Audience Research.. Interviews

In the first method of carrying out audience research we need to directly speak with people and have decided to do so in the form of an interview.

In our interview we need to include specific questions that related directly to our production in order to make the most out of our research. We need to find out the audiences likes and dislikes when it comes to films, genres and interests. As well as their opinions on what makes a good thriller, cultural preferences and also deciding factors.

We also need to think about the question type we use as whether we use open or closed questions would alter the responses we get dramatically.

An open question is one which is likely to receive a long answer as they deliberately seek long answers. They have the following characteristics: they ask the respondent to think and reflect, they will give you both feelings and opinions and they hand control of the conversation to the respondent. Open questions are useful in many situations, they can be used to find out more about a persons wants, needs and problems, as a follow-on from a closed question, to develop a conversation. Open questions tend to begin with why, what, how and describe. They will be useful to us especially as it gets the person being interviewed to think and continue to give you useful information about them.

A closed question is one which can be answered with either a single answer or a short phrase or even a yes or no. Closed questions have the following characteristics: they give you facts, are easy and quick to answer and keep control of the conversation with the questioner. The following situations make using closed questions useful when testing their understanding, when making it easy for the other person to answer, doesn't force them to reveal too much about themselves, for setting up desired positive or negative frame of mind in them and for achieving closure of a persuasion.  It is possible to turn any opinion into a closed question that would practically force a yes or no by adding tag questions, such as don't you, can't they and isn't it to any statement. Also the first word of a question sets up the initial dynamics of the closed questions, which would signal the easy answer ahead, for example some of these words are: do, would, are, will, if. Closed questions could also include tick boxes with specific answers to the question being asked, or include a list of three to choose from.

An example of an open question we could include within our interview could be 'What expectations do you have when watching a film?' as the answers to this would vary and may be very long and detailed.

An example of a closed question we could use when carrying out our interview could be ''How would you describe a typical thriller pick one from the five answers below?' Dark, exciting, tense, scary, fun.

This would also be useful when carrying out a questionnaire which we originally decided not to do.

Example Interview/Questionnaire Questions Template we could use:


What age group are you in?
17 and under
18 - 21
22 - 30
31 - 40
41+

What do you think makes films enjoyable?

What expectations do you have from a film?

What factors would make you watch a thriller?
(well known actors, appealing storyline, good reviews, reputation etc)

How would you describe a typical thriller pick one from the five answers below? Dark, exciting, tense, scary, fun.

What makes a good thriller opening for you?
(music, camera use, editing, tension etc)

If the opening to the film wasn't good would reconsider carrying on watching the film?
yes, no, depends (if so why?)

Do you think the storyline in a film plays an important role in its success?
yes, no, depends (if so why?)

What is your favourite thriller film out of the following.. and what made it enjoyable?

All of this will be useful when we carry out the next stage in Audience Research which is writing the questionnaire.