Research Task 6Audience Research

Primary and Secondary Data

By Aaron Alderman

Chart showing ages of people sampledFor my primary and secondary audience research I created my own questionnaire consisting of a series of questions regarding films. I handed this questionnaire to 20 individuals for them to complete.The first question of the questionnaire was ‘What’s your age’, to which they were given 5 options. The most popular age range can clearly be seen, which is 15-18 year olds. I decided to choose an age question as the only personal information gathering because as part of our project we are specifically studying coming of age movies - hence why the questionnaire was mainly given to teenagers, so we can adapt our own film to suit needs.

Chart showing people’s favourite genreThe second question I asked on the questionnaire was ‘What is your favourite/preferred genre of film?’. Again, I gave them 5 options – Action, Horror/Thriller, Comedy, Drama and Romance. From the chart above we can see that action is the most popular genre out of the five, however in general the results were very close between the top three. This surprised me, as I thought when creating this question that comedy would be an outright winner. As there were three very popular genres, this tells me that my own project should be one of these as they are the most successful among teenagers. This will engage both primary and secondary audiences more.

Chart showing what people enjoy in filmsThe third question I asked on the questionnaire was ‘What do you look for in a film?’. With this question, I again gave 5 different options, however this time they were allocated three boxes to tick instead of just one. This gives us a lot more information and a more in-depth analysis of what people enjoy in films. From this chart we can see that a good storyline and relatability within the film is very important to the viewer. Now, I can plan my own film project around this information knowing that I must make my narrative interesting to watch, perhaps involve some plot twists to engage the audience. I must also provide a great sense of relatability within my film so it’s more immersive.

Chart showing what people do not enjoy in filmsThe fourth question I asked on the questionnaire was ‘What do you not enjoy when watching a film?’. Similarly to the last question, the individuals participating in the questionnaire were allocated three boxes to tick out of the five options. Also like the last question, the most popular answer was that a bad storyline was a major downfall in a film. This tells me that the storyline is the most important part of a film, so I need to carefully think and develop my own narrative. Poor acting and the film being too unrealistic are also popular choices, so again I must pay close attention to my own project and be aware of making these mistakes.

Chart showing what coming of age films they have seenThe last question on my questionnaire was ‘Which of these coming of age films have you seen?’. In this question I gave the participants 10 options where they would tick the box if they had seen the film given before. Among the most popular films on this list are Grease, American Pie and Ferris Buellar’s Day Off. What strikes me about these three films is that they are all set within (or mostly within) a school setting and are about groups of teenagers. This tells me that a school would be a good choice to include as a setting in my own project. Also popular, are Boyz In The Hood and Juno – these films do not appear to have anything in common with each other, but actually they are both about real world issues (B.I.T.H = gang violence, Juno = teen pregnancy). This shows that coming of age films can be entertaining as well as have a deeper meaning, which I should definitely consider for my film.