Audience profile.

This is my audience profile that i have created for my thriller film and have used my audience research questionnaire to help me, my audience profile also acts like a kind of symmary of my questionnaire.

Age: 16 - 25 years of age
Gender: Female and male
Mainstream/Independent: my questionnaire implies that mainstream is preffered, however the storyline of my thriller suggests that is an Independant film.

What they look for in a thriller; My target audience look for the thriller to be set in a location that they recognise,a film set in the present period; the period it was filmed in. My target audience also look for good actors to play the characters; they look for them to be believable and well at acting out any actions that the character may have to perform. They also look to have found out key elements of the film, within the first two minutes of the film for example; the location of the film. They also want the characters to look believe because of their costumes, so they want them to be wearing costumes that represent their personality and role in the film.

Other films they like(genre,events,cinematography,mise-en-scene,themes); pyschological, film noire, unexpected events, the criminal to be a character who is portrayed as innocnent throughout the film, good lighting; creating shadows and highlights, to represent a sense of stalking and following.

How are you going to appeal to the audience; I am going to appeal to my audience by creating characters who are believable, have a good acting ability, are dressed to fit their personality and role in the film, have a good well lit stage, which creates strong highlights and shadows.

Audience quotations from mainstream and independant thriller.

I researched thriller films that had relevance to my own and found that; Pyscho and The third man had the most relevance to my own film. I used IMDB, to research reviews and extract quotations from Pyscho and The third man that people have written about them.

These are quotations i found from reviews on Pyscho;

If you have not seen this movie, do yourself a favor. Stop reading thse comments, get up, take a shower, then GO GET THIS MOVIE. Buy it, don't rent. You will not regret it.

"Psycho" is easily the best horror-thriller of all time

"Psycho" has one of the best scripts you'll ever find in a movie

this movie is probably the best directorial effort by film history's best director

Perkins who gives what remains the single best performance by an actor in a horror movie.

Anthony Perkins' skillfully crafts his performance as Norman Bates, avoiding a ranting, raving, drooling, murder-happy, manic characterization; instead his performance as Norman is subtle, creepy, cool, and unsettling.

The movie set a new and very high standard in horror movies which I don't believe has ever been equaled. The characters were great, the direction perfect and the music, which I thought was absolutely fantastic, made this a classic.

These are quotations i found from reviews on The third man;

The Third Man is a movie that looks and feels not like a movie of the 40s, but like a neo-noir of the late 60s/early 70s

combines amazing visuals, sounds, dialogue, and acting to tell a thrilling story and comment about the atmosphere after WWII.

So The Third Man is not only a wonderful film noir, but a unique look at the brief time between WWII and the height of the Cold War.

stunning camera angles and back-lighting

The eerie shadows around the deserted streets and of course the unforgettable first glimpse of Harry Lime (Welles) himself as he skulks like the rat he is, in the corner of the building, lit in close-up suddenly from the light in an adjacent apartment

The story is quite straight forward and can be perceived more complicated than it is

The film is given a great mood of shadows throughout

This is a rare film that is flawless in every respect. It combines great acting and memorable characters with a fascinating story, taking place in an interesting setting and adding a creative musical score.

My research on pyscho tells me that the audience focused on the performances of the characters, the storyline, script and the directorial effort made by Alfred Hitchcock. This tells me that in my film i need to focus on creating a good and intriging storyline and make sure that the people i get to play the characters in my thriller, represent their personality well and in a very believable manner. I also need to make sure that the planning is done to a high standard, in order to get a high quality finish to the film, like alfred hitchcock has in pyscho.

My research on The third man tells me that the audience focused on the visuals, sounds, memorable characters,camera angles, back lighting including shadows and its focus on WWII and the cold war. This tells me that i need to work on creating very striking visual images within my thriller which will interest the audience. I also need to make my characters memorable to the audience,in order for them the believe the character and in some way feel connected to the character. I also need to focus on the camera angles and lighting that i use, as i am filming my thriller at night, which is why i have related my film to the third man, because the third man is predominatly filmed at night. I think that the camera angles and lighting are deemed so important by the audience, because of the moods that different lighting can have in a film, the camera angles are very important, because it helps you to see from the characters point of view. The shadows in the third man, give a sense of stalking and that someone mysterious is following the character, i need to try and apply this technique to my own thriller, as it is predominatly about stalking. Although my thriller is not related to WWII or the cold war, i need to make sure i focus entirely on the subject, as they do in the third man.

Concluding my audience research.

I carried out my questionnaire on fifteen members of my respondent group who were all of 16 and 17 years of age.

In question one, I asked what is your preferred location of a thriller film?
Seven respondents answered a unrecognisable location and eight answered a recognisable location and no-one answered an exotic location.

In question two, I asked what music if any do you prefer to hear in a thriller?
Six respondents answered vocal and instrumental, nine answered instrumental only and no-one answered none, vocal only or a well-known soundtrack.

