Research into Target Audience - Miss Miller

To help us in knowing which elements to include within our thriller sequence, we decided to create a questionnaire and ask 40 people different questions relating to content within thriller films and what they would like to see in order to be able to make our opening relatable and exciting for the audience to watch. We decided to ask 40 people in order to gather a wide variety of data and make our results more reliable. I will then use these results within planning my thriller sequence by having a knowledge of what people expect to see in a thriller and incorporate this into my own work. Our questionnaire is featured below.

When asking our 40 people, we ensured to mainly ask questions to people of our specific target audience age range however asking some people out of this range as well in order to gain a full understanding of what people like to see within thriller films. We then decided to demonstrate our results in a pie chart format to show clearly the data which we have collected.

This pie chart shows the different age groups of the people that we conducted our survey to. A majority of our interviewees were within the ages of 15 and 18 which is ideal as this was the age group we were aiming to appeal to when making our thriller. This question may seem irrelevant now but this will aid me significantly when planning the narrative and content of my thriller sequence. For example, 15-18 year olds are more likely to watch adult themes such as seeing a murder take place, blood and gore which is something that viewers of a younger age may not be able to witness due to the harsh nature of these particular scenes. Therefore, this will mean that I will be able to put some of these scenes into the sequence in order to create the maximum amount of tension and suspense which is crucial in creating a successful thriller.

The next question that I asked was 'What Gender Are You?' and the pie chart opposite shows that a 75% of the people I asked were female and only 25% were male. This could mean that my results may be slightly inaccurate and unreliable as females have different ideas of what they like to see within a thriller in comparison to what males like. In order to rectify this, I will ensure that I include a narrative which will appeal to both a male and female audience in order for my sequence to be successful and popular. In addition to this, I think that my results turned out this way as I mainly talk to girls within school however the males I asked were within my family therefore I will need to include key themes suitable for both genders. 

The next question which I asked as part of my questionnaire was 'What features do you expect to find in a thriller and why?' in which we age 4 possible answers consisting of blood, a killer, female victim and a fight scene. As you can see, a majority chose the answer of a killer with 44%. This is a main convention of a thriller film as without a killer, whether the identity is revealed or not, there would be no narrative for the story to be driven forward and therefore you would be creating a useless thriller. The inclusion of a killer also helps to create elements such as shock, surprise, suspense and tension crucial for a successful thriller to be created. From this set of data, I know to include a killer at some point in my sequence in order to achieve all of the elements needed in order to create a relationship between my target audience and characters by making them feel extremely scared and almost as though they have been put in a particular character's shoes and feel some sense of inclusion causing them to wonder what could happen next and what the killer could be capable of doing. Furthermore, this question was one of our several open questions in which we gave our possible target audience the opportunity to explain in their own words why they chose their answer.  Because of these results, both Kate and I know to include a killer which will be used to terrorise certain characters and evoke relative emotions of fear as well as a psychological impact in order to create an original narrative, one that isn't present in any other thriller films already released. 

When asking the next question, I thought carefully about the main micro-elements which are used to create senses of  surprise and suspense. My data shows that the most popular answer was sound at 70% which isn't surprising as this was the element that I also believed to be the most successful in creating surprise and suspense which is because sound is the most crucial element within film as it is the main component for evoking senses of shock and tension from a particular film. If a film had no sound, it would not have the same effect due to having an unclear idea of what is happening. I can use this set of results in planning my thriller sequence as I am now aware that the addition of sinister and scary music can be used in certain scenes in order to create these elements of shock and tension. Following on from this, I now know to include a range of different sounds in order to create elements of surprise and suspense at intense points within the sequence as well as including sounds in less significant places in order to build up the tension leading up to the murder scene which would therefore shock the audience more. 

