Research into target audience - Miss Miller

A target audience is a group of people that a product is aimed at or made for. I need to have a target audience to create my post as it means that i will know what i am allowed to include and what i'm not allowed to include. I also need to think about target audience when creating my post as I need to know what age my opening sequence should be aimed to and this will help me decide what to put in my post and what appeals to that certain audience. I designed a questionnaire which included 10 questionnaires. I asked 40 people about thriller films and I did this in order to find out what most people like in a thrill film and what they would expect to see. I also got
more information about what to include in my opening sequence for instance what weapon the public would want to see most in a thriller film and how they think a thriller film should end. This is going to help me create my opening sequence as I can gain information from the public and apply it to my opening sequence. It has also helped me create an opening sequence that should be thrilling for a particular audience and get that particular audience engaged.

I need to identify my target audience before I create my opening sequence as I need to know what i can and can't include in my sequence. For instance if my audience was mostly around 12 year old's then I wouldn't be allowed to include a lot of violence or swearing as it wouldn't be appropriate for them. I also wouldn't be allowed to include frequent jumpy scenes as it may distress my audience. However if my audience is mostly 15 and over then I would be able to add more jumpy and gory scenes and I would be able to include more violence and highlight the use of weapons more as the older years would not be encouraged to use a weapon in the wrong way where as the younger years might. I also need to consider what specific target audience would like as if my opening sequence is aimed at 15's and over then I can create more of a dark atmosphere and add more unexpected jumpy scenes.

The first question is about gender and from the 40 people I asked, 65% of the people were male while 35% were female. This shows that when making my opening sequence, I need to aim the thriller sequence to men rather than women. This means that my sequence could contain more violence and more gory scenes as men like watching violent and gory films. From my survey, it tells me that more boys like watching thriller films than girls and so my sequence should be aimed more towards the male gender.

The next question I asked was about age. From my research, I found out that the most popular age was 26+ and the least popular age is 12-14. This shows that more adults tend to watch thriller films and this could be because they are above the age limit for thriller films or because they don't become disturbed or distressed with what they see. 12-14 could be the least popular age because a lot of the thriller films made are for 15's and so they could be too young to see them as they contain too many frequent jumpy scenes or there is too much bad language and violence. The scenes could also be quite distressing for people who are aged between 12-14 and this would have an effect on the amount of young people that go to see thriller films. My research tells me that the older years watch thriller films and this could be because they like being thrilled and they enjoy being scared. I am going to aim my opening thriller sequence to people who are 18 and over because this is the most popular age category. 43% of people that I asked are 26+ and 25% are 19-25. Therefore this suggests that my thriller sequence should be aimed the older years as they are more likely to watch it than people who are younger than 18. It also means that I can include more frequent jumpy scenes and include a lot more violence as the older years won't become inflicted by what they see.

From my next pie chart, I can see that  the most popular choice in thriller film is Saw and the least popular thriller film is The Conjuring. 29% of people said that they liked Saw best and this could be because it has continuous amount of blood scenes and is very gory. Only a small amount of people liked The Conjuring and this could be because it is a typical, cliche thriller film and the audience expect what is going to happen next. Saw is original and is gory which engages the audience as it is something that the audience haven't see before. The constant use of gory scenes thrills the audience where as The Conjuring is a typical psychological film. This has helped me to plan my opening sequence as I know not to make my sequence cliche or psychological as more people like gory scenes and like being disturbed. The second most popular thriller film was Final Destination and this tells me that the audience like being kept in suspense as Final Destination constantly builds up suspense and leaves the audience in tension as to what is going to happen next. This has helped me when creating my sequence as I also know to add lots of tense scenes and to make my audience feel suspense as they would become more engaged in my sequence. I also need to make my sequence intriguing my adding lots of unexpected scenes just like both Saw and Final Destination has and this would help keep my audience watching the whole of the sequence. I am going to create a more psychological narrative so that it thriller the audience more. I am also going to include a narrative that contains a lot of blood and this will be shown when the victim gets killed.

From my research, I found out that the most popular weapon that the audience would like to see in a thriller film is a knife. 45% of the people that I asked said knife while only 8% said axe. The reason why people said knife is because it is a typical weapon that is shown in most thriller films. A knife creates a dark and sinister atmosphere and foreshadows events that are going to happen during the sequence. When the audience see a knife, they instantly think of death and pain and this leads the audience into thinking that the victim in the film is going to die. Knife is the most popular weapon because it thrills the audience as they know that the knife is used to kill people but it also creates a lot of pain and blood and the audience like seeing this. The next most popular weapon is a saw. 32% said that saw was their favourite weapon and this creates the same affect as a knife because it creates a lot of pain to the person who it being killed by the saw and it also creates a lot of blood which both thrills and engages the audience. Saw's and knives are the most popular choices because they create sinister effects and creates an element of surprise and shock towards the audience. My research has helped me to decide what weapon I am going to use in my opening sequence. In my opening sequence I would want to include a knife as this is the audiences first choice and this would keep my audience engaged throughout the sequence. The knife was the most popular choice and so I know that if I include a knife in my opening sequence then a lot of the target audience would be intrigued to watch my film. The knife is going to be shown when the killer is holding it and about to kill the victim.

