Research

Coming into my research segment for the FMP project I'm producing, I would really like to get
across some more ideas from which I could start to develop more off of, this comes from things like
the color schemes, narrative, typical features in thriller films, sound implementations, and of course
audience research so I can start to address some of these things in consideration of their own
judgements and expectations.
Divided into 4 different sections, I intend on getting a better understanding of the film industry in
addition to the thriller genre, so doing both primary and supporting research, I should hopefully
cover all of the previously mentioned characteristics in: existing products research to clarify
differentiations, similarities and its influence; a survey to help identify some of the desired
considerations in thriller genre based films from an audiences background; individual interviews
against each and every audience that I can gather locally, looking at more specific details to
acknowledge; and finally color schemes itself, the affects it may have on audiences, the feelings it
can connote, and involvement to the project in producing.
All in hope of achieving a well-rounded, professionally reflected film trailer with supporting
promotional elements like posters and social media distribution, here in this document I can start to
establish some things I would like to incorporate within my own film concept and structure,
supporting their inclusion with a detailed observation of use and impacts it may sustain on my
audience; as a good starting point, research starts with all things because I can consider all aspects
before determining my final intentions for the project and making the products themselves, all in
longing that I can produce the best possible outcome for a thriller film trailer and other
promotional pieces by the end of my college progression.

EXISTING PRODUCT 1: THE GIFT(TRAILER)

Why have I chosen
Looking for sources of existing products across the YouTube platform, I had come across this trailer which
struck my initial attention in the title 'The gift'; creating obscure and mysterious intentions, this urged
myself as the audience to watch it given a strong desire to find out what this gift is was immediately
established, something which upon observation, as a media student whom actively engages in film and
tv amongst other things, was incredibly gripping, hooking, and genuinely surprising at how effective it is
at captivating an audience like myself. Looking into the source more, watching the whole trailer, and
trying to get to grips with the way different things are demonstrated to draw out my emotions, it was
soon clear how well the video had been structured, in both clarifying the narrative to new people
similarly to me and understanding the situation, against the music and sound effect, which was
extremely supplementary to the thriller genre and film concept, that I had to analyze the different
approaches made in more depth because it certainly made me jump and frightened at times I least
expected – something I desire to incorporate sufficiently throughout the various products ill develop.
Film Brief
As said from IMDB's website: 'A young married couple's lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when
an acquaintance from the husband's past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after
more than 20 years.'
From my own judgement (without watching the film): After moving into a house in a whole new
neighbour hood, a married couples' lives are soon threatened by an old friend of the husband who acts
extremely mysteriously each and every day after finding these individuals visiting them and giving gifts.
After a while of anticipation, asking the man to stop visiting leads to a backlash of threatening and
dangerous experiences when gifts and visits from the person remain constant but much more deadly.
Not knowing what happens after some of the serious encounters shown in the trailer, which I can only
presume to be attempted killings, amongst finding out some backstory to the person they had almost
refused in a way, we are left with a mysterious case for ourselves to find out 'what happens next'.

Characters
As a young married couple who are expectant of a baby soon enough, they hold extremely
ordinary characteristics in the way they're portrayed, both physically, given the styles of clothing and
activities they're engaged around (shopping and exercising etc), and psychologically, having constantly been
represented as loving, caring, thoughtful neighbours and most importantly friends with the narrative that’s
present; this makes it very emotionally drawing and even more so engaging given its often more relatable in
the instincts that ourselves (the audience) begin to reflect these ideals to people we know, and because its
reflective of society and the people we know, in addition to the threatening and dangerous expectations in
thriller films as shown in the trailer, it makes it equally as threatening personally as you start to resemble
these situations to yourself, resultantly making it more involving and directed.
Regarding the main focus of this trailer, Gordo, the supposed antagonist, remarks ordinary
characteristics initially when introduced to the film, this is up until ordinary becomes more weirder due to a
distinct change in his actions when compared to the 'ordinary' people, and in most cases the audiences
watching; with his actions drastically changing against the 'ordinary' in people, this makes it remarkably
threatening and worrying in anticipation of the next peculiar thing that'll change in his perception.
Camera Movement/Shots
Using a lot of still panning shots, this is an effective way in which the different scenes and current situations in
the films are established, given its main use in the trailer is to demonstrate the emotions and different
intentions from the main characters in recognition of Gordo (the antagonist) or vise-versa; not only this but
majority of the footage extends from medium – extreme long shots as it inaugurates the location more,
especially considering that by the seems of things there are some hidden inferences in the background to
support the thriller, almost waiting in anticipation, unpredictability that Gordo could re-appear at any given
time, supportive of the shots use and intentions accustomed to bring out more emotion in the audience and
be more reflective of the thriller genre and some of the common feelings inclined.
Something I like to see in the trailer that remains effective and stereotypical of thriller films across the
industry, comes in the form of handheld camera movements during scenes where dangerous situations, or
the general threat of life is exposed to the supposed protagonist; with the camera shaking in approval of the

tense scenarios, this both makes it much more personally involving and directing the yourself the
audience, almost reflective of your own pov to the circumstances occurring which resultantly make it very
engaging, captivating, and more fearful of yourself and what's around you in the real world.
Color Schemes
Consistent of mainly white and warmer colors like yellow, the house is reflective of the
modern/refurbished style it's portrayed in, and even though the connotations around this remain positive
majority of the time given its welcoming and clearly been used as symbolism of the 'happy' married couple
that its adjacent to, it's also reminiscent of being 'cold' and 'unfriendly' through the prominent color of
white, which is coincidently representative of the narrative holding a strong understanding of old
friendships turning south; now the warmer colors that are much more obvious in some of the scenes, like
with at night for example, although how 'happy', 'optimistic', and 'positive' their intentions are in
purposefully representing the married couple once again, hold out right 'deceptive' and 'jealous' remarks
similar to what's present in the antagonist Gordo, foreshadowing what's expectant to come in the film from
an early stage as he soon becomes a threat to themselves in the ambiguous tones he gives off throughout
the trailer – once again remaining a significant technique across thriller films, creating what's categorized as
normal and associated with being safe, to something much more vivid and threatening in the slight
altercations on the connotations set. It's also understanding that the 'cold' blue color schemes had also
been established thoroughly in some of the more dominant, suspenseful scenes which subsequently drives
forward the intentions to develop a strand of fear in the audience watching from the director's point of
view, making it even more so engaging, impacting, and understanding of the genre being emphasized here
as rousing suspicion and mystery in the trailer form concerning and thrilling atmospheres.
Effects
Not many effects had been established in the trailer, other than the odd crossfade transitions to create
an emotive connection between the audience and the unaware couple (protagonists) to remain objective
of their love and passion for one another, amongst other things like a flashing footage implementation

and quick cutting to emphasize and draw out any thrilling emotions that have been built up in the way
the trailer had been structured, in anticipation of something to happen, but the main source of editing
comes from the audio tracks and added sound effects; residing to a lot of character dialogue to tell the
story, bass thumps and beats, the occasional silence, and un-natural tones/tension rises, this only
advocates a build up to something important in the film and genre being represented, working
extremely well in generating threatening atmospheres to fulfill the audiences expectations and more,
making it very unsettling, desirable, and intriguing to find out more as its clearly persuasive.

EXISTING PRODUCT
2: RUN (TRAILER)

Why have I chosen
I feel like I common inception that's made against thriller genre films is the often portrayal that it has to be
visually terrifying in the characters and different environments, and this film specifically stood out to me
given it completely challenges these expectations by representing ordinary atmospheres in the way the
narrative had been evoked (suburban household setting), because of this it remains still as effective in the
audience given its mostly relatable, but more importantly its achievable given the circumstances around the
national pandemic and not being able to mix in different environments as its primarily home focused
filming. In addition to this, I think it's very visually engaging through the different uses of title and video
effects, in rhythm to some of the implemented audio tracks or diegetic sounds, and effective why in
compelling transitions between clips in one strand of video, something I would like to understand more and
learning how to develop in my own project when acknowledging its very unique style and approach.
Film Brief
As said from IMDB's website: 'A homeschooled teenager begins to suspect her mother is keeping a dark
secret from her.' From my own judgement (without watching the film): A teenage girl who's bound to her
wheelchair given a terminal condition at birth grows up dependent on her mother; maturing to be more
independent, she soon realizes some weird occurrences in her mother, looking into it further to uncover a
hidden dark history between themselves and what really happened regarding her disability and supposed
mother who she's only ever lived to know of.
Characters
Having watched the whole trailer, it's clear to understand that Chloe Sherman is established as the hero
from an early stage, both through the narrative that clearer interprets herself wanting to make some
changes in her life to support her mother, and the color schemes she's often reflected across in the dress
codes demonstrated throughout the trailer, consistent of mainly neutral colors with hints of yellow across
all; other than the narrative which remains obvious having watched the whole trailer, the choice of colors
embedded through her dress codes infer characteristics like 'individualism' and 'innocence' (neutral/white),

