A Case Study on Audience Feedback in the VFX Industry
Audience feedback is important for any project. If a project isn’t popular then the creators cannot make money from it. If the majority of a project’s audience disagrees with a creative decision, then the production teams have no choice but to alter their work if they want to make a profit.
In the digital age, audience feedback is more important than ever. Trailers for films are often seen online before they’re seen on televisions nowadays, as the younger generation aren’t the ones using cable as frequently as the older generation (Korwitts, n.d.). DVD sales have also dropped by 86% since 2008 (Stewart, 2020), with streaming services such as Netflix (Netflix, 1997), Disney+ (Disney+, 2019) and Amazon Prime (Amazon Prime, 2005) becoming mainstream. Many movies over the last few years have had digital releases, such as Mulan (Mulan, 2020), and even Marvel’s new series: WandaVision (WandaVision, 2021) and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, 2021).
Because of the rise in online access to films and series, the rise in the amount of discussion into these films and series on social media have gone up. It’s incredibly easy for people to simply message people on production teams of upcoming films on platforms such as Twitter (Dorsey, Glass, Stone and Williams, 2006) and Instagram (Instagram, 2010). It is equally as easy for someone on a production team of an upcoming film to come across a discussion of their film. (Craig, 2020)
This is how the creators of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie (Sonic the Hedgehog, 2020) came to the decision to drastically change the style in which they’d designed the main character. When the first trailer for the film was released in April of 2019, it quickly became apparent that fans were not happy with the design choice Paramount had made. People took to Twitter (Dorsey, Glass, Stone and Williams, 2006) and other social media to criticise the “‘creepy’ and ‘upsetting’” (Lee, 2020) take Paramount had done to one of the most beloved and popular video game characters of all time. (Craig, 2020)
A reason for many people being so open about their concerns and opinions on productions may also be due to how much more accessible software that can create VFX is now than it used to be. Many easy-to-use programmes like Adobe After Effects (Adobe After Effects, 2021) and Premiere Pro (Adobe Premiere Pro, 2021) are both easy to download, and in 2020, the most popular software was Autodesk Maya (Autodesk Maya, 2021) (McDonald, 2020), which is industry standard software. With this in mind, people outside of the VFX industry are equipped with some knowledge on how processes behind the scenes may pan out, and therefore their criticism against a film’s design is taken more into consideration.
Because the majority of feedback Paramount got for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie (Sonic the Hedgehog, 2020) was negative, they decided to change the design they’d gone for to something more faithful to the design fans were familiar with from the game series. Another reason they did this was because of the film being aimed at younger viewers, who would likely find the original design they gave Sonic the Hedgehog disturbing.
Even when the movie came out (later than originally planned due to all the changes being made to the CG Sonic the Hedgehog), the entire debacle with the original design had made many people believe the movie wasn’t worth watching (Oxford, 2019). It also didn’t help that the film was directed at children, when many of the fans of the game series are adult to middle-aged, and likely grew up playing the games and reading the comics. (Farley, 2020)
Whilst Paramount had resolved the issues of the design, the film had become a source of comedy for its original creative decisions. This is mainly due to the brutal and laughable memes that were plastered all over social media when the trailer first launched. While the creator did receive valid criticism, the majority were just clowning around with their VFX work. Social media can be used by anyone, so naturally, even people without any VFX experience were voicing their opinions. There’s also the point to make that social media generally isn’t a place people go for constructive criticism. (Craig, 2020)
To receive good criticism, the people giving those reviews should be prompted to give reasons to their opinions. Game companies do this with their games, and it’s common practise for QA-Testers (Games Tester, n.d.) to be hired to play-test a game in its alpha and beta phases. Something similar could be implemented in the VFX industry (VFX Workflow and Pipeline, 2020), where people (after signing an NDA) would be shown various sequences with VFX and be asked to critique them honestly. This would be a good way to make drastic changes to a production without becoming a laughingstock on social media if the original designs weren’t what the audience wanted. (Case Study Mock - Game Development Pipeline, 2020) (Individual Project – Game Development Cycle, 2021) (Game Dev Republic, 2018)
In conclusion, any form of media should be created with the audience in mind. Whilst the Sonic the Hedgehog movie (Sonic the Hedgehog, 2020) was heavily criticised, many who went to see it say that they enjoyed it far more than they expected to (Tassi, 2020) (Stuart, 2020). Unfortunately, due to the errors in design, most of the reviews of the film are mixed. (Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), 2020)
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2019. Disney+. The Walt Disney Company.
2021. Adobe After Effects. Adobe.
2021. Adobe Premiere Pro. Adobe.
2021. Autodesk Maya. Autodesk Inc.
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Mulan. 2020. [film] Directed by N. Caro. Walt Disney Pictures, Jason T. Reed Productions, Good Fear Productions.
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Sonic the Hedgehog. 2020. [film] Directed by J. Fowler. Paramount Pictures.
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Stuart, K., 2020. Sonic the Hedgehog is designed for fans – no wonder movie critics hated it. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/feb/19/sonic-the-hedgehog-fans-movie-critics> [Accessed 6 May 2021].
Tassi, P., 2020. How In The World Is The ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Movie Actually Good?. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/02/16/how-in-the-world-is-the-sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-actually-good/?sh=7fc68fe6342c> [Accessed 6 May 2021].
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 2021. [series] Directed by K. Skogland. Atlanta, Georgia, Czech Republic: Marvel Studios.
WandaVision. 2021. [series] Directed by M. Shakman. Atlanta, Georgia, Los Angeles: Chuck Hayward.
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