My next question is where the audience expect to see a thriller film set. The majority of the audience said a house while some people said a forest or basement. The least popular choice was a graveyard with only 10% of the people saying that. 47% people said house and this is because typically in thriller films, the location is always the house and this is because it is usually an abandoned  house, or an isolated house. This makes the victims living in the house seem helpless and makes them an easier target for the killer as the house is isolated which means that nobody can hear them scream. It also creates vulnerability between the victims and shows how there is no escape for them. A house is the most popular choice because it creates a sinister atmosphere and the audience know straight away that something bad is going to happen. A forest is the second most popular choice for a thriller film to be set in and this is also because it makes the victims seem helpless and weak because they are alone and the killer see's the victim as an easy target because of their vulnerability and their naivety. A forest is also a good place to set a thriller film as it is conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a killer hiding in the forest. Setting a thriller film in the forest creates frequent jumpy scenes as the killer appears when the least expected and this puts the audience into the shoes of the vicitm. For my sequence, I am going to set my thriller opening sequence in a house because it shows the victim is alone and makes the victim an easy target. The audience will become intrigued into my opening sequence because the isolated house foreshadows death which will take place later on in the sequence. I am going to include a house shot in our narrative. It is going to be shown at the beginning of the sequence to portray isolation and helplessness.

My next question asks how the audience think a thriller film would end and the most popular answer was victim dies. 70% of people said that the victim dies while 22% said that the antagonist dies. the majority of people said that the victim dies because in typical thriller films, the victim always get murdered by the killer. The victim is seen as a target and during the film the killer's aim is to kill the victim. Most thriller films end with the victim dying which engages the audience as throughout the film they are wondering whether the victim is going to die or not. Some people also said that the antagonist dies and this is also conventional to some thriller films as the victim ends up killing the antagonist. This also engages the audience because the audience have built a relationship with the victim and throughout the film they sympathies and feel sorry for the victim as they are know they are going to die. The audience therefore don't want the victim to die and so instead the antagonist dies. In the survey 0% of people said that no one dies and this is conventional to a thriller film because there is always a death that takes place even if it isn't the pain characters. The death is what creates the enigma and keeps the audience engaged into the rest of the film to find out what happens next. In my opening sequence, I am going to have the victim die so that it creates an enigma as to why the killer wants to kill her. The target audience would watch my sequence as they would know that the victim is going to die but they would be intrigued to find out who killed her and why. In my narrative I am going to include the victim dying as this is what the audience expect to see. It is going to be shown towards the end of the sequence as it creates an enigma throughout the scene.

My survey also told me that 55% of the audience prefer to watch jumpy scenes rather than gory. 45% said gory scenes are better. The audience prefer jumpy scenes as they enjoy being thrilled and they enjoy being scared. Using frequent amount of jumpy scenes engages the audience as they don't expect them to happen. The killer appears when the least expected and this scares the audience but also makes them jump. The audience also like jumpy scenes better than gory as there is a build up of tension before the jump scare takes place. This intrigues the audience as they are left on edge, waiting for something bad to happen and this thrills them but also makes them want to watch the rest of the film. Gory scenes can also be quite disturbing for the audience and cause them distress and the content could be too explicit. In my opening sequence I am going to use jumpy scenes rather than gory scenes because it will engage my target audience more and it will build up suspense more. I also want to include jumpy scenes because more people would be more likely to watch my opening sequence more as jumpy scenes lead the audience into the unknown and scare them when they least expect it. My narrative is going to include more jumpy shots and this is going to be used when the killer appears unexpectedly behind the victim.

The last question of my questionnaire was do you enjoy being thrilled and 97% of the people said yes while the other 3% said no. The majority of the people said yes because they enjoy watching scary films and like the enjoyment of being thrilled. Some of the people may have said no because they may not of liked the frequent amount of jumpy scenes in thriller films or the scenes could be too disturbing for them. This told me that in my opening sequence I should contain typical conventions of a thriller film and contain jumpy scenes to engage and thrill my audience. The majority of my target audience like being thrilled and so this has helped me when planning my opening sequence as I want to thrill my audience and keep them engaged in my opening sequence. I would also want to intrigue my audience into watching the rest of the film and this will be done by using scenes that both scare and thrill my audience.

I filmed some Vox pops of people who took the questionnaire. Vox pops are interviews with the public audience through radio or television. The reason why I filmed them is to get proof that my questionnaire is reliable and true. It gives evidence that I have asked people about thriller films and also lets the viewers see the full description of open answers. In my vox pops, the people getting questioned can give longer and more detailed answers which will then help me when creating my opening sequence as I can see what extra information they have added which can be included in my opening sequence. Vox pops also gave me an insight on what I want to include in my opening sequence for instance the majority of people that took my questionnaire said they would expect to see a female victim or that their favourite weapon was a knife and this makes it easier to plan my opening sequence because it means that I can include these things so that I aim it towards my target audience. Vox pops also help me to understand what the public expect to see in thriller films for example an isolated location or jumpy scenes which means that when creating my opening sequence I can add these things in to engage my audience straight away and intrigue them into watching the rest of the film.

This research has helped me when planning my opening sequence as the questionnaire has been useful because I can see what people like in thriller films and what they would expect to see. This helps me when planning my opening sequence as I would include the things that the audience have said so that when I make my thriller film, it appeals to my target audience. The vox pops have also been useful as when asking open questions, they can give more detailed answers and elaborate on what they are saying. I will incorporate the results of the questionnaire and the vox pop into my own opening sequence as I can see what my target audience like best in a thriller film and what they don't like as much. For instance I would include a knife in my opening sequence because the majority of people prefer seeing knives than saw's or axes. I would also set my location in a house as people like seeing the isolated house and this engages them in the film more because the isolated house foreshadows events that are going to take place. I would also add more jumpy scenes rather than gory because people prefer being scared and jumping at an unexpected scene rather than seeing a scene that contains lots of blood. I know what age to aim my target audience to as the most popular age group was 26+ and so this has helped me when creating my opening sequence as I can include more jumpy scenes and more violence. The research has helped me to apply the results into my own opening sequence and this will appeal more to my target audience because their answers would be in my sequence. If  I carried out another research investigation, I would ask the public more open questions so that I can have more detailed answers which would help me more when creating my opening sequence.