to support the ideals of clarifying the hero in the audience, whilst 'optimism' and 'enlightenment'
(yellow) strongly exhibit her intentions to become more independent as she states in the storyline that’s
present from the beginning – almost used as a way of foreshadow what's soon to come, herself running
away from constant attention to survive (becoming independent). Even during the first 25 seconds of the
trailer when we're introduced to the characters for the first time, we can gather the necessary information
to interpret who's going to be the main hero, having already knowing the title of the film being 'run'; almost
as a directed command to someone, the title 'run' demonstrates the need to escape something quickly,
and having noticed the wheel chair from an early stage already inclines that she is probably going to be
the 'damsel in distress' because of how contrasting these ideas are.
Looking more into Diane Sherman (the supposed antagonist), we can clearly gather that she's an
intriguing character from the start as we start to see and hear weird things from the beginning, like with
specific sound effects for her appearance or the way she appears out of now where, but its most curious
given the color schemes she's often associated with; reflective of the way she characterizes herself, red is
the main color of degree here as she is a red head (ginger), this accomplices the feelings of 'love' and
'passion' for her daughter which is exemplified throughout the beginning, but moving ahead in the trailer, a
swift change in her temperament and the way she acts in the film changes to something much more sinister,
threatening and psychotic, changing these dynamics in the hidden connotations of 'danger', acting as a way
of foreshadowing once again for the unpredictability in thriller films. Something I would really like to target
in both characters is the way in which both convey the thought around 'remembrance' in the colors red
(Diana) and yellow (Chloe), this is coincidental or purposeful as a reference to Diana's past when recognizing
the miscarriage of a newborn in the opening scene to the trailer, which is presumed as a way of stating
Chloe's birth, when in reality is a greater understanding to the audience as to why Diana Sherman stole
Chloe as we progress in the trailer and narrative across the film.
Camera Movement/Shots
Using a lot of panning shots, most of the time they evict the different scenarios aligned with the narrative,
whether establishing something in the background or the mood being set, they add a very suspenseful
effect

to the audience because of how slow they transitions across a piece of footage, intensifying the film
and what's happening because this acts as a way of not letting you go from the dangerous situations that
are present in thriller films like this where you'd typically want to get away as quickly as possible; because
this acts as a way of keeping you hooked in, it also makes it very personally attentive because you're in the
steps of the individual during the film who also can't get away, something that can be considered across the
title 'run' which holds very contrasting ideals to the slower paced shots demonstrated here as well.
Something to consider is the lack of handheld recording taking place in the trailer, challenging the
typical uses in thriller films and instead exhibiting an almost opposite portrayal; there is little use of this at
points during the trailer, for instance when Chloe is in the wheelchair racing across the street for help, but
there isn't much to go off of and this could be down to the fact that similarly with the panning shots, its
evokes the fact that you can't get away quickly from the situation where handheld, shaky footage resembles
running away from something in an urge to escape. On the other hand, because the film is relying heavily on
placing you in the position of Chloe, the hero of the film who finds out dark secretes in relation to her
'mother', the much steadier capture of shots could be there to reflect her point-of-view on the different
situations, rolling around in a wheelchair and having a much steadier view on things.
Color Schemes
Disregarding the color schemes amongst the characters as I had previously mentioned already, the
trailer goes through 3 stages of different color schemes in the different environments that are shown, these
start off with warmer tones as it gradually goes into more neutral whites and cold blues, this already seems
to advocate strongly the change in moods being set throughout the trailer. From what seemed to be
quite content, 'happy', 'caring', 'loving', and 'desirable', the mix of yellow and red tones formed a warmer
color scheme through the 'positivity' that was present between the mother and daughter initially, but
progressing through the trailer we see the thriller, psychotic side of things as we establish the more 'neutral',
sinister, 'cold', 'unfriendly' side of things in some of the much more prominent white, grey, and cold blue
styles; reflective of the transition between the narrative, from what was 'happy' to something much
more threatening, this is particularly effective in the audience as it clarifies the intended emotions set for

these scenes, emphasizing its importance, making us think more about it, and therefore judging the
circumstances as we are now set in the position of Chloe to fulfill its full potential at making it as impacting
as possible.
Effects
Throughout the whole of the trailer, we see a numerous number of effects, from flashing transitions
between footage of similar shot perspectives, to relaying on sound implementations and sfx to enhance
the importance of the title 'run', things like cropping the video size and title masking effects are used as
a way of adding suspense and establish its thrilling interpretations in the audience. One feature that really
stood out to me comes in the form of 3D integrated title screens amongst some of the shots that are
present in the trailer, for instance when 'Lionsgate' or 'searching' is stated with some of the scene masked
in front of the text; because this effect demonstrates a unique style and integrated professionalism for its
technical drive to produce, it strongly advocates both the high quality expectations in a film to this level,
whilst sustaining a good amount of engagement and attention from its different audiences because of how
admired it often is.
As with regards to the audio, this embarks on only implemented sound effects to drive the narrative and
different atmospheres being created, disregarding the popular demand for music tracks which has worked
surprisingly well for this specific trailer with the common use of creaking, breathing, piano keys, violin
screeches, and dialogue, this which has worked in creating these threatening ambiences to characters like
Diane where a certain impression is given off in the sound that’s present – likewise in the first hints at her
psychotic nature.

Why chose this
Since release, this conjuring poster has always struck my attention for its simplistic but captivating design across
the color schemes, subtle features, location portrayed, and title font. From all the features like the font
remaining reflective of the dead branches, to the subtle use of a noose and shadow that’s displayed beneath it,
they give off a very threatening tones in the atmosphere because of how little is established, making it
incredibly mysterious, intriguing, and alarming to the audience.
Types of Content
I would go as far to say that there's is near to no content being offered other than the obvious, like in the main
film title 'the conjuring' that’s essential in all promotion, likewise also in extra information beneath to address
more of a direct interest, and most finally the single image representative of the film and what to expect; even
though this strongly challenges the general requirements in film posters to make the audience take action after
having established an interest/desire to watch the film, because its most obviously clear to the audience that
this is a film, it works surprising well in the simplicity that’s present because it enacts some differentiation to
other products, whilst arousing some additional emotional draw given it's not your typical expectation of a film
poster, and in fact makes the viewers take action more immediately to find out further information online when
recognizing that non is displayed.
Conventions - (color schemes, photography, writing style, text/picture ratio, font choices, mode of address)
Consistent of many neutral and warmer color schemes, this opposes a very cold and almost threatening style at
how simplistic the poster is, only ever portraying a mysterious, what seems abandoned, dilapidated old home in
the middle of nowhere in addition to bear trees and a misty, cold atmosphere being created; the image itself is
already quite frightening, but the addition of a noose fulfills the thrilling expectations you would expect in a film
like this, and likewise the subtle hint of a shadow hanging beneath this establishes much sinister connotations
as we can immediately infer suicidal intentions are being mentioned given the feet are floating off the ground.
Almost reflective of the tree's branches, the font choice remains suiting to the environment being created,
having sustained a serif style, full black similarly with the tree's portrayal, and all joined up to create one big
simultaneous feature that because of its

representation, is equally as effective at demonstrating these anxious emotions given its symbolic of the
tree taking life away from someone obscure (the shadow).
Looking more at the shadow on the ground, the initial intentions are upsetting given someone has
taken their life to the noose that is clearly stated, but understanding that the person is not established in the
shot visually making it incredibly intriguing from the audience's perspective, holding a desire to find out
more as to why they're not physically denoted on the poster, and resultantly watching the film as this works
very well as a persuasive method to engage their viewers.
Acknowledging the connotations set from the predominant black, white, and general dull color
schemes, 'evil', 'depth' and 'depression' are key factors to consider in the establishment= of the noose and
ghost like shadow figure on the ground, having all been closely related in some way to the topic of
paranormal activity and death; this is all sustained whilst other inferences like 'anonymity', 'mystery',
'remorse', and 'deceit' are demonstrated in the strong use of blacks and neutral yellows/whites to evoke
curiosity, involvement, and captivation in the perseverance of the audience when having noticed the house,
general misty weather, and excessive use of a remote location (in the woods almost) to bring a lot of desire
and empathy to the films portrayal here.
Codes (Written, symbolic) -
Its most profound that the title 'the conjuring' is stated across the top half of the poster, following the
general characteristics of film posters as the audience tends to read a print based products from top to
bottom, but the conventions in the title 'the conjuring' establishes a sense of mystery and confusion when
regularly referring to ' the performance of tricks' or in this case when acknowledging the thriller style of film
the designers intended on getting across, a cause (spirit or ghost) to appear by means of a magical ritual';
now looking back at the poster denotations, the obscure floating shadow works incredibly well with the title,
establishing the themes to expect in the film as a method of foreshadowing that gets the audience thinking
and determining what may happen in the film itself because the poster really doesn’t give too much away
for its simplistic design.
Now an interesting inclusion to the poster comes in the form of added information to support the main title,
'based on the true case files of the warrens', this is present just beneath the main title and therefore I can

judge that the film is closely related to whatever is mentioned here, primarily because this
isn't a typical thing you would see in film posters across the industry, making it very unique,
but because its quite obviously stated suggests it's important to consider, possibly to draw
out more of an emotion because it is referenced to something that happened in the real
world which resultantly makes it more dramatic, engaging, and relatable to their audience;
because this looks almost identical to the title's use of font, remaining a serif traditional style,
we can only imply that it infers similar traits to 'spirits' and 'ghosts' in the way that the film is
based off, once again supporting the intended ideals about getting a clearer understanding
out of something so simplistic to strike the audience more and get them involved and
thinking.