Leading on from this, I also decided to ask a question based on what weapons the people I asked would expect to see within a thriller film and I gathered a wide variety of results from this. Knives was the most popular answer in this particular question with a majority of 56% choosing this answer which is not surprising as a knife is the main murder weapon featured in the most successful thriller films. For example, Scream and Halloween. I believe that this is because it connotes that a murder is going to take place but doesn't however show an extreme amount of gore which would be most likely to be shown in a horror rather than a thriller. Elaborating on this, rope was the second most popular answer with 24% selecting this answer. I think that my results showed this as rope is not a common weapon used to murder within thrillers and it is unique to see a different murder weapon being used to set it aside from the usual thriller films. However, a low number of only 12% chose a gun as their preferred choice which surprised me to a certain extent as a gun is a lethal murder weapon by having the ability to kill within a single shot but I realised that the inclusion of a gun within a thriller would make the film like an action film which is unconventional. These results are positive as my idea for a narrative was a young woman being stabbed to death and it is good to see that a knife is the most popular among a possible audience. In addition to this, I made this question an open answer so as to gather an idea of why they chose their specific answer. When asking this, a majority explained that it was because it evoked an element of tension as they watch to see what will happen next as well as feeling as though they have been put in a certain character's shoes as usually everyone but the victim is aware of what is about to happen, including the audience. Therefore, I am confident in using a knife as a murder weapon as I know that I am closely following the conventions relating to the thriller genre and also enticing my target audience as this is what they want to see.

The next question is again an open question and I asked of their opinion of what they consider the best thriller film to be. I gave 4 options of films which included; The Purge, Black Swan, The Strangers and Halloween and then asked to justify the reason for their choice. My data has concluded that Black Swan was the most popular with 60% choosing this and I believe that the reason for this is because the film features a narrative which is completely driven by a strong psychological theme evident throughout which helps to create extreme elements of suspense. This could also be because I mainly asked these questions to females which are more likely to enjoy a psychological narrative than males. I think that the reason that Halloween was the least popular choice with only 16% selecting this choice is because the narrative is revealed in the opening scene whereas Black Swan leaves audiences guessing until the very end and they are left wanting to watch until the concluding scenes in order to piece together the story. Within my opening sequence, I am aiming to include a psychological narrative uniquely in order to ensure that my audience are left on the edge of their seats throughout the entire sequence. Therefore, these results are very helpful as I have been made aware that a film with a psychological theme present came out as being the most popular due to the narrative being original and something that conventional thrillers such as Scream have never included before. This question also had a second part to it asking the potential audience to explain why they chose what they did, they mentioned that Black Swan was most popular due to having a strong psychological narrative which also plays on the audience as well as on the characters themselves and because it also included some well known actresses such as Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman which therefore makes the audience more relatable and enjoyable. I will therefore take this theme on board for my own sequence and ensure that I clearly display this so that it doesn't get too confusing to the audience.

When asking my possible target audience 'Where do you prefer the Thriller location to be?' I have come to the conclusion that an abandoned cabin was the most popular choice with a large number of 52% of people choosing this. However these results were of no surprise to me as an abandoned cabin is an isolated location and I am aware, due to my knowledge of conventions within the thriller genre, an isolated setting is ideal for a thriller to take place due to the killer being able to strike without getting caught as no one would have witnessed the murder and is therefore able to kill again which helps a narrative to unfold. It also helps to create a tense and scary atmosphere within a specific scene as they will be able to sense that something is not quite right and that something bad is going to happen but builds tension as the audience are left unsure of exactly when it may occur. When the scene reaches its climax, this helps to create the maximum amount of shock and surprise as the audience are left thrilled enabling them to watch on further to see what may happen next. While analysing these results, I know that my thriller sequence should include an abandoned cabin setting however I will be unable to do this as my local area lacks abandoned cabins therefore I have chosen to use a variety of settings including a forest and a house. A forest is an isolated setting and will be able to create the elements needed for my thriller to be successful as well as the house evoking a sense of realism and suggests that it could happen to anyone which builds tension. Although a house is the least popular answer with only 6% selecting this, it could also make the audience to watch and see if they like the particular location.


