Target Audience Research

For my film trailer, poster and magazine front cover I have decided to upon basing mine around the genres of horror and thriller due to my vested interest in those genres, while the combination of the two genres may also mean that there will be a larger audience. My inspiration came from such films as Eden Lake and The Descent as they are exciting and interesting films as well as having some interesting film trailers and posters.

Secondary Research -

To collect some quatative data on my audience I decided to look at some secondary data from the website pearlanddean.com, due to its collection of numerical data on the audiences for films. By looking at the data on the website I will be allowed to look at films which are similair to my own in genre and establish a possible audience for film trailer, poster and magazine front cover.

Pearlanddean.com -

Eden Lake -

The Descent : Part 2 -


28 Days Later -

Dawn of the Dead -


In analysis of the data collected from pearlanddean.com it shows that when it comes to gender with these films, it is quite similair in size, meaning that this genre may appeal to both males and females. When looking at the age of the people watching these films, it is quite simialair throughout with the age group of 15-24 being the dominant age group watching this genre, with 25 - 35 usually being the next dominant age group. Of course the younger age groups are at 0% due to the fact they are too young to watch the films. Variation in the trends can be seen with such films as The Descent: Part 2, dropping in percentages and being higher in the next age group up, this maybe just a coincidental thing though as the rest of the films follow the trend that 15 - 24 are the highest in percentage and the next group is the next highest and so on. When it comes class there is no common trend, but throughout them C1 seems to be the dominant class throughout, which maybe because they are the largest group overall. In conclusion in analysis of this secondary, quantative data I find that the genre I have chosen may apply to both male and females in large numbers, while 15 - 24 year old and people of the class group c1 would be my dominant groups.

To collect some qualitive secondary data I decided to have a look at the website UkTribes.com. so as to establish any similarities of likes in film, in contrast to my choice in genre. This will involve looking at descriptions and similarities in people so as to group them to a certain tribe, whereupon they may share likes, dislikes or a personal image.

UKTribes.com -

UK Tribes is used to describe the many social or commercial groups that make up the Uk public, specifically that of the younger generation, those that have built a personal image for themselves, maybe through choices in fashion or tastes, it could include Chavs, Emos and Skaters. In analysis of my findings on UK Tribes, I don't really find that their is any particular group which would be interested in my genre, due to the fact that is a genre which applys to them all, but I think that it could be more focused at the Alternative, Leading Edge and Mainstream groups, due to their amount of film consumption and the fact that the genre could apply more to their tastes than that of other groups like Urban. My thoughts on this are that the Alternative, Leading Edge and Mainstream groups would be more interested in my genre due to the fact that they have high film consumption and that the horror genre would traditionally be more applicable to groups like goths (alternative) but in modern days is watched by nearly everyone.

Primary Research -

To collect some data I decided to conduct a questionnaire to get an idea on my audience on a more primary basis, when conducting this questionnaire as I tried to ask both genders equally while looking for a varation of ages as well.

Questionnaire -

Pie charts -



To analyse some of the results collected from my questionnaire I constructed some pie charts to reflect some of my results. In my questionnaire when asked what their favourite film genres were they could only state two of their favourites, the majoirty as can be seen in the pie chart above said that they liked horror. The implications of this is that the horror genre must have a large market therefore it may mean a more neutral way of advertising as it could cover whole different segments of people. The second pie chart shows that the gender within the first pie chart is equal, the size of each gender who liked horror is the same, again meaning that advertsing for the horror audience more towards targeting a mass audience. In conclusion of my finding with my findings from questionnaire I find that my audience for a horror film could be equal in size of gender and quite profitable in the way that the majority of the people I asked enjoyed the horror genre more than any other.

Focus Group -

To collect qualitive primary data of my own I decided to conduct a focus group so as to gain a more detailed understanding of what people might want in a product. But to do this I decided on conducting the focus group on a facebook discussion group; specifically set up for the purpose so as to reach a larger audience in a shortened time, while the anwsers could be observed and annotated.

