Primary Audience Research

PRIMARY AUDIENCE

RESEARCH

QUESTIONNAIRE

After establishing that I wanted to target 15-24 year olds and mainly females in the socio economic C1 category, in my secondary research, I made a questionnaire to find out what this audience would want in a drama/coming of age trailer, magazine cover and film poster. I handed it out to 30 people who could be in my target audience. I picked to ask 30 people because it seems like a large enough number to give a good sized proportion of data to indicate what I need to think about. 10 were given to people outside the cinema, 10 were given to people in the centre of town, on the high street and 10 were given to people at independent stores. I did this because I thought this would be the best way to find out what people who I thought were in my audience would be (trendies). I gave 13 to boys and 17 to girls, as this is how I hope to target my audience. I asked closed and open ended questions to get a variation of answers.

Question 1

1. Look at these film posters. Which one do you like the best?

The majority of people preferred the "Control" poster, and when asked why most people commented on the image in the poster and the colours used. Greyscale with one vibrant colour clearly stands out alot and is very attractive to my target audience. So this is possibly something to consider when thinking about making my own film poster, and even in the filming; perhaps greyscale is something to consider.

Question 2

2. Are ratings/reviews on film posters important to you?

The results to this question shows that the majority of people aren't really influenced to see a film by ratings. In light of this, perhaps when I am making my own film poster I should include maybe one rating as a third of my audience still value them, but I won't put lots on, as in the "This Is England" poster, as most of my audience doesn't favour them.

Question 3

3. What do you take most notice of on a film poster?

A lot of people noted that they took notice of the colours mainly, as it is the first thing people see when passing something. The second most frequent answer was the images; if the images are attractive then it hints at the film being filmed well and having nice cinematography. The third answer that was common was the title of the film. A young audience wants to look cool, and if the look of the film is good, it should have a good title. One person commented that a title that's derived from something in popular culture is good and attractive to them, for example "Nowhere Boy" is derived from The Beatle's song "Nowhere Man".

Question 4

4. Which of these film magazine covers appeals to you most?

The results of this question show that my audience aren't really interested in or attracted to the mainstream, bold and brass elements of the "Total Film" magazine cover at all. A few people commented to me on the fact that they liked the cover of "Little White Lies" because it looked really "indie" and cool and that they would like to be seen reading it; it fits in with their image. Because of this, I think I would like to make a magazine cover that's quite arty, fun and subtle, like the style of "Little White Lies".

Question 5

5. Would you be interested in buying an independent, less mainstream film magazine?

Most people answered that yes, they would. This is an advantage as it backs up the conclusions to the results of question 4, as a more independent magazine is what I am interested in trying.

Question 6

6. How much would you pay for a film magazine?

I left this question open because I didn't think it was fair to put specific boundaries on answers as then the answers would be more like my answers. Most people wrote figures from £2.20 to £2.85 and one person put £3.20. Personally, I think this is a bit steep for a film magazine, especially as if mine were real it wouldn't yet be established at all. In addition to this, my target audience includes a lot of students, who are renowned for not having much disposable income. Because of this I will pick a half way mark of £2.50 to price mine at. I think this would be an acceptable price for a real film magazine as it still seems enough to cover large distribution costs that the magazines would invite, as there would be a relatively small number of magazines going to smaller shops, probably in city areas.

Question 7

7. Which would you prefer a new film magazine to be?

No people wanted a weekly published film magazine and few people wanted a fortnightly published film magazine. Most people wanted a monthly magazine, which I think seems most appropriate, mainly because that would give a good selection of films to write about because not many would have been released in a week or fortnight. It also reduces production costs as it wouldn't be being made as often.

Question 8

8. Do you think find a film trailer/film based around the idea of nostalgia or the past is more appealing than one based in the present day?

Over three quarters of the people who answered the questionnaire said that they thought this was true. I asked a few people why they put this and they all said it was because old things just seem more attractive and interesting. One person commented that it was the music aswell; "old music is appealing to almost everyone".

Question 9

9. Would you see a film about different social classes and groups to yourself?

Everyone answered yes to this question. This response fits in with the idea of nostalgia as if my own storyline was to be about someone from the past, or interested in the past, they would most likely be of a different social group to most people nowadays.

Question 10

10. Would you prefer a coming of age drama to be about one person or a group of people?

A large percentage of people (the majority) said they would prefer it to be about one person. When asked why, they said it was because this would make the plot stronger as it might be spread to thin and be too complicated if it was about a gang of people. They said it would be good to compare the main chracter to other people their age aswell. This will be vital when I come to deciding on a definite plot for my own film trailer, and it will help me a lot.

