Audience Research - questionnaire

Our preferred audience is the 'under 18-years old' age demographic. 

We issued a self-completion to fellow media students, forming a sample representative of our intended target audience. This enabled us to gain insight into film audience's 'Thriller' preferences, including those views of our chosen age bracket.

An uncompleted questionnaire is accessible here. 

Below are our findings, organised into a chart and graph format:

A majority (>35%) of respondents who completed our questionnaire were 'Under 18 years. old'. This suggests that our film should be certified 15, 12A/12, PG, or U. This ensures that members of our target audience can legally view our film opening. 

Our questionnaire was completed by a a near-balanced frequency of male and female respondents. This ensured that their responses were representative of the perspectives of both genders. 

A majority (>25%) stated that their favourite film genre was 'thriller'. This suggests that our film opening should also be of the thriller genre in compliance with the preferences of our target audience. Smaller percentages of respondents stated alternative favourite film genres, e.g. 'action/adventure (<20%), 'comedy' (<20%) and drama (approximately 10%). We could incorporate these genres into our into our thriller sequence to form a hybrid genre, such as an action thriller or comedy thriller. 

>50% of respondents rated the importance of mise-en-scéne in the opening of a film as '4'; suggesting that mise-en-scéne, a micro element, should be creatively used to symbolise particular themes across the film. For example, a gun could symbolise a convention of crime. Elements of mise-en-scéne include colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting. For our opening sequence, we strive to excellently plan and research these elements; ensuring that mise-en-scéne broadens the appeal of our film. 

Question 5 shows that respondents' favourite thriller sub-genre is 'crime' (>35%), and 'psychological (>35%). In this instance, the audience feedback has influenced the decision-making process of our media product: we are considering scripting our opening so that it has an underlying theme of crime and psychological. This ensures that the opening is constructed in accordance to the preferences of our target audience, therefore grabbing their attention. An example of how crime can be symbolised in our opening sequence is through mise-en-scéne, e.g. props such as guns. Our film could convey psychological connotations through characters, e.g. by the antagonist having psychopathic characteristics. 

A majority (45%) of respondents stated that their "favourite 'thriller' character convention" was a psychopath. This is unsurprising, considering that a majority of respondents also answered 'psychological' as their favourite thriller sub-genre. This has influenced the planning process of our media product because we have considered our antagonist having psychopathic traits to build suspense. Psychopathic characters (e.g. "Buffalo Bill" of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) -- an unknown psychopathic serial killer) are a frequently used psychological thriller character convention: they symbolise thriller themes (e.g. violence), and their actions are suspenseful. 

>25% of respondents have stated that camerawork "is the most important component in the opening to a thriller film." Therefore, we have decided to use a variety of cinematographic shot types when it comes to filming our opening sequence to ensure that our chosen genre is apparent to the viewer. For example, in a thriller, a reverse shot can signify flashbacks, which are conventionally used; an extreme close-up can emphasise the emotional vulnerably of victims, a typical thriller character convention; whereas an establishing shot can set the scene of a mysterious and eerie setting. Approximately 17% of respondents stated that 'sound' was the most important component. Therefore, we have decided that diegetic and non-diegetic sounds will be used throughout our opening to build tension and suspense. 

A whopping 45% of respondents have gave this question a rating of '2' on the rating scale. This suggests that our target audience do not think that much of the plot should be revealed during our opening sequence. Therefore, we have decided to use a restricted narration, as thriller films conventionally are. We will not include diegetic dialogue in our opening sequence, thus ensuring that there is a degree of ambiguity surrounding its characters. We will also ensure that our opening is enigmatic, creating tension and excitement (e.g. through jump scares). Also, we plan to use literary devices including plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers to surprise our audience and retain their attention. 

Most respondents state that they think the opening sequence to a thriller film works best in the past. Therefore, we may incorporate a cutaway shot into our opening to symbolise a flashback. Or, our media product could conclude with the phrase "a week later". This shows the audience that our opening follows a nonlinear structure - a convention of thriller films. 

Finally, our target audience thinks that the music and editing to our film opening should be moderately paced. However, as we will most likely be constructing a thriller film opening, the music and editing will increase in pace to builds anticipation and grow suspense. Similarly, slow editing can be used build tension. When editing, we will use straight cuts to give the audience a sense that the thriller is jumpy. Fades could also be utilized to allow the audience to catch their breath after an intense, fast-paced sequence.