was one of the best trailers she has seen because of how effective it was. I feel that this is a good point to consider when making our trailer because depending on the narrative we choose it may help to represent a life that isn't really the true representation of the person.
Overall I believe that the focus group made some very useful points for us to consider when making and planning our trailer and that the advice they have given should be used because they are our target audience and to ignore what they want would be stupid.
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