Survey - Q10 Results

In our final question, we asked the participants to rank the following films in order of preference (1= worst, 10 = best). We then totalled all the numbers up to see which film was most popular overall, giving us an idea of what sort of thriller may be popular with our target audience. The films we gave to rank were:

     The Dark Knight           Blair Witch Project

Bourne Ultimatum              Shutter Island
     Drive                                Inception

       Pulp Fiction              Silence of the Lambs
Psycho                               Taken

The results of the survey were:

Silence of the Lambs - 188
Inception - 178
The Dark Knight - 171
Taken - 162
Blair Witch Project - 146
Pulp Fiction - 145
Psycho - 142
Shutter Island - 131
Bourne Ultimatum - 116
Drive - 106

These results don't show a specific type of thriller genre that is popular. However, the highest rated films in these results, tend to be ones with interesting/complicated plot lines such as Silence of the Lambs and Inception which corresponds to the results of Q9, which showed that most people were likely to go to see films with interesting plots lines. This means that these results also show that for our film to be most successful, it is necessary to have an interesting plot line.

Thriller Conventions

Brief: The opening 2 minutes of a fictional film, including titles

Definition: Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience and emphasize nervous tension and anxiety. Thriller films are distinct from horror movies which emphasize fear, or action movies which emphasize exhilaration. A thriller contains suspense as an indispensable ingredient. There are a number of different hybrids that contribute to a thriller such as adventure, detective fiction and espionage but the topics such as disasters and defeating criminals tend to be subjects of other genres.
      Some of the main thrillers come from fictional stories, for example Hitchcock had the tendency to put 'the common man' in the position of what would be the protagonist in an action film.

Our Survey + Results

1. Which category describes your age?

This graphs shows the results of our survey, showing that the majority of the people we interviewed were between the age of 15-18. This means that, looking at the results of the rest of the survey, our target audience will be between the ages of 15 - 18.

2. What is your gender?

The results of this question shows that the majority of the people we surveyed were female which means that we have to take into account that looking at the rest of the results for our survey, our film may be most popular amongst women.

3. Which borough do you live in?

The results show that the majority of the people we surveyed lived in an urban area and so this may mean that they generally go to different places to see new films which could affect where we want our film to be targeted.

4. What religion (if any) are you?

Religion may be important if there may be restrictions on what people of certain religions can watch - this shows that our target audience is mainly non-religious so means that we may not have as many restrictions.

5. Which category best describes your occupation?

The results show that the majority of our target audience that we surveyed are students which means that our film would probably be targeted at younger generations and also means they may have more time to see films.

6. What is your most preferred movie certificate?

This graph shows that amongst the age group of 15-18, the most popular certificate by far is certificate 15. This means that for our film to be most popular amongst this age group, our film would have to be certificate 15.

7. Where do you prefer to watch films?

This graph shows that the majority of the people we surveyed are most likely to watch films at mainstream cinemas, online or at indie festivals. This means that we would probably have to aim our film online or at festivals as these would be the most likely places we could show our film.

8. What is your favourite film genre?

Although the results show that the majority of the people that we surveyed preferred comedies, we can use this information to infer that a comic thriller (such as Pulp Fiction) may be most popular amongst our target audience. Aside from rom-com, we can also see that horror, sci-fi and action thrillers are also very popular so we can use this also in our research of what genre of film our target audience may most prefer.

9. What category describes best the reason you would go and see a new release?

The results show that the most popular reason to why people see new releases is due to favourable actors and interesting plot. Since we don't have the resources to use popular actors, our main way of attracting people to our film would be through an interesting plot.

Target Audience Research

Please fill out our survey!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCF27CB

Opening Scene - Taxi Driver

• heavy music - gives the audience a hint that the main character may be a villain
• scene is heavily focussed on dialogue - shows us a lot about the character
• zoom in on face - makes the audience more familiar and become closer to the character
• high angle on the interviewer makes him seem more vulnerable and inferior compared to the low angle on DeNiro making him seem more powerful 
• diegetic sounds of the office make it seem like a busier setting - more interesting for the audience to watch and gives a clear idea of the type of office he's in
• point of view (low angle) looking up to DeNiro - gives the audience an idea of how others view him
• conversation is also mainly focussed on DeNiro, clearly showing he is the main point of interest for the audience

Opening Scene - Drive

• wide aerial shots give audience an idea of setting
• unexpected credits font - stands out to audience and juxtaposes against the camera shots
• dark lighting - the whole face of the character is never shown (always in shadow), gives the character an air of mystery
• heavy focus on the face - background is blurred - obvious to audience that this is the most important character
• point of view shot when driving through the city makes the audience feel closer to the character (more personal)
• lighting - the car and face goes in and out of shadow when driving creating mystery
• backlighting and darkness in the flat when Ryan walks in - keeps him as a mysterious character
• shadow of window frame in flat and framing of elevator may show some influence of 'Film Noir'

