Research and Planning

What real media and audiences did you look at?

We looked at a variety of different horror films such as 'Cabin In The Woods', 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. We looked at these films because these all adhere to many of the typical conventions of a horror film. This meant we were able to take on board what we have seen in these films and work them into our film. This would mean that our film would be more recognisable as a horror film to our audience. This would make our film more enjoyable for the audience.
We also looked at our target audience. We looked at individuals who had a keen interest in horror films. We did this because they would know the typical conventions in a horror film. This meant when we questioned them about what they would like to see in our film it would be reliable and accurately similar to real horror films, therefore making our film similar to successful well known horror films. We used the same media and audiences for both AS and A2. We did this because we chose horror as the genre for both our media productions which meant all our research was relevant to both our productions. For our AS production we had to construct a two minute opening, so we looked at successful horror film openings. However, for A2 we needed to construct a trailer so we looked at horror film trailers such as House At The End Of The Street.



How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

The real audiences we looked at informed us about what they would like to see in our horror film.
This helped us with ideas for our 2 minute opening and trailer as they would be our target audience so we wanted to include things they most wanted to see. Also, if we made it appealing to the small sample of people we looked at, it would most likely appeal to a much wider audience.


How did you record all that research?

We recorded our research for our AS production by analysing two minute openings and making a note of what conventions the openings have adhered to. We could then use these conventions in our own film to make it more appealing to the audience. For A2 we used the same method, however instead of analysing two minute openings, we analysed horror film trailers. These informed us about what we should included in our trailer, therefore making it more conforming to the horror genre.

What primary research was undertaken?

AS: The primary research we undertook for our AS production was a questionnaire that we distributed to a number of people. The type of questions we included were about where they would most like to see the location for the film set, which murder weapon they preferred and if the murderer should have an iconic costume. The purpose of this questionnaire was to get an idea about what our typical audience members expected to see. This meant that we were able to adapt our opening two minutes to live up to the audiences expectations which, in turn, would make our film more enjoyable for our audience.

A2: The primary research we undertook for our A2 production was the same as what we did for AS. We kept the same method for extracting our primary data as it was the most effective way to reliable results.



How did it inform the production?

AS: We were able to understand what our target audience most wanted to see in our film e.g. murder weapon, location etc. So, as the most popular location was a woods we set the location for our film in a woods. This meant the audience would be most likely to enjoy watching our film as they would prefer the location.

A2: Similar to AS it meant we were able to include what the audience most wanted to see into our trailer. We changed some of our ideas in order to cooperate with the audiences preferences. E.g location.



What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

For both AS and A2 this research was very effective as it provided us with up to date information about our target audiences preferences. This meant we were able to adapt our production in order to suit our audience which would make it more enjoyable for them.



What quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were employed?

For both AS and A2 the quantitative analysis methods we used were questionnaires. We used closed questions in our questionnaire which meant the individuals answering the questionnaire had to chose one of the answers we had written on the page. This meant we were able to get a quantitative result which made it easier for us to understand what are target audience's preferences are.

The qualitative analysis methods we used were interviews with target audience members. This meant that we were able to get unique answers from each individual but could also be relatable to other target audience members.

How did the results from these inform the production?

These results informed the production as we were able to determine what our target audience would like to see, which allowed us to successfully modify our film ideas to adhere to what the audience wants to see.



What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

These kinds of research are extremely effective as it means we were able to successfully adapt our film to suit the audiences tastes. This means that they would be most likely to enjoy our film. It also means our film is likely to be successful as we know that from our research we are including things the audience wants to see. This lessens the risk of failure for our film.