SURVEY ANALYSIS

MAYRA NASSEF
I asked this question in order to have a general consensus of the gender of the respondents (based
on demographics) as this can provide me a basic idea of what my target audience is interested in.
70% of the respondents were female; it is very helpful as my target audience of my film are teenage
females and therefore the rest of the results would be more relevant. There are 46 respondents in
total.
It is important to find out the demographics of the respondents in order to analyse why they
would answer in certain ways. Here, the majority of the respondents were 15-17 (at 76%)
followed by 18+ (23%). This is quite helpful as my target audience is a teenage one and
therefore obtaining responses from that demographic will help me understand what they seek
in a film. All 46 responded here as well.
It is important to understand what my target audience looks for in the type of film I’m making (My film
is a teen drama/coming-of-age.) I found out that the respondents preferred plot first (52% said they
preferred plot followed by 33% who chose character). This means that an interesting plot is what the
respondents look for first, followed by a good character. This is also out of 46 respondents. In other, a
respondent mentioned “deeper meaning” and “entertainment”.
This question would help me identify what Teen Drama films people enjoy nowadays,
additionally adding to the question of what people look for in Teen Drama/Coming-of-age
films. Open questions would aid me in obtaining more personalised and precise answers.
There was a trend with certain films such as “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”(mentioned
twice), “The Edge of Seventeen”(mentioned 4 times), The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
(mentioned 3 times) and “Mean Girls” (mentioned twice). This information helps me to
investigate what but also why my target audience watched the genre that my film is in. There
were 41 respondents in total.
 FAVOURITE COMING-OF-AGE/TEEN
DRAMAS
”The Edge of Seventeen” ”Mean
”To All The Boys I’ve Loved ”The Perks of Being a
(mentioned four times) Girls”(mentioned
Before” (mentioned twice) Wallflower”(mentioned
twice)
There were 3 female three times)
This film had come out
respondents (2 of whom All three respondents 2 female respondents here
recently and could have
were above 18 and one were female (two that were 15-17 years old.
created bias due to media
15-17) and one that was were 15-17 and one Responses included that
buzz. Both who mentioned
male (15-17). The female was above 18. They the film was “fun to watch”
the film were female (target
respondents that were liked that the film was and that it ”lightens the
demographic) and
above the age of 18 both ”gripping” plot-wise, mood”. One of the two
mentioned that they
mentioned that they like had a ”good respondents said that it was
favoured it due to the
the “realistic characters” storyline” and “well- the “only” teen
inclusion of “POC (People of
and “realistic” story. 2 built” characters. drama/coming-of-age they
colour)”and the “lack of
respondents mentioned Additionally, a had watched (also an
stereotypes” Interestingly, a
that they enjoyed the respondent liked the anomaly in the general
respondent had mentioned
“humour” and ”funny” way it “tackles mental responses)
that they loved that it was
nature of the film. (Both illness”. All three had
“cliché”. However, the
were female and one of quite similar
overall survey results prove
them was 15-17 years responses here.
that this is an anomaly as
old). The male
most were frustrated with
respondent also enjoyed
stereotypes and clichés.
the “realistic dialogue”.
It was quite important for me to ask a question regarding the content and thematic matter of the
film rather than the type of film, etc. Collecting some data about the struggles and challenges
teenagers face could help me implement some of their responses in my film thematically as then
the film could be more relatable and realistic to my target audience. General trends were present, I
discovered that the majority responded with “Peer pressure”, and “social pressure”. There was a
recurring theme of “mental health”. Additionally, school-related trends were present such as
“stress” and “exams”.

