Audience Research
Tuesday 22nd August 2017
Target Demographic of Thrillers
After completing my genre research, I feel it is important to research into the audience and demographic of thrillers as this will enable me to have a better understanding of the genre as a whole. It is also useful to know about the audience of thriller films as this will help me making the advertisements for my own thriller films. I will have a good knowledge of how to advertise my product to my target demographic through my research.
After researching into the demographics of thrillers, I think it is important to look specifically into the demographics of psychological thrillers as this is the genre I will be doing. The reason for this is because the genre thriller is extremely broad and there could be some differences in the demographics of psychological thrillers in comparison to thrillers as a whole.
Psychological Thriller Demographics from Eleni Papaioannou
Saturday 9th September 2017
SELF
Eleni Papaioannou by Eleni Papaioannou
After making my survey, I collated my results and had a total of 40 responses. The first part on my analysis is comparing the basic parts such as the colours and typography that are preferred on both the magazines and posters. This also let me see if there were any similarities or differences between them.
Film Magazine and Poster Analysis from Eleni Papaioannou
Survey Results for Thriller Film Posters by Eleni Papaioannou
Sunday 17th September 2017
Before I moved on to planning out my own trailer, I decided to do summarise what elements of the trailers that I have studied and analysed throughout my research process I can replicate when creating my own. I will focus on the aspects such as:
How is the narrative portrayed in each of the trailers?
I researched into how the narrative of the trailers is constructed through different techniques such as close up, flashbacks, voice over etc. From this I will have a clear idea as to what elements of film I can incorporate in my own trailer to portray my narrative.
What is the difference between a full trailer and a teaser trailer?
Below is a viewer profile I created to describe a typical psychological thriller viewer using the data I have collated throughout my research. It was created using a website name NewHive and the link can be found here.
My Opinions on My Findings
Overall, my thoughts regarding the demographics of (psychological) thrillers were quite accurate. For example the fact that younger adults tend to be the primary demographic. Having said this I was surprised by the number of older people who also enjoyed watching thriller films. This proved to me that the genre is very wide and can appeal to a variety of different people. This was further emphasised by the fact the viewings were split very evenly between males and females. Due to the content found in thriller films I had originally assumed that the primary demographic would be males. This may be the case, however it doesn't stop a lot of women from watching them. in particular my specific sub genre of psychological thrillers.
Doing this research has been very insightful and has meant I have a better understanding of the demographics of thriller films which is highly useful for my own thriller film.
I have also looked into the market shares and grossing of thriller films as this allows me to see financially how thriller films are being seen. The data was taken from a website called The Numbers.
Nerve Notes by Eleni Papaioannou
From the data I collected from the survey I was able to make charts and graphs to show my findings in a more presentable way. I have split my findings into three parts. The first part is what I have found about the demographic of thrillers and psychological thrillers. The second part focuses on what a general audience thinks is important in both a (psychological) thriller film and its trailer. The third part shows which trailer the general audience found most appealing and how this relates to my other findings.
For this section, I also decide to pick three different trailers that fit solely into the sub-genre of psychological thrillers. This is because although I have got a general understanding thriller audiences, I feel as though I need to research more into psychological thrillers in particular. Would You Rather, although it does have elements of psychological thriller, is classed more as a psychological horror thriller. Nerve is also classed as a techno or crime thriller and is therefore not extremely useful into researching psychological thriller trailers.
I have chosen the trailers for Inception, Split and The Gift. All of these are tied to the sub-genre of psychological thrillers and are therefore extremely useful for me to find out the specifics of the sub-genre rather than the genre as a whole.
The questions I have asked target both the trailers individually and also the elements of film such as music, lighting, plot and costume.
Trailer One - Inception
Introduction to John Hartley by Eleni Papaioannou
Thursday 24th August 2017
Box Office Performances of Psychological Thrillers
I think it is important to look at the box office ratings of psychological thriller films as this again will give me a better insight into the production, marketing and exchange of them. I will look at a film produced by an independent company and a film produced by a conglomerate in order to compare and contrast the box office ratings and budgets.
I have also looked into the market shares and grossing of thriller films as this allows me to see financially how thriller films are being seen. The data was taken from a website called The Numbers.
Friday 25th August 2017
Target Audience from Trailers
After analysing the following three films in my genre research, I thought it would be useful to also analyse the target audience of them in order to enhance my audience research. I have included the trailers below from YouTube and my ideas regarding the audience of them.
