What have you learned from audience feedback?

For my audience feedback, I asked 7 females and 3 males to complete a questionnaire, which I sent through Facebook, and a survey, which I sent through Survey Monkey, in order to collate both qualitative and quantitative data respectively. The 10 people I asked were all within the age range of my target audience (16-24 year olds) which meant that their feedback would be invaluable in forming an accurate response to my soap opera trailer, along with its pros and cons, whether they would be interested in watching it and how successful it might be on BBC Two.

Based on the data from my qualitative feedback, my soap opera has successfully appealed to my target audience:Q1- These are some of the key words used to describe their initial reactions to my trailer:

Some people also commented that the use of the chess theme was an interesting aspect that reflected the black and white concept of the show. They also noticed how the trailer's editing connotes that someone is controlling the characters which is what my group was aiming for.

Q2- Many people commented on the successful use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, particularly on how well the soundtrack matched the action in the trailer. This is something my group paid a lot of attention to when editing our footage in Premiere as we wanted our sound to be synchronous with the action therefore we have evidently achieved this aim. It was also noted that the dialogue was advantageous in giving an insight into the character's lives and providing more narrative.However, it was also mentioned that to improve we could have lowered the volume of the soundtrack more when the actors are speaking in order to not drown them out. This is something my group actually tried to do when editing the sound, we lowered the volume of the soundtrack and increased the volume of the actor's dialogue to maximum so the audience could hear them, however we later noticed that some of the dialogue that we had recorded wasn't entirely loud enough. But due to time constraints and scheduling conflicts with the actors we were unable to record them again.

Q3- The use of actors received all positive feedback as it was commented on that they were intriguing, professional, and complimented the storyline. It was also said that their believable interaction emphasised the "disequilibrium" (Todorov) and conflict theme of the trailer. Furthermore, my audience said that the use of few actors would make it easier for them to 'identify' or build a 'personal relationship' (Katz) with the characters. Lastly, using young actors of different races was said to be effective at attracting a larger viewership.

Q4- Our main themes which were included to emphasise our challenging of contemporary issues (teenage pregnancy and alcoholism) were easily noticed by the majority of the audience, as well as the theme of conflict which we 'repeated' (Steve Neale) from actual soap opera trailers as it is a theme which is typical of the soap opera genre.

Q5- The camera shot angles were noted to have created an atmosphere of drama, mystery and suspense which made it engaging. This was said to be particularly noticeable through the use of close-ups which emphasised the character's emotions and of the chess pieces which built tension. Furthermore, the camera angles were also said to be cleverly used in being able to see the chessboard but not the person playing. My group hoped to achieve this effect which means that this feedback is encouraging for us in attracting our target audience.

Q6- All of the people who answered said that the trailer felt authentic or of an official standard. Some said this was because of good editing and someone even compared it to other soap opera trailers by saying they give away too much exposition whereas our trailer contains an element of mystery as it leaves the audience wanting to know more.

Q7- My target audience said that this trailer appeals to them because of the intriguing mystery, use of young actors and representation of issues relating to their age group. This makes it easy for them to 'personally identify' (Katz) with the characters as they may be able to relate to their challenges. On the other hand, one person mentioned that the trailer may be more relatable to women, however I would disagree with this because of our representation of the conflict between the two male characters and the challenges the white male faces with alcoholism.

Q8- The majority of people said that 'Black & White' would achieve success on BBC Two particularly because of the themes and issues represented which talk about controversial issues. Furthermore, the growth in popularity of online streaming was noted therefore this could indicate that because of this, younger audiences will be encouraged to watch the soap. It was also said that since there is a lack of shows that currently appeal to young audiences on BBC Two, 'Black & White' would have an open market and therefore low competition. However, it was astutely noticed by my target audience that it may be difficult for our soap opera to get a good start as younger audiences may not watch BBC Two due to previous content not appealing to them, but our new show may encourage them to get engaged with the channel and therefore bring a younger viewership back. Also, it was mentioned as a chance to improve the soap opera that we should try to address more current issues such as struggles with sexuality.

Based on my quantitative feedback, this evidence clearly supports what my audience commented on in the questionnaire that I sent them. All of this feedback therefore shows me that the majority of the areas in my group’s trailer such as editing, soundtrack, camera shot angles, themes, the chess sequences and the actors have all been very successful in appealing to them and their target age group as well as attracting an audience to BBC Two. This then informs me that my group has created an effective soap opera that is both unique in its own way, in addition to similar to other professional soap opera trailers.This feedback has also helped me to discover minor areas which could have been improved on and therefore establish what I would have changed if we were to create this trailer again.