1. HelloIam Daniel HopkinsandinthispodcastI will be lookingatthe marketingcampaignfora walk
amongthe tombstones,producer’sresearchtechniquesandfinallydescribingmyexitpoll resultsfor
the aforementionedfilm.
Firstly,Iwill be lookingatthe typesof researchusedbyproducersinthe variousstagesof
productionfora film.
Throughouttheywill be usingprimary,secondary,qualitative andquantitative research.
Primaryresearchisresearchconductedbyan individual oracompany themselves andmayinclude
interviews,surveysandquestionnaires. Thismeansthatquestionscanbe tailoredtoyourneeds,but
can be expensiveandtime consuming.
SecondaryResearchisthe collectionof existingdataas opposedto goingoutand collectingit
yourself.Itisfasterandcheaperto collectthanprimaryresearchbutmay not be entirelyspecificto
your needs.
Qualitative researchisdatathat isin a lotof detail andmayfeature individual assessmentsand
opinions.
Quantitative researchisdatathatfeaturesresultsonamass scale,usingnumbersandpercentages.
The data isn’tusuallyveryspecifictoindividuals,insteadlookingatpeople onthe whole.
An example of primaryresearchare surveys. Thesewill be conductedpre-productionandmaybe
giventoa certaingroupof people or simply anyone,dependingonthe filmthatisbeingmade.The
questionswill generallyaskwhetherpeoplewantanotherfilmof acertaingenre andwhat they
thinkmakesa filmgood.Byusingthe opinionsof the public,producerswill thentrytocreate a film
that theybelieve appealstopeople andwillbe successful. Theymayevenaskspecificquestionssuch
as what actors anddirectorstheylike. Questionslike this canbe bothqualitative andquantitative
research,as people mayonlygive answerssuchasyesor now or be requiredto go intomore detail.
For example,theymay have tostate the reasontheyenjoyacertaintype of film.
An example of secondarypre-productionresearchisthe use of variouswebsitestoview information
abouta film. The BritishFilmInstitute,orBFI,has a database of dozensof exitpollsfromfilmsover
the previousfewyears.Theyinclude the resultsof answersfromquestionssuchashow people
foundoutabout the film,whichwill helpproducerscreate amarketingplan and,general thingssuch
as what theythoughtof the cast and the story. The IMDB website alsooffersstatisticsandfigureson
howmuch the filmmade andoverhow long.Itshowshow much a filmmade ineach country,how
manyscreensitwas shownonand the final box office takings.Producerswill be able tosee how
much a certaintype of filmgenerallymakesandif itisworthwhile tocreate anotherone. Thistype
of data I have described will be inquantitative formasitdealswithmonetarynumbersandthe
amountof people whoselectedanansweronanexitpoll.
2. As a formof primaryresearchpostproduction,producersmaycreate exitpollsforcinemagoersto
theirfilm. Theymayaskquestionssuchashow the person foundoutaboutthe filmandwhether
theyenjoyedit.Thiswill thenhelpthemknow whetherornot theirmarketingcampaignwas
successful andwhetherthe filmwaswell received,whichwill subsequentlyaffecttheirfuture
productiondecisions. Byfindinginformationoutaboutthe individual,producersmaythenbe able to
findoutthe general age of the filmviewersaswell astheirgenderandsocial classification. Thiswill
alsohelpto planfuture films,astheymayhave beentryingtotargetcertainaudiences.
A produceror directorof a filmmayorganize testscreeningsasa formof primaryresearchpost-
production.Thisincludesgatheringaselectamountof people fromthe intendedtargetaudiencefor
the filmandgivingthem a screeningof itbefore itsgeneral release.The audience thendiscusses
withthe produceror directorwhattheythinkwouldmake itbetteras well aswhattheyenjoyed
aboutit. Thisthengivesthe filmmakersthe chance togo back to the editingphase of the filmaswell
as beingable tofilmadditional sceneswhere needed,tohelpittoappeal to more people.An
example of atestscreeningaffectingafilmisfromone for the movie ‘titanic’.Peoplecomplained
aboutits lengthandJamesCameronsubsequentlycut10 scenesaddinguptonearlyhalf an hour
fromthe final cut.