Questions -

Film Trailer -

"Here's a link to the Eden Lake trailer"

"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-6j3K4MmOKs&h=e920duIH1Ew_g3adV2BpO5nVkGQ"

"What did you think about the trailer? What did you like or dislike? (e.g. Camera Angles, Clothing, Music.....) "

"The trailer was quite good as it went in a chronological order so it was telling a story, but it did reveal to much of the story. The use of the voiceovers was good and made the trailer more complex. I think it did reveal the ending too much maybe it should of ended when she asked for help at the party making the audience want to know if this was the end of the madness. The music added to the atmosphere of the trailer like she was racing against time to stop the trauma. The introduction to the chase was a bit too long, should be short and get straight to the point!But apart from that the scenes looked daring and exciting!" - Stephanie Pattison

"The trailer wasn't very effective in creating intrigue in the audience, it was too long and gave too much away. it should be much shorter, and start slow like this one did but speed up, like flashing shots and packing lots into a small time. this would make the film appear full of action and also cause the audience to question what was happeneing, making them want to watch the movie. the music was quite predictable for this type of film, and not very paired with the actualy shots. you should use music thats calm at the start but possible add a slow quiet heart beat or drum beat which gets progrssivley louder and faster." - Helen Corby

"Trailer was was too long. showed basicly all the film, which isnt good cause I thought the film wasnt good the first time i watched it. you should make yours shorter (and a better film). with flashing between peoples faces on stills or quick shots. not revealing much but enthesisng the dramticity and horror on peoples faces. also include some slow drum beating music that gets progresivly faster untill it blacks out and ends with the title." - Daniel Horsfield

Storyline -

"What do you think would be a suitable storyline for a thriller/ horror? I've decided on a few possiblities -"

"- A group of friends out camping; each slowly getting picked off one one by some unseen attacker or attackers."

"- Some strangers witnesses a grievous crime in which someone is murdered and prosecuted and the attacker jailed. When some of the witnesses start dying in mysterious way, its evident someone is out to get revenge, but who is doing it? And will they survive?"

"- A woman/girl is being abused by her boyfriend, when in retaliation she kills him by accident, her and some friends help her to hide the body. A couple months after that some of those friends start getting mudered and the rest have to run or hide for their lives."

"Or do you have any other suggestions?"

"I think the second one! :) interesting! :)" - Stephanie Pattison

"I like the first one, but you could add in various superstitions and things which go wrong making it like fate. it could possibly end up being a blend of 1 and 2. people go camping and witness a man being attacked, they call police and man is saved. but then they go camiping, following that it is like they are being followed. then they are picked off one by one killed and attacked in ways. 2-3 suvive and escape to go home. they are told by note (or some wierd scary way) that they shouldn't have stopped the justice, then research the man, finding nothing excpet he owns a fishing lake in the woods. then search the woods and find a series of children have gone missing and have been founf to have been killed . 5 children in total, (5 original characters who went camping) they realise the ways 3 of the children have died are the three ways each of their friends have died. and you can probably get where this is going." - Helen Corby

Film Poster -

"Here's a link to a film poster"

"http://katsublog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/eden-lake.jpg"

"What do you think of this poster? Is it good at advertising its purpose and genre? Does the poster need reviews and such to be included in it's layout? Do you think my own poster for a horror/thriller like Eden Lake should have a similair layout and design?"

