Research into target audience

Introduction

Research was carried out so that we can find out what people like about thriller films and what they expect to see what is in them.  We asked 40 people so the results are more accurate and we have a wider range of them. We will use our results to create our sequence as we will only include things in it that will keep the audience engaged and it is what the audience want to see. Questionnaires are important to do as they tell you what the audience want to see within the film. Without using questionnaires, you would struggle to create a conventional sequence as you won't know what the audience want.

1. As the result of this question is 50:50, it shows that both males and females are answering the questions. This means that we have to keep in mind that males are more likely to enjoy watching violence in the thriller films whereas woman will more likely want to see a female victim as this will help them relate to the characters more. This means that if we use more violence then the film will most likely be preferred by males. By having an equal amount of both genders, it means we can look at what both like to see in thrillers which we also need to be careful of as well.







2. This question shows that we questioned mostly 15-17 year olds. This is the age group we will be targeting our audience at. This helps us because it means that most of the answers come from this age group so we know what they like to see in thriller films. However, as we also questioned other age groups, we still have to think about what they like as they may also want to watch our     sequence not just 15-17 year olds. We have to keep in mind that more of the 15-17 year olds are likely to enjoy violence whereas 12-14 year olds don't like it as much. Also, 18+ are more likely to want a psychological aspect to the thriller film. As we have targeted our audience at 15-17 year olds, it means that we have an age certificate of 15 and we have to be careful as to what we put in this. For example, we are only allowed a certain extent of violence and a certain amount of language to be used. This gives us restrictions on what we want to include in the thriller as it has to be appropriate for that age category.

3. As only 10% of the people interviewed don't watch thriller films, it tells us that most of the people interviewed know about what they like to see in thriller films and what are the best parts of thriller films. By most of the people being interviewed knowing about thriller films, it is useful as it means that we know what most people want from a thriller film as they have watched them whereas, the results received from the 10% of people that don't, won't be very useful as they are either guessing or making it up. Also, it shows that 90% of people watch thriller films and there is only a small handful of people that don't showing that although we're only targeting our film at 15-17 year olds, it means that other age categories will watch it as well so we have to think about what they want and not only our target audience. As a result, we have to make the film appropriate for other audiences and make it stand out to them as well.

4. This pie chart shows that 20% of people like Scream which means that elements in Scream are things that people enjoy watching in thriller films. This will help us as we can look at Scream and get some inspirations from watching it. By watching this film, we can include some of the elements they use as it is a very popular thriller chosen by people interviewed. As only 7% of people chose Insidious as there favourite film, it means that it isn't a very good thriller film which we should get inspirations from. We will therefore not watch this film as we will not find as many good elements as we will in Scream. As most of the people we interviewed said that they prefer another thriller film as their favourite, it tells us that there may be better thriller films out there that we should look at for ideas.

5. These results show that most people like the antagonist to use a knife as a weapon which shows that the audience are more frightened by the use of a knife as this can cause more damage to the skin then a gun or a saw. Not as many people chose a saw and a gun because these are rarely seen in thrillers so the people interviewed won't have seen them used as much as a knife is. This is because they are more likely to kill within the first touch of a human whereas a knife can cut someone without killing them straight away which builds up suspense. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it keeps the audience waiting and questioning what the antagonist is going to do next. Therefore, from these results, we will use a knife as the antagonists weapon because we know this is what the audience want to see within the film. By using the knife, we think that it will build up more suspense as the audience know what is going to happen but won't be ready for it.

6. This tells us that most people like the antagonist to be hidden from the audience which is because it creates an enigma which is conventional to the thriller genre as it keeps the audience engaged in the film. It also creates suspense as the audience don't know who they are so don't know what they will do next. This also helps the audience build a negative relationship with the antagonist as they feel scared of them. People said no because a thriller is meant to create surprise so by having a hidden identity means it does this.  The people interviewed said no because they don't like surprises and being kept in suspense so prefer the antagonist to be known by the victims and themselves. From this, we will give the antagonist a hidden identity by making him wear a mask so that neither the audience or the victim know who he is creating suspense. This will be good to use as it will create an enigma for the audience keeping them engaged.

7. These results show that most people prefer seeing a female victim. This is useful as we will use a female victim in our sequence instead of a male as this is what we know our target audience want and it is something that will keep the audience engaged. People chose a female victim instead of a male victim because they are weaker and more vulnerable. This means that they won't be able to fight back as much as a male would because the antagonist would usually a lot stronger than the victim as well. They also chose this because it helps the audience build up a relationship with the female victim as they feel sorry for her and worried about what the antagonist might do to her. By the male victim having a much lower percentage, it shows us that they aren't an easy target compared to females and they are more likely to put up a fight with the antagonist so the audience wouldn't be as shocked by the film.

8. From these results, we can see that an abandoned house was the most popular choice. People chose this as they know it's empty and there won't be anyone around to save the victim. This also helps the audience relate to the characters as they feel scared for the victim and are worried about what the antagonist will do as there is no one around to stop them. Also, an abandoned house is very creepy as there are usually spiders and spider webs around which many people have fears of. The graveyard got the least amount of votes as although they are usually empty, there is still life there because people are always putting flowers down showing that people still go there. From this pie chart, I think that we could use an abandoned house as we know that it will keep the audience engaged as they think anything could happen there as the antagonist can't be stopped by anyone. Also, as it is supposed to be abandoned, no one would expect people to be in there so won't come to help the victim.

9. This pie chart tells us that having an enigma is what the audience wants. By having enigmas, it creates suspense which is conventional to the thriller genre as it keeps the audience engaged in the film. Also, it means that the audience don't know what is happening so keep questioning the film which also keeps them engaged as they want to find out what happens. I think that the 10% of people that said no had said it because they don't like being on the edge and waiting to find out what happens. Thriller films are supposed to create surprises and shock the audience which an enigma does and I think that these people probably don't like surprises and shocks. In our sequence, we will use enigmas as we know that the audience like them and it will keep our target audience engaged. One enigma we will use is giving the antagonist a hidden identity which will create suspense as the audience and victim don't know who he is.

10. As the results show that all the options given have similar percentages, this could be because they are all conventional to a thriller genre so they are all wanted to be seen by the audience. Also, this means that we will use all of them in our opening sequence as the results show that they are all equally wanted by the audience. This means we will build up suspense then shock the audience with a climax. We will then create some tension and give the audience a surprise which will keep them engaged in the rest of the film. Therefore, we will use all of these conventions in our thriller as we know the audience will enjoy it more.

Vox pops are where you interview members of the public either via radio or television. In our vox pops, we will just be filming our interviews about thriller films and they are posted below. We are using vox pops as this proves that we have actually done the interviews to get our results and it also shows that people of different ages, have different opinions on thriller films. The vox pops provide qualitative data as it means the people being questioned can elaborate on their answers.

Conclusion

In this research, I found it useful to find out what each different audience likes to see in thriller films and what is expected from them. For example, I found that males are more into the gory thrillers whereas girls like to be able to build a relationship with a female victim. We will incorporate our results into our thriller sequence by using a knife as the murder weapon because this was the most popular choice from looking at the results. We will also use a female victim because this was also the most popular choice and it shows that the antagonist is a lot more stronger and powerful than her. If I was to carry out the research again, I would probably give more options for them to choose from as I feel that the people interviewed were quite restricted on being able to give their opinion.