What common features do the researched products have?
Trailers – With a strong devotion to music and sound effect implimentations, these are very commonly
used not only in the products that I had researched, but indefinately for all thriller film trailerrs to ever
exist because of tehir well rounded attributes and benefits to the genre; creating often threatening and
intimidating atmospheres in the auidences, this usually reflective tones of the dangerous situations given
off inflicts a lot of emotion and impact in the audience, drawing out their feelings for the supposed
protagonist of the film, whilst giving of interpretations for some of the characters or locations without
visually demonstrating it – like with hidden connotations to refer a negative portrayel, added music or
sounds can calrify a greater undersatanding. Similarly, with the use of music and sound effects, some
shots are much more re-occuring than others to both elaborate the scene or situation (very long wide
shots), or point-of-view and close/extreme close up shots that resemble the main characters position in
the film trhough expressions and perspectives; because of how often they're reflective of the situation
and places the audience in the position of the protagonist, they emphasize an emotion and direct adress
to the viewers in the supporting atmosphere to make it evenmore engaging, interactive, and reusltantly
involving of the auidence as they can start to judge 'what happens next'. Regarding the editing and effects
that may have been implemented into a product, this is mostly limited to a low standard, only ever
demonstrating transitions and title screens in most cases given this can distract the audience from the
realism that’s present to make it engaging and emotionally elaborate in the first place.

What common features do the researched products have?
Posters – Looking a thriller orientated film poster across the industry, it's obvious that a dedication to
using darker color schemes, resolving with mostly blacks and greys, are used to emphasize a
threatening atmosphere, typically as this restricts the audience's vision because not as much is seen.
Aside from the fact that blacks are used a lot of the time, white and similar colors with high exposure is
also used in such poster; contradicting the typical intentions you see with white and black (good/evil),
this also follows through with some of the threatening and almost chilling intentions that are being set,
bringing in clinical and disturbingly clean/unusual connotations for more psychological and mental
abbreviations. Something to also note that’s used to an extensive amount, similar to the use of darker
colors, the main characters present of each of these posters are likewise almost hidden with only little
features or facial qualities being show; this is reflective of the use of blacks, as it almost restricts the
vision of the audience, but a lot of the time only silhouettes or non-verbal codes (facial reactions) are
seen to emphasize a certain situation or mood for the film. Regarding some of the typical qualities you
see in film posters, almost always do you see a 'creepy' caption/slogan with a clear observation of an
actor that’s played in the film; and in addition to this, a serif title font is used frequently between
posters as a way of representing fear or danger with the sharp and pointy edges seen, whilst also
reflecting traditional styles that are seen much more frightening these days with knives and physical
action juxtaposed against guns in modern days for the damage they can inflict.

What aspects of the research will influence my own work?
Trailers – Seeing what works well and effectively in the industry for film trailers, one of my keys areas of focus
will be with the implementation of sound effects and music to the moving images of the trailer; although how
important it is to have an aesthetically pleasing reel of images being show in the first place, an audiences
hearing is another key aspect to consider being 1 of your 2 senses being used when watching film trailers,
therefore a lot of booms, silences, contradictory sounds, creaking, and un-nerving tensions should be made
with this addition, similar to with the use of ambiences and the different environments we see. Considering
the visual side of things, as this aspect to a film does hold a clear significance for the effect and desire of an
audience, I would like to follow through with the more simplistic style in which only little visual effects are
used; not only would this speed up the editing process for myself, but I think keeping it simplistic, like with
some of the trailers I reviewed, would make it more eerie and dramatic on an audience because the intention
of my trailers isn't to be looked at, but to get a good thrilling reaction out of from my audience being a
'thriller' film – also because in most cases visual effects are too distracting from the narrative that may make
it harder to follow.

What aspects of the research will influence my own work?
Posters – Shown throughout 'the conjuring' film poster in particular that I had researched, I would love to
target and address a minimalistic style in the sense that not much visually had been implemented into the
main and only image present here; not only does the almost empty and quite solace atmosphere make it
intriguingly threatening and eerie, but this is also used in a way that it makes you as the audience focus
more on the finer details as you want to grasp the wider image and general understanding subsequently.
With similar ideals and intentions regarding a concealed and hidden enemy in a sense, adding little
changes to the design (I.e. tweaking the arrangements of things like the inclusion of a shadow on the
ground in 'the conjuring' poster) would also resemble my storyline and therefore the genre and emotions
around whatever the antagonist is for a larger impact.
In addition to this, I had also distinguished a somewhat darker color scheme across most, if not all thriller
orientated films; whether it be consistent of blacks, greys, or cremes, browns and greens as shown in the
poster I covered, this is effective at directing the line of eyesight to certain features on the poster, because
typically lighter features stand out more to an audience and draw their attention. I would love to use this
complimenting some of the extra things I will add to my poster, defining shapes, outlines and an
awareness of the situation, but this process my also be affective at allocating a title and its placement.

Having now outlined the majority of my concept for the project, its more than ever important to understand
and clarify a more specific audience that ill target my film towards; using this questionnaire/survey to
breakdown the different interests, desires, and audiences that a thriller genre-based film will mostly involve
and attract, recognizing how important the audience is to a film makes or breaks whether it'll be successful or
not, so understanding their preferred needs or fascinations is a strong intention of mine to get across in the
end product.
In addition to this, I would really like to demonstrate a range of varied opinions from people of different
backgrounds, so distributing the survey is equally as important because it's not entirely down to how
effectively its structured and put together, but mainly down to what audiences from whatever background
can access the questionnaire in order to get responses in the first place: so publishing links across many
different websites that target specific age groups (like reddit and Facebook), whilst arranging some of the
questions enough that I can elaborate what audiences of ages and backgrounds are answering the survey, so I
can see both how effectively it had been distributed to acquiring a diverse range of people, and what's going
to be my main audience of interest to my film so that I can begin to demonstrate some of their intended
preferences.
When taking surveys or questionnaires as such, it’s a common trait that people often don’t make out clear
judgements and be honest in correlation to their actual opinions in whatever topic they're referencing, so
establishing a sense of trust between myself (the creator) and the people taking my survey (the different
audiences) will hopefully counter these problems amidst gathering trustworthy sources of information; to
inaugurate this sense of trust, I intend on providing the initial opening questions with relatable traits that are
reflected in day-to-day talk between one another, such as with more personal questions like ' what's your
favorite film/s?' and 'what interests you in moving image productions like tv, film, etc?', because it entails
their own opinion on something from which forms more of a connection, trust, and belief with their answers.
Questionnaire – Intentions

Q1 - Question: What's your gender?
Answers (listed): Male; Female; other; prefer not to say.
Q2 - Question: How old are you?
Answers (listed): Less than 15; 16 – 19; 20 – 25; 26 – 29; 30 – 50; 50+
Q3 - Question: How often do you watch films?
Answers (listed): Never; one per year; one per month; one per week; 2 – 5 per week; 6 -10 per week; 10+
per week.
Q4 – Question: What's your favorite genre of film?
Answers (listed): Action; drama; comedy; fantasy; horror; mystery; romance; thriller; other (please specify)
Q5 - Question: What's important for you in a film?
Answers (listed): Narrative; backstory; action; psychological influence; personal involvement; editing;
effects; other (please specify).
Q6 - Question: Do you like thriller films?
Answers (listed): Very much, I like them, I don't like them, I really don’t like them, don’t know, other (please
specify)
Q7 - Question: What would you expect in a thriller film for you to like it?
Answer (written): Please specify
Q8 - Question: Is there any clichés that you don’t like about thriller films that should be considered more?
Questionnaire – Each Question

Q9 - Question: How often do you watch film trailers?
Answers (listed): Never; one per year; one per month; one per week; 2 – 5 per week; 6 -10 per week; 10+
per week.
Q10 - Question: Do you watch the film trailers before watching the film itself?
Answers (listed): Yes, sometimes, not often, no, don’t know, other (please specify)
Q11 - Question: Do film trailers persuade you to watch a film?
Q12 – Question: What strikes you the most in film trailers?
Q13 – Question: Where's the first place you hear about films (trailer release, posters, friends/family, radio, etc)?
Q14 – Question: Do you ever consider film posters to be effective at getting you to watch a film or look into it
more?
Q15 – Question: What strikes you in film posters?
Questionnaire – Each Question

