A media studies evaluation question for our media product.

1. What have you learnt from your
audience feedback?
By Kirsty Griffiths

2. After we conducted our initial research for the thriller genre, we
decided to handed out some questionnaires to our target audience
demographic, as well as some other individuals. We chose our target
audience to be teenagers, from the age of 12 to 18, as we believed we
would be able to relate to them. We chose the thriller genre as we
believed it would be the most appealing to teenagers as research
indicated that teenagers favor this genre. Additionally, we chose the
thriller genre as thriller films usually have intense storylines which
could offer escapism.
Brief

3. Examples of research conducted in the
planning stage

4. Our film was in the thriller genre, so we decided to make our target audience teenagers as
the were the predominant category for who views thriller films according to secondary
research. Therefore, secondary research was beneficial to our media group as it supported
our findings, however, our primary research from our questionnaires were more specific to
our storyline. Our film was aimed at both males and females to try and attract a larger
audience, but according to research females watch thriller films more frequently as these
films are usually more relatable for them. For example, thriller films usually contain sexual
references, ditsy characters and heroic males. Our film appealed to a male audience as we
had minimal weapon use and an attractive female lead character. However, our film
appealed to a female audience as the main character was represented as powerful so it
inspired other women. BBFC Guidelines influenced our decision of choosing a target
audience as they have guidelines for what is appropriate for certain ages. The BBFC
guidelines suggested that our film was appropriate for a 12A age certificate, which means a
child of the age of 12 could watch our film with parental guidance. Furthermore, this
allowed our audience to be potentially larger as our film only contained minor weapon use
and didn’t contain any strong language or sexual scenes. Therefore, we decided our final
target audience should be all genders above the age of 12A.
BBFC Guidelines = http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/guidelines
Target Audience

5. Planning and Research Stages

6. Primary Questionnaire
In order to construct research from our audience in the planning stage of our
media product, we decided to make a questionnaire before any filming took
place in order to see if our storyline could be understood and engaged with.
We showed 15 individuals our storyline through a questionnaire in order to
find out what our target audience of teenagers thought about our storyline
and if our film appealed to any other individuals. Before we gave the
participants our questionnaire to fill in, we stated that our A-level media
studies project and what we were attempting to achieve which allowed the
individuals to have an understanding as to why we really appreciated their
participation. We provided our storyline on the back of our questionnaire so
the participants could take their time to answer the questions which would
make the results more reliable. Additionally, we ensured that none of our
group took any negative comments on our film personally as the responses
would be used as constructive criticism to improve our film.

8. Results of Primary Questionnaire
The age range of the people we asked was from 17 up to 53. Most of the individuals who
we asked thought our film was in the thriller and action genre. For question 6 which asked
if people can think of any other movies similar to ours 6 people said no and others said
movies like Atomic Blonde, The Hitcher, Shooter and Kill Bill. Question 9 asked people what
their favourite part of the movie was and for most people thought the twist at the end.
This was followed by question 10 which asked if they would think of any changes that
should be done in the movie, most people said no however couple of people said that the
amounts of money that the min character was to receive for the kill was a bit unrealistic.
From our questionnaire results we learnt that our genre is easily identifiable as most of the
responses we received stated that they thought our film was a thriller. The majority of
feedback we received was positive as more people said they would go see our film and the
majority of people rated our storyline a 7/10. Additionally, the questionnaire results we
received allowed us to make changes to our storyline before producing our film.
Furthermore, the questionnaire results provided us with similar films to ours, which we
could research, identify conventions of the thriller genre and compare the similar aspects
to our film.

10. Issues with our primary Questionnaire
In our questionnaire we asked participants to state their age which is a
very personal question. Therefore, we discussed as a group that when
we developed any further questionnaires we wouldn’t include personal
questions to ensure that the participants didn’t feel uncomfortable.

11. Editing Stages

12. Changes Implemented
During the production of our media product, we decided to make a few
changes to our storyline due to the fact that some of the participants
who answered the questionnaires has difficulty understanding some
aspects of our storyline. Therefore, as a group we decided to give our
character a background story in the form of a news report and a
flashback of her childhood. In the flashback we used a black and white
effect to connote that it was a scene from the character’s past.
Additionally, as a group we decided to add a meeting scene which
identified why the main character is hired to assassinate The Man in
Black.

