Audience survey results analysis

In question 1, I asked my audience what their age, gender and occupation was. I asked this question as I wanted to gain more information about my target market and their lifestyle. Many of the participants were the age of my primary target audience and some were the age of my secondary audience.

In question 2, I asked which name my audience would prefer for the genre of film I am interested in. An even amount of participants said ‘Eternity’ and ‘One Last Touch’. This is very useful as it has narrowed down my ideas and lets me know what kind of title my audience are interested in.

In question 3, my audience were asked if they enjoy watching films from different eras. This question is very important as my film (and trailer) will include scenes from many different periods of time and I need to know whether my audience enjoy watching this. Nearly 95% of participants said that they enjoyed watching films from different eras. This means that I can go ahead with my idea and know that my audience will enjoy it.

In question 4, I asked my audience to rate how much they enjoy romance adventure films on a scale of 1 to 5 in order to know that my audience will enjoy my idea. The average score was nearly 4 out of 5 meaning that most of my target market will enjoy the genre. However, to ensure that they will love it, I will incorporate aspects of other genres – such as science fiction (time travel). This will make the film different and innovative and something that my audience may not have seen before.

In question 5, my target market were asked what their favourite past decades from a list of iconic eras I provided. The most popular decade was the 1980s with 12 out of 19, followed by the 60s, 40s and 20s (all scoring 9), then the 50s (8) and finally the 90s (7). Because of these results, I will definitely feature the 80s in my trailer as it is a decade known by my audience and is easy to represent. I will also feature the 1920s and 40s as they are very recognisable by my primary and secondary audience and easy to represent in a short period of time through sound and mise-en-scene. I must decide whether to include the 1950s or 1960s in my trailer because, although the 60s were more popular, I think that the 1950s would be easier to portray meaning that more people may be able to understand what decade I am trying to show. This question has given me useful information into what time periods my audience are interested in and what eras they recognise.  

In question 6, I asked my audience if they enjoyed cliff hangers in a movie trailer. Cliff hangers are often used in trailers to add suspense and mystery to the film and make the audience question what will happen next. They are a common convention used to intrigue an audience and persuade them to see the film. Although they are commonly used, I wanted to know if they are something that my target audience enjoy as they are my main priority. Nearly 90% of my audience said they do enjoy cliff hangers in trailers, therefore I will include them in my narrative.

In question 7, I asked again about movie trailers. This time, my audience were asked what type of movie trailer they enjoy. They were given 6 options to choose from gave me significant results. 10 people (nearly 53%) said that they enjoyed trailers with an element of surprise and mystery. This relates to cliff hangers and leaving questions for the audience to think about. 5 people (just over 26%) said that they enjoyed fast-paced editing in trailers. Because of these results, I will ensure that my trailer is fast-paced and contains scenes associated with adventure, as well as including cliff hangers and anticipating scenes.

In question 8, participants were asked what makes them most want to see a film. Out of 4 options, including films featured in movie magazines, famous directors and films made by big institutions, nearly 69% of my audience said that well-known actors pull them towards a film. This question gave me useful insight as it gave information into what I should advertise when marketing a film. Because of these results, I will be sure to advertise the actors that star in the film. 

In the final question, I asked my target market what their favourite genre of film was. My idea for the genre of my film is an adventure romance with aspects of science fiction. The 4 most loved genres by my audience were adventure, romance, action and comedy. This is useful as I know that my audience will enjoy the genre film I have been thinking about. 

Audience survey

Create your own user feedback survey 

I asked people to participate in my survey through:
- Whatsapp
- Text message
 - E-mail
- Word of mouth

Genre research: action and sci-fi romance - Mr Love

Draft narrative and synopsis

I have created a final narrative which has combined the ideas of both of my previous narratives.

Story type – romance/adventure/sci-fi

Plot type – maturation?

Boy and girl meet and find a spark, they hold hands and jump through time.

Act 1 – boy and girl meet at a party and go on a date the next day, when they hold hands they jump through time.

Act 2 – they realise what has happened and hold each other for safety, they jump to another decade.

Act 3 – they learn how to control their powers and return home safely (not shown in trailer à cliff-hanger).

