Implementation of Audience Research

I wanted to make a post about the importance of our target audience research and how we've implemented the results and information we have acquired into our final opening.

One of the questions we asked in our questionnaire was "How would you describe a typical thriller?" with nearly 50% of people answering tense. As a result of this we have tried to create as well as build up as much tension as possible in a variety of ways such as POV shots of within our opening to bring a sense of mystery and unknown, keeping the audience drawn in questioning what is taking place. This is a clear example of how we've listen to our target audience and implemented their thoughts into our opening.

Another question we asked was "What factors would make you watch a thriller?" 85% of people who answered this question said that an appealing storyline. Once again as a result of this we have tried to create  complex narrative structure that our audience will enjoy and admire. We want our audience to be drawn into the opening throughout asking numerous questions and wondering what is happening or going to happen next. This is yet another example of how we've implemented our target audience research.

Finally we asked our target audience, "What makes a good thriller opening for you?" We had numerous replies but one read "Full of tension and suspense, doesn't give a lot away but slips in little clues and suspicious hints throughout with good and effective music" This particular response effectively sums up what we have tried to achieve with our thriller opening as we have included all of the above especially focusing on effective music and suspicious clues to help create tension and suspense throughout. Once again this another example of how we have listened to our target audience and implemented their thoughts and feelings.

In conclusion to this I believe listening to our target audience is vital to us as a group if we want our opening to be both effective and successful. From listening to our target audience I believe we have learnt a lot and now we can push on and cement their ideas in our opening further.

Logo

The image below is our final logo. I designed it using Photoshop making a few different copies in order to see what looks best and most effective by changing a few aspects. I incorporated a film reel, film and a contrasted Sirius star with text, altering the overlays and contrasts. We all then decided which one out of them was most effective and asked 6 people which one they thought was the most successful and everyone of them but one said the one below.

We then had to decide what words we want to include within our logo as we need it to be very simple yet effective.

We still need to decide for definite which one works the best, whether we should include 'we are' or not in the text included in our logo.

I believe Rubie has done an excellent job with the production and design of our logo's as it is exactly we are looking for. We decided as a group that we want our logo to be subtle yet effective as that is what both we and our audience want to see. These logo's are perfect as they are simple yet also symbolic and effective which works really well for us and will help our group out a great deal when it comes to the presentation of our thriller opening.

Film Title Ideas

We have come up with a number of ideas for our thriller film title, now we just need to have a group discussion on what we think is best suited to our story line and what we want to portray.


The Unknown / Murder / The Fear Of The Unknown /  The Stranger /  The Victim /  The Letter / The Cry /  Missing / No Way Out

Target Audience Profile

After carrying out interviews, questions and online data collection and research we have come to these conclusions.

Our Target Audience
-The age which we would want to appeal to is 17 to 25.
-The type of people we would want to appeal to is students and people with a creative nature.
-London and Cambridge are the locations we are going to try and aim to appeal to.
-We are aiming to appeal to middle and lower class yet some higher class people may also be attracted to our production if they like that sort of films.
-Ways of consuming our films will be on YouTube and blogger as we have found the audience we want to appeal to look at film reviews and trailers on these websites.
-Other films our target audience enjoy are ones which contain a lot of suspense and tension, and include a lot of mystery within the plot and prefer a dark and slightly gloomy thriller film.
-Our target audience wants a setting that promotes realism and authenticity in order for them to be able to relate to the situations that occur.
-The plot must be exciting, gripping and full of suspense and mystery.
-The characters must be realistic and have unique characteristics which make them enjoyable and interesting to watch.
-The actors must be able to play their roles effectively and believably to high acting standard with realism.
-The music must relate well to the film.

We can learn a lot from this and it will all really benefit how us during the planning of our opening.

Audience Research Online

Following on from Rubies Online Data Collection post I decided to do some of my own online audience research using two films from same top 50 thriller film list on imdb.com/chart/thriller web page.

