Thursday 4 October 2012

Audience Survey Response and Analysis

I have completed my survey and have gathered together 50 responses from my target audience of people who watch short films. I believe that it is now critically important to analyse the survey responses to gather together the data that I needs to create an effective short film that appeals to my target audience.

The first four questions where used to identify the range of subjects that took part in my survey, but also to recognize who is most likely to watch short films. Therefore from my first question, specifying the gender of the subject I can extrapolate two things; the first being that I asked a higher majority of females to respond to my survey than males. Also this could signify that more females watch short films than males, as before the applicant filled in my survey I asked them if they watched short films in the first place, and if they did I then proceeded to ask them to fill out the survey.

My second question was specifically looking to identify the age range of all the subjects that took part in the survey. My responses have indicated that a higher proportion of 11 to 20 year olds watch short films, however this is most likely unreliable as the largest group of people that I asked were individuals that went to my school environment and therefore their age range is limited. For this reason I believe that this data is untrustworthy and should be regarded as an outlier, not included in my judgement for my target audience.

My third question was meant to identify the ethnicity of the subject group that I surveyed, however similarly to the second question I do not believe that this data is reliable. I did not take into consideration that I would not extend broader than my local environment of Buckinghamshire and as Buckinghamshire is a majority white county with 91.7% of citizens being white, that this would effect my results. Again I believe this data is untrustworthy.
My fourth and final question to identify the range of subjects that took part in my survey, asked the applicants to enter in their occupation. By analysing the data I can infer that due to the limited scope of my survey the majority of subjects would have entered students as I ask the majority of candidates to fill in my survey from my school environment.  However due to the range of occupations that I received, excluding the tally of each occupation I can infer I have a broad range of professions and therefore a broad range of individuals that watch short films. This is something to be aware of when creating my final product as it needs to appeal to a wide range of individuals.
The following questions identify the specific ways of consumption, genre, narrative, plot, and marketing. The first three questions identify the methods of consumption by my target audience. This question asks what location the target audience watch short films have identified that the highest majority of individuals watch short films in the comfort of their own home. This is significant as because they are home they become considerably more passive to the media they are consuming, than if they are in the cinema with a large group of people sharing the same emotions and engagement. This signifies that I need to pay close attention to creating an engaging and interesting short film that Will captivate their attention.

This question asks what device do the target audience used to consume the media. The highest proportion of individuals have selected laptop as a device that they watch their chosen media on, closely followed by the television. This is significant as usually due to the nature of a laptop the audience can get easily disengaged with their chosen media and, for example start browsing the web. It could also be interpreted that due to the nature of the laptop screen being closer to the audience and therefore may signify that they are more engaged with their chosen media as it is appeared closer to them physically.

The next question asks the audience what source they use to watch a short film. YouTube was the greatest selected source (69%) followed by catch up television such as BBC's iPlayer (47%). This signifies that the target audience and don't pay to watch short films as both top sources are free for viewing. This could also signify that the target audience once a broad range of material that they can choose to watch therefore YouTube is obviously going to be the most popular option. However due to YouTube wanting to promote other content with being the best sites videos have two constantly battle with keeping the audience engaged therefore this can indicate that to create a successful short film that the target audience will most likely view on YouTube I need to create and engaging and stimulating narrative.

This question is specifically asking a subject to indicate a preferred range of genres that they watch. This is a critical question within my survey as this will infer which genre and therefore what style of short film I will begin to create. All genres have been chosen however the top four the genres are, Action / Adventure (66%), Comedy (68%), Crime & Gangster (38%) and Drama (50%) (subjects could select more than one genre, therefore the percentages do not add up to 100.) As these are the top for genres that were selected by the target audience I feel that it is now down to my personal choice of which of these four genres I would prefer to create a short film for. I will begin to create plot ideas in the following month and then choose which one I prefer and then begin to create a narrative around the genre of the idea.

These two questions specifically ask the subjects what type of narrative style do they prefer. The first question asks does the individual prefer a closed or open narrative. A higher percentage of individuals, 62% have the selected they prefer a closed narrative. To create a short film that is engaging I need to keep some of the traditional conventions at the target audience expects but also transform others therefore I believe that I should conform to this traditional convention of having a closed narrative.

However the second question asks the audience do they prefer a linear or cyclical structure, within reason this response (linear 54% and circular 44%) can be considered as being equal and as I would like to transform some conventions I would prefer to try and experiment with a cyclical structure.

This specific question asks the audience which style of a narrative do they prefer spoken dialogue or a voice over, non-diegetic dialogue. Spoken dialogue received the highest majority of 76% preferring to have diegetic dialogue. Originally when considering a short film I wanted to attempt a voice over for my short film. However after receiving my responses my target audience prefers a traditional spoken narrative therefore I might consider experimenting with different types of spoken narrative such as breaking the fourth wall.

These questions combined are investigating the characterisation of the protagonists and antagonist with in the short film. It is interesting that both questions the audience have preferred a male as both the protagonists and antagonist. This is a huge factor to consider when creating the narrative of the short film and I will need to observe how my audience relates to the protagonist. But moreover if I will have an antagonist personified as a character and therefore if I would want appropriate the conventions or transform them.

This question directly blinks to how all I will market my short film within my ancillary tasks and what the target audience feels is the most successful and appealing aspect to a film. 82% of my target audience has said that the story and plot is what sells the short film for them therefore my axillary tasks must portray the story and plot from my short film. Also the plot a story that iTunes must be engaging and interesting for my target audience.

After evaluating all of my responses I now have a better understanding of what my target audience desires from short film and what I am required to do to satisfy their needs for an engaging and interesting product. I will develop and consider what aspects of their responses I will appropriate, transform and subvert within my short film. Now I feel that I need to conclude the research by acknowledging any regulations and restrictions that I need to adhere to.

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