Below is a short 1-minute time lapse of me creating the survey that has been condensed from around 35
minutes to make it more suitable for viewing, here you'll see the process in which I go by each question
making it and then checking it after finishing up until distribution. Below is the link and embedded clip:
Questionnaire – Time-lapse Creating
https://youtu.be/Rg-KCc7FAEU

After having started to create the survey by establishing each question totaling up to 15, I had soon come to realize
that in my free version pass on the 'survey monkey' website, which is use to distribute and form my questionnaires, it
came apparent to me that I can only create these documents up to 10 question without having to purchase an
upgraded version, so adjustments had to be made to counter this problematic situation, resolving this by removing
some of the less necessary questions to make space. These concluded my final 10 questions below:
Q1 - Question: What's your gender?
Answers (listed): Male; Female; other; prefer not to say.
Q2 - Question: How old are you?
Answers (listed): Less than 15; 16 – 19; 20 – 25; 26 – 29; 30 – 50; 50+
Q3 - Question: How often do you watch films?
Answers (listed): Every day; A few times a week; About once a week; A few times a month; Once a month; Less than
once a month; Once a year; Less than once a year
Q4 - Question: What's important for you in a film (Narrative, Action, Editing, etc)?
Answers (written): please specify
Q5 - Question: What would you expect in a thriller film for you to like it?
Q6 - Question: Is there any clichés that you don’t like about thriller films that should be considered more?
Q7 – Question: Where's the first place you hear about films (Trailer release, posters, tv commercials, radio, etc)?
Q8 – Question: What strikes you the most in film trailers?
Q9 – Question: Do you ever consider film posters to be effective at getting you to watch a film or look into it more?
Q10 – Question: What strikes you in film posters?
Questionnaire – Each Question Updated

Ensuring that my survey reaches out to a varied range and mix of people, I had demonstrated this by
sending it through email, direct-messages to family and friends, a reddit page, and social media; spreading
my survey around a diverse field of options means both I can gather the desired assortment of different
audiences, given it would be available on sites more suited to certain characteristics or communities as
opposed to others, whilst of course increasing the likelihood of being able to accumulate a larger
abundance of response so that my research and observation are more detailed and accurate because I'm
able to expand the possibility of it getting more recognized by uploading it to different sites.
Something that quickly came apparent to myself during distribution was when recognizing how different
audiences are established amongst different sites, for example the older communities tend to use
'WhatsApp', whilst middle aged people often use sites like 'Facebook', and finally the younger generation
use popular social media apps and websites like 'Reddit' or gaming software's including Xbox, PlayStation
and discord as primary ways of communicating between their own audience groups. Because of this, I
could start to understand that it was these browsers and almost extensions of life that I should target to
address each of these audiences and evidently converge a more diverse assortment of opinions for a
fairer, more elaborate research documentation.
Questionnaire – Distribution
'Reddit' post
'Microsoft Teams' post

QUESTIONNAIRE –
QUESTION ANALYSIS

Brief statement on the question -
The main purpose of this question and question 2 is to establish more of an audience of who are taking my surveys,
possibly showing repetitive natures in the answers they respond with, and identifying trends which can help purpose
and characterize my project, so it suits to their needs/expectations if they're my desired target audience.
Question Analysis -
Looking at question 1 of my survey, 'Whats your gender?', this singles out the people taking my survey between
either 'male' or 'female' given these are the main gender roles, with the exception of 'other' which is also stated
alongside 'prefer not to say' if there are some personal identification issues. With a total of 40 people answering this
question, we come to a 27.50% and 72.50% difference stating 11 of the responses to be 'male', whilst the other 29
are stated to be 'female' with 0%, and therefore 0 responses, for both 'other' and 'prefer not to say' for the following
question. Because of how female dominant my audience is for the survey, this could be down to the fact that women
are possibly more intregued in the film indsutry having seen and responded to my survey much more than the
opposing gender, or it could be reflective of the auidences present where I had distributed the questionnair; this
seems highly likely the right judgement given I had received a total of 47 responses from the FaceBook application
and 5 between posting it on my classroom page and on reddit, but evenso a lot of women had taken my survey
which suggests even a slight interest towards films.
It's also important to recognise why women are taking my survey more than men when its typically men that watch
and enjoy films a lot more eventhough my survey doesn’t reflect this, and i'd like to bring this down to both the
platforms I had distributed my survey and some of the initial attitudes between men and women. First off, because
there are only 7 or 8 males in my class when it's expected to only get a few of them to repsond, and equally so reddit
is such a popular site that it's difficult to get recognised and therefore answers from people, this doesn’t fulfill the
amount of people I had expected to take my survey in what is male predominant sites, and understandibly, males in
society only stereotypically seek to do things if they enjoy whatevers being mentioned and if it benefits their own
development and self-esteem in the future; because of this, I do believe there is a slight control over whether or not
they actually like films, but it's mostly down to the fact that they can't be bothered to put in the effort for somebody
else when they'll get nothing out of it.
Audience Research – Q1 Analysis

These charts here clarify some of my inferances as opposed to my judgements on each of the genders and my survey
gaining more 'female' responses more than 'male'.
(C1) - Showing what is the dates I had received my survey responses according to each gender, it's clear the
FaceBook application is mainly female dependant having received 28 against 7 male on the 02/02/21, 3 male and 1
female for my classroom post for the 22/01/21, and finally 1 male for the reddit paltform on the 26/01/21 - all which
was expected in my overview for the previous slide.
(C2) - As a clearer representation of the genders taking my survey, we
see the significance of the differentiation between the two as the
female chart towers over the opposing gender in recognition that
they control 72.50% of the bar height in comparison to the smaller
27.50% the men have.
(C3) - This is only used as another way of advocating the difference
between the two genders, reflective of how big a difference there is,
and where the anomaly lies in my result for this question.
C1
C2
C3 C3

The main purpose of this question and question 1 is to establish more of an audience of who are taking my surveys,
possibly showing repetitive natures in the answers they respond with, and identifying trends which can help purpose and
characterize my project, so it suits to their needs/expectations if they're my desired target audience.
Question Analysis -
Looking at question 2 of my survey, 'How old are you?', this once again singles out the people taking my survey so that I
can begin to referance simularities and trends in some of the further ahead questions we see, and so that I can start to
judge the different auidence groups, identifying which best suits my project and the intentions being set. With a total of
40 answers, we can see a total of half of the responses were in the brackets of '30 – 49' (50% or 20 people), whilst there
was 6 between the ages of '16 – 19' (15%), 4 amidst the ages of '20 – 25' (10%), and 10 in the '50+' cateogry (25%) which
leaves 0 for both 'less than 15' and '26 – 29'. It's true that theres a differentiation in the ages of people that have taken
my survey from as young as 16 to over 50's, but with 50% of everyone taking my survey between the ages of 30 – 49, this
is such a high number that I can't not consider the fact that they're interested or have a passion for watching films in
some way, but I do still think this is highly down to the ways in which I had distributed my questionnair; looking back at
how many survey responses I had acucmilated through the FaceBook platform, because both 20 and 35 are such high
numbers in comparison to everything else which has remained very low and to a minimum for the most part, I can only
suggest that most of these people fall into the middle age female category because of how simular these are when put
against each other. Of course I had already pre-determined that this would happen because FaceBook is heavily used
from people in this group when compared to things like Instagram or Snapchat which are mostly targetted for the
younger generation, but with such a big response I have to acknowledge that they enjoy films and are a big part to the
indsutry with such high numbers being shown, and therefore is something to consider more ahead of production and the
project as a whole; in addition to this, 25% of all the people here were also in fact aged '50+', and because of how closely
related this is to people in the age boundaries of '30 – 49', eventhough it remains a vage amount of people, I would
consider this to be 75% of my whole auidence here, making it more than ever important to consider their viewpoints
than expected aswell. The ages of 16 – 25 still remains observant to the porject, eventhough it only relates to about 25%
of the audience, but because this is mostly if not all male gender orientated, this reflects that younger audiences are
mostly men in comparison to older audiences which remain strongly female.

