Max Hall
Audience Research
Whilst we were brainstorming ideas for our production, we encountered a few issues, and we thought it would be best if we see what the audience preferred. So we politely asked 25 people of different ages and genders to fill out a questionnaire, so that we could incorporate our findings into our production. Below is a blank copy of the questionnaire that we handed out.
In our questionnaire, we firstly asked for their age and gender. We aimed to get results from people of all ages and genders so that we knew who to aim our thriller towards.
We then gave a short summary of what our thriller was going to be about, so that they could answer accordingly.
The first question we wanted to ask them was where we gave them 4 different film titles that we were considering, and asked them to rank them, to help us choose a title.
We also asked about the use of fake blood in our production, as we were concerned about the effect that it would have on the audience.
We asked about what age and gender the main character should be as well. We already had a rough idea, but we thought it would be helpful if we knew that the audience agreed with us.
Another question we asked was how the audience felt about the production having no dialogue. We felt it would achieve the right effect, however it was a concern that it may
seem a little awkward for the audience, so we thought it was best to ask the audience how they felt about it.
Probably one of the most important questions that we asked was whether the audience would actually see it or not, and why. This would help us get to grips with who our target audience actually is, and help us to aim it more towards them. We also asked if they had any other comments to help us out.
Results
Titles:
Of the 25 people that took part in the questionnaire
15 voted for 'White Walls'
8 voted for 'The Patient'
1 voted for 'Waiting Room'
1 voted for 'Patient 0'
There were no other suggestions.
This made the decision fairly obvious to us, as the group also preferred the title, so we decided to name our film 'White Walls'.
Fake Blood:
Below are some quotes from the people that took part in the questionnaire
"I don't mind too much blood, as long as it is necessary" - Female, Aged 31-50
"Any amount of fake blood is fine as long as it is realistic" - Male, Aged 19-30
"Excessive blood is unrealistic, and can sometimes just be funny" - Male, Under 18
"Fake blood is fine, as long as it does not look amateurish" - Male, Over 50
"A little blood is fine, but too much makes me feel sick" - Female, Over 50
The majority of these quotes are essentially saying the same thing, this being that we need to make sure not to use too much blood, as it would not achieve the right effect, as it may make the production seem a little humourous instead of tense. It is essential that we use blood in our production, but we should only do it when necessary.
Age/Gender of Main Character:
Of the 25 people, 22 of them said that the character should be male. We expected this to be the outcome, as often men are portrayed as more powerful in the media, and we decided to make the main character male to go along with this convention.
We received all sorts of suggestions for what age the main character should be, however, 15 people suggested that the character should be between the age of 30 and 50, 7 suggested that they should be under 30, and 3 suggested that they should be over 50. This was what we expected, as it is the stereotypical age generally used in thrillers to make characters look powerful.
No Dialogue
Below are some more quotes from people that took part in the questionnaire
"As long as it isn't awkward" - Female, Aged 19-30
"It would make me feel uneasy, a good affect for a thriller" - Male, Over 50
"I see no problem, if it's relevant" - Male, 31-50
"It might seem a bit awkward" - Male, Under 18
The majority of these quotes say something along the same line, this being that it may make the production seem a little awkward, but that this is probably a good effect to have in a psychological thriller.
Would you see this film, and why?
From the 25 people who took the questionnaire
13/15 men said yes
7/10 women said yes
A total of 20/25 people said that they would watch this film.
The main reason why people said that they would see the film was along the lines that it has a new and interesting storyline.
There were 5 people who said that they wouldn't see the film. 3 out of 5 of these were female, and 3 out of 5 of these were over 50 years old. This shows us that this age range maybe are not so keen on the idea of the production, and maybe we shouldn't aim the film too much towards them.
Above is a pie chart illustrating the audience's view on what title should be used for the production
Above is a pie chart illustrating the audience's view on what gender the main character should be.
Above is a pie chart illustrating the audience's view on what age the main character should be.
Above is a pie chart illustrating the percentage of the audience that would and would not see the film.
Conclusion
The audience research that we conducted certainly proved useful to help with certain decisions for the production which we could not decide on. More specifically, the things we found out were:
- 'White Walls' should most likely be the title of the production, as the audience preferred it far more than the other titles
- We should go ahead with the use of fake blood in our production, but should be careful only to use it when necessary to achieve the right effect
- We should aim to find an actor to play the protagonist that is Male and in their 30's or 40's, as generally they are made to look the most powerful in films
- We should continue to have no dialogue in our production, as this would make the audience feel awkward, which would be a good effect to have in a psychological thriller
- The majority of people who said that they would see the film were younger, and more prominently male, which means we should aim the production more towards them. This is our target audience