The document summarizes the feedback from a questionnaire given to 20 people about their documentary preferences. It found that most people were younger audiences between 15-24 years old and enjoyed watching documentaries. Their favorite style was observational documentaries with some factual voiceovers, like 24 Hours in A&E, which combines these elements. Based on the feedback, the documentarian decided to create an observational documentary with factual voiceovers that focuses on a meaningful topic, uses subtle background music, and varies shots to engage the audience.

1. Documentary
Questionnaire Analysis
Audience feedback.
Charlotte Martin.

2. 1. How old are you?
I asked 20 people to answer my documentary questionnaire and the answer to
this question answered:
• 17 years- 5 people, 18 years- 6 people, 21 years- 2 people, 24 years- 1 person,
51 years- 2 people, 74 years- 3 people.
Therefore my documentary is going to target the younger audience due to this
audience feedback.

3. 2. Do you like watching documentaries?
The audience feedback to this question was:
• Yes- 17 people
• No- 3 people
This effects my documentary as I know it would be popular due to the vast
majority of people between the ages of 15 and 75 do indeed spend time
watching documentaries.

4. 3. Do you have a favourite documentary?
This effects my final decisions for
my final documentary coursework
due to 24 Hours in A&E, being a
mixture of Observational and
Interactive had a result of 7
people out of 20 enjoying this
documentary the most. Therefore
my documentary will follow this
path instead of Planet Earth
which is purely just a voice over.
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Made Of
Stone
TOWIE 24 Hours In
A&E
Catfish Planet Earth 9/11 Phonecall
Documentary
Most hated
family in
America
Favourite Documentaries
Favourite Documentaries

5. 4. Do you have a least favourite documentary?
Least favourite documentaries
The overall results from this question
came back that they did not like The
Brothel by Louis Theroux, this is a
Reflective documentary so I am going
to avoid my final coursework being
based upon that type of documentary.
24 Hours in A&E only received 2 votes
which is the least. Therefore I will
continue with my
Observational/Interactive idea.
The Only Way Is Essex "Reality shows in general" The Brothel- Louis Theroux 24 Hours in A&E Crime Watch Catfish

6. 5. Which do you prefer?
Observational Reality, Factual voice over
documentaries or other? Why?
Which do you prefer?
Observational Factual Voice Over Other- Reflective
The result to Question 5 seemed quite balanced due to 11 people
saying they prefer Observational and 8 people preferred a Factual voice
over. Ultimately I want to create an Observational documentary with
some factual voice over containing information of the particular
topic/scene.
Two people answered with ‘Other’ and one of them stated “I much
prefer seeing the creator in action as I enjoy watching how documentaries are made.
I really love watching Catfish and Louis Theroux, they are so interesting and my
favourite.” Despite this comment that I have took into consideration, I
am not going to add a Reflective type into my coursework due to the
lack of popularity this type has with my current audience.

7. 6. What do you like to see in a typical
documentary of your preferred style? (e.g. close
ups of the subject, voice overs)
• I asked this question to my audience and a few responses were:
“I like to see lots of different types of shots to make the documentary more interesting.” Due to this comment
this has an effect on my coursework as, instead of having one long shot dominating, I am going
to have multiple shots of different relevant surroundings to create tension and make it more
enjoyable to watch.
• “I very much like to see long distance shots of the surroundings because I appreciate the setting of the scene.”
Again, I am going to take lots of establishing shots to really set the scene and show the nature of
the particular topic. There will be many establishing and long distance shots to demonstrate
possibly the theme of loneliness to my documentary and really make the audience think the
surroundings are scary and unsafe.

8. • “I like to see long shots dominating because it is much more interesting and focusses on the subject
matter more than the scenery.” After taking this comment into consideration, I am going
to compromise and have both long shots dominating some parts of my coursework
and a mixture of different shots where relevant. Concentrating on both the subject
matter and the scenery.
• “I love hearing music in the background of documentaries, that is why I enjoy Made in Chelsea so
much and documentaries like Derren Brown because they use intriguing music that adds something
different to the scene, but not too overpowering. I like different camera angles too.” Due to this, I
am going to take great care into choosing a piece of wordless music that really fits
in with the storyline of my documentary, having it subtly in the background so it
isn’t distracting to the audience

9. 7. Whilst watching a documentary do you
prefer hearing background music or ambient
sounds (such as rain/wind/birds)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Ambient sounds
Music
What do you prefer?
Column2 Column1 Type of sound
The majority of the audience answered this
question with ‘Music’. I thought this would be
the case as music seems to make the subject
more interesting if it seeming a little dull at
some points. Therefore I will use music in the
background of my coursework but I will still
concentrate on some natural ambient sounds
such as wind, foot steps and so on to keep all
of my audience happy. I also think a mixture
of both sounds really makes the documentary
seem as real as possible. I feel too much music
gives off a fake approach to the real life
documentary.

10. 8. If you were creating a documentary what
would yours be about?
This question was answered in a number of ways and gave me some inspiration:
• “My documentary would be some what informative and not pointless like the ones you see on the TV today.”
This answer inspired me to create something meaningful and give out a message instead of
having no meaning, therefore my documentary is going to be aimed at a specific message
and real life story that can effect peoples lives.
• “I’m not sure but it would allow people to take something away and learn something valuable.” This
answer, being similar to the one above, allows me to take into consideration making a
worthwhile documentary that is factual and possibly gives out awareness and a lesson,
possibly for the younger generation too.
• “Mine would make sure one emotion, being happy or sad, was definitely achieved by the audience.” I like
this answer as it inspires me to create something that has a massive impact.

11. 9. What do you not like to see in documentaries
(that you have already seen and give the
documentary example too)
This question had lots of very different answers so I have chosen the most relevant
ones that effect my coursework the most.
• The first answer is “I don’t like seeing reality shows with terrible actors and a clear fake script,
I do not see the point- TOWIE.” This answer has completely swayed me away from
sticking to just an observational documentary with no voice over, I will not be
having a fake documentary that is quite clearly scripted at every movement.
• “I don’t like seeing the creator in the clips as I feel it isn’t as professional as a documentary should
be, it isn’t concentrating on the subject matter or purpose it is concentrating on the filming itself.”
Therefore I will not be creating a Reflective documentary either as I want the
audience to understand the reality in my documentary.

12. • “I don’t like the music in a documentary being too loud and overpowering over the subject as it tends
to be distracting from the message which is trying to be portrayed. Also music that obviously gives
away the emotion, I like to be surprised.” Due to this answer I am only going to use very
subtle music in the background of my documentary. The music will not overpower
the message I am trying to give out to the audience, I am also going to surprise my
audience with the choice of music I choose.
• “I hate it when there are no changes of scenery and everything is just following on in the same
scene.” I am going to have lots of different types of shots including long shots, close
ups and pans in my documentary to show the range of different camera movements
so the clip isn’t rolling on the same subject for the whole time. This will allow my
documentary to be more interesting and the audience will want to see how I will
portray the rest of the documentary with my range of different shots.

13. 10. Are you aware of Observational and
Interactive documentaries combined?
Every person answered with ‘Yes’ on this question and nearly all of them
included the example of “24 Hours in A&E”. Three people answered with the
different types of “Educating Essex and Yorkshire.” These are two very
popular documentaries so it is great to know my audience are fans and
recognise these two different documentaries, which I am ultimately going to
base my own coursework documentary on.