Asking what seems a much more directed question, this should hopefully counter not being totally honest with
themselves by thinking more personally, creating what should be a much more trusting connection between
them and myself to get trustworthy responses for the rest of the survey as it eliminates the issue of peer-
pressure in most cases; of course this is whilst gathering the necessary information around how many films
they're watching, so I can clarify and then target that age range to be most successful – through looking at trends
in the percentages etc across the questionnaire.
Question Analysis -
Looking at question 3 of my survey, 'How often do you watch films?', this is directly asking the individual whoe's
repsonding to the question 'what they do' rather than 'what they think' about something, and this should
hopefully cause some trends in the audience to target and separate the auidence groups so that I can then
identify and approach them more specifically as I could begin to use this percentage in some of the other
question reponses. Seeing the most popular answer being 'a few times a month' with a total of 32.50% and 13
people, the other answers come off of this response being the middle outwards getting lower as you perceed to
the next higher/lower option, with the exception of 'once a year' and 'less than once a year' which didn’t gain
any responses from the total of 40 alltogether. This really shows how accurate my answers are and the average
amount of times people watch films because of how consistent it is, getting lower and lower as you come off of
the median ('a few times a month'), and this is refelctive of the direct adress I had mentioned because we're
immediately getting the answers we expected as the people taking the survey are being more thoughtful for
themselves which should hopefully carry on throughout. I can't begin to de-piction any trends in the answers
against the gender and age questions I had asked because of how spread out the responses are, but this gives me
a really good insight to the film indsutry and how it's still being used on a daily basis for some people, having
gained 2 reponses for watching films 'every day', and not so much for others, having also gained 2 repsonses for
'less than once a month', showing why it's still so important in this industry to move forward and create film.

Again, this is for very similar purposes as it should hold that trusting relation given its another personally directed
opinionated question, but it's also important that I can start judging what audience prefers what genre in trends
across the survey, so that I can both identify their main interest, and then start to demonstrate this in my project
acknowledging whether it would work with the thriller genre I intend on reflecting heavily or not, resultant of my
FMP and the planning phase which follows which remains a good starting point to start to establish this
additional piece.
Question Analysis -
Looking at question 4 of my survey, 'What's important for you in a film (Narrative, Action, Editing, etc)?', this
approaches some of the more specific trends in peoples thoughts about a film and what bring their attention to
go watching it in the theater; in addition to this it's also very direct to the individual taking the survey having
asked what's important for 'you' rather than as a collective of people, this should put them in a good thought
process when thinking about films, especially given I support them with a few example to get an initial
judgement from them. From the collective group of answers on the next page, which was gathered randomly
from the cumulative of responses altogether, we see roughly 73% of the responses (22 of the total 30) mention a
'good storyline', 'plot' or 'narrative' is key to their involvement within a film; this could be down to the fact that in
the question I had mentioned 'narrative' as my first example and the people taking this survey had been rushed
for time, however with such a high number of responses mentioning such specific element in a film, it's clear
how important this aspect is to an audience or at least the people taking my questionnaire who have at least a
slight interest in films. It's also worth mentioning that although much smaller in comparison to the amount of
times 'narrative' was emphasized, 'action' and 'editing' was also mentioned a fair bit throughout question 4,
making me think that the inclusion of examples in the question had really influenced their decision aside from
the fact that other features to a film had also been slightly mentioned across the board (I.e. the genre,
characterization and acting quality). Despite this, the narrative was quoted so much that I have to consider it in
my planning and final outcome.

Brief statement on the question
Understanding some of the typical expectations set in thriller films in the industry from an audiences point-of-
view, I had addressed this question by asking what they, as the audience, would expect in a thriller film for them
to like it; keeping it very vague and not implying any responses with examples, like in previous questions, I had
setup this question in hopes that I would get a general idea from the responses I would receive, identifying
trends and links in the answers given its more personally directed and targeting.
Question Analysis
With yet another set of 40 answers to go through, despite the fact that the free version of 'SurveyMonkey' (the
website used to conduct the questionnaire) restricts the limit to this amount, question 5 of my survey, 'What
would you expect in a thriller film for you to like it?', shows a clear admiration to a 'good storyline' that is not
only packed with 'suspense', as this clearly implies a consideration to the thriller genre expected here, but also
includes 'plot twists' and 'action' a lot of the time. The idea that having a good storyline is mentioned in almost
every response received for this question, in addition to the previous question, shows how much importance lies
in this element; this was slightly expected because a good narrative builds the whole immersion, engagement,
and therefore emotion from an audience in a film, the things myself as the producer, director, and editor
constantly acknowledge through pre-production to post-production, but this also entails that although what you
see and hear is important to the final outcome, surprisingly these audiences consider a good narrative more
imperative to a film despite the fact that its not visual but phycological non-the-less.
Its to no surprise that some stereotypical features are however quoted, mainly the use of 'action' which is closely
related to a suspenseful atmosphere that's equally as mentioned here. Interestingly this follows through with the
theory behind expectations set in the industry, more specifically the thriller genre, as this suggests audiences in
current society like to adhere to not much change; this could be resultant of covid-19 and how this has changed
almost everything across the world, and so therefore resolving back to life before covid starting with
entertainment sources, like the film industry, can act as a way of getting back some normality.

With a lot of expectations set from an audience against the film industry, I wanted to distinguish what annoys
people rather than their interests, switching up my survey to get the opposite side of things from the people
responding; in hopes that I could begin to get more detailed responses as it’s a given opportunity to think
about and almost argue with the typical things seen in thriller films, I had asked whether there are any clichés
they don’t like about thriller films that should be considered.
Question Analysis -
With a total of 35 responses, 5 less than all of the other questions, question 6 of the questionnaire taken
place, 'Is there any cliches that you don’t like about thriller films that should be considered more?', remarks a
lot of 'no's and 'unsure' answers regarding the question; this could be down to the fact that it's been left
quite vague and a lot of people don’t understand what 'cliché' means, but I would like to think that this is
more down to the fact that people don’t see many issues in thriller films, therefore change isn't needed.
Although this displays clear thoughts that nothing much should be changed around the thriller genre, with
the 19 of 35 responses not giving any thoughts or opinion for this particular inquiry, I did still gather a lot of
different assumptions, from certain plot twists involving the main character, to women holding a helpless
role. The fact that a lot of people don’t want much change in films or the thriller genre in the case could be
once again referenced to covid happening and changing everything, using this a sense of getting back some
normality, but aside from this, almost all of the cliches mentioned resolve around women; this could be
because of a lot of women taking my survey, as partially mentioned earlier, but I would prefer to associate
this to the much wider image that the society we're living in is constantly changing, changing in the sense that
stereotypes surrounding men and women, different ethnic backgrounds, and racism in being repeatedly
challenged, entailing that a lot of everybody here could be categorized under both innovators and thinkers as
a part of the VAL's groups in society.

With the set intentions of finding out what products I should consider making for my end FMP project, asking
'where's the first place they hear about newly released films' should be a good starting point; with a few mentions in
the question to help them begin considering their options, I have thought of a few of the main ways films get across
to an audience and whether or not certain processes are more effective than others should be my main goal when
understanding trends or repetitive answers in the responses given.
Question Analysis -
With yet another total of 40 responses for this question, question 7 of my survey, 'Where's the first place you hear
about films', the question here was extremely successful with many responses stating 'TV commercials', 'trailer
release', 'family/friends', and 'social media' are the main ways when hearing about films. This is coincidental given
these are the 3 main ways films are distributed through the media, implying that such methods which have been
used for many years already still work up to their expectations across the world, but this can also differentiate
current society and more importantly how we as a large group of audience members interact with one another. The
fact that TV commercials and social media are the most common answers here indicates that these are effective
because they target use when we're most relaxed and therefore open to showing our most focus towards something
like a trailer because it grabs our attention. With 'TV commercials' and 'social media' remaining the most common
answers here throughout the question, its evident that in some way I should target these areas in my end outcomes,
either producing short TV commercial trailers/teasers, or making multiple social pages where I can distribute
my outcomes through popular apps like Facebook, for the older age groups in comparison to something like,
snapchat or Instagram.

Understanding film and how its distributed is one thing, but truly knowing what strikes an audience the most in a
film trailer is equally as important as I could then start to establish this more in my own; using this question as a
standing point to find out what's important in a trailer for somebody watching, identifying this and applying it to my
work should make my trailer more enjoyable and therefore engaging which is my main aims and aspirations in the
end outcome of things.
Question Analysis -
With a clear admiration to both 'music' and the 'editing' making up a trailer, the 40 responses I had gathered for
question 8, 'what strikes you the most in film trailers', shows most answers in the categories of either the inclusion of
good use of sound or 'music' and 'editing' making up the video. Of course there are some additional worthy answers
mentioning 'effects', 'storyline', and 'setting', but almost every response here refers to a good use of music in
particular; this implies that sound is a key factor within a film trailer, and therefore something definitely to consider
during production, but it's also worth mentioning that in some of my other research conducted, I had come to
conclude, with the support of this survey, that music can apply to every audience of every age category, so its
inclusion within any products is a key feature to consider – as seen through trends in my younger audiences, and an
interview from someone in the older community. Aside from this, good 'editing' was also mentioned a lot, and with
my good background experience and skill in this area, I believe I should be able to address these expectations to a
very good level of expertise, introducing many different techniques and trademark effects of my own to make it
unique and yet engaging.

