Film Noir Survey Results

I created my survey online using Google Forms, and then

distributed it through Facebook. The main advantage of using the internet was that there were no

physical or geographical barriers. I received responses from a variety

of people from various social backgrounds and locations.

Responses

The average respondent was between the ages of 12 and 18, (48.7%) with the rest being fairly equally divided.

The male: female ratio was

7 : 3

If this is the group that is most accessible to me, then logically this should be the target audience for my film noir. It will make distribution and

feedback much easier.

Genre

When I asked what the favourite genre of the respondents was, some of the top answers were

Action and Adventure

Drama

Thriller

There are many hybrid films in modern cinema; many neo noirs now often include aspects of other genres, so perhaps I could consider including

action based or dramatic scenes in my film. This may make it more appealing

to the audience.

When asked if they had seen a film noir, only 31% said yes, however 26% were

not sure of what a film noir was.

Of the 31% who had seen them, on a scale of 1-10, film noir was rated a

favourable 7.

A lot of neo noirs have actually been box office successes and I was fairly

confident most of the respondents therefore had actually seen a neo noir without realising. From a list of famous

noirs, 100% of the respondents had seen at least one. The most popular of

these were:

Character

53% of the respondents believed that the protagonist should be male and 46% of these believed that the age didn’t matter

(however the rest of the respondents voted in favour of a young adult).

Nearly 60% of the audience agreed that the hero should be morally ambiguous, however a majority agreed that they should be punished

for this at the end of the film. No-one expected a happy ending.

The protagonist of my film is therefore likely to be a young, morally ambiguous man who is punished as a consequence of his actions.

When asked if they preferred a male or female villain, over half showed no preference

however those that did preferred a male villain. Conventionally in film noir the villain is actually a femme fatale, which is generally a surprise as it goes against the stereotypical

female gender roles. A clear majority answered the villain should be younger and

unmasked at the end of the film.

Of a list of adjectives, those that most of the respondents chose to describe the

femme fatale were:

Setting

100% answered that film noirs should be set in an urban, big, iconic, concrete location. One

respondent elaborated “anywhere suitably dark and miserable”. Again, everyone agreed

the action should take place at night.

Therefore I should film my film noir in a clearly urban location, at nighttimes when possible.

Some specific settings named were:

Highway Parks

Bars/ Lounges Police Stations

Apartments Alleyways

Sound and Editing

From a list of musical terminology, respondents favoured a film noir soundtrack which was

slower and melancholy. There was a roughly 50/50 divide on whether the music should be classical jazz (as in the original noir films) or

contemporary (for a modern audience).

For my own film, I may consider using jazz instruments but in a more modern sounding

piece as a compromise.

Only 10.5% of respondents preferred films in black and white over Technicolor. Perhaps

this convention of film noirs could be subverted to appeal to a contemporary

audience.

Although most of the respondents enjoyed flashbacks, over 80% did not like

accompanying voiceovers as they stated the obvious. Again, perhaps this convention may

be overlooked.