I decided to look at two films which had been recent successes and wanted to try and analyse why this was.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

Inception

Inception was rated number 3 in the top rated thriller films on imdb. As a result of this rating one would presume people must have deemed a good watch. Inception is about "a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves his toughest job to date."

As of January 4th 2012 Inception has made $825,532, 764.

Since reading through some reviews and articles online, one word springs to mind "clever" as one one person described it as an "architecture in cinema on every level: conceptual, visual, symbolic, clever." not many people seem to have a bad word to say about this film and personally I tend to agree with them, it delivers on all fronts, providing exactly what you expect from a thriller ".. an action thriller, a psychological drama, a con game and a puzzle picture with wonderful visual delights".

With the use of YouTube I also discovered that one the trailers for the film had picked up a considerable amount of views, a mighty 872 likes compared to a measly 27 dislikes not only this but it had over 800 comments and 500 favourites.

Not only this but i also found out that a majority of the views had from both America and Canada as well as Australia. With the video being most popular with males aged between 35-44 as well as women aged 13-17. 

From all this i can see that this particular film definitely hit home with its target audience, not only this but it has appealed to a variety of different cultures as people all over the world have seen this film and given huge amounts of positive feedback. The marketing and performance of this film has nothing but boost its success and helped it get to where it is today. 

The Dark Knight

The Dark Night is an action thriller and was released in 2008. As of today is ranked number 2 in the top rated thriller films of all time. The Dark Knight is where "Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with a terrorist mastermind, known only as the Joker." 

As of the 1st December 2011 The Dark Night had made $1,001,921,825 worldwide. 

Once again i read through some of reviews online and could only find praise for the film especially for the late Heath Ledger who played Batman's infamous rival the Joker. With someone describing the film as "simply incredible" and the acting as a "masterclass." 

I also had another look on YouTube and discovered that one of the trailers had acquired a vast amount of views. It had 2,097 likes to 71 dislikes, displaying huge amounts of positive response. With other 6,000 comments, the current top comment being "This wasn't a batman movie.. it was the Joker movie!" 

Unfortunately i couldn't find any videos that provided information about who the video was most popular with and where in the world it had been most viewed so i cannot comment on this. 

However what i will say is this, from what i do know and have read it appears to be on a very similar track to that of inception. Providing it's audience with everything it expects and more, it has become quite clear that this is how to become successful. Not only this but large marketing also helped this film get to where it is today helping boost the films hype and buzz upon release. 

Following on from all this i decide to have a look at a few of the worst rated thriller films on imdb. I had a quick look at films such as "Compelling Evidence" and "Blood Deep" it soon became quite clear to me that where Inception and The Dark Knight had provided there audience's with exactly what they expected if not more, these films had done complete the opposite with numerous people branding the films "a waste of time" and "the worst film i've ever seen." 

From this I believe I have learnt a great deal in how providing an audience with what they expect and want is crucial to any success that and money seem to go a long way. 

Audience Research.. Online Data Collection

In order to discover the target audience we should use for our thriller film, we need to use online resources to look at recent and current opinions and reviews, numbers and figures on a number of thrillers. By doing this we will get some guidance who to aim our production at.

To get an idea of what was the most popular films, we were able to find a chart listing the top 50 thriller films, here is the top 25 as stated on imdb.com/chart/thriller web page.

Therefore with the aid of this chart of the best selling thrillers I am able to choose a few films which I will know for certain have been successful, some more than others however with the majority of them being fairly recent as we need the most up to date research in order to truly know what people like now.

Black Swan

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/

Even though this wasn't rated in the top 25, it was however number 44 and therefore still in the top 50 I still decided to use this on a research basis. Black Swan is about a ballet dancer who wins the lead in Swan Lake and she is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan, Princess Odette, but she slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.

The film has made $106,952,327 as of the 1st of May 2011.

