Michelle Grace

Target Audience Research Results

1. How old are you?
As shown below, the majority of respondents (54.55%) were aged between
17-18, closely followed by the ages 15-16 (at which 40.26% were placed).
This is ideal, as our target audience is of this age group. As a result, we
are able to ensure that we are receiving feedback from the people at
whom our movie is aimed. The research may, however, be hindered by the
fact that only 3.6% of students were aged 19+. This is because our target
audience extends above this age, thus our sample is not entirely
representative of the whole target audience.

2. What is your gender?

Michelle Grace
A vast majority of our
respondents were female,
which could potentially
hinder the suitability of
our research (as our
primary target audience
are men). Despite this,
36.36% of responses were
from the male gender, this
still giving us a
considerable amount of
responses to work with. A
very low number of
respondents (6.5% in
total) identified as
anything outside of these
two genders. These
figures are so low that
they will likely not
significantly impact the
proportion of responses; however their presence ensures that we receive a
range of viewpoints from different individuals.
3. On average, how often do you watch thriller films in a month?
Despite 22.08% of respondents claiming to never watch thriller movies, a
total of 77.92% of people watch thriller films at least once a month. This
means that a large majority of those answering the questionnaire are
familiar with the genre, and thus may be enticed by our movie. Likewise,
this familiarity will likely enable them to have an awareness of what they
like and dislike within the thriller genre specifically (as opposed to movies
as a whole), therefore improving the quality and validity of our research.
Despite this, the responses of those who do not watch thriller films can be
deemed of equal value, as we will be able to generate an understanding of
what would entice them to watch a movie of the genre, and how we could
include this within our production.

Michelle Grace

4. Is there anything you

particularly like to see

in thriller films (if you

watch them)?

The above responses were those which I deemed most appropriate and useful,
giving us a clear insight into what audience look for in thriller films. Many of
these can be directly related to the key conventions of thriller (i.e action,
mystery, a string of threats); however many are further applicable to our
production. Examples of this include strong female characters, psychological
themes, unique narratives and a plot which makes you think. This provides us
with a degree of validation surrounding our production idea, whilst also allowing
us to ensure that we use key conventions in the manner desired by our audience
(i.e suspension and anticipation shouldnt be a cliche or obvious).
5. Is there anything you dislike to see in thriller movies (if you watch
them)?

Michelle Grace
.

As can be seen within the above

results, our audience appear to be
tired of predictable or clich
narratives and characters, and are
instead interested in that which
defies their expectations. This can be suited to out
production, wherein we aim to create an
unconventional storyline, as well as oppose character
stereotypes. Other respondents, however, gave
critique regarding technical elements of thriller movies for example jump
scares, pointless plot points, boring scenes and cringeworthy acting. As a
result, we will be able to recognise this and attempt to minimise the inclusion of
such elements (i.e multiple respondents claimed to dislike jump scares, meaning
we will likely not include any within our production).
6. Do you prefer films with a simple or complex storyline?
As can be seen in the graph, a
vast majority of respondents
(78.95%) claimed to prefer
complex rather than simple
storylines. This, again, provides us
with validation regarding our
production idea (which is to have
a more complex narrative style).
From these results, it can be
further inferred that audiences
enjoy actively engaging with and
thinking about a movie they are
watching, which again correlates
with the nature of our film.
7. How long (on average)
after a film starts does it
take you to decide whether you want to continue watching?
A majority of respondents (31.17%) stated that it took them between 6-10
minutes to decide whether they want to continue watching a movie.
18.18%, however, claimed that it took them merely between 1-5 minutes
to make this decision. This is the approximate length which our opening
sequence will be, therefore meaning that we will have to ensure it is as
engaging and captivating as possible, and entices an audience as quickly

Michelle Grace
as possible. On a wider
scale, most responses
(70.03%) were within the
time frame of 1-15
minutes. This is a relatively
small amount of time for an
audience to decide whether
or not they want to commit
to watching a movie;
therefore proving that we
must ensure to captivate
our viewers attention as
quickly as possible.
8. What makes a character
in a film stand out to
you? What makes them
interesting?
I

In terms of
characterisation, I think
that our audience appear
to be captivated by
characters who are well
developed and realistic.
Many respondents
mentioned the character
having an interesting
backstory of some sort, a
technique which arguably
makes a character feel
more threedimensional and
human, allowing an audience to full engage and identify with them.
Likewise, other respondents mentioned characters which they are able to
relate to. Audience identification is a technique we aim to use within our
own production (through characters), so this, again, validates the success

Michelle Grace
of our idea amongst the target audience. Furthermore, it was stated that
our audience like characters to be unique, something new or against
overly used stereotypes. Amongst our two leading characters, we aim to
reverse the binary opposition between men and women, therefore
supporting this unconventional representation. Overall, I think that the
responses suggest that audiences, as a whole, are captivated by
characters that are believable and realistic, with developed and intricate
personalities.
9. If you have one, what is your favourite thriller film and why?

Overall, this question has appeared to support the previous responses given
regarding what audiences like to see within thriller films/characters. Many
respondents justified their choice of film with a comment regarding the
unconventional nature of the narrative, or the engagement/interest generated
and maintained through plot or character. This not only suggests that the
unconventional nature of our storyline may act in our favour; however further
indicates what we need to include to gain audience approval. From this, we will
be able to ensure that we create the required level of tension (as mentioned in
multiple responses) through the use of an engaging narrative and

Michelle Grace

10.What type of themes do you like to see in a thriller film, if any? Please
place the themes in order 1-6 (1 being most desirable 6 being least
desirable)

Our final question was

used in order to gain an understanding of which themes are popular
amongst audiences. The results proved to show a general interest in all
themes, as shown in the above graph. Despite this, the theme of crime
received the lowest amount of high ratings (only 5.56% of respondents
rated this as their favourite theme), whereas Drama received the highest
amount (27.78%) of 6 ratings. The most popular theme was shown to be
mystery, closely followed by both murder/death and psychological. The
success of the mystery theme can be associated with Barthes enigma
code (stating that elements of enigma are vital to audience engagement
with a narrative), as well as the general conventions of thriller being tense
and suspenseful. Our production is to contain aspects of psychological
themes, therefore the general success of this implies that it is relatively
popular amongst our target audience (and as a result is likely to be
successful within our film).