I have made a table using word to jot down the trailers I have analysed and the target audience of them.
Next I have made a survey using the website Poll Daddy. I have included a mixture of open and closed questions to collect both quantitative data and qualitative to help me gain an insight into how a variety of people view thrillers and film trailers.
For this, I decided to slightly change the trailers which I would use. I decided to keep Circle and Would You Rather as these are quite recent examples of thriller trailers and therefore follow more modern conventions of what a thriller trailer is like. That said, I switched Hard Candy for the film Nerve which came out in 2015 as Hard Candy came out in 2005 and is therefore too old for my investigation. Below I have done some research into the film Nerve before I gave out the survey.
In the questionnaire below I asked pretty general questions as I wanted to get an overview of the thriller genre and what people expect from it. At first I gave my survey out to my friends at school but then I realised that by doing so I wouldn't be reaching a variety of different people and instead be focusing on a niche market. To combat this problem I gave the link to the survey in a Snapchat and Facebook post so that more people of a variety of different backgrounds and ages would have the opportunity to give their feedback on it.
Monday 4th September 2017
Survey Findings
Part 3 from Eleni Papaioannou
These findings are extremely useful to my investigation as I can refer back to the throughout the planning and production process of my trailer. However, one negative about the data I have found is that it is a small sample size in comparison to the general public which is why my results may not be as accurate as I would have liked. Having said this, they are still useful to look and analyse to help my audience knowledge develop.
Wednesday 6th September
Individual Trailers
After my more general survey regarding thriller films and trailers, I realised that most of the questions I had asked were closed questions which didn't allow for the public to give their true reasons for why they thought certain things. As a result, I have decided to make 3 individual surveys for each trailer so that people can give their own reasons as to what aspects they did and did not like.
This also makes it less confusing for people and easier as they don't have to struggle to compare each trailer but instead they can focus on which aspects they like individually. This will also lessen the amount of people who only talk about the negative parts of a trailer.
For this section, I also decide to pick three different trailers that fit solely into the sub-genre of psychological thrillers. This is because although I have got a general understanding thriller audiences, I feel as though I need to research more into psychological thrillers in particular. Would You Rather, although it does have elements of psychological thriller, is classed more as a psychological horror thriller. Nerve is also classed as a techno or crime thriller and is therefore not extremely useful into researching psychological thriller trailers.
I have chosen the trailers for Inception, Split and The Gift. All of these are tied to the sub-genre of psychological thrillers and are therefore extremely useful for me to find out the specifics of the sub-genre rather than the genre as a whole.
The questions I have asked target both the trailers individually and also the elements of film such as music, lighting, plot and costume.
Trailer One - Inception
Inception Survey (Created using Survey Monkey and then exported to PDF)
Trailer Two - Split
Survey made using Poll Daddy
Trailer Three - The Gift
Survey Made using PollDaddy
Now that I have created the surveys using the website SurveyMonkey I can get a specific points about what people did and did not like about each trailer. I will also create a Vox Pop of each trailer so I can grasp and even larger audience to talk about the trailers as this will make my findings more accurate and useful when I go to making my own trailer.
Friday 8th September
Target Audience
Target Audience
Since researching and collecting my data about what general and specific audiences would expect to find in psychological thriller film trailers, I think I now have enough information to strait putting thought into who my target audience as well as my primary demographic should be for my film. Having said this, it is important that my trailer and the marketing appeals to a wide audience overall rather than just niche market I will be targeting. This will ensure that my film will reach a larger audience and therefore generate a larger revenue. However I also need to take into account how the narrative and visual choices I make will impact who my marketing campaign is likely to appeal to. It is vital that my campaign caters for my primary audience as well as my secondary audience. As a result I have created audience profile where I have began to explain the type of person who would watch my psychological thriller film.
I have used the 'Audience Theory' discovered by John Hartley as the basis of my target audience research and results. Below is an introduction into his theory.
I have used the 'Audience Theory' discovered by John Hartley as the basis of my target audience research and results. Below is an introduction into his theory.
Saturday 9th September 2017
SELF
Created using Visme. Free Online Presentation Software.
