Audience Research Questionnaire

(please circle the appropriate answer)
1. Your Gender...

• Male
• Female

2. Ideal Setting...

• Woods/Forest
• Family Home/Neighbourhood
• Derelict Building
• Public Places

3. Preferred Lead Role...

• Male
• Female
• Not Important

4. Most Important Element of A Horror Trailer...

• Music
• Editing
• Location
• Special effects
• Suspense
• Mystery

5. What Sub-genre Would You Prefer...?

• Psychological
• Thriller
• Comedy
• Paranormal
• Sci-Fi

6. How Much Gore/Violence Do You Expect In A Horror...?

• Lots
• Quite A Bit
• Not Important

7. Which Of These Well Known Horror Movies Have You Watched...?

• The Chainsaw Massacre
• Scream
• Grudge
• SAW
• Halloween
• Nightmare On Elm Street
• Silence Of The Lambs

8. Most Important Element Of A Christmas Movie...

• Snow
• Christmas Tree & Decorations
• Santa Clause
• Presents
• Religion
• Carol Singers
• Family

9. Which Of The Following Christmas Films Have You Watched...?

• Home Alone
• Santa Clause 1,2 & 3
• The Grinch
• ELF
• A Christmas Carol
• Jack Frost
• The Polar Express

3 Act Trailer Treatment

Act 1
A shot of a Christmas tree, the shot of the tree is the blurred. Screen turns to black and the film title 'Silent Night' come up. Shot then skips to Ethan getting ready to sleep, and a shot of his mother, Julie, walking in. Ethan asks his mum for a bedtime story.

Act 2
Ethan's brother, Sebastian walks into the room, and tells him a similar story but a scary version of it. Both stories will be blended together, to become one story. This will be a narrative. Whilst the story is being told the music in the background will be 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town' which works well with the scene because the music is the opposite to the story.

Act 3
The story ends, and both Julie and Sebastian leave the room. Ethan looks outside his window to see someone dressed in a Santa suit, dragging a sack which leaves a trail of blood behind him. The figure sees Ethan at the window, watching him, he stares at him and then turns back and carries on walking, whilst whistling slow Christmas songs. The door handle turns, and Ethan gets frightened and runs into bed. We then see the word 'Santa' turn into 'Satan' and the scene then flashes to his brother opening the door, with frightened Ethan in his bed, and he tells Ethan to sleep otherwise Santa will come for you.

Audience Research Task

The difference between the objective of Quantitative and Qualitative research is:
Quantitative research attempts to quantify date and generalise results from a sample to the population of interest. Whereas...
Qualitative research attempts to gain an understanding of underlying reasons and motivations.


Quantitative research usually samples is a large number of cases representing the population of interest, and the respondents are randomly selected.
Qualitative research sample is usually a small number of non-representative cases.


The collection of Quantitative research is usually structured techniques such as questionnaires, and the analysis is statistical graphs and charts.
The collection of Qualitative research is individual in depth interviews or group interviews, and the analysis is the key themes that are identified in the interviews.


The outcome of the results for quantitative data is usually considered conclusive because the information can be generalised easily to a population.
Qualitative data however, can be open for debate because it is based on the opinions and views of people and goes into much more detail.

There are three different sampling methods:
Systematic Random Sampling: numbers are generated and one person per random number is selected.
Simple Random Sampling: everyone is assigned a different number, for example ranging from 1 to 100 and every Nth number is selected.
Stratified Random Sampling: a certain group of people are selected to question, based on the actual demographic you are aiming for.

To collect data for our audience research we will use Simple Random Sampling, because it's the simplest and seeing as we have a list of all the possible respondents, it's the easiest to select them in this way.  

Audience Theory (Homework)

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE EFFECT

The Hypodermic Needle Effect, which is also known as the Hypodermic-Syringe Model, Transmission Belt Model or Magic Bullet Theory, is model of communications which suggests that, a intended messages directly received and accepted by a person. It is says that media is capable of 'Mass Manipulation'. Therefore, the effect suggests that the audience is PASSIVE.

TWO STEP FLOW

The two step flow, which is also known as the MULTISTEP FLOW MODEL, is a theory based on the 1940's study of social influence, which states that media effects are indirectly established through the personal influence of opinion leaders. Because the opinion leaders pass on what they see and believe to others, it continues to pass on as others start to believe it too, which suggests that the audience are PASSIVE.

USES & GRATIFICATIONS

This theory is an approach to understanding mass media and mass communication. The theory discusses how users proactively search for media that will not only meet a given need but enhance knowledge, social interactions and diversion. It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.

RECEPTION THEORY

Reception theory emphasizes the reader's reception of a literary text or media. This approach to textual analysis focuses on the scope for negotiation and opposition on the part of the audience. This means that a media text is not simply passively accepted by the audience, but that the viewer interprets the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.


References
http://www.mediaknowall.com/ - accessed 13/11/11
http://www.wikipedia.com/ - accessed 13/11/11

Target Audience

The Age range of our production will be between the ages of 15 and 25. We have decided on this, because we have looked at films in the same category and we found that to be the typical age group. We first thought that it would be and 18 and above, but we later decided that because we didn't want to include a lot of gore or violence, the best age range would be 15 - 25.


The Ethnicity of our production will be predominantly Caucasian, but we believe that it will still appeal to those of different ethnicity as the film will be mainstream.


Socio-Economic Grouping
The class profile of our characters is generally C-E, and the audience class profile is C2-E. When we are filming, the location will be set in and around Sheldon/Yardley, which would be classed as a working class area and somewhere most of the target audience can relate to.

Everyone involved in our production is from Birmingham and the production will be shot in Birmingham so therefore the Nationality of our production is Birmingham, but even though the cast are purely Brummie, because the film will be mainstream, it means it will appeal to people from all Regions.

To Do List:

Sort out cast

Think about possible shots and angles we want to use

Discuss costume choices

Think about lighting

Complete storyboard

Think about location

Decorations and props

Weekly Update :D

This week we have focused on the codes and conventions on film trailers. We worked with Mrs Collister and analysed the trailer of the British film 'Control'. The task was helpful as we studied the different aspects of a trailer and what makes them effective for the audience.
We also looked at the trailer for 'Cemetery Junction' and this showed us how a trailer can be subverted so that it is different to the usual trailer but still has the same effects as all the others.


We also continued to work on our treatments with Mr Morris, which we completed as a group, and also answered questions about the treatment, to make sure that we have included all the important parts of a treatment. We are now ready to start storyboarding our trailer, and once we have done that we will be ready to start filming our production.

Treatment Questions

          1.What is the main theme or idea?

The main story is based around the traditional Christmas story and is twisted in our film. It is going to be based around a well known character, Santa Claus and he will be subverted into and evil, sadistic killer.

2.Have you created a distinctive main character who is a rounded, believable character?

We have decided that the main character is going to a little boy. The boys name will be Ethan. In the trailer he will be the subject of the killers attention, and he has to try and get away from him. 

3.What is his or her goal?

His goal is to survive and escape the sadistic killers path.

4.Who is stopping him or her achieving this goal (the adversary or villain)?

The murderer who will be dressed up as and will be representing Santa.

5.What is at stake and why?

The lives of the people in the neighbourhood and the boy. This is because the killer used to live in the same neighbourhood and returns to get revenge for what happened to him in previous years.

6.Where does the film take place?

The film will take place mainly in the boys house and around the neighbourhood of the main protagonist.

7.Have you created other interesting characters?

The other characters that we have created are the family members of the boy, who are his older brother, Sebastian and mother, Julie.