Audience research for my thriller

Which of these 4 femme fatales do you think would be most effective in a psychological thriller?

A)

B)

C)

D)

What type of thriller is your favourite?

A) Psychological
B) Gangster
C) Action
D) Sci-fi

Do you think it’s easy to identify the difference between a mainstream and independent film?

A) Yes
B) No

What type of music would you expect to be played on the opening of a psychological thriller?

A) Jazz
B) Classical
C) Rock
D) None at all

What lighting do you think would be effective in a psychological thriller?

A) Noir
B) Natural
C) Artificial

Do you think it’s crucial to have a well known actor in a thriller film?

A) Yes
B) No

What is your favourite type of ‘baddie’ in a thriller film?

A) Cops
B) Criminal
C) Psychotic killer
D) Drug addict

Evaluation of results:

I conducted this questionnaire on 30 random people- by asking 30 people it ensured that my results would be reliable and therefore more beneficial for me (when making my thriller film). By collecting the results to this questionnaire, I have been able to establish what the audience would like from my thriller.

For question one, B appeared to be the most popular femme fatale. This character is the femme fatale (Marion Crane) from the very famous thriller film Psycho. I was very pleased to receive this result, as we are using Psycho as our inspiration and our femme fatale is similar to Marion Crane from Psycho.

For question two most people said they preferred a gangster thriller however, 10 people chose psychological. This has not affected the fact that I would like to create the opening to a psychological thriller because, in my opinion, psychological thrillers are the most interesting and gripping. And i would find it a lot easier to create a film knowing a felt passionate about it.

28 people said it's easy to identify the difference between an independent and mainstream film. I think if they were given the opportunity to elaborate on this, they would have said it depends on the time and effort put in to the independent films.

For question 4 most people said classical music would work best for a psychological thriller. This will help me when choosing the soundtrack, as the audience feel that classical will be most effective.

For question 5 natural lighting was the most popular result- which is the lighting we will be using. Noir lighting would also be effective, however it will be easier to create natural lighting and it's clearly the most popular choice from participants of the questionnaire.

15 people said it's crucial to have a well known actor, whereas the other 15 said no. In our thriller we will obviously not be using well known actors, in my opinion this will not effect how good our thriller will be overall.

The favourite type of baddie chosen was psychotic killer. This is fantastic, as we intend to use a pyschotic killer. I feel it will make our thriller gripping and intense. And participants clearly agree.

Thriller film audience research

What I want to find out:

1. The audience's expectations of how entertaining an independent/mainstream film will be.
2. Whether the audience prefer psychological thrillers.
3. Whether the audience prefer glamorous or dull settings.
4. What kind of femme fatale the audience likes.


How I am going to find out:

1. Questionnaires.
2. Surveys.
3. Interviews.
4. Analysis of films.

What I expect to find out:

1. That audiences expect the film to not be as entertaining as a Hollywood film.
2. The audiences will expect it to be produced in a very cheap way.
3. The audience will expect the locations/settings to be dull and unglamorous.

Over a weekend how many seperate screenings are there in cinemas?
89

How many films in total are being exhibited?
12

How many films are being screened several times at the same cinema?
12. However, the films that have most recently been released have more showing than those that have been showing for a while.

Of these, how many are being screened at different cinemas at the same time?
9.

What conclusions can you draw about film distribution in the UK?
Blockbuster, big, films are screened for longer and more frequently. Whereas, small budget films aren't shown very often, if atall.