After reading through many articles and reviews online, it soon became clear to me that not many people had a bad word to say about the film. It is widely described as a thriller and mystery film and also been described as a masterpiece of obsession and what that obsession ultimately does to a person. I would say that it doesn't typically strike me as a thriller because of the main character and setting but as soon as the story evolves and the characteristics progress it becomes clear that in fact it is. This is mainly because the lead character is a women and despite it becoming more common within thrillers the lead characters are usually male.

I also had a look on YouTube at the films trailer and found that it had a substantial amount of views, and over thirty thousand likes compared to only over a thousand dislikes. It also has a considerable amount of comments, and a few reactions with most of them being 'incredible'.

The audience target for this film was generally for the majority of people and I thought it would appeal to the older generation more however the YouTube trailer was mainly watched by females aged between 13 to 17 and 18 to 24, and surprisingly popular with males aged 25 to 34. I was also able to see where in the world the Black Swan trailer is popular in. 


It is difficult for me to give my personal opinion on the films audience targets and my own review as I haven't seen it, therefore I think I will take time to get and watch the film.

Se7en

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/

I thought I would take a quick look into some information about the audiences for thriller films from a while ago instead of limiting it to only recent ones so therefore I chose the 1995 thriller called 'Se7en' as we had previously watched the first few minutes in lesson time and I really liked the way they had done the opening credits as it related to some ideas that originally went through my thoughts when we first found out about the task. I also think I am going to take time to watch this film, as from the initial beginning I was keen to find out more because of all the letters and writing used in the opening credits.

The film Se7en is a film in which two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. It is widely described as a thriller, crime and drama film and has made 316,400,000 at the box office worldwide.

It has been rated the 9th best thriller according to imdb.com.


Unfortunately there was no statistics available on YouTube about the audiences that watched related clips to the film, but I think that is understandable seeing the film was first released in 1995 when YouTube wasn't around as a way of getting your film trailer seen. Despite these factors the trailer has nearly a million views. I was however able to find a demographic breakdown which displays the ratings from viewers.

The audience target for this film was 18+ as the certification for Se7en was 18, this demographic graph shows that most males and females between the ages of 18 and 29 gave a higher rating for this film as a high majority of people who voted fell into these two categories.


The Dark Knight

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/

The Dark Knight is an action, thriller and crime film which was released in 2008 and still is ranking number 85 out of all films and ranks in at number 2 on the top thriller charts according to imdb.com. In The Dark Knight, Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by a terrorist mastermind known only as the Joker, as he drives each of them to their limits.

As of the 1st of December the box office of The Dark Knight, managed to gross $1,001,921,825 worldwide.









Also to see what made thriller films unsuccessful I decided to look at the top worst ones in order to see what not to do in our film. These were the top ten voted worst according to imdb.com  However this may be because they have received far less votes than the top 50 films, so taking this into account I still wanted to look at a few of these despite this.

Audience Questionnaire Results

Following on from previous analysis of our questionnaire results I decided to break down the findings further and give my own personal view on particular questions and what we found and how It will impact us a group and on our thriller opening.

Here is the analysis of some of the questions we asked:


Which Age Category Below Includes Your Age?  

This graph shows that the majority of people who filled in our questionnaire were indeed aged 17 or younger meaning most people were aged between 14 and 17 (teenagers) this will have to be taken into account when analysing our results.







What Influential Factors Would Make You Watch A Thriller? 

What this particular graph shows us is that an appealing storyline is what most people expect or want from a thriller, for us this will be very important.
We also found that a good cast and a good reputation  were also seen as key factors within a thriller however we also discovered that only one person thought 'Good Reviews' were important. So it is clear from the results of the particular question that an appealing storyline is something we need to invest a lot of thought into as it is what our audience considers a major influential factor that would make them want to watch a thriller.



How Would You Describe A Typical Thriller Film? 


From looking at this graph it is clear that almost 50% percent of people who answered this question decided that tense was the best way to describe a typical thriller film, followed mysterious and exciting with less than 20% each. No one who answered the question thought that a typical thriller could be described as fun. What this shows us is that people tend to see thrillers as tense and mysterious, this is something we will have to strongly consider when it comes to producing our own thriller opening.