I also decided to ask a question looking for answers in response to whether or not they would want to see the killer's identity revealed with which they were given a simple yes or no option. Looking at this particular pie chart, you can clearly see that my results showed that a majority of 78% would want to see this happen.I believe that this is because the unveiling of a killer evokes a sense of tension as well as surprise as it could turn out to be someone who the audience would never have suspected of being the killer which also makes the thriller more enjoyable to watch in order to watch further to reach the point where the identity is shown. It also allows the audience to create a relationship with the killer as they are now able to see what they look like and how they achieved killing their victims with much success and know more about them than before. However the people who chose the option of no can be justified by the fact that some thrillers feature many sequels in which the enigma created is extended and the story line is spread across these sequels before the killer's identity is revealed. The audience also like the elements of mystery and suspense as they watch on further to see if they are ever given the opportunity to come face to face with the killer. I will incorporate the results of this question into my own work by only showing the hit man's face and not the actual antagonist until the very end which will keep my target audience on the edge of their seats throughout the entire sequence and keep them engaged. From this question, I have decided to have the antagonist left hidden until the very last moment as I want to deeply shock my target audience and feel inclined to watch the entire sequence in order to find out who it turns out to be. This would then also create an element of tension as the audience are now able to see what the antagonist is capable of doing and may feel uncomfortable and scared about what he may do next.

I also decided to ask 'Do you think the killer should be male or female?' within my questionnaire. The answers didn't surprise me as having a female killer is extremely unconventional to the thriller genre which is because only 10% of people chose this and also females are usually portrayed as being the victim as they are inferior and weak and are therefore less likely to fight back against the killer which makes them an easy target. They are also seen as being quite naive in the fact that they are usually left unaware of what is about to happen to them. Within my thriller sequence, I have chosen to use a male killer and a female victim in order for it to remain close to what the conventions are expected of in a thriller film to enable the audience to become gripped on my narrative as well as fully understanding the story line.

The answers for my final question in which I asked 'What type of theme do you like to see in a thriller?' were generally quite mixed as it is a question mainly based on an individual opinion and that there is no specific answer that they need to select. All of the themes which were given are all portrayed in many different ways in a selection of thriller films. Murder was the most popular answer within this question with 48% choosing this option and both kidnap and obsession were the least popular answers only gathering 16% of people. I believe that this is because these themes are very realistic and may have happened to particular people who would watch my thriller sequence and would therefore bring back bad memories of what may have happened to them. As it is an extremely realistic theme, this could cause the audience to possibly be too scared and less likely to watch until the end. I can use this set of data to aid me in creating my own thriller sequence as I now know that either a murder or chase scene should be evident in order to appeal to my specific audience. By including these themes, this will help to engage my audience and encourage them to watch the entire sequence in order to gather an overall idea of the narrative.

The second part of this research task was to create Vox Pops. Vox Pops are videos of the questionnaire created being carried out on some people to show that this research has been carried out fully. I filmed 3 Vox Pops in order to show that I haven't created my answers for the questionnaire from imagination. This type of research is extremely reliable as it captures specific people's initial responses to the questions being asked as well as constructing data that is qualitative that I am able to go back to and analyse whenever it is needed.

In conclusion, these results have really helped me when creating my own thriller sequence as I am able to understand what content my possible target audience would want to see in order to enjoy what they are watching. For example, I know that I need to include a murder as well as a chase scene which is what the audience wanted to see based on the results from some of my questions that were asked. This also helps me to determine whether or not my chosen narrative will highly appeal to the audience which seems to be that they will upon analysing the data that I have collected. If I were to carry out this particular research task again, I would ask more specific questions relating to sequels and the purpose. This would enable me in getting even more detail from my questionnaire as well as making sure that I made a sequel or had an initial purpose for the thriller sequence to be driven upon such as an enigma.