Synopsis:

It’s just before midnight on December 31^st – New Year’s Eve. Everyone is getting ready for their New Year’s kiss. Darcy isn’t. She was waiting. She didn’t quite know what for, but when she found it, she’d know. She scanned the room and came across a newbie, who was he? He was alone but gorgeous, typical but mysterious. Who was he? Whoever he was, he was coming right for her.

Will felt like he knew everything about her. Her name was Darcy and she went to Westbrook Grove High, 10 minutes away. They were the same age and she loved animals. Her mom had bright pink hair and dad was a lawyer – strange match. Perfect match.

Darcy was falling love. They’d known each other for 2 hours and she was falling in love. She met with him the next day for brunch, then it turned into dinner, and then a night out. They’d spent 9 hours straight together and still had so much.

They were walking home and Will’s hand slipped into Darcy’s. It fitted like a glove. All of a sudden it was pitch black. A loud siren was whining in the distance and a baby was crying right by them. Confused, Darcy looked around and saw candles lit, women huddled together with their children and no men. Will looked at Darcy and realised she was wearing completely different clothes. Her petite mini dress had changed to a khaki skirt and blazer. Where were they?

They held each other and suddenly found themselves elsewhere. The music was exquisite and the dresses were stunning. What was this place? As will went to grab Darcy’s hand she realised what was happening. The war siren, the flapper dresses – they were moving through time. Everything changed again, the 50’s! Hollywood waves and poodle skirts – it had to be.

How would they stop it? How would they get back home? Will and Darcy and no idea, but they knew that they had each other – whatever happened they were together. 


Could use a voiceover throughout the trailer of a man and a woman telling the story of how they met. At the end of the trailer there could be a shot of two older people telling the story to their grandchildren/children. These people would be the main characters????

Audience profile

Blumler and Katz 'Uses and Gratifications' 1974 - Mr Love

According to Blumler and Katz, these are the reasons why people consume media texts. Media producers may design their texts to appeal to these needs and desires.

Demographics and psychographics

Demographics:
Category A - upper middle class (bankers, doctors)
Category B - middle class (teachers, middle managers)
Category C1 - lower middle class (office supervisors, nurses)
Category C2 - skilled working class (tradespeople)
Category D - working class (unskilled manual labour)
Category E - lowest level of income (unemployed, students, pensioners)

Psychographics:
Adverts are more likely to be identified using psychographics rather than demographics, however you can apply them to other media products as well.
Aspirers - people who want to appear rich and attractive.
Reformers - people who want social change, unemployed by status, make decisions based on their values (environmentalists).
Explorers - adventurous people who like taking risks.
Main-streamers - people who follow the crowd.
Strugglers - people who find it hard to achieve (often connected with poverty). 

Ideology (shared values and beliefs). Also consider audiences' values (e.g. concern for the environment) and ideologies (e.g. predominant left or right wing stance, a distrust of the youth or sexism), which they may share with the text. 

Synopsis for trailer idea 2

Act 1 - James Carter has been kidnapped. Why? He doesn't know. By whom? He doesn't know. For how long? Very long. Time has always fascinated James. How it happens, why it happens or, if it even happens at all. But at this point, he wanted to time to stop. He wanted to get away from the animals who had taken him for no reason and wanted to travel back to when it happened. He could have stopped them.

It had been months since James Carter was taken from his home and held captive. All he knew was that he needed to escape. An escape plan was his only plan, although he wasn't exactly the creative type. He was alone, starving, alone and freezing. And alone. He had to get out - now.

Act 2 - there was a loud noise coming from the hallway of the abandoned estate home James was being held in. Followed by a scream, and another, and another. What was going on? A masked man walked silently into the room where James was sat and stood there. Was it another kidnapper? No. Within seconds James was untied and running for his life with a man he knew nothing about. As they get to a safe distance James tackles the mysterious hero to the ground and pulls off his mask, only to have the shock of his life.

How was it possible? How could it be his future self saving him in the present? As James explained to James, time-travel was possible - and he had the gift. The kidnappers knew about James' powers and wanted to steal it for themselves. No way was that going to happen. More time had passed and he became a master of time. Travelling back and forth from the stone-age to the present. James wanted to do something with his powers, but what?

