MARKET RESEARCHAnalysis of survey results

INTRODUCTIONI carried out market research on an online questionnaire site called ‘Survey Monkey’. I emailed my designed questionnaire to a diverse age group of audiences, as to gather a variety of opinions. Even though my target audience is teenagers, I wanted to interview people of older ages as they are more knowledgeable with cinematic effects displayed in short movies and can give me useful feedback. Plus by asking younger audiences (10-15 year olds) to fill out the questionnaire I was able to see what the most effective and obvious aspects of films and how they appeal to young minds. By being more informed about audiences preferences I will be able to broaden the appeal of my movie to the masses. My aim for this task is to analyse the information in order to successfully promote, distribute and exhibit my short film to my target market.

MARKET RESEARCHI used ‘Survey Monkey’ to create a questionnaire about short films. I gave the survey a wide range of ages as to get a broad understanding of what todays audiences look for in a short film. Although my target market is the younger generation- 13-19 year olds (which is the majority age of the candidates) I also wanted to see what the more experienced respondents opinions were, in order to make my film appealing to a vast audience and to gain knowledge and ideas.

I had a mixture of people taking my questionnaire, some experienced and some not. I found that the younger ages hadn't watched many short

films, where as the elder viewers had. This is another reason why I decided to interview audiences of all ages. The majority had watched 1-

10 but 10% had seen over 30 short films.

MARKET RESEARCHThis question asked the participants to rate out of 5 (1 being the most important, 5 being the least) what they think would create

an effective short film. They had to chose between; a unique story line, the director, the setting, the format and the cinematography.

There was a mixture of answers but it can be seen that a unique story line and cinematography are the two most important aspects

needed in order to create an effective short film. With this information I will develop on my choice of shot types and work on

the uniqueness of my storyline.

Question 4 identifies, preferably, how long the audience would like a short film to be. My exam specifies that my short film has to be around 5 minutes, this corresponds with the length of time the audience voted- 3-5 minutes.

MARKET RESEARCHI wanted to find out what interests the audience. So that I could be sure that I was creating a film that they would be intrigued by. Short films are quite different from feature length ones, the message of the film needs to be conveyed in a limited amount of time. Which is why some peoples tastes in short films differ from what they want to see at the cinema. After analysing the data it can be concluded that topics involving: a problem (such as bullying) or inspiration (like ‘what is happiness?’) are the most popular.

In order to market and advertise my film effectively I need to know what mediums my target audience watches short films on. Judging

by the graph 50% of my audience view short films online. This means that, along with my website and postcard, I will look into advertising my short film in online places such as YouTube and

Vimeo.

MARKET RESEARCHWhere audiences hear about new films is an important question to ask as it will help me pin point how I would market my film in order for audience to hear about it. Surprisingly 30% read about new and upcoming films in newspapers and magazines and 30% watch trailers. This lead me to think, I could invite a critic to watch and write a review on my short film. Or I could consider making a trailer, yet trailers gives away all the best bits of a movie and if my film is limited to 5 minutes, a trailer could spoil the over all enjoyment of my film.

Music is one of the most important aspect of film making. I wanted to know what instrument is the most emotive to audiences. A number of people voted for the piano. I have a piece of music in mind for my film, it is an intense piano piece that would appeal to my target audience. It is composed by AudioMachine, which is a professional company that creates trailer music for big budget films. I will email them and ask if I could have the copyright authority to use it in my film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKKHzLTrF9w

MARKET RESEARCHAs my film is about a teenage girl is in a coma I wanted to know if this would stimulate emotions from my audience. It is a close call as no one wants to see anyone at any age be ill but the results reveal that they would be most upset if the saw a teenager ill. My interviewees later explained that they felt that teenagers have their whole lives ahead of them (compare to the older ages) and they are old enough to understand what is happening to them (compared to the younger ages). As my target market is 13-19 year olds having a character around the same age as them will make my film relatable and even more emotive.

And finally I wanted to view the films that the correspondents have watched and recommended as to see what interests them and so that I could get some ideas. As the younger interviewees hadn't watched any

short films other that Disney ones, I concentrated on what the 41-70 olds had to say. Interestingly one recommended ‘2+2=5’ which is a short film

that illustrates the capacity of adult influence and the adversaries of standing up for what you believe in, it was a powerful short film that I

enjoyed and have taken some ideas from.

EVALUATIONI have taken away many things from this questionnaire concerning audience inclinations in reference to- storyline, advertisement and musical taste. I have learnt that I must use a variety of shot types and work on the unique elements of my storyline. This must align with the appealing topics of- a problem (such as bullying) or an inspiration (like ‘what is happiness?’). My film topic combines the two, as it is about a teen girl who is cyber bullied and the meaning of life. In collaboration with my website and postcard, I will look into advertising my short film on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, due to the survey results for question 6 revealing that viewers watch short films on these websites. Another place where they hear about short films is in written articles, which sparked up the idea of inviting a critic to watch and write a review on my short film. However this could be difficult as my film is not a block buster or made by a well known production, causing this idea to be far fetched. Yet I could consider making a trailer, this could spoil the over all impact of my film as viewer would be expecting of the outcome. I think I will use a Piano piece for my sound track due to audiences voting for piano as the most emotive instrument. And I am now reassured the age of my main character is appropriate as my target market is 13-19 year olds voted that having a character around the same age as them will make my film relatable and even more emotive.