Audience Research : Opinions on movies

At this moment in time, my initial survey has had 39 replies and this allows me to analyze a wider audience to see potentially which audiences are interested in my film.


Gender

56.4% of replies were from Males, 43.6% from Females
There was little to no real difference in tastes in movie from the audience selection


Age

We have had

Under 16s: 3

16-25: 7

26-35: 8

36-45: 12

46-55:9

So, as a whole, I have a range of statistics from the everywhere from Under 16 to 55

Genre

As a whole, the most popular genre was Comedy, which 13 Votes / 33.3% of people ranked in their top 3, however my trailer fits, potentially, into Thriller and Action which received 11 Votes/ 28.2%, both at joint third behind Drama. The definite popularity of these two genres is reassuring to me, showing that there is a large potential audience



I also chose to put a second Audience question about Genre that would help expose what audiences thought about each other. My question was "My reasoning behind this question is that it would potentially help me see whether I was latching onto a niche audience or whether I could capture the Mainstream audience, however there was anoter motive behind this question, to discover whether audiences felt un-catered for, for example Andy answered my questionaire and said that he believed that people his age's tastes were 'less diverse' and this opinionof his was probably triggered by the fact that the films aimed at people of his age range (36-45) did not contain enough 'Action' and 'Arthouse', the two forms of film that he specifically mentioned. So essentially, in theory there is an untapped audience, there was an overwhelming 1/3 of people answering my survey stating that they felt that many people their age enjoyed Drama, when they themselves enjoyed Action and Thrillers.

Regularity

The regularity with which people visited the Cinema showed that a resoundingly large figure of 56.4% of people visited the Cinema twice monthly, this would suggest to me that people go and see films pretty consistently and this may suggest that people aren't too picky about going to see films and they, due to the regularity of their schedule, might want to go and see something odd. The 7.7% of people who go 3-4 times a month, and the 2.6% who goes weekly or more, would in my opinion go to the film sheerly because they enjoy the cinema experience or they are very interested in film, at which point they would be willing to go and see up coming directors.

As well as this, the quantity of DVDs bought per month is quite staggering, with a vaste majority of people buying, renting or downloading films, 2 or more times a month, this probably means, unless my audience are incredibly wealthy, the price of the DVD on release should be low, because with low-budget films, there is no way that you can ask for a large price, and people will be much more likely to take a risk buying a new director's film if it costs £5 than if it costs £16-20

Effective Methods of Advertising

Conclusively people ticked the box for 'Word of Mouth' 69.2% of the time and Reviews 56.4% of the time, no-one who filled in the survey did not fill in either of these two boxes, which means that these are the two most effective ways of advertising to people, other than perhaps the Trailer itself. Suggestions as to where they got their information were places such as: Rottentomatoes.com (3), Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo (3) , Empire Magazine (1), The Guardian (8), The Metro (1), Youtube (3), facebook (2), Time Out (3), Twitter (1), Observer (1) and the New York Times (1). This showed that actually newspaper and radio were still an effective way of reaching the audience and people still trust written review over youtube, facebook or twitter.

What people look for in a film

This was one of the few questions where there was a spread of answers with over 10% of people voting for each diffent section; 'Famous Director, Famous Cast, Storyline, Genre, Trailer and Nominations' - However Storyline won conclusively with 41% of the vote with Trailer and Nominations both as 15% or so, however if you think about it a Trailer is meant to express a storyline and show nominations and reviews, so I took that trailer is actually the most important way of demonstrating the aspect in question

Poster Work: Gone Baby Gone

I like this poster because it highlights the single, central character, due to his pose, he looks like he is potentially mourning. The gun in his hand shows that he is willing to go to extreme lengths for vengeance, and also the background and the way that the sun is rising suggests that he has limited time. This of course fits in with my theme. The simpleness of the font and the use of a simple tag line means that not too much is going on in the poster, often posters try to have too much in them, this however gives little away as to the plot of the film. The rising sun also provides rich colour, so there is a contrast between the light at the bottom of the screen and the darkness at the top.

Research and Planning : Sound

To be honest, sound is possibly the most difficult aspect of the trailer, it is very difficult to make my own music due to the fact that it is difficult to construct my own music for the project. I am currently looking at http://freeplaymusic.com/ because it has a large selection of copyright free music, however I do think that this website can be a little vague in terms of genre and sound on occasion.



