Sunderland Culture is an organization aimed at enhancing local arts and culture through community engagement and events, supported by key local institutions. The document details audience research conducted for a thriller/sci-fi short film, highlighting preferences, target demographics, and psychographics of young viewers, particularly those aged 16-25. It also analyzes cinematographic techniques and themes in existing media products to effectively convey societal messages on connection and mental health.

1. Research

2. Client Research –
Sunderland
Culture
Sunderland Culture is an organisation that brings
together Sunderland's most cherished culture
assets, they do this by gaining the investments
from 3 organisations which are the Sunderland
City Council, University of Sunderland and Music,
Arts & Culture Trust. Their mission is to improve
life in Sunderland and to support the dying arts
and the culture in the local area. They prove lots
of events for families etc and have online
programmes. They take donations to their
company, they provide lots of events for everyone
to take apart in, they raise for money for the arts
and the culture.

3. Audience
Research
Do you like psychological thrillers?
What do you like best about them?
Would you be interested in a short thriller?
Do you like gaming as a hobby?
Have you ever watched a short film before?
If so, what was it about?
For my audience research I did a
focus group, these are the questions I
asked

4. Focus Group
Analysis
In this focus group I asked the group what their name and age
is, this allows me to see if they are within the target age for the
brief. I asked questions about other short films and thriller films
and if they like the genre and what makes a thriller a good
thriller film. From my focus group I know that everyone in my
group likes thrillers and sci-fis and that they watch films nearly
every day whether to past time or for more entertainment.
From this focus group I know that I am sticking with the idea of
a thriller/sci-fi film as everyone in the group said they would
watch a film with them genres and they think it would appeal
to a big audience, I also want my film to be abit of a
psychological thriller as well, I think having a bit of a ‘open’ plot
and tension to make people think and interested would be of
interest to many people of the generation who are in the target
age bracket. Everyone has similar replies on why they like
thrillers, but the main correlation was the tension and how it
keeps them on their feet without being too much like horrors
with the jump scares. Because of the rise of big horror
production films, I think people would enjoy my short film as
lots of jump scares can put people off or not be as scary or not
have enough tension as a thriller.

5. Audience
Profile
Hobbies & Interests
The hobbies and interests of my target audience
would be most likely watching films and art ideally.
This would make them aware of what to look for in
a short thriller film and to be interested in the arts
locally so they could feel connected with the short
film, and it links to Sunderland Culture.
Social Grade
The main social grade for my target audience would be E as
there would be very many young students watching this
short film, for the older section of the target audience it
could go up to B which could be someone who is a teacher
around the age of 20/24, the social grade of A would be too
high as the target age is only 16-25 and it wouldn’t be
realistic to aim for that social grade, the A social grade
means that they would have to be on the level of doctors or
bankers.
Gender & Age
The gender for this project doesn’t have any impact
on the subject matter at all so I wouldn’t need to
edit the short film or change it for that gender. The
target age for this brief is 16-25 as my short film is
working with Sunderland culture and their aim is to
promote local young artists and to promote the
local landscapes and the history behind it which is
why I filmed in the Secret Garden in Sunderland.
Psychographics
The target audience for this project will be the explorers as they are
typically young and they seek discovery and individualism and
adventures, this would be the ideal psychographic for someone who
was to watch my short film and get interested into Sunderland
Culture as the target audience is young and we are looking for
people who would see the local landmarks in Sunderland and who is
into arts. The next ideal psychographic would be the reformers, this
is because they seek personal growth and independent judgement.

6. Research into existing media
products

7. CONNECT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOSIYHxAaE

9. Connect - Codes & Conventions
At the start of the short film there is
diegetic sound which naturally occurs to
the scene, in the case of this film the
diegetic sound is the sound of the cars
driving past, this can also be called
ambient sound, this adds realism to the
film. There is also boka lighting that is
used in the first scene of the short film,
this makes the background lights of the
cars look blurred and like sequins. The
shot of this short film is wide shots, this
captures the characters environments .
There is a cut scene/match on action, this infers that she gets on the bus
without showing her walking onto the bus, this cuts scenes to shorten time
and not to put in useless scenes that can be boring. The oyster card also
infers that this is set in London on the bus.

10. There is medium close-up shots of the girl, this was used to show loneliness.
They make the camera follow what she is looking at, they do this by
switching the camera to a new character and using push and pull focus to
make sure the audience know this is an important person. They also use a
shot reverse shot, when they switch to what the character is looking at then
back, they do this a couple of times to show the reactions of both
characters, this builds up intensity.
She then puts her headphones on, this is when the score music stars, this is
music that has been constructed for this film, this follows the characters arc
and can change as the characters story goes on. The music starts before she
even puts the headphones on, this is called a sound bridge, in this case the
sound bridge changes the sound from diegetic to non-diegetic but it can
vice versa.