Opening Scene - Children of Men

• Sound bridge from ident brings us into the scene and gives a background to the setting
• blue/grey lighting - very dark and depressing
• stillness of actors around Owen causes emphasis to be put on him - clear to audience that he is the most important
• very long mid shot - allows audience to build a relationship with the character and see how he interacts with his surrounding
• long wide shot - surveys the setting and gives the audience an idea of what state the world is in
• after the bomb blast the camera takes on a 'hand held' effect showing the chaos and confusion of the scene
• constantly a lot of busy diegetic sounds and dialogue - this makes the scene more bold and interesting for the audience

Opening Scene - Fish Tank

• Low-key ident (Artificial Eye) - much more homemade 
• off screen diegetic sounds, heavy breathing with distant sounds of shouting - gives a sense of setting
• all dialogue takes over any background noises so audience know that dialogue takes priority and is important
• hand held camera work and street sounds make it seem more home filmed
• setting has not been lit - makes it more flat and gives a grey feel to it - deliberately cheap looking

Opening Scene - Collateral

• Hollywood - Big Ident (Paramount)
• sound bridge between Dreamworks ident to setting, sets the scene and tells audience we are in a busy setting - sounds of planes, talking, footsteps etc.
• heightened diegetic sounds, emphasises Tom Cruise's footsteps to show importance of the character
• normal sound of airport is heightened and used in time to the music to create an atmosphere and rhythm for the audience
• Sound is of main importance - all shut out with car door shutting, creating a moment of calm for the audience and time to reflect on the new character (Jamie Foxx) 
• music and noise builds up again as passengers get in the car, shows the business of the character 
• visuals are very tight - busy and close up 
• obvious Hollywood film - colour is boosted and visuals look glossy

The Woman In Black - Opening Sequence

I really like the way that in this opening sequence, the only thing that is initially used to create an eerie feel is through sound. Although the lighting is quite flat and depressing so creates quite a dead feel, they also use a lot of light which means that the only thing that is reflecting that something is about to go wrong is the background music. They also silence all diegetic noises apart from certain key ones such as the turn of the window latch, or the crushing of the china which they enhance to give a more surreal feel to the scene. Another thing I really like about the lighting is the way they take advantage of the contrast of the light streaming through the window and the darkness in the corner of the room where the woman later appears. This contrast is highlighted at the end of the scene when the girls jump out of the window as it looks as if the light swallows the girls and so makes them seem as if they just disappeared into thin air. The camera view then widens out to show the darker corner of the room and outline the silhouette of the woman in black.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Opening Scene

I really don't like the opening sequence to the most recent version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Through the editing and use of computerised shapes and silhouettes as well as the music, I think that it becomes too similar to James Bond. Although I love Casino Royale and I think the opening for it is spectacular as I think it captures the classiness and style of Bond and the action theme of the film, I really don't think this sort of opening is deserved in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. By using the bold music and aggressive movements of the silhouettes in the sequence, I think it ruins the quiet darkness and creepiness of the story by making it too bold and giving off the impression that the film is more of an action thriller. However, I think that this bold music is what makes the opening of Casino Royale so great as it immediately draws you in to an action film and so sets the theme and atmosphere of it to the audience.

The Dark Knight Opening Scene

One of my favourite opening scenes in films comes from the film 'The Dark Knight.' The main aspect that I love about this scene is the little amount of sound/music they use in this scene. The whole scene is very quiet which makes every noise in it very noticeable which makes the audience quite on edge. This creates more tension and excitement to the scene, making it a perfect opening to an action thriller. As the scene continues, the tension rises as more and more people arrive and the dialogue begins - however, one of the characters (who later turns out to be the Joker) is immediately highlighted as mysterious and secretive as he carries the silence on through the scene without making any sound or dialogue until he reveals himself at the end of the scene. Another aspect that I love is the opening shot of the buildings creating an urban landscape and setting the scene of the film for the audience - Gotham. This shot works hand in hand with the silence the peaceful city seems interrupted as soon as one of the windows explodes creating the first burst of noise.

A lot of my favourite TV shows that I've been watching recently are mainly American dramas such as: 'Pretty Little Liars', 'Desperate Housewives', 'Homeland', 'The Vampire Diaries' and '90210.' Some of my all time  favourite TV comedies are also American such as 'The Simpsons' and 'Friends.' I also love to watch British comedies (mainly on E4) such as 'The IT Crowd' and 'Fresh Meat.' I watch a lot of different types and styles of film but some of my favourite films are: 'Romeo & Juliet' (Baz Luhrmann's version), '10 Things I Hate About You', 'The Red Shoes', 'The Social Network' and 'The Dark Knight.'