Audience Research 1 - Analysis

<< Audience Research - Contents

With reference from the Audience Research questionnaire automatically generated responses, I have analysed the results and submit my conclusions below for each question, as the results from several questions varied to individual preference from the twenty one people who actually took the time to complete the questionnaire in question.

I did not include a name section within this questionnaire as I wanted each participant to answer the questions honestly, because psychology studies show that participants who are known to the interviewer are less likely to submit a response that truly reflects their personal ideas.

Age of participant.
The oldest participant was 45 and the youngest participant was 16
The mean age of the twenty one participants is 23.19 years old
The range of the ages is 29 years old
The statistically median age is 18 years old

From the different forms of averages, it can be concluded that the method of internet based questionnaires mainly attract a younger participant.

Gender of participant.
Eleven females and ten males answered the questionnaire which I feel is an even sample.

What area do you live in?
The regional identity of each participant varied, with the majority living in the Surrey area and two in West Sussex. However, the different towns of Croydon and Epsom indicate a great distance apart.

How would you describe your local area?
The data analysed showed that many of the participants chose to select several options, with the overall opinion that peaceful and busy best described their areas.

I believe that they may have chosen the busy option to reflect how busy their lives are even if they live in a peaceful scenic area and consequently the opposite for people living in a busy area chose peaceful to reflect that there is no real crime or disturbance in their local surroundings.

How do you prefer to access films?
Interestingly twenty people out of twenty one preferred to access films through DVD purchase, whilst only one participant chose film festivals. I will need to research and explore what type of audience film festivals attract.

What encourages you to watch films?
Advertising was the most selected option. Therefore I will have to implement this particular factor when my short film has been created. Advertising a film is important, because it promotes the film more than any other method. It also highlights the exciting features to attract interest. As Friends was another popular option here; it to is another form of advertising through word of mouth.

What is your understanding of the genre 'Social Realism'
There were a variety of answers that basically represented the term “Social Realism.”
However, one person commented that they did not know and another was not aware that it was a genre. I can conclude that educationally the two people in question had not come across this genre before either during their education or through the media. As these two people represent 9.4% of my participants, I believe that the majority of society would have a good indication what the genre is.

Have you ever watched a FEATURE social realism film?
Twelve out of the twenty one participants have viewed a feature social realism film before – 57%

If yes to the previous question, what FEATURE social realism film had the most impact on you and why?
There was a mixed response to this question and some award winning films were mentioned such as ‘This is England,’ ‘Last Resort’ and ‘Sweet Sixteen.’ These particular films would have been extensively advertised to attract a viewing audience and therefore this furthers my need to make sure my own creation is fully advertised.

How long do you think the duration of a short film should be?
There were several different responses to this question, with eleven people preferring to see short films with the duration of five minutes and this was followed by a ten minute viewing. So judging this factor I will have to limit my own film to around the five minute mark which I had already anticipated to do so prior to this questionnaire, however if the results were any different I would have had to reconsider.

Have you ever watched a SHORT social realism film?
Only seven out of my twenty one participants have viewed a short film. To bring the awareness of short films I am going to post a couple of short films to the GR Media facebook page, along with a further short questionnaire. This will not only allow them the opportunity to view short social realism films, but I could gain some more valued opinions that will help me to develop and generate various ideas for my future script writing.

If yes to the previous question, what SHORT social realism film had the most impact on you and why?
There were some detailed descriptions that had different element directions from someone analysing the meaningful camera shots to someone suggesting that they could personally relate to the era of the film. This suggests to me that a short film would have to clearly relate to a recognisable issue which will reflect on my audiences life views.

Do you feel there is a need for more social realism films about teenage issues? Thirty four percent of the participants chose either the option 'No' or 'Don't know' and when I analysed these responses to their age and gender, I could not find any correlation to help deepen my understanding for their choice. Moreover, I believe it was just purely their individual preference. However, sixty six percent of the participants felt that there was a need for more social realism films about teenage issues. With this result, and at this particular stage of research, I will have to endeavour to have a teenage protagonist in my short film.

Which theme and issue is most likely to attract you to a social realism film?
Fifty seven percent of my participants chose relationships, whilst three individual people could offer an alternative suggestion by choosing to write their own answer in the ‘other’ section. These points of view consisted of alternative culture, prison and unemployment. From the results, it is clear from the majority that a film based around relationships would be a wise and popular decision, although I will look into incorporating other themes and issues.

<< Audience Research - Contents