PR1: Research Techniques in FilmMainstream-

Alternative-

Niche-

Quantitative research is anything to do with numbers/numerical information. Such as using pie charts.

Qualitative research uses primary research meaning it uses things such as interviews and focus groups.

Demographic scale- The demographic scale is used to describe and categorize people depending on their social grade/income.

Here is an example of the demographic scale;

A- The rich and wealthy people such as Barristers and Accountants

B- Middle class

C1- Lower middle class

C2- Skilled working class

C- Working class

D- Unemployed students and pensioners/old people who are retired

Mainstream- mainstream films are films which are aimed at a huge audience. The audience is worldwide which means that everyone has knowledge of the film. Most mainstream films have multiple parts to it such as Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Alternative- alternative films are films which are based on a small audience. They have a certain criteria and have different storylines when compared to other films. An example of an alternative film is suicide squad as it was aimed at mainly people who read comic books.

Niche- niche films are films that are based on a certain film genre. They have a very small viewing base and are usually based on a certain person. An example of this would be the film about Ronaldo; it is based around his life and what hurdles he’s had to overcome to get where he is now.

Audience profiling

Gender- male/female

Age- age of audience

Socio-economic status- A-E Scale

Psychographics- likes/interests

Geodemographic- where you live

Sexual orientation- straight/gay/bi

Regional identity- where you are from?

Exit poll research

I carried out an exit poll to gather research for the film Blair Witch. I made this on survey monkey and asked various questions to male and females who had watched the film. The responses I received were very different and certain people had their own views on the film. I put my results that I received into graphs to show the information in an easier way.

The film itself is a horror/thriller and is currently in the cinema now. It is based on a group of friends who venture into the Black Forrest in search of one of their friend’s sisters, who went missing years earlier. The forest itself is believed to be inhabited

The main colours used in the Blair Witch poster are black and red. The use of the colour red occurs a lot as near enough the whole background is set in that colour. When we see the colour red we automatically think of blood, death and leadership. This gives the audience knowledge that the film is going to be scary and jumpy.

The symbols included in the picture on the left vary. The trees in the image create the image of a cross. This could relate to past religions or even Christianity. The five pointed compound symbol with a centre triangle pointing down looks like a person as the sticks could represent arms and legs.

Within the image from the Blair Witch poster, it shows only one object/figure in the background. These are trees which are placed together to create a cross shaped symbol. The use of trees gives the audience a clue that the film is based within a haunted and cursed woods. There are trees shown throughout the whole film and the symbol made plays a huge part as to what the Blair Witch project actually is.

The Gutenberg diagram describes a general pattern in which the eyes move through when looking at evenly distributed information. The diagram itself divides into 4 quadrants which are primary optical area, strong fallow area, weak fallow area and the terminal area. These can be located on the diagram on the left.

The pattern suggests that the eyes will sweep across and down the page in a collection of horizontal movements. These are called axes of orientation. Usually this is for left to right reading languages and would be almost flipped for right to left reading languages.

The messages within the picture suggest that the film is mainly based in a forest location. We know this because of the trees in the background and how they create the front cover. The messages are more visual on the poster as there is less writing that imaging. The only text used is where it says ‘Blair Witch’ and who created it and when the date is in which the film comes out in cinema.

The film ‘Blair Witch’ is aimed at an intended audience as well as it being aimed at anyone interested in the film. There is a certain age who watch this in cinema which is 15+. In my personal opinion I would say that the target audience ranges between the ages 15-40. You wouldn’t see elderly people or pensioners going to watch this film as it may be too scary and jumpy for them to watch.

The main purpose of a film poster is to grab the audience’s attention and make them go and watch it. The poster uses various persuasive techniques throughout. The actual poster doesn’t tell you what genre the film is but we can easily guess by the title ‘Blair Witch’. The use of the word ‘witch’ suggests a horror film as witches are usually evil and not friendly. Big bold writing is used for the title to make it stand out to the audience and is written in black writing. The connotations of the colour black usually resemble death and darkness which is exactly what the film is about. The poster itself doesn’t give much away as there aren’t many quotes used apart from the one at the bottom of the page; this reads ‘There’s something evil hiding in the woods’ which basically tells the audience that something bad is about to happen. The use of commas between each word builds up tension as it allows us to pause after each word. This slows the whole sentence down and breaks it up into smaller parts.

by the witch. Throughout the film various incidents occur, but to find out everything then you will have to give it a watch.

Below is the trailer of the Blair Witch Project 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girSv9UH_V8

The graph here shows one of the 6 questions I asked. The first one was about age and what age the viewer was. As you can see 85% of the viewers were aged 15-18. And the other 15% were 19-30 years old.

The second question I asked was about gender and what gender each viewer was. The graph shows that more males watched the film than female. 28% of viewers were female and 72% were male. This may suggest that horror films such as Blair Witch may attract a larger male audience rather than female.

The third question I asked was ‘how did you find out about the film’. I gave 5 different answers such as through social media, radio adverts and trailers and the results I received were varied. 14% of viewers found out about the film through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The other 86% found out about the film from the trailer being advertised.

The fourth question I asked was about personal enjoyment and whether the film lived up to expectations. There were two answers and they both had near enough the same amount. 57% said that they enjoyed the film and that it lived up to expectations whereas the other 43% said that they didn’t enjoy it.

This question from my survey asked whether they would recommend the film to others. 57% said that they would recommend it to their friends and family but the other 43% said that they wouldn’t.My final question that I asked on my Exit Poll about the Blair Witch film was whether they would go and watch the film again. I gave 3 answer choices for the viewers to choose from. These were Yes, No, and Maybe. 28% of the viewers said yes whereas 28% also said no. The other 44% said maybe because they didn’t know which they would choose. I believe that all of the questions I asked on my Survey were fair and appropriate.

Throughout the trailer the film connects with the audience in various different ways. In the beginning it starts with one of the characters explaining about the Blair Witch and the black

Marketing techniques available

When media producers use marketing techniques, there are many different ones that are available. Most media producers these days only use certain ones that they feel comfortable with, and it also depends on the target audience/who they are aiming it at. An example of this is if they were aiming it at younger teenagers/young adults then they would advertise it on places that are familiar. These are things which appeal to a younger audience such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. On the other hand, if they were aiming it at an older audience for example people aged 40+, then it would be advertised on less social networking sites and more newspapers/magazines. They would also put it on posters and billboards around cities for people going to work to see.

Throughout the trailer the film connects with the audience in various different ways. In the beginning it starts with one of the characters explaining about the Blair Witch and the black