Act 3 - after months of research, James compiled a list of dates of tragic events that impacted the world. He was going to stop them. Save lives and rewrite the past. Would it work? He could only hope.

Synopsis for trailer idea 1

Act 1 - it's just before midnight on December 31st - New Year's Eve. Everyone is getting ready for their New Year's kiss. Darcy isn't. After all, who would she kiss? James is her ex, Scott dated her best friend and Dean is, well, Dean. She scanned the room and came across a newbie, who was he? He was alone but gorgeous, typical but mysterious. Who was he? Darcy walked over and with just 30 seconds to go, introduced herself. If she didn't kiss someone she'd have to forfeit, and that was not okay. Within 20 seconds there was a connection and when the clock struck midnight, sparks.

Will needed to find someone, quick. It was 5 minutes before midnight and if he didn't find anyone then there would be non-stop name calling and forfeits from his mates. That's when she appeared. A goddess, cheesy but true. Her name was Darcy and she was amazing. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1....." Sparks. 

Will felt like he knew everything about her, she went to Westbrook Grove High, 10 minutes away, and was the same age as him. She had a pet dog and a hamster named Rex, her mom had bright pink hair and her dad was a lawyer - strange match. Perfect match.

Darcy was falling in love. They'd known each other for 2 hours and she was falling in love. She met with him the next day for brunch, and then it turned into dinner, and then a night out. They'd spent 9 hours straight together and still had so much to say. 

It was leaving day. Darcy and Will had been together for 1 year and were in love with their love. The first stop on the itinerary was Germany, then France, then Switzerland, then 8 more months of Europe. 1 year wasn't enough, they wanted to see it all. 

Act 2 - Stockholm! Sweden was by far Will's favourite. So much to do with such little time. Day 2 of Stockholm and it all went wrong. Will had a fit in the middle of the night, followed by another, and another, and another. Swedish hospitals weren't the best. Darcy hated the coffee and the donuts were shocking.Will was sick and all she could think of were the donuts. They'd said he wouldn't get better and he should go home immediately. No chance. He was living out his days with the woman he loves doing what he loves. 

Act 3 - they made it. Europe was finished and Will was no worse, in fact he was better. Great even. Doctors from all over Europe had been jabbing him with needles and scanning him non-stop. The lesion was getting smaller according to Dr DeJong in Amsterdam. He was getting better. But he'd changed. Darcy was unhappy and Will was impatient. 

When they returned home it was straight back to reality; bills, jobs and responsibilities. New Year's came around and Darcy was worried about Will. He was completely cured but something was still bothering him, worrying him. What was it? She wanted to make it work, desperately. Could it? She didn't know. She just hoped. 

Trailer ideas

I have created a presentation about some ideas I have had for my trailer. I have made notes using the research I have studied.

Plot types

Phil Parker's 10 story types:

1. The romance - character is emotionally lacking or missing something or someone (the object of desire). This object of desire is seen as a potential solution. The character will struggle to overcome barriers between himself and the object of desire and overcomes all. The resolution comes when the character unites with the object of desire. 

2. The unrecognised virtue - character with a virtue becomes part of someone else's world and falls in love with a powerful character in this world. Character seeks to prove that she is desirable to the powerful character but the power relationship undermines this. Character attempts to solve a problem for the powerful character and her virtue is finally recognised. 

3. The fatal flaw - character has a quality that brings success and enables him to gain opportunities denied to other characters. He uses opportunities for his own gain at the expense of others, but when he recognises the damage he has done he sets himself a new challenge. However, the quality which brought him success leads to failure in the new challenge. 

4. The debt that must be repaid - the character wants something or someone and becomes aware that something or someone is available which will possibly give her what she wants (at a price). The character agrees to pay the price later and pursues her original desire. The character attempts to avoid settling the debt but is finally confronted by the debtor and the debt is repaid. 

5. The spider and the fly - character wants to make another character do his bidding but, having no power to force her, devises a plan to trap her into doing it. The character successfully executes the plan, achieves his initial goal and then faces a new future. 

6. The gift taken away - character has a gift which she loses and seeks to regain. The pursuit of the gift leads her into a new situation to which she becomes reconciled. 