What Is Your Favourite Thriller Out of The Following? 



From this graph it became clear that the more recent and more well known the film was the more people seemed to enjoy it, for example the Black Swan and Inception both received almost thirty percent of the vote each. Where as Se7en was much lower. Again we will need to take all of this into consideration when it comes to planning and producing our very own thriller opening.




From the analysis of these particular questions It has become clear to us that people enjoy more recent and popular thrillers, they interpret thrillers as being quite tense and mysterious and they also cast an appealing storyline to be a main influential factor when watching a thriller. All of these points are useful and will help us when it comes to producing our very own thriller opening, however all the results and data that we have collected will be taken into consideration as it is impossible to discuss and analyse a variety of different options to give ourselves the best chance at being successful.

Audience Research.. Questionnaire Results

We was able to get a good amount of answers by sharing a link to a social network. To be able to analyse the results we made graphs and collected up the data found for each answer.

Which category below includes your age?

The majority of people that filled it in was 17 or younger, as out of there was 16 out of 24. This means that the results we get for the rest of our questionnaire will be mainly from teenagers which are mainly 14 till 17. Therefore whatever results we get we will have to suit are target audience accordingly.

How would you describe a typical thriller film?

Nearly fifty percent of people that answered this question chose tense, then with less than twenty percent each mysterious and exciting were the next two to be chose. No one thought thrillers could be described as fun, however a couple did describe them to be dark, scary or dramatic. The results from this clearly show that thrillers are described as being tense and mysterious and exciting by the people who answered this questionnaire.

What factors would make you watch a thriller?

In order to find out what actually makes people watch thrillers we asked about factors that make you watch a thriller and found that it was clear that an appealing storyline is a major necessity. This was followed  by the cast and reputation as these could be seen as important factors too however it was clear that 85% of people that answered the question agreed with an appealing storyline. Only one person answered  with good reviews.

What makes a good thriller opening for you?

• It makes you jump
• Makes you want to carry on watching, keeps you asking questions
• When they describe the background to what the story is about for example the opening to Knowing (Nicholas Cage), or if there is no background to show then something mysterious that's explained later on in the film.
• Dramatic Secretive - not giving the whole story away
• A confusing yet captivating scene that makes you want to know more. Blood's always pretty good.
• A setting that's original, but keeps you on the edge of your seat.
• Dark and jump scenes.
• Quiet, slow with an underlying hint of immediate threat.
• Something that straight away you can just tell is going to be thrilling.
• Getting straight into the plot, where the central characters are introduced and the objects/items/people that go on to jeopardize their fate emerge.
• It should start with a hint of action so that the audience is engaged straight away.
• When you have the ending scene played to you at the beginning, to make you guess what happens in between.
• Has to show the main characteristics of the antagonist, without giving away too much, good music can really help to set the scene, and include suspense/tension/mystery. Need to be instantly grabbed.
• Realistic
• Quite dark and gloomy, and full of suspense and cliff hangers.
• Full of tension and suspense, and doesn't give a lot away obviously but slips in clues and suspicious hints during it with good effective music.

What is your favourite thriller out of the following?

In order to see what type of thrillers appeal to the market, we asked for the person filling out the questionnaire to select one from the following list. It was clear that the most well known and recent films came out top, as Black Swan and Inception both had around thirty percent each. 

What made that particular film enjoyable?

Black Swan

• How unique it was.
• Good storyline.
• The female lead.
• The lead role was pretty, I could associate with it. Simple plot, with bold events.
• I've only seen three of the six and black swan scared the hell out of me.. so jumpy.
• The dark images, beautiful music, beautiful women, and the way the director played with the viewer's mind.

Inception 

• How everything was happening in fairly normal houses and buildings yet everything was so unusual.
• The storyline and special effects.
• It makes you think and has an interesting underlying plot.
• It took a complicated idea and presented it in a way that was quite clear and easy to understand.

