It is extremely important to do secondary research into existing films because it is reliable in gathering information. It gives new ideas and influences different perspectives which could help attract the right target audience.
From looking at secondary research it is evident that the target audience for thriller films are people between the ages of 15-35 including both genders. It is also evident that the target audience do not have a certain ethnicity or occupation. The target audience's hobbies or interests tend to be more adventurous rather than relaxed.
I felt that the thriller audience enjoyed the conventions such as tension building, scary music and villains as these factors contribute to a typical thriller film. Our group had to ensure that we followed these conventions in order to address a similar target audience and their expectations. This was done by planning out the conventions and including them when filming and editing together.
For my thriller, I wanted to attract a target audience aged 15-35 including both genders in order to stick to the conventions of a successful thriller. I also wanted all ethnicities and people with different hobbies to be interested in my thriller.
We decided to carry out a questionnaire as part of our primary research because this would ensure we followed the audiences preferences and what they wish to watch. The more information we got from the audience the more advantageous it was for our group as we could meet the needs of our target audience the best we could. The questionnaire also saved us a lot of time as we could pick up our results, that were reliable, quicker. This is my questionnaire...
One of the key questions I asked which was a multiple question was "What scares you the most in thrillers?" with the options of "Ghosts, Zombies, Possessed Children, Extreme violence, Deaths." This helped us attract the right target audience as we were able to understand what the audience wanted to watch. This resulted in the majority of people in favour of "Deaths" which is why we chose to include it in our thriller.
Another key question that I asked which was a multiple choice question was "Would you prefer to watch characters that are students or families?" This question resulted in the majority of people wanting to watch students which was extremely beneficial as we were able to base our characters on younger adults/teens. This ensured that my group attracted the right target audience.
Additionally, a key question that I asked which was open ended was "What setting would be suitable for a thriller in general?" This resulted in the majority of people stating "Dark places, houses, and forests" which was also beneficial as we could adjust our setting according to their opinions.
2 key quotes...
An open ended question I asked was "Whats the best thriller you've seen based on realistic ideas?" which resulted in various quotes such as "Obsession, Seven, Psycho, Insidious, Sinister"
This helped me make key decisions in ensuring that I was attracting my target audience because I could use these successful films as influences to my thriller. The difficulty in relationships shown in my thriller links to the film "Obsession" whilst the anonymity of the antagonist links to the thriller "Seven".
Another open ended question I asked was "What ideas would you like to see in a new thriller film?" which resulted in various quotes such as "different methods of killings", "scarier music", "better tension building", "more silences to help build tension". This helped me make key decisions in ensuring that I was attracting my target audience because these answers gave me a clear guideline into how to make my film more thrilling for the audience.
Some results from my questionnaire...
Overall, I believe that primary research was extremely important as it is reliable and data you researched yourself. Also, it gives more of the opinions to the specific questions the researcher asked which could be difficult to find through secondary research. Due to this, I believe primary research helped me attract and address my audience.
Audience Feedback:
After creating my production, I held a focus group because I wanted to gain feedback from my target audience. The people that were asked to come and view the production were 15+ as this was my target age group and would help me gain the strengths and criticisms I needed.
The focus group...
The feedback I got...
Stacey, 18
This piece of feedback made me feel extremely proud as one of the audience recognised the typography and stated that it followed the conventions of a thriller. This means that I met the audiences expectations.
Nick, 19
This piece of feedback made me feel that I needed more improvements. This made me realise that I should have included and represented all three characters the same.
Hannah, 17
This piece of feedback also made me feel proud as I knew that I kept my audience engaged by creating a clear narrative.
Sandro, 17
This piece of feedback made me realise that my victim was clear, however, not clear enough for my audience to engage with. The audience did not grasp enough of the representation of the victim which helps me for when I next create a production.
Katie, some excellent work here on how you addressed and attracted your target audience. Initial research into the audience has taken places through secondary research and this has helped you make decisions on how to utilise them in your work.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of audience is understood as you display your questionnaire and identify key questions and illustrate the results you received which helped you with specific choices and outcomes, for example typography, characters and themes.
Finally, you include feedback you received post-production in form of the focus group.
-state at the end overall whether you feel you did a good job in attracting and addressing your target audience.