7. The quest - the character is set a task to find someone or something. He accepts the challenge, searches for and finds the someone or something. He is then rewarded, or not, for his success in the quest. 

8. The rites of passage - the character recognises that she has reached the next 'age' in her life and attempts to learn what she needs to know to adapt to this new age. She tries to act as if she has already acquired the necessary knowledge and fails. She then encounters a challenge which requires her to reach beyond what she has already achieved. Her success reflects her maturation into the new phase of her life. 

9. The wanderer - character arrives in a new place and discovers a problem associated with it. In facing the problem she reveals why she left the last place, then attempts to move on again.

10. The character who cannot be put down - the character demonstrates his prowess in a certain situation but then faces a bigger challenge, which he accepts. He succeeds by triumphing over a range of antagonistic forces. 

Robert McKee's 6 plot types:

Maturation plot - coming of age story

Redemption plot - moral change in protagonist from bad to good
Punitive plot - protagonist changes from good to bad and is punished
Testing plot - willpower vs. the temptation to surrender
Education plot - protagonist's views of life/self/people change from negative to positive
Disillusionment plot - protagonist's views of life/self/people change from positive to negative

Narrative and film industry

What is narrative?
The way in which a story is told to the audience. When analysing narrative we must consider:
1. The order that the information is told to the audience
2. Any narrative devices used
3. The structure of the plot
4. The character types used

Narrative theory I need to understand.
I must have a good understanding of certain theories (explained later on) and I must know certain exam techniques. For example, I need to apply terminology in analysis of narrative conventions and consider the narrative devices my texts use and how these devices and the structure are appropriate for the genre and format of case studies. One or more of my case studies may use conventional or non-linear storytelling techniques and I must explain why this may be, relating back to the production context and target audience.

Narrative theories.
Syd Field's Three-Act Structure = Field identified that there were three acts to most stories:
Act 1                                           Act 2                                              Act 3
(25%)                                         (50%)                                            (25%)
Set-up                |                  Development             |                    Resolution
                Turning Point 1                             Turning Point 2

Todorov's Theory of Disequilibrium = Todorov's ideas were very similar however he defined the three acts as:
Equilibrium        -        Disequilibrium        -        Re-equilibrium

Propp's Spheres of Action = The main theory of Propp's is the characters he identified, which he called the spheres of action. Propp studied fairytales and spotted these recurring roles in many of the stories. Hollywood and many other film producers often use a fairy-tale structure for their films:
Hero - the protagonist who is sent on a quest and saves the day
Villain - the antagonist whose mission is to disrupt the hero's quest
Princess - must be saved by the hero or is the hero's reward
Helper - the hero's sidekick who helps them throughout the mission
Donor - gives the hero something crucial without which they couldn't complete the mission
Dispatcher - sends the hero on their quest
Anti-hero - may appear to be on the villain's or the hero's side

Levi Strauss' Binary Opposites = Strauss expresses that narratives are always centred on binary opposites, by which he means things that are complete polar opposites. Some examples of binary opposites include good/evil, dark/light, small/big, etc.

Roland Barthes' Codes = Barthes identified a number of codes that are used in narratives to allow the audience to understand the plot development.
Action codes - things that happen that dictate an action that will occur. E.G. a character placing their hand on a gun signifies that they are likely to shoot.
Enigma codes - things that are seen tat raise questions for the audience. E.G. an important letter falling out of a character's pocket, who will pick it up? what does it say? what will happen to them?
Cultural codes - objects or places that are seen that allow the audience to identify quickly with a specific culture. E.G. the inclusion of the Eiffel Tower alerts the audience that they are in France, or a yellow taxi dictates New York.

A guide to making trailers

This is research from media magazine April 2014 that will help me with my further studies.

Summer task

Over the summer, I was set a task to research movie posters, trailers and magazines and their conventions. I analysed  movie posters and 2 movie trailers related to my predicted genre as well as  movie magazine front covers and a list of movie trailer conventions.

Preliminary task - evaluation 4

Preliminary task - evaluation 3

Preliminary task - evaluation 2

For my second evaluation question I made a presentation using Canva which you can access by clicking the following link:

Evaluation Question 2

Preliminary task - evaluation 1