"The poster is effective at hinting at the dark and threatening nature of the film but also doesnt give much away about the nature of the film. As for adding a review in your poster, only if it is a good review by a decent reviewer. Your poster should follow a similar trend of hinting at things to come, but not spoiling much in the poster by including a big main moment. perhaps shots of group of characters or 4 or 5 shots of moments throught the film surrounding the title." - Daniel Horsfield

"It is an effective poster due to the eerie feeling suggested by the darkness and poses of the actors, suggesting it is a thriller. this suits its purpose because the picture is intriguing, which paired with its suggestion of the horror genre would draw in any possible audiences to horror film. forall it doesn't give much away about the film, this adds to the suspense of the shot and the intrigue felt by the audience to the poster.another poster for a horror movie like eden lake should have a simlialy laid out poster, with possibly more suggestive photos, but still maintaining the air of intrigue." - Helen Corby

"I think the poster needs the reviews because u know what other people think to whether it is any good or not. I think the people in the background should be slightly closer to the woman to make her seem in more danger. Also the woman needs to look more scared or she should be injured/bleeding to make it look more dramatic." - Katie Pearson

"Its a good idea to add reviews as it may well promote the film better hearing it from someone else apart from the people who made it.I personally love the image xD its like were seeing it from the a characters prospective seeing the teenagers from a distance good use of a tagline as it links with the title creating and telling a story." - Stephanie Pattison

Film magazine front cover -

"http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/covergallery/img/2007/nov092007_963_lg.jpg"

"Looking at this front cover to a film magazine front cover, is their anything that you think stands out in a good or a bad way to you? What do you suggest I include in my own magazine front cover?"

"Hm... the magazine doesn't look interesting at all. The colours are just cold and well not lively at all, and HEY! LOOK AT THAT! THE MOST NOT INTERESTING BACKGROUND IN WORLD! I would suggest to make your magazine with loads of dark and warm colours. Not just warm, because if you use orange or yellow you will totally give away the feeling of horror/thriller. Dark/warm colours=good. Cold/Light colours=bad. Well for me anyway" - Dajana Plona

"You should make better use of the sell lines to make the audience think the magazine has plenty to offer - For a horror magazine you should have more suitable colours such as red and black :)- Only the main keywords should be in larger text otherwise it will just be a blur to the audience-The image is interesting with the use of makeup to make him freaky" - Stephanie Pattison

Overall what I have gathered from the focus group is an idea of the dislikes and likes of my particular audience, as they are all people who participated in the questionnaire and said yes to be interested in the horror genre. I have gained an overall idea of what to include in my products, such as the trailer, my audience seems particularly interested in the fact that too much of the film is revealed, while they do seem to be interested in the interpretation of music within a trailer, so as to add suspense. With the storyline my audience and group seemed to be interested in rather original idea, so as to have something new, which may be a reflection on all of the people of the same genre, also one person seemed particularly interested in offering their own idea to a storyline, so again maybe a reflection on what to include in my storyline. The poster was mostly discussed as being effective in its advertisement due to its negative colours and its suspenseful use of image and is something which I think I may take on board so as to establish my own poster and to target the audience. The film magazines comments were mostly negative as they found that magazine front cover to be particularly boring, so may mean I'll have to make my own more lively, but comments suggested the image used was an interesting one as it reflected the genre, something I'll have to do myself.

Some participants in Focus Group -

(Stephanie Pattison, Dajana Palona and Daniel Horsfield)

Conclusion -

By analysis of my questionnaire, focus group and secondary data collected through reader profiles I have come to a conclusion that my audience is of the 16-24 year old, both male and females, this I have derived from my questionnaire and research on pearlanddean.com, my audience wont belong to any particular social group but is more likely to be that of Mainstream, Alternative and Leading Edge. My audience seems to be well versed in what they want in a product or piece of media, as during the focus group they seemed to be able to see what they liked and disliked about something quite easily. What I have gained from this research is an idea of how to design my products, to appeal my age group, specifically through music in the trailer, as music seems to potray to them certain emotions or feelings. Another thing they seemed to be particular interested in was the storyline, the storyline of the image is an very important aspect to them as my audience seems to be interested in seeing something new and original in everything they watch.

Viewer Profile -

An audience aware of their tastes in media and film, yet possesing their own individual thoughts on what a media product should contain. They are strongwilled and possess a strong sense of humour but still dont let that cloud their judgements.