11. There is then a montage with everyone else on the bus, called inserts, they
are all medium close-up shots but vary slightly. We can see that outside it
is dark, so everyone is tired, it looks like thy are all coming back from work
and wanting to go home/on their way. With the mise en scene, it is very
dull and mundane.
With the music, the score makes the music get stronger as her imagination
gets stronger.

12. This is a low angle of the people's hands, with the score the music it gradually
increases, this resumes the tension that was made before. This shows the
connection between the two characters without any dialogue and just music.
There is a lens flare when they hold hands, this was usually deemed a bad
thing of when the light hits the camera but in present it can be a stylistic
choice and as there is no light facing the camera o was done on purpose to
show uniqueness and a spark.

13. There is a dance scene, this shows us that her imagination is back, and
it makes the mundane more interesting. There is a lot of routine in this
short film so it's making the usual routine of travel and life more
interesting with her imagination.
This short film is different than usual short films as it is silent, and the only sound is just non diegetic sound of cars or
the music coming from her headphones. The shots in this are mainly close ups so it shows the characters emotions,
there is a lot of close ups and push and pull focus. With the point of this short film is to show a connection between
two people and society, having it be silent is interesting and it emphasises body movement and facial movement, also
it can link between the rare connections in London as everyone is miserable and is in a routine.

14. Communication to audience
They are presenting their message by movement and shots and doesn’t use dialogue. This emphasises the repetiviness of London and
society using music and shots and movement. There is a lot of close-up shots and push and pull focus in this short film, this allows us
to truly focus on the characters body language and get to know their personality without dialogue. At first it is confusing as there is
some random dancing etc, but it makes sense that it is her imagination trying to make the mundane mort interesting. It also shows
the connection that society has with each other, and that people are desperate for attention and affection that they will find a
connection or any way to get that. They are saying to their audience that big cities like London are very routine based and antisocial
and that there needs to be a connection in society as it can get very depressing, there is not a lot of help for mental health in London,
so peoples escape is mainly music to have some form of entertainment.

15. THE SOUND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4WljvdXfFc

16. Connect - Codes & Conventions
With this shot, they used push and pull focus to
change the focus from the leaves to the character,
there is also diegetic sounds that keep it real and
builds tension to slowly build into non diegetic with
a ringing noise, the fact that we don’t have a full
establishing shot as the very first scene makes
everything more nerving and mysterious as you
don’t know what he is doing and why, as well as
him doing a random action of digging makes you
think the worst.
There is next a proper establishing shot saying the opening title of the short film, this is when
the non-diegetic music turns up and it is a high-pitched ringing noise, this builds up tension and
is a high contrast compared to the beginning of the short film when it was very raw and didn't
have any establishing shot. The font and colour of the opening scene is very plain and formal, it
is a classic and traditional font for horror/thriller movies and sets the tone.

17. This is a medium close-up, this allows us to see his
emotions and his face for the first time, we get
introduced to the character and the mannerisms,
throughout the short film he doesn’t properly
speak, and we know his thoughts based off his
actions and his body language. His face looks
scrunched up that he is struggling with something,
with him digging the mystery is there on what he
was doing. There is a match on action on this bit
when it infers that he is digging but we can't see
exactly what yet.
This is a cutscene to sand, this replicates how children have their sand pots and how they dig in
the sand. This is ironic as the short film is something so dark, this allows the audience to assume
that there is childhood trauma going on to link with the action of him digging and why he looks
so stressed.

18. This shot is called a lock shot, this shows him
walking into the kitchen and going into a cupboard
or a bathroom, this scene is non diegetic, and this
has a big effect as the audience is being made to
focus on the man's actions and what he does, even
the way he walks and breathes. The colour grading
on the scenes from now on are very blue and
moody and it seems to be in winter, the colour blue
in films can mean isolation, cold and more
intellectual and empathetic, this can show that he is
fighting with grief and guilt and that he is more
intellectual, so he is struggling with being isolated
with these thoughts.
This scene is when the man looks at the alcohol and it cuts to what he was looking at, this is
called an eye line match. There is a cut scene to the bottle of alcohol that is half full with two
glasses, with the bottle of alcohol but straight in frame and half full insinuates that the man is in
psychological war fare. With the two glasses it also insinuates that there is two people that live
there and with him digging before we can assume that there was maybe a murder. Looks like it is
the time of day when it is getting dark but it is winter so it will get dark around 6/7 o’clock, this is
when people will be getting tired and stay in the house, this shows that he is isolated and can't
do anything to distract himself but alcohol maybe.

19. Terminology Guide