Media AS Level Coursework

1. Target Audience
Research Results
ChrisWotton

2. How old are you?
The data received from our questionnaire below shows us that the large
majority of respondents (54.55%) were aged between 17-18.While the age
range of 15-16 is very similar at which (40.26%) were placed.A very
important factor of the information has to be the age as ourTA, and as you
can see the information above Is of the correct age group, which makes the
data a lot more valuable.While a very small minority of the questionnaires
were filled out by those 19+ which could be classed as un-useful data.

3. What is your gender?
The responses that we received
are mainly from the female
gender (57.46%), therefore
making the data received less
valuable.While the male audience
is (36.36%) of the responses and
therefore ourTA don’t make up
the largest majority of the
responses which could potentially
affect the accuracy of our results.
While any other genders made up
a small minority of (6.5%) which
doesn't have a big implication to
the results we gathered.

4. On average, how often do you
watch thriller films in a month?
This data shows us that 77.92% of
people watch a thriller film at
least once a month; this shows us
that a large majority of the
responses are from people who
are interested in thriller films.
However I can also see that within
that (77.92%) only (6%) of the
people watch thriller films on a
very frequent basis, and therefore
the audience that answered are
questionnaires could be
interested in other genres more
than thrillers.

5. Is there anything you particularly
like to see in thriller films.
These responses are very broad
due to the question being open to
more elaborate responses.The
data we received quite clearly
shows us however that the
audience like to be interested in
the film whether that be from
mystery, action or a compelling
narrative. So therefore the
responses we have received can
be implemented into our own
thriller film to make it the most
intriguing for the audience.

6. Is there anything you particularly
dislike to see in thriller films.
The responses from this are like the last
question and they are very broad. However
a few frequent occurrences the candidates
said they wouldn’t like to see in thriller films
are bad acting or a too slop paced narrative;
this is very understanding as without these
elements it would be very hard to stay
engaged with the film.
However some of the other responses are
open to opinion such as no gore or love;
which are themes certain audience
members may not enjoy watching. From
this data we can tailor our film to our target
audience by making sure the audience stay
engaged by using high quality editing
techniques & camera-work as well as very
relatable characters.

7. Do you prefer films with a simple or
complex storyline?
The data on the right clearly
shows us that the audience
prefer a complex
storyline/narrative as 80% of
respondents selected that
option while only 20% of
respondents preferred a simple
narrative.
This data is useful as we can let
it influence our narrative in a
complex way so that it is the
most compelling to the
audience watching it.

8. How long after a film starts do you know if
you want to continue watching it?
This data is very valid to the part
of the film we are producing; that
is the opening sequence. From
the data gathered I can see that
the largest majority of people
decide to stop the film/continue
watching between 6-10 minutes
and this therefore suggests that
we need to make our opening
sequence very persuasive and
intriguing for the viewer so that
they stay focussed on the film.

9. What makes a character in a film stand out
to you?What makes them interesting?
From the data gathered I can see that the
audience are interested in characters that
have a good background as this makes it
engaging and much easier to watch the
film. A key aim of our film was to allow
audience identification of the characters to
be simple and quick to associate with. If the
audience can easily relate to the audience
they are likely to be more interested; this
can be achieved by using techniques such as
binary opposites of men and women, which
is a well known stereotype and viewers can
relate to it.We plan on showing the
audience the opposite effect of binary
opposites where the man is shown to be in
need of help, while the women is caring and
stronger than the man; this should catch the
viewers attention as this Is a unique
technique to include in our film.

10. What makes a character in a film stand out
to you?What makes them interesting?
From the data gathered I can see that the
audience are interested in characters that
have a good background as this makes it
engaging and much easier to watch the
film. A key aim of our film was to allow
audience identification of the characters to
be simple and quick to associate with. If the
audience can easily relate to the audience
they are likely to be more interested; this
can be achieved by using techniques such as
binary opposites of men and women, which
is a well known stereotype and viewers can
relate to it.We plan on showing the
audience the opposite effect of binary
opposites where the man is shown to be in
need of help, while the women is caring and
stronger than the man; this should catch the
viewers attention as this Is a unique
technique to include in our film.

11. If you have one, what is your favourite
thriller film and why?
This question ties in with the previous responses we have already
received, but seems to be pretty clear from our target audience
responses that they like to see the implementation of
unconventional narrative, as they cannot predict what will happen in
the film very easily. So therefore we should include unique aspects in
our film such as a plot twist to increase engagement/interest in the
film.

12. What type of themes do you like to see in a thriller film, if any?
Please place the themes in order 1-6 (1 being most desirable 6
being least desirable)
From the results below I can see that the candidates that filled out our questionnaire are
interested in a large variety of themes.Therefore it could be concluded that we should
include a variety of different themes in our film it should appeal to a larger target
audience. Crime received the lowest rating with only (5.56%) of respondents rating this as
their favourite theme.While Drama received the highest rating of (27.78%).The most
popular theme ‘mystery’ can be associated with the barthes’ enigma code, as well as the
other conventions of thriller being tense and suspenseful.Therefore we should include a
variety of themes in our thriller film opening sequence.