This document summarizes the results of a questionnaire given to gather primary research for a short psychological thriller film. It shows that the target audience is 15-25 year olds, both male and female. Most enjoy horror and thriller genres. While some only watch full-length films, many also watch short films online. Most respondents said they would be interested in a psychological thriller and want to see elements like an unstable reality and flashbacks. This research will help the filmmaker make creative choices to appeal to the target demographic.

1. Primary Research
Questionnaire

2. Gender?
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Male
Female
For my questionnaire I asked
a mix of male and female’s
opinions, as the genre that I
am focusing on is a genre
that appeals to both sex’s
equally. By doing this I can try
and make my film appeal to
both male and females.

3. What age are you?
14
I asked audience’s for their
age range because my target
audience it 15-25 year olds I
decided to ask more people
within that age
range, although I did get
opinions from other age
ranges.
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
15-25
26-35
36-45
45+

4. What do you most enjoy watching?
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Horror
Thriller
Comedy
Action
Sci-fi
Romantic
Comedy
Drama
As you can see the most popular
film genre is horror followed by
thrillers. Because my focused
genre is a hybrid genre it tends to
incorporate other genres. By the
data shown here it may be a good
idea to include a few elements
from the horror genre as this isn’t
uncommon within many
psychological thrillers and will
appeal more to the large audience
who enjoy horror.

5. Do you watch short films?
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No
Sometimes
Many people tend to go to
cinema to watch full length
feature films however from the
research I got I found that
people sometimes watched films
online due to social media sites
such as Youtube, which allow
aspiring film makers to share
there work and receive
feedback.

6. Do you watch psychological thrillers?
As you can see many of the people
I asked like psychological thrillers.
Because the majority are within
the ages of 15-25 (my target
audience) this means that I have
picked a genre that many people
within that age group will enjoy.
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No

7. What would you first expect from a
psychological thriller?
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Characters
having fragile
emotional
states
Danger
A non-linear
plot full of
enigmas
Death
A line between
reality is
blurred
The most expected of a
psychological thriller is to have
character(s) with fragile emotional
states. This means that I should
make it slightly obvious to the
audience that my protagonist is in
an emotionally fragile state
especially towards the end/climax.
A common occurrence in
psychological thrillers is the nonlinear plot full of enigmas (e.g
Shutter Island) simarly the line
between reality is blurred, these
aspects may also be useful to
include within my short film to
reinforce the genre.

8. After reading my synopsis would you
be interested in watching my film?
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No
As you can see almost everyone
after reading my synopsis was
interested in watching my short
films. The ones that said no said it
was because they weren’t
interested in short films or they did
not like the genre and preferred
comedy. Overall I think that my
synopsis was successful in giving
the audience an idea of my film
and making it appealing to
them, even if their favourite genre
wasn’t a psychological thriller.

9. What would most like to see within my
psychological thriller?
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Gore
Flashbacks
Drama
Death
Unstable reality
Most would like to see an unstable
reality followed by death and
flashbacks to make the narrative
reflect a psychological thriller. If I
include these aspects I will give the
audience pleasure in them seeing
what they want and may also
persuade others to see the film.
These 5 aspects are also very
common in psychological thrillers.

10. Do you enjoy films which reflect social
issues (such as bullying)?
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No
Depends on the issue
Many of my sample do like to see
social issues represented however
it depends on the issue. This means
society can often be sensitive to
many issues such as if you are a
victim of bullying or other issues
such as racism , teenage pregnancy
or rape etc. this could have a
negative impact on those audiences
especially if the social issue is
explicit. However more would
rather see a certain issue being
dealt with correctly as it makes the
film more interesting/reinforces
issues that are being dealt with
everyday.

11. Conclusion
By carrying out a questionnaire for my primary data it
enabled me to get an insight into what audiences wanted
to see from my film and other aspects about them that
may be useful knowing when it comes to making my film.
A large portion of my sample were within the age range
of 15-25 this is because not only is this my target
audience for my film but this is an age group which
increasingly more dominant in attending
cinema/watching films, however this is arguable that they
may not be dominant in watching many short films
unless. Overall I concluded an idea/explanation from each
question which will help me and has become a vital piece
of research.