The Sixth Sense

• Good storyline.
• The fact that it was scary but not too terrifying, and it was a really gripping storyline especially when they revealed that he was a ghost at the end which I was not expecting, in a good way.
• Bruce Willis... is a ghost!

The Dark Knight

• Incredible soundtrack, keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, comes to a satisfying conclusion and explored interesting character of Batman being a hero but with deep flaws.

Se7en

• Good actors and good storyline.

The Departed

• Twists, suspense, action, excitement, good actors/acting.

From all of these results that we received in the questionnaire it was clear that from analysising and summarising the answers given we would be able to make an audience profile, which we could also use as our target audience criteria. 

Audience Research Questionnaires

As mentioned in previous posts we decided to use questionnaires to obtain any relevant audience research we wanted to collect. We felt questionnaires would give us more precise data relating directly to what we wanted to know and as a result of this we would then be able to produce graphs and analyse as a result of the data we collect. By using the questions we had planned to use for our interviews we changed them to suit a questionnaire so people would answer it we made sure we precise about what we asked and how we asked so that we could easily find out what we needed to know.

We used an online survey creator which we used to make a questionnaire consisting of six questions. By sharing the questionnaire online, on social networking sites such as Facebook and also our blog we were able to get a variety of different responses.

Audience Research.. Questionnaires

Following on from previous posts in which we had written about doing focus groups and interviews we have decided to do questionnaires instead of focus groups as they were too time consuming and we felt that questionnaires would give us more precise answers relating directly to what we wanted to know and we would be able to produce graphs from the results we would get.

Therefore from looking at the questions used for our interviews we made them more suitable for a questionnaire so it wasn't too long and so people would answer it we made sure we was precise about what we needed to know and that it would be useful to us.

By using an online survey creator we made a questionnaire of six questions. By sharing the link to the questionnaire online, on social networks and our blog we were able to get many filled in which was very useful.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Audience Research Update

Following on from previous posts we have since decided not to conduct interviews as they are too time consuming instead we have decided to go with questionnaires both in person and online as we believe this will be a more effective way of securing the relevant information we wish to obtain.

Interview Questions Template

- How old are you?

-What do you expect from a good film e.g camera shots, special effects, story line etc?

-What do you most enjoy about films e.g story line, characters etc?

-How would you describe a thriller film e.g dark, scary etc?

-What makes a good thriller opening for you e.g good music, good use of camera etc?

-What is your favourite thriller film and what made it enjoyable e.g inception, story line etc?

-Do you think the story line in a film plays an important role in its success in your opinion?

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.

Market Research Methods

Research surveys are occasionally used for market research; it’s usually referred as another way or type of having a personal interview, which is fairly common. These may be a lengthy interview, in which a research participant meets with the researcher individually. In addition, it might be a much shorter interview if the researcher simply approaches people in a public area to ask questions. These people might be trying to determine something simple, such as if a certain colour bottle of laundry detergent makes someone more or less likely to purchase that product. It can also involve using questionnaires as an alternative source within Research survey area, this helps to collect the data from who you give it to which is obtained on, unfortunately if you use this method you can not go into high detail about what you are trying to find out so you would have a basic understanding of what to do from the questionnaires after they are collected in.

Example of a questionnaire (layout)

Audience Research Methods

What are audience research methods?

Audience research methods are ways in which someone like myself can gain an a better insight into what people may like, dislike or prefer in films, television programmes and in our case the opening to a thriller film.

Audience research methods include, interviews, questionnaires, logs of films, observations of discussions, online questionnaires, focus groups and data collection.

Each method has both benefits and drawbacks for example questionnaires are quick, easy to set up and mostly contain the information the creator is looking for as you can tailor questions to suit any specific queries or needs, however questionnaires may carry weak and even possibly inaccurate information as people maybe reduced to a limited choice of possible answers.

Having said all this I personally believe that our group should use both interviews and focus groups for our audience research methods, I believe these methods will certainly help our group as they will provide us with detailed and accurate information as well as being able to get a better insight into what people enjoy, dislike and what they may want to see included in a possible opening to a thriller film. Yes these options are time consuming but if we find the time to execute the methods appropriately then we could gain extremely valuable information that will help our group progress and with the right analysis create an opening no-one can afford to miss!