Question 11

11. What would attract you most to a film within a film trailer?

In the responses I got, there were some things that appeared quite a lot. The music that is used was one, people said that striking or emotive music would attract them to a film. This element links with the nostalgia question, as it might work if I were to ask people which songs from the past that they would like to hear in a trailer. A lot of people also said the cinematography. One girl said that in "Control" she liked the trailer and film because of the nicely arranged shots within it. Another person said that voice-overs were important for them as it can portray the stoyline very quickly and simply. Some people said good costumes and the fashion aspect attracted them to the film and quite a lot of people said the graphics in the logos like the titles attracted them, as these can effectively dispaly the tone of the film. Now that I know this is what appeals to and attracts my target audience, I can try and include these things/consider them when planning and making my own products.

FOCUS GROUP

In addition to handing out a questionnaire, I also held a small focus group of 5 people to ask them more in depth questions about the production package I would like to create. In the focus group was Justin (aged 20), Ruby (aged 21), Shaun (aged 24), Rowan (aged 18) and Sophie (aged 17). This gave me a fairly wide variation of ages a good proportion of genders that I want to target. I recorded the conversations and took notes, and these are the transcriptions.

FILM TRAILER DISCUSSION

Me: Watch this trailer (“Control” trailer as used in textual analysis). Do you like it? What do you find appealing about it?

Ruby: Well it’s kind of a cool thing that’s not mainstream. I mean, you wouldn’t expect a chav to like it would you? It kind of links the people who like Joy Division in one audience and makes you feel part of something.

Justin: Oh, well it’s not really about the music for me. I like Joy Division, don’t get me wrong, but I really like the cinematography. It looks beautiful. There isn’t one bad shot in there. And the greyscale gets over the theme of the past – it just looks really cool.

Ruby: Yeah exactly.

Sophie: But it’s the acting as well. That trailer would be so bad if it didn’t have good actors in it.

Rowan: And as well, it just looks iconic.

Sophie: Oh! And I like the voiceover. You know, where he does the speech about “having no control anymore”. That like tells you the meaning, so it’s good. You know where you stand.

Justin: I like the graphics.

Ruby: Oh yeah, where it flashes?

Sean: Yeah. The words in are really effective as well, where it says “the passion” and stuff.

Me: Do you think a film trailer that’s in a mix of greyscale and colour would be visually attractive?

Justin: Definitely. Everything looks epic in greyscale and overstated, like it’s got something important about it.

Sean: I don’t know. It depends on whether or not it’s to do with the past.

Me: Would that appeal to you?

Sean: Yeah, well it would to me. An iconic part of the past, everyone loves that. Films like that always sell.

Rowan: Yeah I’d like that.

Me: Would that appeal to you then?

(unanimous yes)

Sophie: As well, sorry to go back to it, but with the “Control” trailer, there’s different songs. And the songs reflect the mood, and the pacing of the shots matches it.

Rowan: I agree with that. A film needs more than one trailer.

Sean: Only if it’s long.

Justin: Well no, because even if it’s short, it shows a bit of depth.

And dialogue?

Ruby: I don’t find that as vital really –

Sean: Nah, me neither.

Ruby: Yeah but try and get in one comedy moment in your own that you’re doing.

Me: It’s going to be a coming of age drama.

Ruby: Then you need an indication that that’s what it is. You know, shouting, crying, laughing, dancing. You want a good range in there.

Sophie: Yeah, you want to make it powerful. Make it go through stages.

MAGAZINE COVER DISCUSSION

Me: Look at these magazine covers (“This is England” edition, “Control” edition and “An Education” edition of “Little White Lies”). Do you like them? What do or don’t you like about them?

Sophie: They look pretty suave. Like different to any other magazine cover I’ve ever seen.

Justin: Very arty – they look sophisticated.

Ruby: Yeah, and they’re so simple, yet complicated. That didn’t really make sense. There isn’t alot there by way of text and stuff, but the picture sums up the film itself. That’s really cool. But then, when you look at the picture and all of the codes and stuff – it does seem complicated and clever.

Sean: Definitely clever. It’d make you look cool if you were seen with it.

Rowan: Yeah but I’m not too keen on the logo title thing.

Me: The masthead? Why not?

