How we used our audience research in our thriller opening

In our first audience research i found out how people identify if a film is independent or mainstream. I showed each person the "London to Brighton" trailer and the "Kill Bill" trailer and asked them which one they think is independent and why. Most of the answers said because the independent trailer looks more authentic and there are no well-known actors/actresses or well-known locations. For our thriller opening Alice, Dan and I applied this to our thriller by using an authentic feel to it. The most recognisable feature is the snow. We used the snow very wisely in our thriller to create the realness we wanted.

In my second part of the audience research task I asked a handful of friends and family members where they find out about film releases and how they view films. I always had in mind during this question of the audience research task that a lot of the public view films and entertainment through the internet so i had to think about who i was going to ask regarding the persons age and gender. I feel like i recieved a good general response from all ages. I gradually realised throughout this task that the people who are older seemed to have less knowledge on where to find films or whats a good film at the moment. The younger ages told me that they know exactly where to find the film they wanted to watch on the internet. Could this be because of the lack of the illegal piracy? the consequences of the illegal downloads is too easy to avoid. For our thriller film we thought about making a advert as if it was a real film being shown at a real cinema. We collected our audience research results and tried to apply the most important parts to our thriller advert. We then realised that what we were planning on taking on was too much as well as filming the film and editing the piece so we abandoned the idea of advertising our thriller opening.

The next part of the audience research was to find out the audiences expectations of the sub-genre: Crime thriller. I asked three different people, two males and one female. One male who is aged 18 replied that he would expect guns and violence to be in a crime thriller. This can be seen as a traditional male response however without guns and violence the crime thriller would not be a crime thriller itself. The other two answers were somewhat similar, they both said they like thrillers that have twists and leave the audience in suspense. We made sure we applied these things to our thriller opening. We used guns and violence in our thriller when the femme fatale "Eve" is shot unexpectedly. We used many twists when we shot our femme fatale and we left the audience in suspense when "Eve" opens her eye at the end of the opening.

Another question I had to apply was "where would you expect a crime thriller to be set - inner city, suburbs, countryside, isolated, hi-life or low-life" each person replied with a similar answer which was either "inner city" or "low-life". Me, Alice and Dan immediatley decided that we had chosen a good location for our thriller. One answer said that "crime thriller are mostly always set in inner citys to show distortion" I agree with this as it shows great understanding of the thriller convention.

My final piece of the audience research was "what do you expect of the femme fatale in thrillers" each person said they expect the femme fatale to be alluring and seductive. We applied this to our thriller as our femme fatale is glamorous and elegant. Somebody also said that they like it when the femme fatale stays alive because is creates tension throughout the film. In our thriller film we made our audience believe that our femme fatale "Eve" was killed to create one twist, however we made another twist on top of that and showed that our femme fatale wasnt really dead. This created a suspense to our opening.

Audience Research

What do you expect of the 'femme fatale' in thrillers?

1. Gender: Male

Age: 21

Answer: I expect the femme fatales to be seductive. Most femme fatales get killed during the film to create a twist but i like it when they stay alive. Like in Jackie Brown.

2. Gender: Female

Age: 17

Answer: I expect the femme fatale to be elegant and alluring. To be more flamboyant than the other characters.

3. Gender: Female

Age: 19

Answer: I expect the femme fatale to be independent. I enjoy it when the femme fatale is a golddigger because it adds humour.

Audience Research

Where would you expect a crime thriller to be set? - Inner city, Suburbs, Countryside, Isolated, populated, hi-life, low-life.
The Da Vinci Code - Example of crime thriller

1. Gender: Female

Age: 16

Answer: If i was to watch a thriller that was set in inner city or low-life i would be able to identify it as a crime thriller. When directors try to make their film not like the traditional thriller film it can sometimes seem too fake.

Inner City X

Suburbs

Countryside

Isolated

Hi-life

Low-life X

2. Gender: Female

Age: 20

Answer: I would expect a crime thriller to be set in low-life. Although i do like films which are set in isolated places like the countryside because although it's a big space it can give a feeling of an enclosed place because of the vast isolation.

Inner City

Suburbs

Countryside

Isolated

Hi-life

Low-life X

3. Gender: Male

Age: 29

Answer: Crime thrillers are mostly always set in busy inner cities to show hustle and bustle and distortion. I always enjoy thrillers which have traditional thriller conventions.

Inner City X

Suburbs

Countryside

Isolated

Hi-life

Low-life

Audience Research

What are the audiences expectations of sub-genre crime thriller?
What are you're expectations of the sub genre - crime thriller?

1. Gender: Male
Age: 18
Answer: I would expect guns and violence to be in a crime thriller. I would be disappointed if there was not much action in the film.

2. Gender: Male
Age:15
Answer: Crime thrillers are my favourite type of film so i always expect good things. I have been let down by a few though. I am disappointed if the film doesnt have a suspense to it.

3. Gender: Female
Age: 45
Answer: I dont know much about thrillers. I like thrillers where theres lots to think about and the plot twists and turns. Like in Pulp Fiction. I like independent films mostly, this is where the sense of the film being authentic comes from. I feel like the thriller could be true.

Audience Research

How do you find out about film releases? How do you view films?

How do you view films?

1. Gender: Male

Age: 16

Answer: I normally download recent films off the internet because they're too expensive to buy or rent.

2. Gender: Female

Age: 19

Answer: I just watch the films that are on television at the time. I dont have time to go to the cinema.

3. Gender: Female

Age: 21

Answer: Sometimes i rent films or buy cheap ones from the shop. I occasionally go to the cinema if i hear a good film is out, i will make the effort to go and see it if it's worth it

Where do you find out about film releases?

1. Gender: Male

Age: 18

Answer: Mostly adverts on television or just off friends

2. Gender: Female

Age: 23

Answer: From posters advertising the film mostly, i dont really watch many films anymore. I only ever hear of the big breakthrough films.

3. Gender: Male

Age: 14

Answer: Off the internet or on television when an advert comes on. I always see posters around the city telling you to watch this new film. its intriguing so i must go and see it.

Thriller Film Audience Research Proposal

What I want to find out:
1. The audience expectations of independent/mainstream film
2. How do people find out about film releases? Where do people view films?
3. What are audiences expectations of sub-genre crime thriller?
4. Where would you expect a crime thriller to be set? - Inner city, Suburbs, Countryside, Isolated, populated, hi-life, low-life.
5. What do you expect of the 'femme fatale' in thrillers?
How I am going to find out:
1. Interviews - with clips - 6 people.
2. Questionnaire for initial research
3. Filmed interviews with a range of age/gender
What I expect to find out:

1. Audience research

The audience expectations of Independent/mainstream films

Looking at the two video clips, which one would you say is the independent film?

1. Gender: Female
Age: 19
Answer: The first clip

2. Gender: Male
Age: 17
Answer: The first clip

What do you like/dislike about the difference in the mainstream and independent film clips?

1. Gender: Male
Age: 44
Answer: I like that in the independent film everything is done as it is seen so it looks authentic. There are no special effects like in the mainstream film.

2.Gender: Female
Age: 16
Answer: I like the effects in the mainstream film because it gives a suspense however it doesn't look realistic like the independent film.

If you went to the cinema to watch London to Brighton thinking it was a mainstream film. Would you be dissapointed?

1. Gender: Female
Age: 22
Answer: Yes, i think so. I'd be expecting much more glamorous locations and more surreal action.

2. Gender: Male
Age: 18
Answer: Yes, deffinatley. If i paid to go and see a mainstream film I'd be expecting to see some well known actors/actresses.