A pilot study surveyed 10 people about knife crime to inform a documentary. Most wanted to see personal experiences and emotional interviews. 60% did not want an on-screen presenter. Emotional interviews, shocking imagery, and voiceovers were most interesting. Protection was the main reason cited for carrying knives. Most inaccurately estimated knife crime statistics in the West Midlands and UK. The documentary will focus on personal experiences, reconstructions, and statistics to educate viewers and show the reality of knife crime.

1. Questionnaire–Results
We did a pilot study and sampled 10 of our target audience to see what they know about knife crime
and what they would like to see in a documentary.
Do you currently watch documentaries?
(Please Circle)
Yes
No
70% of people said they do watch documentaries although this could be higher as they
may not realise other programmes they watch are documentaries as they are more
informal.
In a serious relevant documentary, which of these would you want to most see:
(Please Circle)
Statistics on screen
Reconstructions
Personal experiences
Interviews with experts
Many people thought personal experiences would be most relevant to the documentary and
we will arrange interviews first hand with those who have been personally affected by knife
crime. This will fulfil the audiences needs as they want to see personal experiences.
Would you expect to see an on screen presenter:
(Please Circle)

2. Yes
No
40% said yes, 60% said no
As 60% of people said no, we are not using an on screen presenter due to the feedback
on the questionnaire and due to research on our topic an on screen presenter would not
be needed.
What would keep you interested whilst watching a documentary?
(Please Circle)
Music
Voiceover
Rhetorical Questions
Shocking imagery
Statistics
Emotional Interviews
The most popular options included voiceover, shocking imagery and
emotional interviews. The least popular option was rhetorical questions.
Due to research we feel emotional interviews is the main thing to keep you interested
whilst watching a documentary making a connection with the viewer.
What do you think the main reason people carry knives is?
Protection was the main response, with 90% of people saying
this.
On average, in the west midlands, how many knife crime incidents were reported
between April2011 to 2012?
223710%
73930%
148230%
24830%
9550%
Shockingly, only 10% got this answer right which was 2237 as most people thought between
248 and 739. This is worrying as people do not realize how high the knife crime is around
them.

3. How many incidents of knife crime were there in the UK overall last year?
10,00010%
402930%
392350%
22,15110%
Again only 10% actually got the right answer of 22,151 this may seem extremely high to the
population sample as the majority 50% thought it was 3923 which is much lower. The fact that there
is such a difference shows how uneducated young people are about the topic area of knife crime
For carrying a knife around in public, do you know what the minimum sentence is?
2 weeks40%
1 month0%
6 months50%
1 year10%
Majority got this right meaning they are educated and have used common knowledge to
realise the punishment you will receive for carrying around a knife.
How many deaths were caused from knife crime in Birmingham between years
2012/2013?
40%
1760%
1110%
730%
What age range do you think knives are most commonly carried by?
The most common age ranges mention were 16-22 although some people believe it is
18-25.

4. From the Research we have gathered we will use this in order to conduct our
documentary. This will be the main focus of interview questions.
Due to people wanting to see personal experiences we will feature an
emotional interview with someone who has been effected by knife crime.
We are going to try to include a reconstruction of someone being stabbed as it
will be interesting for the viewer and different. The reconstruction will take
place in college and we will improvise with someone appearing to stab them
with a hood up then running away.
We will not use an on screen presenter and just speak our script whilst we
show footage that is relevant or stock footage.
The question why do you think people carry knives is key to our documentary
as we will ask people in interviews what their opinion is and see if it agrees
with our research we gathered from the questionnaire. Then we will lead this
on to why should they feel the need to carry knives if it is for protection. We
will also ask what you think the minimum sentence for just carrying a knife
seeing if the audience actually know what the consequences are.
The statistic questions will be read out during the documentary in the
voiceover as they are appealing and seen as shocking so will grip the
audience and let them know the reality of what is happening.