Audience form and expectations

MITCHELL FROST

Why research the audience?

I decided to undertake some research into my audience as I figured I should be very familiar with them if I was to make a film for them and want it to be successful.

From audience feedback I will craft my trailer and film to suit the audience’s expectations and needs for the film to be successful.

I think the audience are very important as they are the people who will consume the film.

I undertook a questionnaire and made sure to ask a range of people within the age range of 12-50, of both sexes.

1. What BBFC rating would you expect ‘Hatched’ to be?

BBFC Rating

12 12A 15 18

From this it is clear that if I stick to my trailer and shot list, the content within the film will be more than suitable for the 15 BBFC rating. The film will b rated 15 as it features some hints at violence and some explicit language. The narrative of the text is also deep and not one suitable for a younger audience. The aspect of a man stalking a young boy and the family problems of which both feature are not suitable for anyone under the age of 15, with a juvenile mind.

2. In the trailer, what would you expect more of?

Action Reveal of the plot

The fact that 90% of the people I surveyed said that they would expect the trailer to show more action than there be any reveal of the plot suggests that I need to make sure my trailer includes lots of action as it is clear that is what the majority of people look for in a trailer, especially of this genre. The reveal of the plot should come gradually throughout the full film and I feel it would be pointless to reveal much of the plot in the trailer as there would be no point in watching the full film.

3. How much of the plot would you expect to be revealed in the trailer?

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

From this, I can see that it is clear that I need to make sure that very little of the plot is revealed within my trailer. My audience expect for the plot not to be revealed therefore spoiling the full film. I will use this research as a guidance in order to try and aim to have roughly 20/30% of the plot revealed.

4. What genre would you expect ‘Hatched’ to be classed as?

Thriller Action Romance Comedy Horror

It is quite clear that my audience expect my film to be classed within the ‘Thriller’ genre. I am glad the audience discovered this as it proves my pitch is clear and thorough. People who I had interviewed said that they had worked out that my film would be of the thriller genre from the title and specific parts of the plot and certain narratives and characters, such as the stalking of the young boy by a masked man.

5. What is the minimum number of characters you would expect to feature in ‘Hatched’?

3 4 5 6 7 8

From my results I will make sure to include 7 characters within my film. I understand from my research that If my film includes any less than 7 characters I am setting up to disappoint my audience. One of the participants of the survey told me that without at least 7 characters my trailer and film would “lack complexity” and it would be “hard to create a good piece of professional film and narrative.”

6. What is the minimum number of locations you would expect to feature in ‘Hatched’?

5 6

I will make sure to include at least 5 locations in my film. It is clear that the audience do not expect anything less than 5 locations in the film. To make the film enjoyable and in keeping with professional conventions of a film, I will be sure to use a range of diverse locations to make the watch an enjoyable one for my audience.

7. Would you expect all characters in the film to feature in the trailer?

Yes No

From this it is clear that I do not need to worry about including all my cast within my trailer and if anything it would be better to accommodate for the audience and not include all my cast in the trailer. One of the participants of the survey said that including all my cast would ‘ruin’ my trailer and film as ‘too much’ would be revealed.

8. What gender would you expect the protagonist to be?

Female Male

I plan to make my protagonist a young teenage boy, this would be in keeping with my audiences expectations while also challenging typical conventions of modern day texts. The fact that the boy will be a teenager and not an older man is atypical of a protagonist in a thriller/action film.

9. What sort of character do you expect to play the protagonist?

Cunning Intelligent Laid back Idiotic

I will represent my protagonist as intelligent and laid back as this is taking everyone's opinion in to consideration. I feel that an intelligent and laid back protagonist will work best within my film and is typical of a protagonist in this genre of film. My antagonist will be the complete binary opposite and be an example of Levi Strauss’s theory of binary opposites.

10. Throughout the film, would you expect the outcome to be predictable or not?

Yes,predictable No, not predicatble

From this I will ensure that the outcome of my film is in no way predictable. I hope to keep the audience on the edge of their seat and ‘on their toes’, by making the plot diverge massively, in a way that the audience is not expecting.