Media AS Level Coursework

1. Target Audience Research Results Questionnaire
1. How old are you?
11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19+
The questionabove Isa veryuseful one asourquestionnairewillbe aimedatanaudience
rangingfrom11-19 and our resultsneedtobe Identifiable toa particularage.
The responsesfollowingthisanswerwill alsoallow ustosee whatthe younger&older
audience memberswouldlike tosee andnotsee ina thrillerfilm, sothatwe can tailorour
filmtowork forour target audience.
2. What is your gender?
Male Female Other I’d rather not say
Our filmisaimedatboth men& womenandtherefore we needtosee the preferencesfor
bothgenders.Howeverourfilmisprimarilyaimed atmenandwe therefore needtofocus
on theirfeedbackratherthanfemales;howeverwe canmake certainaspectstoappeal to
that gendertomake it interestingforthemtoo.
3. On average, how oftendo you watch thrillerfilmspermonth?
Never 1-2 times 3-4 times 5+ times
The questionabove isvery importantaswe can judge how frequently ourtargetaudience
watch thrillerfilms.Fromthe research thatwe obtainwe will be able tosee how frequently
our targetaudience watch thrillerfilms. Thisisimportantforproducingourthrillerfilm
openingsequence aswe can make sure the filmcontainsthemesthatare of interesttothe
viewer.Asif theyare interestedinotherfilmgenres we canincorporate those makingthe
filmhybridbetween twodifferentgenres.
4. Is there anything you particularly like to see in thrillermovies(ifyou watch them)?
Thisquestionisanopenquestion, andthereforethe dataresponse will be farmore In-
depth.Thiswill assistusingettingdetailedresponsesaboutacertaintopic,inthiscase
‘whatthe consumerlikestosee inthrillerfilms’. Thisfeedbackwill assistusingettingthe
necessaryelementstoappeal tothe correctaudience.
5. Is there anything you dislike to see inthrillerfilms(ifyou watch them)?
Thisquestionactsinthe same wayas the previousquestion. Thiswill give usaclear
response fromthe candidatesthatfilledoutthe questionnaire on‘whattheydon’tlike to
see inthrillerfilms’thiswilltherefore make ourproductionmore appealingtothe target
audience andwill increaseitsprosperitytobe successful.Thereforethisquestionwill need
to be aimedat the correct audience;otherwise the changeswe make tothe filmcould
potentiallyhave negative effectsratherthanpositive ones.

2. 6. Do you prefer thrillerfilmswitha simple or complex storyline?
Simple Complex
The responsesfromthisquestionwill allow ustomake the decisiontomake the film
narrative simple orcomplex.Thiscouldinvolve twistingthe plothalf waythroughor even
producingenigmaforthe audience until the lastsectionof the film. The responseswillalso
allowusto see whetherouraudience prefer developedstorylinesthatare harderto follow,
or a simple plotthatismore engaging.
7. How long (on average) after a film starts doesit take you to decide whether you want to
continue watching?
1-5 minutes 6-10 minutes 11-15 minutes 16-20 minutes 21+ minutes
Thisis a veryvalidquestiontothe partof the filmwe are producingas the openingsequence
will onlybe the firstcouple of minutesintothe film.Andtherefore if the audience loose
engagementinthistime itcouldhugelyaffectthe restof the filmasthe audience will either
lose engagementorstopwatchingall together.Thereforefromthe feedbackwe receivewe
can try to increase ordecrease audience engagementinthe firstpart(openingsequence) of
the film.
8. What makes a character in a filmstand out to you? What makes theminteresting?
Thisquestionwill allowustosee whatthe audience are interestedinseeingincharacter,
and we can include these preferencesfromthe targetaudienceineachof the characters in
our thrillerfilm(openingsequence).Havinganengagingcharacterisveryimportantas thisis
generallywhatmakesorbreaksa film;withoutthe actorsprovidingagood understandingof
the plotit’snot worthwhilewatchingtomanyviewers. ThisIs whyfamouscharactersmake
such an impacton the successof filmsas the audience knowstheywill be goodatportraying
the narrative to the audience.
9. If you have one,what is your favourite thrillerfilmand why?
Thisquestionisveryuseful asitallowsustosee whatfilmsouraudience enjoywatchingand
we can therefore borrowthe likeable elementsthatwill make ourfilmbetter.We canthen
make the filmunique andappealingtowatch;whichwouldbe the use of the ‘steve neal’
theroyof repetitionof difference whichinvolvestakingcertainconventionsandincluding
theminour ownproductionto make an appealingyetuniquefilm.
10. What type of themesdo you like to see in a thrillerfilm,if any? Please place the themesin
order 1-6 (1 beingmost desirable 6 beingleast desirable)
Murder/Death Psychological Crime Action Mystery Drama
By identifyingthe mostpopularsub-genre,we will be able tosee the extenttowhich
audiencesare interestedinourgenre.Thiswill enableustoconnote to our chosenthemes
inan effective manner,whichwill gainaudience appeal.

3. By seeingwhatsub-genreare ouraudience prefer,we caninclude differentthemesthatwill
make the filmlikeable tothemandto follow the conventionsof thatparticularsub-genre,
e.g.for instance the actionsub-genre will probablyinclude fasterpaced editingandmore
scenesof violence.