13. Changes Implemented
NEWS REPORT MEETING SCENE
FLASHBACK TO CHILDHOOD

14. Changes Implemented
In the production stage of developing our media product, we
attempted to make the main character appear to be the victim in the
beginning of our film, when really she was the assassin all along. We
left little hints throughout the film that indicated that the main
character was the assassin for the audience to begin piecing all the
information together which we provide and allow the audience to
begin making their own schemas.

15. Changes Implemented
An example of how our group used little hints throughout the film to indicate that the main character
was the assassin would be the content use of a man called ‘H’. Throughout our film, the name ‘H’ is
constantly used without being too obvious, such as in the target sheets and the suspicious phone call
she receives before leaving her home. Even though, the character ‘H’ is never explained, the
audience understand that he is her boss. Therefore, the name ‘H’ on the letters and the phone call
like together and identify that in fact Charlie is the assassin and the on reading the letters in the
beginning of the film.

16. Second Questionnaire
Once we had made these changes to our film in the production stage, we
developed a second questionnaire in order to see what the audience’s opinions
were on our film and how we could improve our product further and make any
further alterations in order to make our final film as best it could be. We asked 10
people to watch our movie and answer a questionnaire based on it. The
questionnaire had nine questions on it which gave us a good idea of peoples
opinions of our movie. We had a range of ages which gave us multiple different
answers. Before we showed the participants our film draft we will ensure we
politely address ourselves and brief information on the media project we are
conducting for A-level media and what we were aiming to achieve which allowed
our participants to understand why we were asking them to watch our film. In our
questionnaire, we ensured that the questions weren't too personal, as this can
discourage the participants. We took any constructive critics and used this to
further adapt our film in order to suit the audiences needs. We didn’t take any
negative comments personally, as we were aware our film may not suit everyone,
being independent and of a niche issue not everyone would take interest in.
Therefore, the second questionnaire allowed our group to receive constructive
criticism in our editing stage and improve our film.

18. Questionnaire Results

19. The first question was the gender of the person answering. This was so
we could see the difference in how our movie seemed to both genders.
Question One

20. Question Two
The second question asked the age of the person answering. For this
we had four age ranges 12-16, 17-20, 21-30 and 31+, this made it
easier to put the answers in a chart.

21. Question Three
The third question asked the people what genre they thought our
movie belonged to. For this question we didn't give the people options
to choose from we just let them make their own decision. This showed
us if our film looked part of the genre we wanted it to.

22. Question Four
This question asked people what age certificate would they give our
film. the options were PG, 12, 12A, 15 and 18. The results said 3 for age
12 certificate and 7 for 12A, the majority went with the same
certificate which we chose for the film. This question we also asked
why they think that would be the correct certificate to give and all of
the answers focused on the use of mild violence and the use of gun.
The answers for why also said it doesn't need a high certificate due to
there not being anything most 12A rated films wouldn't have.

23. Question Five
The fifth question asked what gender would our film appeal to and why
they think that. The results showed that most people asked thought
the film would appeal to women because of the female lead and the
almost all female cast.

24. Question Six
This question asked how well they understood the storyline of the film.
The answers gave the option of understood completely, understand a
little and too complex. Most people who answered understood the
storyline a little. The question also asked if the person understood who
the little girl in the film was which most viewers guessed correctly.

25. Question Seven
In this question we asked if they could think of any films like ours or do
they think its unique. For this question we let the people think of their
own answers as some of the movies we could of suggested the people
may have not seen or heard of. The answers that suggested another
film all suggested films with female lead.

26. Question Eight
This question asked how likely they are the view the film on scale of
one to five with one representing definitely not and five representing
absolutely. The answers were placed between 3 and 5. Four people
said 3, another four said 4 and two people said 5.

27. Question Nine
In our last question we asked how could we improve our film. Most
answers said to answer more sound in order to make it more
understandable. This is something we have almost finished doing after
the film will be finished.

28. Questionnaire Results
We asked the participants what they would change about our film in
order to make the final production better. From the questionnaire
results we learnt that the majority of the audience believed that we
needed to add sound to our film in order to improve it and make the
storyline more understandable, which we expected as there was no
sound on our film.