As well as free sites like freeplaymusic, I looked at a site
that I am a member of, http://www.looperman.com/ which is based on the idea of creative commons and credited use and so if I were to use their tracks, I would have to credit them for their work and seeing as I have designed a slate, having more names to put in it could do no harm. So far, I have found a few tracks and a few artists that seem to be potential choices, I am already in contact with one of them due to a video I made outside school. So far, I have found the website to be easy to use, and I have decided that in the end the 3 categories from which potential tracks will come are Cinematic, Industrial or Metal because all three contain dark and heavy tracks that would suit the film. I am also planning to see if more electric tracks would fit with the trailer itself.

Here are a few URLs of good sounding potential music :
http://www.looperman.com/tracks_detail.php?tid=28588 (Some parts of this)
http://www.looperman.com/tracks_detail.php?tid=30432
http://www.looperman.com/tracks_detail.php?tid=11982
http://www.looperman.com/tracks_detail.php?tid=7915

Research and Planning : Titles, part 1.

I have decided on a temporary title and have been applying various effects to titles to make them look intriguing and not boring, the name of my film is currently 'ABSOLUTION', despite the religious undertones of the term, I think the word has connections with contemplation, redemption and potential revenge. As well as this, there may potentially be a church scene in the montage scene. These titles are the first simplistic design for graphics, I will soon be posting a collection of fonts that are possibilities. These are mainly simple filter jobs on Photoshop Creative Studio 3, but they show three clearly dissimilar concepts.

Research and Planning : Idents

First of all I searched for independent idents that looked reasonably professional and attempted to notice trends in the industry, I noticed that essentially one of most recurring factors in idents is the stationary logo. Many independent film companies have stationary logos central to the screen, and the more high budget company has a full screen animation. So, to begin to work on making a low budget ident. Below are examples of independent logos that are prime examples.

As you can see, they often have a 'boxed' image with text below, the image is often quite simplistic and preferably quite bizarre and memorable , sometimes they are connected to the film, e.g. (A high-budget example) the color changes and additions to the Warner Bros. logo in the Matrix or Harry Potter an often film companies that make certain kinds of film have logos that relate to the genre of film i.e. a thriller will not be made by a company that is represented by a cartoon bunny.

My first ident is designed to look like an independent studio. It has a stationary image that is

meant to look like some sort of scientific cell, the name 'Green Bros.' is both a pun on the idea of the Warner Bros. name and is also an anagram of my name. The colour of the logo is

of course, green. The image is meant to look like a green cell, there is no real reason for this other than it looks good on screen and does not disrupt from the mood of the trailer, in fact I would say that it retains it's own dark qualities. However, it does contrast from the general colour scheme of the trailer which is mainly going to be slightly greyscale footage and reddish maroon titles.

Recce - 3rd and 4th Shots.

Shot 3

I thought that this shot had an intriguing aspect to it, the angles of the walls all avoid strict 90 degree angles and I think that this makes the shot look sort of off. The arch under which someone could easily stand would make a good meeting place for two characters. I think as well that the shade and colour of the bricks (particularly in the first photograph.) are not too colourful and thus allow the shot to appear drained of colour and thus perfect for the idea of grieving and the negative themes of the film. I think it would be easy to film nice shots here, and it easy to travel here, but I may have to ask the permission of local resident.

SHOT 4

This final little alley way is once again, very close to my house and other locations that I will be filming at, unlike the areas I have looked at, this has significantly less space which might suggest less space for cameras, but at the same, it captures a more claustrophobic and tense scene, which could look better in a trailer, it gives a sense of pressure. As well as this, this area has more vegetation and appears a little more colourful on camera, to be honest this may be a negative thing, on the other hand, the area, if I am choosing to portray this as a meeting place arranged by the main character.

Research and Planning : My Trailer Animatic.

As well as making a storyboard, I scanned it in and made an 'animatic' from the original frames, I chose some temporary music and used a temporary font for the title, it is in no way perfect, but it is a vague overview of the order of my trailer.

Recce - 1st and 2nd Shots.

I went on a photographic recce over the weekend to a collection of places in the area that I could potentially film a few outside scenes, my aim was to find either run-down areas or shabby built-up areas. In the scene, where the main character meets his 'shifty' friend and I chose areas that are inconspicuous, because I thought these would be the best place for the characters to meet secretly.