A theme that caught my attention was the reference to the communication rift in between the older
generation and the current one, indicated by “lack of understanding”. Understanding what the
problems that my target audience deal with will help me also integrate these different problems
into my opening scene so that the audience can connect with the characters and can relate to the
plot (the survey previously shows that the audience looks for interesting plots and relatability.)
These answers are helpful for me because the themes surrounding my film have to correlate with
things teens relate to. There were 44 respondents for this question.
An intuitive question would help me understand my target audience’s preferences when it comes to
character. The top 3 choices had a fairly similar amount of responses. Relatability garnered 32%,
Development arc had 30% and Complexity 28%. This tells me that my target audience prefers a
layered character that they can identify with in some way or a complex character(additionally one
that develops throughout). Implementing an element of all 3 could attract all of those respondents.
However, in ”Other” , 2 respondents mentioned that they liked “simplicity” and ”stereotypes” (also
an anomaly as the majority of the respondents do not prefer that). Having it as an open question
would help provide a myriad of different answers as I feel that the choices to this question were
quite similar and limited (which might have contributed to the similar amount of responses.) On the
other hand, all 46 responded here.
I asked this in order to get an idea of what my target audience looks for in a movie in general. Here, most
respondents chose Intriguing Plot (44%) followed by Interesting Characters (35%). This follows up from a
question I previously asked that was specific to teen dramas. The respondents here prove that they prefer
an intriguing plot-driven storyline; but they also pay attention to characters. I expected a tie or the
characters to be a more popular choice so it surprised me that much of my target audience actually enjoy a
plot-driven storyline followed by a character-driven one. Most female respondents chose “Intriguing
plot”, despite this, I will focus on a more character-driven storyline. In ”Other”, some respondents
stated”all of the above”. 45 responded here.
I had to ask this question to know to avoid alienating my target audience. The teen drama genre has often
been so conventionalised that there are clichés that surround it. I noticed a trend with the respondents’
replies. Many have mentioned that “clichés” (mentioned 9 times) are something that often frustrates them.
Others mention the actors’ acting and age (indicated with responses such as “lack of actual acting abilities”
and “actors are about 25”). This also relates to realism but also casting choices. Many have states that they
were “unrealistic” and ”too dramatic” or “over-exaggerated”. Both things I have taken note of previously due
to similar sentiments heard during my film pitch presentation. Lack of representation is also notable with a
concern that teen dramas only cast “white” actors. There was also concern with lack of “creativity” and
“repetition”. The common trend here seems to be the need of realism in a teen drama. My target audience
prefers a realistic story with characters that are portrayed by actors that look the age but also realistic
characters in situations that are grounded in reality. I believe that with the research I’m doing, I will be able
to hopefully avoid those things as I’ve already got issues like the actors’ age covered. Knowing what to avoid
will help me when I develop my script, etc. moving forward. There were 44 responses to this question.
This question directly relates to my project as it is an indication of what my target audience
generally looks for in an opening scene. Interestingly enough, all of the films mentioned were
different to one another. However there seemed to be a general trend with action movies such as
“Deadpool”, “Infinity War”, “Looper” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. All the other responses
were quite diverse. Other than that, some mentioned horror movies such as “Halloween” and some
mentioned romance ones such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
 (Cont.)

I think this is really interesting as it really reiterates the idea that not many teenagers
enjoy/watch teen dramas due to how repetitive and uninteresting they are to them based on
past responses. I can gather from here that many require creativity to attract them to see a new
teen drama film as otherwise they would rather watch a film with a more interesting plot. The
reasoning behind these answers varied from them being “engaging”, having good
“cinematography” and “evoking mystery”(Barthes’ Enigma Code.) These answers all prove
that my target audience wants a strong sense of enigma and intrigue to the film so they can be
immersed. I believe this relates to the need for an interesting plot as well. 39 responded here.
(could be due to it being an open question, requiring more time). Most who mentioned action
films and romance/teen dramas were female and there was no leaning towards a certain
genre with my target demographic.
This question was asked to find out what genres my audience like to watch nevertheless.
Surprisingly, I had a wide array of responses. Most preferred romance (24%), but this with strangely
followed by Other (21%) then Comedy (17%). In Other, many mentioned that they like “A mis of
everything” and all of the genres or a mix of genres such as “comedy and action”. This tells me that
my audience actually prefers hybrid genres and prefers a mis of all the genres that they enjoy.
Romance however takes lead, also an interesting response. I believe that what I can gather from
these responses is that the respondents do not prefer a certain genre over all others but rather like
a mix of elements of different genres. This tells me that I should probably implement elements of
different genres in my film! All 46 responded here.
 WEAKNESSES IN MY SURVEY

• I found that my survey was often repetitive with the questions and asked questions that
might have been too similar and therefore were almost just a reaffirmation of past
information (such as “What do you look for in a film?” and “What do you look for in a teen
drama?”. Too many of them were open questions as well and both of these reasons may
have caused some respondents to provide half-hearted answers or even skip the question
all-together. I didn’t learn about what settings or what an interesting teen drama plot
would be because some of my question weren’t focused either. I could’ve made the
questions more enjoyable with less repetition and better wording/placing for my
questions (especially for those who aren’t relatively that interested in film in general.)
There were some structural mistakes (e.g placing the genre question at the end) and
placing similar choices for my questions. I will learn from this experience moving on;
there is always something to improve on!
 STRENGTHS OF MY SURVEY

• I distributed my survey at school and on my social media account. Both of those domains
have individuals from diverse nationalities, different backgrounds and even age groups
and therefore this would make my results more inclusive to a wider teenage audience
rather than the one that surrounds me that could easily be influenced by trends, etc. I felt
that the responses from my survey were actually quite surprising at parts (the genres and
character/plot issue for example) but also reaffirming (as with things that frustrate people
about teen dramas). Some of my questions helped clarify which demographics we were
looking at exactly (e.g. age) and there were questions that directly correlate with my
project. Due to this, my responses are quite helpful as then I can attempt to make my
opening scene more attractive to my target audience with the information that I have
gathered from them.