29. Rough Cut of Our Film

30. Final Questionnaire
Our media product followed the conventions of the thriller genre which met the
expectations of the audience. For example, our media film was located in isolated
alleyways in a ‘city’ and typical iconography for thriller films was used as we had props such
as guns and black clothing. However, our film juxtaposed the conventions of other thriller
films as we had a powerful female lead. We believe this would appeal to a teenage
audience as it’s unusual to have a female as the lead in a thriller film which may intrigue
the audience to come and watch our film. Additionally, the audience may sympathies with
our female lead character as they may find her background story relatable. Therefore, the
fact that we decided to go against the typical conventions of the thriller genre as well has
supported our media product as it has made it fresh and exiting and made more people
want to go see our film.
Once we had completed our final media product, we developed a final, short questionnaire
in order to see what the audience thought about our final film. We asked 16 participants
about our film in order to gain feedback from out target audience. This was significant for
any future media products and ensured that we targeted the correct audience. Therefore,
the final questionnaire allowed our group to receive constructive criticism from our target
audience which allowed us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our media product.

31. Questionnaire

32. Questionnaire Results

33. Question One
The first question asked people on a scale of one to five how likely are you to
watch this film. While they did watch it in order to fill the questionnaire we
wanted to know in a sense of if they just wanted to watch any film how likely
they would be in picking our one. Number one meant least likely and number
five meant highly likely. The results showed that most people chose the number
3, while five people chose number 4 and four people chose the answer 5, with
only one person circling two and no one picking one.

34. Question Two
Question three we asked people where would they go and watch the
film. The options were cinema, DVD and online as they are the most
popular ways of watching movies. This question helped us see that if
we were to realise the film which option would have been most
successful. The answers showed that 8 people asked would watch it in
the cinema, 2 would pucrases the DVD and 6 would watch it online.

35. Question Three
In this question we asked what genre do they think our film is. All the
answers showed that we did show through the thriller genre like we
wanted to. It was an even split between thriller and crime thriller with
six people saying those two. The other four said that they thought it
was a thriller mystery.

36. Question Four
Question 4 was asking if they understood the storyline. This question
was very important because of the amount of changes we made during
our production to the storyline. All of the changes were made to make
the film make more sense. The results showed that it made quite a lot
of sense, with 10 people saying yes, 5 answering sort of and with just
one person not understanding the storyline.

37. Question Five
In this question we asked if they would suggest this movie to their
friends. This question was to see how popular our movie could get. It
also allowed us to see if the storyline would be interesting to different
types of people. Five people answered yes, seven people said maybe
and four people said no.

38. Question Six
In this question we asked what were peoples favourite parts of the film.
This was because we wanted to know which scenes we did the best on.
Most people liked the plot twist that we had. Some other people also
liked the fact that we gave the main character a background story and
showed her childhood and why she did the job that she did.

39. Question Seven
In this question we asked the people if they would change any part of
the film. While it was too late to make any changes it was still good to
know how we could of improved our film. Most of the responses
mentioned how the scene where the main character is followed could
have been more tense by having darker lighting. Another change that
the people asked suggested was the scene where Charlie was getting
ready to be in focus, as quite a few shots were out of focus.

40. Question Eight
This question was our last question and asked, if there was to be a
sequel would you watch it? This was so we could see if our film left any
following questions even once it was done. It also helped us see how
much people liked our movie and if they liked it enough to see a
sequel.

41. Questionnaire Results
From our results we learnt that the audience found our storyline to be
more understandable which means our film has improved. Additionally,
most of the participants stated that they would watch our film at a
cinema.

42. Our Final Film
Below is a final cut of our media product which followed the audiences’
feedback in order to be the best it could be and appeal to a niche
audience.

43. In conclusion, our audience feedback at pre-production, during
production and post-production learnt our media group that our
audience enjoyed our short film and that they would like to watch our
film if it was on it cinemas. Additionally, from our audience feedback
we found that our target audience of teenagers would prefer to watch
our film as it appeals to the younger generation more due to the
female lead character having empowerment. Overall, we found
audience feedback to be essential in creating a successful product that
people would enjoy watching. Due to this, we are happy with the
extensive audience feedback we conducted to gain a better insight into
our audiences needs.