Rowan: I don’t think that looks good. I get what you’re saying about it looks different and that’s good. The cover is attractive. But that circle with a barcode and title. That isn’t good.

Me: So would you be interested in a film magazine cover that was quite graphics/art orientated with the image, but that had a normal masthead or a more subtle barcode.

Justin: Yeah that’d be better. Also, it fits in with the trailer and stuff doesn’t it (points to “Control” edition). The black and white and the solitude. I like that.

Sophie: Yeah continuity is important, you want that when you make yours.

Rowan: You don’t want to make exactly the same and replicate those things though. The graphics bit is good, but it would be hard to copy the style of, without copying.

Ruby: Not necessarily. You could do like a line drawing or something.... or you could mix photography with drawing?

Sean: But it might still be too similar.

Rowan: Definitely something you need to be careful of, in my opinion anyway. Different is good. Just don’t do the same as this one.

Me: Right. So would you like to see a lot of sell lines? A large masthead? Just one image?

Sean: Just one image, only one or two sell lines maybe. Maybe more.. a small font though, you don’t want it to look crowded, then it wouldn’t be different anymore.

Ruby: True. And maybe a more traditionally placed masthead. But you can still mess around with fonts and stuff. Keep it to one image; you don’t want it to look overcomplicated.

Justin: I think it would be good if you could somehow wrap or move text, like sell lines, around the image on the cover. That would be quite different. You could maybe do that with the masthead. Like if you had a person’s face, you could put the masthead or sell lines in their eyes. That would look ace.

Rowan: That’s how you could make it different! Don’t make the image portrait and like a close up like those (points to magazine covers). Maybe you could do landscape? Or use an image that covers the whole height of the person, not just their face?

Sophie: Yeah, I agree. You want to play around, make it as off the wall as possible. That’s what we trendies like! (laughs)

FILM POSTER DISCUSSION

Me: Last but not least – film posters. Do you like these film posters? (“This Is England”, “Control” and “An Education Poster”) What do you like, or dislike, about them?

Justin: Bold titles, excellent and attractive photos, good costumes, matching colour scheme..

Ruby: Yeah they’re really nice to look at –

Sean: Aesthetically pleasing.

Ruby: Yeah. It’s like with the magazine covers. The images and colours sum up the film in themselves. Like the stance in this one (points to poster for “This Is England”), you can tell it’s about gangs from how they’re all lined up. And you can see the personalities of the characters.

Sophie: No I like this one (points to “Control” poster). It’s just a really nice photo. It looks iconic... I don’t think one was taken of Ian Curtis that looked like that. But it just looks kind of.... epic, I guess.

Rowan: Yeah, I know what you mean. But the title, the bold pink it looks unreal, and on it’s own it probably would. But compared to that one (“This Is England” poster) there’s no texture. That one looks like that fence. Even in the “An Education” one, there’s a bit of a lighting effect.

Sean: Oh no, I thought that one looked bad – the text I mean. It looks like something off of WordArt (laughs)

Justin: Actually, yeah! Now you come to mention it!

Sean: I think the control one looks good.

Sophie: They all follow that special order of having the credits and that at the bottom.

Justin: Yeah, it would look bad if that was at the top though.

Sophie: I don’t know. Maybe. But I think it looks good at the bottom, I have seen them at the top before.

Justin: Really?

Sophie: Yes.

Rowan: I have too!

Ruby: Yeah, Soph’s right though, it looks best at the bottom.

Me: And what about the colour scheme?

Sean: Well that depends on what kind of mood the film has I suppose. But the continuity of colours between trailer, magazine and poster seems to be important.

Rowan: Yes, you should stick to one colour scheme really.

Justin: Good point. If it’s meant to be deep though, the storyline, I mean, maybe you should keep the colours deep as well, you know, like symbolism.

Rowan: Greyscale seems to go with any colour.

Sean: If it’s about nostalgia and the past like you were saying before, maybe you could use like a sepia effect on Photoshop, to make it look like an old photo.

Ruby: That sounds good. Or include costumes, makeup, objects like records and stuff, you could use those around the edge or in the image in the poster or something. Like in someone’s room.

Sophie: You want to keep the photo or picture or whatever in keeping with the whole tone and feel of the film. Never forget the continuity, makes you feel like they are all actually linked together... the products, I mean.

This has been very benificial. I now know some exact design areas and aspects that my target audience would like to see in the products I am going to create. I will use their advice and regularly ask them what they would like best when creating my products, holding forums with them to gather their opinions.