With the set intentions on creating a film poster as a final outcome to the project, I wanted to understand whether
or not people believe film posters to be effective at distribution in the industry, and more importantly if it persuades
an audience (I.e. them) to watch a film, so what's not better than to ask if they have ever considered film posters to
be effective; keeping the question simple with the answers pre-written as 'yes', 'sometimes', 'no', and 'don’t know',
this should get their initial answer as it’s a quick question to respond to given not much thought is required.
Question Analysis -
With a full register of 40 responses, the results I had gotten for this question was much more intriguing than I had
initially expected, racking up the highest responses of 26 people, 65% of the individuals taking this survey,
considering posters to be 'sometimes' effective, whilst a shallow 27.5% of people, 11, would suggest posters are
effective in comparison to a minimal 3 people, 7.5%, who think posters aren’t adjacent to the 0 for the 'don’t know'
option available. I had come into this expecting posters to but much more effective as they tend to get a point across
and make an audience look into whatever film more, making them take further action if its eye-catching, but it
seems only 11 people would suggest this response as 26 of the 40 people would say they sometimes work; this could
be very likely down to the fact that you don’t tend to see film posters as much in the real world, therefore bringing
up a slight confusion to the question, especially I you hadn't seen one for a long time which may be very possible
living in these times around covid-19 and not leaving your home as much. Despite this, there was 11 responses
that were effective in comparison to the 3 that didn’t think they worked well, inclining that overall, they're a good
addition and feature to keep around on the film promotion side of things, whether it be to get a name out there or
persuade people to act and watch the film, it was more effective than un-effective implying that I should go ahead
with its creation as a final outcome.

Concluding the survey, I targeted film posters with the intentions of creating my own as a final outcome
to the project, and so asking 'what strikes you in a film poster' to the audiences taking my questionnaire,
this should help determine what's important to consider in hopes that my final poster outcome is eye-
catching, aesthetically appealing, and importantly following through with the expectations set in society
surrounding the film industry and posters more specifically in this question.
Question Analysis -
Resultant of 40 responses from question 10 in my survey, ‘What strikes you in film posters?’, the mention
of whose ‘starring in it’ or simply the ‘actors’ that are in the film is repeatedly specified above all other
things; this could be down to the fact that often people watch films because of who’s acting in it,
following through with the star theory, as it a reliable source of getting an initial judgment towards
something like this, but it’s also worth mentioning that the audience will be
constantly following this character, so understanding what role they play and the style that character
has gone for builds up the personal connection between an audience and character you would expect in a
film these days, and this is clarified in the responses seen.
However, other answers were somewhat also quoted, from having good ‘detail’ to the ‘images’ and
‘colors’, these would all entail there's an appreciate to the aesthetic, design, and general layout in a film
poster; this was expected given its these such features that would draw the attention of the eye of the
audience in the first place, acting as a way of building up an interest and curiosity, especially considering
its the first things you'll also pay attention to, so when it comes to my own products, it would be
beneficial to address these typical characteristics across certain features like my character or the title.

QUESTIONNAIRE – SURVEY
ANALYSIS

What did I find -
Across the array of questions making up my survey, I had noticed trends surrounding some of the expectations my
audience states, particularly around the inclusion of a good and strong narrative as this is near always mentioned,
whether it be directed to my film trailer, poster, or films as a whole, its always specified; this entails how important a
storyline is for an audience, despite the fact that this is nor visual or audio but more psychological,
because a good narrative builds the whole immersion, engagement, and therefore emotion from an audience
in a film, making it more inclusive and entertaining.
In addition to this, however directed more at print based products, a lot of the time a good sense of design,
creativity, and colors is also said to be important; I would like to think this is because there's
an appreciate towards how posters are structured and designed, and although this may be the case
for certain individuals, I truly believe this is down to the fact that these are the first features you would normally see
in a print product, whether it be a film poster or billboard.
Influence on project -
Despite the fact that good acting is also mentioned a lot of the time, I have to manage with what I have got in these
times surrounding covid-19, so although I am unable to get others in for possibly a better acting outcome or range
of opportunities, available to me my mother will play the main role for the constant availability that will play a
significantly helpful role in retaking shots if this is necessary.
Specified at times when concentrating a focus to print products in the industry, holding a strong set of 'color
schemes' and 'designs' in such products was particularly acknowledged across the board; although these ideas are
great, I had come into the project with the intentions of creating an aesthetically pleasing 'design' with supporting
vibrant 'colors schemes' from the beginning, so it with great value that I will try to produce something more unique
and eye catching with the colors to support these ideals.
Audience Research – Analysis

#1 - Would you say that the choice of music or added sound effects are an essential part to a thriller film trailer,
why? And what would you use in this instance? (Scratching, scraping, screaming, dragging, thuds, etc)
'I would say it is one of, if not the most essential part to a thriller film trailer as music can add tension to what would
otherwise essentially be a bland slideshow.'
#2 – What do you pay most attention to during a film trailer? (Editing, shots, the music, narrative, etc) And Why?
When watching a trailer I pay attention mainly to the shots shown as it is able to give me a general picture of the
movie and what I can expect from it and whether I'd want to go and see it or not'.
#3 – Where do you see film print promotion most of the time? (Side of buses, social media, on the streets,
newspaper/magazine, etc) And what strikes your attention the most?
'I mainly see trailers of social media sites like Twitter or YouTube, when looking at a poster the general theme catches
my eye first, things such as the color palette and overall atmosphere created.'
#4 – When watching a film trailer, do you prefer it to be broken up by reviews, release dates, cinematic title
screens, or to be one full video?
'I prefer it to be broken up because otherwise I feel like I'm watching too much of the movie and quite often full
video trailers seem to show off too much of the movie.'
#5 – What do you think could be improved/changed or implemented in thriller film trailers to make them better?
As of late, thriller movies seem to be low budget low quality and just churned out to make a profit, I think better
screenwriting should be employed to create a more well received movie.'
Interview 1 - Teenager

Question #1
Question #2
Question #3
Question #4
Question #5
Just as some proof of receiving the answers from a separate
individual and not forming them personally, here you can
judge me asking the questions (red) and my interviewee
(blue) answering in response. Disclosure, I had asked them
beforehand if I could share their results whilst keeping them
anonymous:

Observation
Understanding the younger teenage audience and their relation to the film industry, it's clear that in this
particular interview a direct appreciation to the narrative, atmospheres/emotions being created, and personal
involvement was more desirable in comparison to things like the expectations of characters, location, or
excessive use of editing; established in some of the questions when referencing that 'the general theme' and 'the
overall atmospheres created' are what strikes his main attention and enticing need to 'go and see it or not'. In
addition to this, there's also a strong consideration for the final end product and the 'quality' of it as a whole,
from the 'screenwriting' and music being an 'essential part to a thriller film trailer', this particular interview goes
into how it could and should be improved from the start to the end without even asking (until my final question),
as they regularly mention things like wanting it to be 'broken up because otherwise I feel like I'm watching too
much of the movie' and constantly referring to the general feelings of 'tension' and 'atmospheres' hinting at
what's important for a film to be successful.
What this says about my audience
Acknowledging their strong admiration to the emotions and personal involvement majority of the time, this only
evicts the need to be actively engaged in a film for them to like it, inferring that a lack of involvement through
emotion may result in less enjoyment in this audience, whilst sustaining thoughts around the fact that they live
up to some of the expectations made in thriller films most of the time, these residing to the 'thrill' factor in
anticipation, fear, curiosity, suspense, unpredictability, and apprehension to make it more personally directed
and addressable because its these influences that make it more the less appealing and captivating. Furthermore,
having recognized their gratitude to a well received, distributed, and well-rounded high quality film, this can only
establish that high expectations are set in the film industry against other products in comparison, elaborating
that they intend on perceiving a good quality movie as we recognize in a younger audience they've been brought
up in evolving technologies to improve the ways of living in day-to-day life, therefore the quality of a movie as
they're always implemented into films for the benefit of the doubt in improving them, and this has been
recognized in this group because of its impact on them all personally when growing up.

How will my product appeal to this set of peers
Being a bit of a perfectionist myself, in will only ever intend on distributing a film or poster as such if it's
the best it can possibly be given the amount of time and detail I've put into it, whilst amongst all other
things, I had researched into the thriller genre and films (as both a hobby and for the main project) to
understand the involvement of an audience, what intrigues them, and involving them in the situations to
create atmospheric intentions in the feelings they give off, all in hopes that I can address the different
audiences, including this one, to fulfill the expectations made in films these days as the bar is set pretty
high.

