Audience Research Findings

I have conducted multiple types of different audience research so that I can help my group to effectively plan our thriller opening and so that we will be able to get the best results possible. Each piece of feedback and answer I have got back from my research will help me to see what needs to be included or perhaps what doesn't need to be included in the opening to our thriller film.

Questionnaires

Findings: From the questionnaires that I sent out to a wide variety of different people I have managed to learn that action, psychological and gangster based thrillers are the most popular sub-genres. I have also learned that the majority of people think that romance should not be present in thriller films as it could spoilt the plot and ruin the effect of some of the tension and action creating elements.

Action: Through these findings I will try and make sure that there is no or very little romance in our thriller opening as well as trying to get some action, gangster and psychological parts into our thriller opening. A mixture of all three would work very well and adding with our pitch ideas that we presented to our peers I think that the gangster style will take the centre stage.

Pitch Presentations

Findings: Our pitch presentations helped me to realise that we need a lot more detail under the surface of our thriller opening to give it some purpose and give it some questions to ask the audience. I have learned that people think that the gangster or the spy based thriller would be the best idea and that they think they would be the most appealing of the three ideas. People think that the setting for these needs to be in a preferably confined location with darkish lighting. This will help to add to the effect as an open space with ‘pretty’ buildings or surrounding would take some of the tension building effect away.

Action: From what I have found here I will make sure that we choose a good location and setting for our thriller opening. Trying to find a location to film that suits what the film is about as well as the natural light being quite dark and gloomy will be a priority. I will try to find out some more about gangster films as this seems like the most appealing of the three ideas to most people. The spy based thriller would be the second choice should we not be able to advance with the gangster thriller.

Internet Research

Findings: I have researched on the internet into what a wide variety of different age groups as well as what different genders think makes a good thriller opening. From this I have discovered that people think some of most effective tension building techniques are to add music and sound effects as well as making sure that there are a wide variety of different shots. People also seem to want some confusion so that it makes them intrigued to watch the rest of the film and ask questions.

Action: From this I will make sure that we include a large variety of shots in our shot list so that we can really build the tension up during the filming that we do. During the editing stage of our thriller opening I will ensure that we use a range of different sound effects to emphasise points as well as the potential for some music to be added as long as it is suitable for the storyline.