In question three, I asked what is your favourite sub genre of thriller.
Five respondents answered horror, ten answered psychological, one answered action and no-one answered crime or drama.

In question four, I asked what is your preferred time period for a thriller to be set in.
Eleven respondents answered present, four answered 2000-present, and one said they were not worried about the time period and no-one answered 1900-1950s, 1960 – 1990s or future.

In question five, I asked what aspect of a thriller do you think is most important.
Eleven respondents answered characters, four answered sound and no-one answered costume/props, lighting or location.

In question six, I asked what do you expect to see/find out whilst watching the first two minutes of a thriller film.
Eight respondents answered location, four answered a basic introduction to the rest if the film, three answered introduction to the characters and No-one answered the storyline.

In question seven, I asked what costumes do you prefer for a character in a thriller film to wear.
Two respondents answered Dark, mysterious clothing, ten answered clothing relevant to the characters, setting and storyline, three answered costumes relevant to the period it is set in.

In conclusion to my research I have concluded that; an audience prefer a thriller film to be set in a recognisable location somewhere were they have been a famous landmark or the place where they lived. Audiences also prefer to have an instrumental only soundtrack rather than a vocal, instrumental and vocal or a well known soundtrack. Audiences also prefer to watch psychological sub genres of thriller.Audiences also prefer to watch thriller that are set in the present. The vast majority of people think that the characters are the most important aspect of a thriller film. I also found out in my research that audiences most expect to see/find out in the first two minutes of a thriller film the location. In my research I also found out that they also prefer the character in thriller films to wear a costume that is relevant to the character, setting and storyline.

My audience research will help me with the construction of my thriller because i can use what i found out in my research and apply it to my film. My research has helped me to decide a location for my thriller and i have decided to use a recognisable location which is what the audience prefer. It has also helped me in deciding what sound audiences prefer, i discovered that audiences prefer instrumental only, this will help add suspense. It also helped me with finding out what costumes audiences prefer the characters to wear, this has helped me because the costume holds a large part in representing the character and their personality. Overall the audience research has helped me in constructing my thriller film because it has told me what my target audience prefer and expect to see in a film.

Questionnaire.

This is my questionnaire that i will ask approximatly 15 people who are all of the same age.

1).What is your preferred location for a thriller film?
· Faraway exotic country
· Recognisable location (either you have visited there, live there or its a famous landmark)
· Unrecognisable location

2).What music, if any do you prefer to hear in a thriller?
· None
· Instrumental only
· Vocal
· Vocal and Instrumental
· A well known soundtrack/song

3).What is your favourite sub-genre of thriller?
· Crime
· Psychological
· Action
· Horror
· Drama

4).What is your preferred time period for a thriller to be set in?
· 1900-1950`s
· 1960-1990`s
· 2000- present
· Present
· Future

5).What aspect of a thriller, do you think is the most important?
· Characters
· Costume and props
· Sound
· Lighting
· Location


6).What do you expect to see/find out when watching the first 2 minutes of a thriller?
· Location
· Introduction to the characters
· Storyline
· A very basic introduction to the rest of the film

7).What costumes do you like the characters in a thriller to wear? (please write a short description of a costume)

Audience research.

When creating any type of media production, it is always best to start with carrying out audience research because you can get to know you target audience. It also helps because you know what to include in your film, that will get your target audiences attention.

In order to create a thriller film, which attracts a vast amount of people, I need to create and carry out research that will tell me exactly what audiences expect of a thriller film and what preferences in relation to a thriller film they have. I am going to ask around fifteen people who are all of the same age, a questionnaire, in order to have fair and equal results.


What I want to find out about audiences.
In the task of carrying out my audience research in order to find out what people like and what are peoples preferences in thriller films, I want to achieve the following;

Find out preferred locations
Find out at what pace people like to thriller to be
Find out what soundtrack people like
Find out what is the audiences favourite sub-genres of thriller
Find out what costumes the audience prefer to see characters in thrillers wear.
Find out what aspects do the audience consider to be of most importance.

How I am going to find out the required information

I am going to conduct a questionnaire; Iam going to ask around fifteen people who are all of the same age. I am going to ask them all the same seven questions, in order for the research to be fair and reliable.

What I expect to find out from my research

I expect to find out in my research the following;
That the audience’s preferred location is recognisable to them.
That instrumental music is the audiences favourite.
That psychological- thriller will be the audiences favourite sub-genre.
That the 1960s-1990s will be the audiences preferred time period for a thriller to be set in.
That the characters are the thought of by the audience as the most important aspect of a thriller.
That the audience expect to see a basic introduction of the storyline within the first two minutes of a thriller film.
The audience would like the characters to wear costumes which compliment their personality in the film, for example; wear black if they are the criminal and a pale colour if they are the victim in the film.