#1 - Would you say that the choice of music or added sound effects are an essential part to a thriller film
trailer, why? And what would you use in this instance? (Scratching, scraping, screaming, dragging, thuds, etc)
Yes because it sets the scene, it creates the drama, and gives impact. I would use either something dramatic or the
complete opposite to contrast.
The editing, so I like to see how there's different snippets to give me a sense of the film and draw me in.
#3 – Where do you see film print promotion most of the time? (Side of buses, social media, on the
streets, newspaper/magazine, etc) And what strikes your attention the most?
Bus shelters, billboards and public transport most of the time. The image itself, because it draws me in, which might
be to do with the actors, because it might be someone I like, or like in the atmosphere of the image
#4 – When watching a film trailer, do you prefer it to be broken up by reviews, release dates, cinematic
title screens, or to be one full video?
Yeah I quite like it to be broken up, because I don’t want one continuous section, I want bits to get a better idea of
what its about.
I like the suspense, because it’s a thriller I want tit to offer some question, like how the person is, or what's
happening, yeah I want it to question myself and draw me in.
Interview 2 – Adult

Observation
Looking into this individual's responses more in depth, it's clear that theres a strong acknowledgement to the
digital elements involved in creating both the film trailers and posters, supporting the distribution to its preferred
audiences, it's said that the use of music implimentation 'sets the scene' and 'creates drama', whilst other
aspects including 'the image itself' in posters and the editing is what 'gives impact' and 'contrast' to make it
evenmmore engaging as it 'draws me in'. Aside from more of an appreciation to the digital elements in thriller
film trailers and posters, there is an understanding to some of the emotions and atmospheres being created here
when remarking the 'atmosphere of the image', getting a 'better image of what it's about', and I how they 'like
the suspense' against both trailers and posters to once again draw them in and 'set the scene' as its also apparent
that narrative is equally as important, likewise to give 'a sense of the film' and 'what's happening'.
Otherthan the obvious factor that in this perticualr interview the indivdual interviewd shows a strong desire
towards both the emotions/atmospheres being created and narrative, whilst remiang pasioante about the digital
elements in film trailewrs and posters, this shows a very defined view on the general way in which a film is
refelcted and involving of the auidence to create a sense of feelings. This only implies that trhough their constant
speaking of narrative, emotional desire/atmospheres, and digital elements, the adult age range holds a desire to
how they're involved within a film, whether through use of music or editing, which had regularly been
referenced in their answers to show a strong admiration of its use, creating emotion and feelings in themselves is
important at getting them engaged and to fulfill their full enjoyment; this could be down to the fact that im sure
growing older you come across a large abundance of similar films so the way in which its advocated becomes
more of a priority over storyline, but I would also go as far to say that when you reach a certain age, like with
the person I had interviewed, day-to-day life becomes increasingly more busy with work related ethics and
family priorities, especially at times like these, so getting emotion across is important to consider at all times.

Having already researched about the thriller genre in more depth and some of the key considerations
when making my own, getting across some of the desirabel emotions, including anticipation, fear,
curiosity, and suspense, has always been a driven passion of mine to evoke amongst the set audiences;
and in addition to this, using some of my previosuly gained background history in video and visual photo
editing, these intentiosn will be strongly advocated in various skills, abilities, and technical processes to
adress the need of not only this auidence, but many others that are strongly relfected in digital
implimentations and the use of atmospheric emotion to drive their interest, desire, and anxious feelings
in the enjoyment of the film in going to create.

#1 - Would you say that the choice of music or added sound effects are an essential part to a thriller film
trailer, why? And what would you use in this instance? (Scratching, scraping, screaming, dragging, thuds, etc)
Yes, music and sound effects are very important in a film trailer. It sets the mood of the film. E.g. dramatic or soft and
subtle etc. Lighting should be used to the same purpose to set the scene.
The music is what excites you to the film and different clips to give you an outline of the story. It should give the
names of the supporting actors and actresses who take leading parts.
#3 – Where do you see film print promotion most of the time? (Side of buses, social media, on the
streets, newspaper/magazine, etc) And what strikes your attention the most?
Most of what I see promoting and advertising a film is on social media and tv.
#4 – When watching a film trailer, do you prefer it to be broken up by reviews, release dates, cinematic
title screens, or to be one full video?
A film trailer should give reviews, release dates, and film clips giving a taste of what the film is all about.
I think it is important to make the trailer not too long, concise and to the point. Give it some 3-dimensional aspects
to hit home the main dramatic scenes.
Interview 3 - Pensioner

Just as some proof of receiving the answers from a separate
individual and not forming them personally, here you can
judge me asking the questions (blue/green) and
my interviewee (grey) answering in response. Disclosure, I
had asked them beforehand if I could share their results
whilst keeping them anonymous:
Questions
Responses

Observation
With a clear acknowledgement of the music and sound effects in two of the 5 interview questions I had asked, its
understanding that an appreciation to the audio plays a significant role in this particular audience as it 'sets the
mood' and 'excites you', which also implies a consideration to personal involvement and moods similarly as it
reflects the way in which they respond to a film, because the feelings established having involved these aspects
are effective for hooking the initial attention and engagement throughout a film. Another key deliberation in this
persons reaction is how trailers should 'give you an outline of the story' and remain 'concise and to the point'
with their reaction to the narrative and way in which the storyline is driven in film trailers; all whilst the
secondary information aside from the film itself, having been addressed as 'reviews', establishing the 'supporting
actors and actresses' involved, and 'release dates' outstanding, are something this interviewee particularly refers
to and repeatedly mentions.
With such a strong consideration to the music and other audibly heard attributes to a film, this advocates the
need to be engaged through music aside from other things that make up a film, like in the video editing here
given they don’t ever reference visual elements that make up a film in their answers to the questions, even
though they had many a opportunities to do so, this could be down to the fact that commonly in people from
older ages their eyesight wears down so relaying on audio plays a significant role in day-to-day life, but this could
also be down to the fact that music is always evolving and improving in many sectors whilst video production
quality is slowing down having hit a brick wall in the visual elements of things, and this is being recognized in this
audience having lived through many adaptions in the film industry in their longer life. Away from audio
engagement and impact, the fact that this particular interviewee references and considers the actors, release
dates, and reviews more considerably against some of the other interviews, this establishes a sense of
appreciation for the film industry and lack of selfishness, which is most likely down to the fact that they're apart
of an older audience with a much greater deal of experience and acknowledgement to things like these through
the years.

I definitely think breaking up the trailer is a strong intention of mine, but including reviews, release dates and
possibly even the actors would be of good inclusion, not only because it illustrates this auidence group well, but
also demonstrates a lot of persuasive techniques with having others saying good things about the film (reviews),
whilst getting across a sense of action and direct adress given release dates and actors names give off a more
personal connectivity between the audience and product. And amongst all of this, something I had well-
established from an early satge in the project, the use of music and sound elements will be a strong focus and
intention of mine throughout the film trailer because of how effective it is at developing atmospheres.

Black/Grey
Connotations:
Power, Elegance, Formality, Death, Evil, Mystery, Fear, Anger, Depression, Unlucky, Sexuality, Anonymity, Depth,
Style, Remorse.
How could this be reflected in my product?
To help illustrate the thriller genre that I intend on demonstrating throughout the film amongst other things like
my trailers, posters, and advertisements, I would really like to fulfill these emotions that are strongly categorized
against the thriller genre, and so I believe using a lot of predominant darker color schemes, like with black and
greys, could come extremely beneficial when performing lighting arrangements to some shots, or even in some
of the print based products where I could establish blacks in the foreground or on characters to resemble a sense
of mystery and anxiousness. Understanding that the point of a thriller based film is to 'thrill' someone, reflecting
these emotions against this color scheme would support the mystery, evil, remorseful and quite frightening fear
factors I intend on conveying through my audience, exposing their feelings given the dark black color often
doesn't give off too much information to the audience but infers a lot about the atmosphere being created and
what to expect in the vibes given off, almost reflective of the situations to expect in most thriller films –
anticipation of the dangers to come as its usually not clear in the psychological profile of things.
What audiences would this appeal to?
Following demographics portrayals, this color scheme addresses people more amidst the ages of 16 – 25,
through both fashion trends and the horror genre that’s made more apparent for young adults, whilst sustaining
a much more male approach as the stereotypical values of anger and power are often referenced to this more
masculine state. Whilst this targets young adult males, the psychographics values adhere to people who may
enjoy metal or punk rock music, in addition to both goths, for their portrayal and commonly associated
stereotypes, and people who enjoy the mystery and or horror genres given they're frequently used in film to help
evoke the emotions they desire.