Some examples of ideologies include:
- Sexuality
- Racism
- Feminism
- Left Wing and Right Wing Politics
The Hypodermic Needle Theory
Continuing with the theme of self and ideology, I researched into the Hypodermic Needle Theory. It was first introduced in the 1930s and revolves around the idea that mass media or a dominant media could influence a large group of people by 'injecting' them with the intended message. This in turn would lead to a desirable response from institutions. The earliest observations of this were in Nazi propaganda where people were controlled by what they thought to be their own decisions but were instead part of a larger ideology and belief system.
The media has been likened to this theory as it is capable of also 'injecting' an ideology into its audience in the same way as Nazi propaganda. As a result audiences are seen as passive to the dominant media superior and its messages.
There have been many conclusions made from this theory. One is that humans react uniformly (the same) in response to being 'injected'. This is interesting as it would suggest that my target audience would all behave in a similar way when a certain ideology is presented to them. It also shows how powerful the messages from the media can be as the directly influence a mass audience the same way and injection can goes directly into the bloodstream.
GENDER
Sunday 10th September 2017
AGE
GENDER
Sunday 10th September 2017
AGE
Age Demographic from Eleni Papaioannou
How Will I Appeal to my Age Demographic? by Eleni Papaioannou
ETHNICITY
Monday 11th September 2017
CLASS
The Class of My Audience Continued by Eleni Papaioannou
NATION
Wednesday 13th September 2017
Now that I have a secure idea as to who my target is for my film, I have decided to do some more research into the rest of the marketing campaign. I will be looking to see what people find appealing and persuading from a film magazine front cover and a film poster.
This data will be useful for me as it will mean that not only my trailer but also my film poster and magazine will all appeal to my chosen demographic as well as reaching a wider audience. Below I have inserted the three film magazines and the three film posters. There is a mixture of media texts that I have and have not analysed in full detail however they are all part of the thriller genre. This will give me a further insight into the codes and conventions of thriller magazine front covers and posters.
The Film Magazines
I have decided to take all three of my magazine front covers from the same company, Empire. I have done this because it means the front covers are likely to be produced and manufactured in the same way so my survey takers will be able to pick up on the more specific and parts of each magazine as they will all follow a conventional format.
Film Magazine 1 - Bourne Legacy
Film Magazine 3 - Inception
I have chosen the film posters to the three films I used in my trailer survey findings which were as follows:
Film Poster 1 - Split
Film Poster 3 - Inception
The Survey
How Will I Appeal to my Age Demographic? by Eleni Papaioannou
ETHNICITY
Monday 11th September 2017
CLASS
The Class of My Audience Continued by Eleni Papaioannou
NATION
Wednesday 13th September 2017
Now that I have a secure idea as to who my target is for my film, I have decided to do some more research into the rest of the marketing campaign. I will be looking to see what people find appealing and persuading from a film magazine front cover and a film poster.
This data will be useful for me as it will mean that not only my trailer but also my film poster and magazine will all appeal to my chosen demographic as well as reaching a wider audience. Below I have inserted the three film magazines and the three film posters. There is a mixture of media texts that I have and have not analysed in full detail however they are all part of the thriller genre. This will give me a further insight into the codes and conventions of thriller magazine front covers and posters.
The Film Magazines
I have decided to take all three of my magazine front covers from the same company, Empire. I have done this because it means the front covers are likely to be produced and manufactured in the same way so my survey takers will be able to pick up on the more specific and parts of each magazine as they will all follow a conventional format.
Film Magazine 1 - Bourne Legacy
Film Magazine 2 - The Hunger Games
Film Magazine 3 - Inception
The Film Posters
I have chosen the film posters to the three films I used in my trailer survey findings which were as follows:
Film Poster 1 - Split
Film Poster 2 - The Gift
Film Poster 3 - Inception
The Survey
Saturday 16th September 2017
Film Magazine and Poster Analysis from Eleni Papaioannou
Next I have written up the results I found regarding film posters.
Sunday 17th September 2017
Before I moved on to planning out my own trailer, I decided to do summarise what elements of the trailers that I have studied and analysed throughout my research process I can replicate when creating my own. I will focus on the aspects such as:
- Themes
- Characters
- Camera Shots and Angles
- Mise-en-scene
- Narrative
- Characters
- Location
- Sound
How is the narrative portrayed in each of the trailers?
I researched into how the narrative of the trailers is constructed through different techniques such as close up, flashbacks, voice over etc. From this I will have a clear idea as to what elements of film I can incorporate in my own trailer to portray my narrative.
What is the difference between a full trailer and a teaser trailer?
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