Survey - Questionnaire

Questionnaire

In attempts of furthering my understanding of my target audience I began to circulate a survey.

My main aim was understanding my demographic better in terms of the age, gender, what genres they watch and how frequently they watch movies as well as what expectations they held when watching a film.

This was important as film openings are designed specifcally to hook the audience. A good film demands the audience's undivided attention right from start to finish. This survey was made to figure out what the audience wants.

Since my genre of choice was psychological thriller, I selected my questions accordingly. This would materialize in questions of what expectations my audience would have —namely if revealing the central conflict was to some extent necessary.

 I also added some questions about the effect technical elements have on audience retention. This information would then inform my decisions when making my own film opening to ensure it is effective. Here's the survey questionnaire along with the results: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnvfox_u5t3eghcKss4cqQkqXxwxKas3zimpXGu_SPag7JKw/viewform?usp=header

Results

1.

The majority of my form's respondents were teenagers and young adults. 31.5% were 13-17 years old, and 64% were 18-22 years old. This showed me that my film opening has to cater to the interests of the youth, and I have to be careful to create a narrative that they will understand and enjoy.

2.

My form was filled out by both males and females, however, the female gender was more dominant and accounted for 83.3% of our responses. I therefore have to take into account that my film opening will primarily be consumed by young females whilst planning out the storyline and narrative.

3.

I asked my respondents their favorite genre before asking any questions specific to my chosen genre (psychological thriller) so we could get a better idea on audience tastes, preferences, and trends. This allowed me to see if I have chosen a genre that a mass audience would like to consume. Thriller was chosen by 60 people (accounting for 54.1% of the response pool) with romance being a close second.

4.

I had to be sure that my potential audience consumes films regularly so that they would be prompted to watch my film opening. Apart from that, this question was also essential to make sure I had an accurate sample of people filling our my form.

5.

It was essential for me to ensure whether my potential audience found the opening scene of a film important or not so I could accurately balance out the content it would contain. Considering that 93.7% find them considerably important, I have to ensure a captivating film opening.

6.

Similar to the question above, I included this question to know if my potential audience will be prompted to watch the entire film based on my opening. I had to make certain that film openings were truly impactful for my audience. 40.5% said it depends on their mood, 22.5% said they wait for the opening to get better and 20.7% said yes.

7.

This question helped me determine what type of film opening I should make. Inciting Incident and Flash Forward were the the two most popular types.

8.

I had to make sure that impressive visuals were deemed important by our potential audience so we could incorporate them into our film opening as well. 90.1% said yes.

9.

I asked my respondents what film opening has left the biggest impact on them so I could create something with similar traits. Many responses said that how the mood of the film was set by the the opening was essential for them to be able to enjoy the film. The addition of this question allowed me to get qualitative responses (can u tell i take psychology?) along with the quantitative ones.

More Responses

10.

There was almost an equal split of responses for this question, however with a slight margin, I saw that my respondents preferred film openings that jumped right into the action.

11.

This was another question that allowed me to get qualitative responses and my respondents listed down mistakes that they've seen in other film openings. This helped me decide what I should avoid incorporating in my own film opening to make sure it appeals to my potential audience. The most common response was too slow or fast paced.

More Responses

12.

I wanted to ensure if my genre (psychological thriller) would be something an audience would like as well. 62.2% of the pool voted for it.

13.

I had to make sure if my potential audience would watch a film opening featuring gore or violent. 51.4% said sometimes.

14.

My respondents favorite psychological thriller opening scenes helped me deduce what my potential audience would like. Answers ranged from visual appeal, mystery and enigma, etc.

15.

This allowed me to see what factors affect the anticipation for my potential audience to see the rest of the film.

16.

51.4% of the respondents deemed good sound design very important.

17.

Through this, I was able to see what types of camera and editing techniques I should include in my film opening. Low key lighting and dull colors were two of the most common factors along with close ups and wide shots.

18.

94.6% deemed pacing important to a certain extent with 28.8% finding it crucial. Thus proving I have to balance the opening, not too fast nor too slow.

19.

This allowed me to see if my potential audience found it necessary for a film opening in my genre to reveal the main conflict or antagonist, with 54.1% saying no.

20.

This question told me that 37.8% of the respondents found it essential and 40.5% found it important to a great extent.

21.

The majority of respondents found that a clear sense of narrative was crucial.

90.9% of the respondents said that the opening would influence their emotions for the rest of the film.