White
Connotations
Neutral, Hygienic, Cleanness, Refreshing, clarity, Sophistication, Purity, Simplicity, Innocence, Efficiency, Hope,
Individualism, Idealism, Optimism, Coldness, Barriers, Unfriendliness, Chillness, Emptiness, Indecision.
How could this be reflected in my product
Its apparent to me that in thriller films the reflection of slight hope is emphasized against the contrasting ideals
of imminent death, constant danger, and unpredictability throughout the film, something that could be
resembled in white color schemes present given some of the connotations it exemplifies, like with innocence in
the hero (as ordinary people are often placed into these reflections), optimism, and of course finally hope itself.
It's also reflective that thriller films give of the common inception of isolation against the ideals of less desirable
weather conditions because its naturally more engaging to an audience in the atmosphere they create, like with
rain or cloudy scenarios; attentive of the connotations surrounding coldness, unfriendliness and emptiness which
I would intend on conforming for these particular reasons, because through undesirable weather conditions
comes more threatening intentions that makes it naturally more unpredictable, frightening, and suspenseful to
follow through with the theory behind the thriller genre that I had previously researched.
What audiences would this appeal to
Because it often refers towards the ideals surrounding individualism, innocence, and being neutral, I would go to
consider it targets everybody slightly from the circumstances of the thriller genre, because often ordinary people
are placed into these usually dangerous situations under this color scheme to infer characteristics around purity
and innocence to make it more emotive and worryingly relatable.
Other than this, demographic wise the color white would effectively appeal towards people between the ages of
both 0 – 12 and 60+, for withholding general embodiments around innocence in these age boundaries; with the
female gender, this is also more targeted given clarity, sophistication, and individualism are more profound in this
gender, especially

White - Continued
when acknowledging the current time period in which women are seen to be much independent in
juxtapose to the past, and coincidently women are also used much more in thriller films for these
powerful positions which may hint at this movement further. Following up psychographically, the color
white is often reflected in the figure of god and other religious studies, addressing people with church
orientated interests in particular, in addition to pacifists in current society around the meanings of being
'neutral', holding 'optimism', and 'clarity' for people all fold towards reconciliation and a gathering of
people in unity – thus using this could be quite contradictory, especially in the eyes of the antagonist
which would challenge its purpose and form peculiar thoughts and intentions in the audience (this being
something that is similarly present in films like 'Happy Death Day' where the white baby mask is sued to
consider juxtaposed intentions as to why they're killing the main character and the reasons behind it
beginning to be considered for the better because of its connotations).

Blue
Connotations
Faith, Trust, Loyalty, Wisdom, Confidence, Intelligence, Truth, Heaven, Contentment, Peace, Tranquility,
Calm, Stability, Harmony, Unity, Security, Cleanliness, Order, Sky, Water, Cold, Technology.
Regarding the positive connotations around the color blue, I would mainly intend on establishing some
pieces of blue clothing or physical objects in the innocent individuals, whether the killer or the ones being
killed, this could be used either way to follow both the straight forward ideals in being 'trustworthy,
'intelligent', and or 'faithful', or completely contradict its common judgement about being 'calmer' or
'contented' in the role of the killer whose portrayed juxtaposing its initial expectation to be used, this
which may resultantly be much more successful in creating certain emotions and following through with
the unpredictability and sudden plot twists in thriller films.
Considering the more threatening inferences made from a blue color scheme, this is commonly addressed
against remaining 'cold' to demonstrate tense environments or experiences, especially when
acknowledging the fact that at some point if your exposed to cold weather, or the colder color schemes in
this instance, you will die from it, so it could almost reference an individual from an early stage
throughout the whole film to foreshadow their expectant death, or vise-versa them killing someone
'being' the cold itself as it can inflict frost bite as an example of use.
When realizing the demographics that this may apply to, its most doubtless that it would appeal to all
ages, as it doesn’t specify specific attributes that would be upon the occurrence of being younger or older,
whilst this does sustain a target for the female gender more significantly than male, as some
characteristics within the connotations, such as peace and unity, are much more recognized in this

Blue - Continued
category for genders, juxtaposing against the stereotypical values of males to be very independent, strong
and aggressive. Approaching the styles of pacifists, the psychographic values adhere to being 'peaceful'
and a 'unity' through reconciliation as these compliment these personnel's, and it's also coherent that it
would target people within the interests of innovators (as of the VALS groups), when conforming to and
being most receptive to new ideas and technologies when considering the connotations in relation to
nature, 'Sky' and 'Water' and freedom once inferred from these characteristics, and 'technology' itself
where they're ever evolving and moving with society – or like with nature specifically its changing for the
worse and needs to resolved.

Green
Connotations
Life, Renewal, Nature, Energy, Growth, Harmony, Freshness, Safety, Fertility, Environment, Money, Finances,
Banking, Ambition, Greed, Jealousy, Wall Street.
Following the typical nature of green color schemes, its often used to signify the 'environment', 'growth' and
'fertility' where nature is present in the foreground for most cases, but this seems all too happy for a thriller film,
so I intend on tweaking the aspects of 'life' that’s generally conveyed through green colors and vegetation,
possibly using it in my trailer to enhance why murders or these dangerous situations are being made in the first
place, starting off the trailer happily with a lot of green colors which eventually fade away soon enough to
upbring these tense, mysterious, but evil thoughts and atmospheres I desire in my work to foreshadow what's
coming – taking away the green to signify the taking away of life.
Considering demographic appeal, I'm said to believe that it forwards towards people in the age category's from
40+, especially given that green often relates to ideas around 'freshness', 'health', and 'all-natural' qualities which
link towards the interpretation of mind ideas in progress, development and serenity; however when regarding
gender ideals, I would more focus this color scheme to males when recognizing the values of 'money', 'finances',
'banking', and 'wall street' when understanding that males in current society still hold larger wages in comparison
to women even though this is still strongly challenged.
Moving ahead and into psychographic values in things, we see that this immediately target people within the
interests of the environment, more specifically in change to sustain its beauty in which environmentalists and
achievers are addressed; achievers in particular, they play a significant role in this color scheme when perceiving
the trends around 'money' for their usually successful lifestyles and admirations to change and new ideals.

Yellow
Connotations
Freshness, Happiness, Positivity, Clarity, Energy, Optimism, Enlightenment, Remembrance, Intellect, Honour, Loyalty, Joy,
Cowardice, Deceit, Caution, Sickness, Jealousy.
Following the set connotations around 'joy', 'happiness', and 'positivity', I could embrace these emotions through a
series of constructive scenes in and around their family/a positive past background to contradict the common
expectations across thriller films, something which I intend on drastically changing to clarify a shift in focus from the
happy scenarios to an almost 'remembrance' format, through an emphasis of dangerous, unpredictable experiences
to upbring completely opposite intentions in the audience, which should resultantly make it more personally
impacting and structural in the common stereotypes for thriller films – coming from the feeling of suspense and
anticipation to make it more fascinating and 'thrill' the audience in the unpredictability of the way its constructed.
Another key feature to this color scheme comes through the format of 'cowardice' and 'jealousy' which could be
established in the main individual, even though this seems uncoordinated given they should follow much more
dominant, controlling atmospheres, this could be used against the sense of mystery and almost as a processes of
foreshadowing and anticipation.
Now considering who it would most sufficiently appeal towards in the demographics, i would go as far to say its
equally designated across both male and female genders, in addition to younger audiences through its almost playful
style and interpretations, whereas for adults this is primarily down to usually preferring more complex colors, or
tones with unusual names, therefore yellow is typically one of the least favorites in their ideals.
Looking more at the psychographic side of things, it would most definitely conform to strivers in the social standings
of peoples efforts, for it is psychologically uplifting and optimistic attention in brightening the spirit of these who are
exposed to its glow, for it also holds a very warm, playful and happy manners; however, I do also think it can reflect
people who are often critical towards things, for it can motivate themselves to be deceitful and even mentally
unstable, especially in the darker shades of this color which are associated with depression and low self-worth.

Red
Connotations
Fire, Blood, Energy, War, Danger, Strength, Power, Determination, Passion, Desire, Love, The Human Body,
Remembrance, Courage, Anger.
Understanding that the most common procedures during thriller films comes around a lot of murder,
revenge, and dangerous experiences, the connotations around 'fire', 'blood', and 'danger' are very closely
related to some of these ideals that you would both expect to see in thriller films, whilst remaining some
of the intentions set in my own project as it shows a strong correlation and stereotypical advertence for
similar existing products in this genre, so whether physically showing these inferences or psychologically
using these to reflect some of the aims in my character would be a great purpose of representation to the
audience (i.e. fire remarking both literal fire or an almost anger building up inside of themselves). Working
closely with the set ethics of 'fire', 'blood', and 'danger' which hold much more physically demonstrated
significance, 'strength', 'power', 'determination', 'desire', and 'anger' are likewise similar in the way they
are used, but to an extent that its more in the atmosphere being created amidst that particular character
which I hold align to designate in my own film, given it can establish a range of threatening and 'thrilling'
emotions, while sustaining a good balance of both representation and understanding of my antagonist in
the audience watching to make it even more intriguing and suspenseful. In addition to this, a very crucial
part to my own film is in the reasoning why such negative emotions are being drawn out in my antagonist
in the first place, and that’s why against all of these very adverse intentions I want the things like with
'blood' and 'fire' to be reflected amidst 'passion', 'love', and most importantly 'remembrance' as these will
shape controversial thoughts to the supposed villain of my story given he'll be doing these such things for
a judgmental reason that the audience can begin to figure out for themselves.

Red - Continued
I would definitely consider that both female and male genders are uniformly targeted, for their
contrasting implications to both desire and love (stereotypically female) and strength and fire (males
stereotypically) which are regularly referred to across this color scheme; I would also go as far to say that
red is mostly addressable to ages 16+ given the intentions of 'love' and 'desire' are more established in life
from these ages upwards – as 'they found 55 percent of people to fall in love for the first time between
the ages 15 to 18'.

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