These are the results of a survey I produced using surveymonkey.com. I asked a number of people using Facebook and by email to carry out my survey so that I could gather reliable data which I could use to help me finding an audience and settling on my film genre and idea.
1) Are you male or female?
Male – 72.7%
Female – 27.3%
Is important when discussing the type of genre they choose. This relates to the type of audience which might be attracted to certain genres. When looking at further results in my survey, I can look at what appeals most to a mainly male audience, and think about whether they would come under my target audience.
2) How old are you?
15-21 – 60%
22-29 – 20%
30-37 – 10%
38+ – 10%
The age range mainly includes a younger audience so the results cannot be generalised for everyone because the people who took the survey aren’t equally distributed in age. However, some of the older audience are included which means is more reliable than if the survey was only filled out by people under 21. Also, I can use this to my advantage to find out what an audience of the majority being younger prefer in films and particularly whether they would be interested in the one I will produce.
3) What genre of film do you prefer?
Comedy – 60%
Thriller/Horror – 50%
Sci-fi – 20%
Action/Adventure – 60%
Romantic Comedy – 30%
Romance – 10%
Crime/Mystery – 30%
Drama -10%
Historical – 20%
Supernatural – 10%
Experimental – 30%
The most appealing genres appear to be Action/Adventure, Comedy and Thriller/Horror. However Crime/Mystery, Experimental and Romantic Comedy are popular too. This means that a male majority audience will prefer suspense and action or something comical, compared to a purely romance or supernatural. This is important as it means that a mainly younger age audience prefers the genre of my film (Thriller/Mystery) meaning that they are important when concluding who my target audience is. Also, my film will contain some experimental elements, and knowing that 30% of the people who took part in the survey are interested in this genre reassures me that it may still appeal to the wider audience.
4) How do you mainly watch films?
Going to the cinema – 33.3%
Through the internet – 11.1%
Watching television – 22.2%
DVD/VCR – 77.8%
This shows that most of the people questioned watch films at home, with only a third attending the cinema most commonly. This means that the film is still going to have to be capturing without using all the effects possible in cinema. This implies that we need to make our film visually interesting so it still has an impact on the audience.
5) Who do you mainly watch films with?
Family members – 30%
Group of friends – 20%
One or two friends/your partner – 70%
On your own – 20%
Because the results show that people usually watch films with other people, we need to take this into consideration. Therefore, when making a film, we will have to be able to attract the whole audience and keep them entertained throughout so that they maintain to watch the film, even when with friends. It’s also important to appeal to all family members and a variety of different audiences so that everyone feels involved.
6) What attracts you to watch a film?
Reviews and ratings – 20%
Heard from others that it is good – 40%
The good actors in it – 50%
It’s your favourite genre – 40%
A good director – 30%
Description/Advertising – 50%
To socialise – 10%
The most important factors seem to be the actors, description (from either reviews or other people) and genre. This means it’s essential to pick a genre which will appeal to a large audience and to cast actors which give a realistic performance. Results previously show that Thriller/Mystery genre would be popular so I know that a large amount of people will enjoy it. Also, we will aim to cast the best actors possible, so that they give a high quality performance, so that our audience will enjoy the film as much as possible.
7) What is your favourite film?
The dark knight, V for Vendetta, The Notebook, V for Vendetta, Platoon, The Hangover, Fight Club, Dodgeball and more.
Most of these films have a tense atmosphere to them, with psychological inclusion and action or thriller genres, although there is obviously a comedy appeal too. This shows that an audience containing mostly men are more likely to enjoy a film of these genre types. Again, this concludes that because our film is Thriller/Mystery, then it will appeal to men as they prefer films of this genre, shown from the list above.
8) Why did you like it?
Main answers included: good story, suspense, action, music, script, memorable, dramatic, impact, style and genre.
This gives us an insight into what people view a good film as and what it should include to be liked by this type of audience. Using this list, we can make sure our film contains all of these elements to a good standard so that it really appeals to our target audience and has a unique selling point as well.