There are a variety of different ways in which we could approach these methods but I believe that if we ask the right questions and take down all the key and relevant information needed then we will be on to a winner. For example if we tailor our questions correctly to address any specific issues we have to do with any idea's or plans within the group, the results and feedback from these questions could prove essential as they could help to rule out or enhance any possible idea's. We could setup interviews and focus groups at school during lunchtimes, study periods or even media lessons as well as outside of school at places such as local cinemas, with a fixed amount of specific questions.

This was a reasonably simple decision to make as I had filled in a table (below) outlining both benefits and drawbacks of each individual audience research method. It was clear from this table that interviews and focus groups would be the most beneficial to us and would provide us with what i believe the best and most accurate information possible.

Table Outlining Benefits and Drawbacks of Audience Research Methods

So in conclusion to all this as previously stated I personally believe that we should use both interviews and focus groups as our audience research methods. 

Defining The Audience For Our Thriller Opening

Audiences can be segmented and marketed in different ways, these depend on the way they have been defined. The main ways in which audiences are classified are by age, race, gender and location. Some other ways include class, values, attitudes and lifestyles. A example of one of the latest approaches to audience targeting is LifeMatrix which originates from the field of market research. It is a definition of ten audience categories, centred around both values, attitudes and beliefs as well as more fundamental, demographic audience categories. An example of one from the ten is Tribe Wired which is defined as digital, free-spirited, created young singles.

In order to define our audience we need to use audience segmentation/ levels of audience which is:
-Engagement, this describes how an audience interacts within a media text as different people react in different ways to the same text.
-Expectations, these are ideas an audience may have about a text, and it particularly applies to genre pieces.
-Foreknowledge, this is a definite information which an audience brings to a media product.
-Identification, this is the way in which audiences feel themselves connected to a particular media text, in that they feel it directly expresses their attitude or lifestyle.
-Placement, this is the range of strategies media producers use to directly target a particular audience and make them feel that the media text is specially 'for them'.
-Research, measuring an audience is very important to all media institutions. Research is done at all stages of production of a media text, and once produced, audience will be continually monitored.

We need to look at demographics and psycho graphics include: age, gender, family size, life cycle, generation (baby boomers, x, etc), income, occupation, education, ethnicity, nationality, religion, social class, activities, interests, opinions, attitudes and values.

We also need to take into account the benefits and disadvantages of niche audiences which are small and specific compared mass audiences which is as many as possible. The main fault of niche audiences is, if you get it wrong for the audience you are targeting you don't get views but it is specific and if it appealed to the people you targeted you would get views. In contrast to this, some target as many people as possible, a good factor about this is obviously more people to watch it and like it and dislike it but this means there is therefore too many people to please and the film could get a bit lost within this.


What are the Audience for a media product?
Users, consumers, critics and funders.

What must a creator take into account when considering an audience?
Age, opinions , lifestyle, gender, class, region, season, availability, expectations, wants, needs, what they get out of the media product, expectations from other media products, people, star theory, lives up to the hype, fashion, culture, trends, popularity, pleasure, meaning, people can relate to it (semiotics), audience past experience, money, cross media platforms, how they consume it (get their media).

What do you use films for?
For social events and occasions, for example maslow. These include social needs such as friends, family and award needs such as praise, gifts and self actualization such as influence and actions.

What does media provide audiences with?
Escapism, enjoyment, motivation, influence, aspirations, raise awareness, humour, entertainment and pleasure.

User and gratification theory..
Information: we want to find out about society and the world.
Personal Identity: we may watch the television in order to look for models for our behaviour.
Integration and Social Interaction: we use the media in order to find out more about circumstances of other people.
Entertainment: sometimes we simply use the media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill time.


In conclusion, we need to carry out some audience research techniques and gather the information we need to find out who our audience will be in order for them to enjoy our production.