Target Audience Results - Miss Miller

I had to carry out research to help think of an appropriate target audience, which go by what they prefer in thriller films.  We have asked a total of 40 people, ranging in age and both genders.  I will use the results which were to be the most popular, so that our opening scene will be the best that it can.  The questionnaire consists of a variety of open and closed questions which allows more freedom for people to express what they really think and help us get results in better detail to get a better understanding.  When planning a film, it is essential for people to carry out research so they can get a good generalisation of what they like therefore; producing an opening sequence which can appeal to the target audience.  The pie charts show a visual representation of the results collected by the questionnaire.

CLOSED QUESTIONS

How old are you?  

The pie chart shows that most of the people who answered this survey were aged 15 - 20 years of age.  These results are a big help as our initial idea was that our thriller would be targeted to 15+. Therefore creating a successful thriller for our target audience. Quite a few people seemed to be aged 21 to 25 years of age, this could be a possibility that our thriller could be directed to a wider audience who are much older. 


What's your gender?

Most of the people asked were female.   If a crowd of male and female where asked who like thrillers.  The majority who would say they like watching thrillers would be male.  Most females would say they don't like watching thrillers as it can scare them from the suspense.    This means that our thriller may cover themes which aren't so conventional to a thriller as it may appeal more to females than it would males.  Females may not like the idea of females being the initial victim because it may be considered to be the stereotype.

Do you like sequels?

For this question in particular, the majority said that they do not like sequels.  This may be because films will not always be as good as the first.  Whereas, some people may prefer sequels as they like long narrative to continue and be able to see the actors again.   Seeing a the first film of a sequel, some of the audience may not like the first film, therefore not wanting to see the next film which is carried on from the previous film.  These results are good because we want to make a good first impression meaning we have to cover what our target wants including the conventions of a thriller in order to keep them into the film.

What other sub-genres should be used?

These results show that most people enjoy the sub-genre of crime.  This sub-genre would include danger and and mystery.  This may be a possibility because the audience like the point of being curious and find out things which they did not know.  The crimes in thrillers mostly, include murder, this may because it may make the thriller more exciting.  This is good for our opening thriller sequence as we want our thriller to include crime.

OPEN QUESTIONS
7 out of 12 questions were open questions, therefore meaning they cannot be quantified easily but it did allow more freedom and variety to be included in our research.  One of the questions was: What interests you in a thriller?  Allot of people said the suspense that they make you feel and they also like it if there is violence which is said to make it more interesting for the audience.  Some like to be scared as they think that it is good, mostly because of the tension and suspenseful atmosphere which is built up.  This is helpful to our group as we know that we should include violence and suspense as this interests the audience.

These results have proved to be very helpful to our group as we now know could be a potentially good thriller.  Taking into consideration the public's views of thrillers, will make them want to watch more.  They don't like the thriller to be too cliché as the outcome would be too predictable.  The group has also learned that sounds are important as they basically make up what is happening and can add suspense including fast/slow music, which if it wasn't there would make a big difference and would't be as suspenseful as it would be in the first instance.

The purpose of this question was to research what the public would like to see in a thriller film.  Using these results collected, we plan to follow these results in order to produce a good thriller for our target audience, as every film director/producer would like their audience to be into the film and make it memorable.