SHOT 1

In my first shot, I thought this would be good because it is a secluded area around the back of a local football and near a substation, the walls are quite grimey and the bars and locks in the background look very foreboding and link to criminal activity and danger. In a way they are almost symbolic. As well as the sort of angle-shot that I would shoot from, I have included a picture of the locks and the door in detail. This location is good for several reasons: it looks good, it is within a kilometre of my house and thus is relatively easy for traveling to and finally it is not within in the vicinity of anyone's house and thus I will not be disturbing people when filming.

SHOT 2

I thought that this shot was good because it appears really wide and so there is a lot of space to film and yet at the same time, it feels quite compressed which helps give a good feel to the scene. I think this also looks good because it looks like it's a garage that could belong to the main characters friend. The garage doors alternating between vertical and horizon patterns, this looks quite nice in shot. I think it would look quite natural to film here as it seems like the kind of place people could meet one another. Again, this is reasonably close to my house although less secluded than the first location, being on an estate, I may have to ask people if I can film here, I do not know yet.

The 3rd and 4th Shots will go up soon.

Trailer Analysis : Harry Brown

Does this trailer fit the usual conventions of a revenge thriller? if so how? (or if not then what is new?)

The trailer to Harry Brown is a very good example of a revenge thriller trailer. The trailer is clever in the way that it genuinely does make you want to watch the movie. The Trailer begins with the problem, violent youths on a council estate being watched by Michael Caine as Harry Brown. Yes, it sets up a victim, Harry's friend Leonard at the beginning of the trailer. As well as this it sets up the situation where the main character makes a decision that he must attempt to right, like when he fails to think properly about protecting his friend and then exacts his vengeance on the youths. However it diverts from the usual plot of a revenge movie in the way that the Police are, by the looks of it, not condemning Harry for his vigilanteism, most revenge films choose to view revenge as more

Which trailer conventions does this trailer use well?
(voice over? / dramatic sound? /is it structured into 3 parts? /does it establish the genre ? how? /what audience do you think it is aiming at? )

Most of the trailer is dominated by sound-bites and voiceover that really give us the structure of the narrative, Michael Caine's voice is very well known and so this gives us a sense of familiarity to him and as well as this, he manages to convince me that his vengeance is justified. The sound used, includes violent noises and the trailer itself ends on the sound of a gunshot, this prepares us for a violent, modern urban film. I would say that the trailer is structured into probably 2 or 3 sections, the first being his friend feeling threatened and being killed, then the impression on Harry and him pondering whether he can just let his friend's killer go un-punished, and the final section (by the look of it much longer than the first two) him exacting his revenge. I believe that this trailer knows it has a huge audience, Michael Caine personally draws a large audience as one of the most respected British film-actors, this will appeal to older fans who know Caine, the idea of rowdy youth as well would suggest an older viewpoint of young society. As well as this it could be seen as a film for a younger audience as it is filled with action and violence and has a soundtrack of young urban music and the British rapper, Plan B, is a co-star in the film.

3) What are three moments or images or edits that you think are particularly effective in this trailer?

The images of the youth rioting in this street from an above angle in the dark makes it seem really ominous, this shot encapsulated the fear that Leonard felt before he died, the second image that really makes an impact is Michael Caine crying due to the fact that primarily he is a good actor and we can see how much this means to the character, Caine is also famous for playing tough characters and thus it is a strange image to see. The other is the finishing image of the trailer, where he points the gun at the screen and says ''You failed to maintain your weapon, Son.' which is the image that we are meant to be left with, thinking that he is fixed on revenge and nothing is going to prevent.


4) look at the studio idents - (what can you learn about idents and their style from these?)

The Lionsgate is the text LIONSGATE in block capitals it is black on a background of clouds in a sepia sky of clouds. They are quite interesting

Trailer Analysis : Oldboy Trailer

The Oldboy trailer is a good example of a trailer that trys to appeal to a foreign audience. As a whole I don't think that it is a great trailer, but the movie was a huge international success. The first shot of the trailer remains unexplained adding mystery to the film. Then a selling point quickly pops up, "Winner of Grand Prix Festival of Cannes 2004", for many foreign films, it is quite difficult to sell them without the authenticity added by an award at a festival. We are then given some text with a distinctive font and a patterned background. Does not just tell the plot, shows it on screen. There is also a selective use of well-framed shots that show us the character as well as his surroundings. The trailer then changes to show our character having suffered, then action and revenge constitutes a change in the music. The trailer very much concentrates on our character 오대수 and I think it is quite clear that we are meant to view him as frustrated and obsessive by his behaviour and appearance. As it gets nearer the ending of the trailer,whilst flashing quotes from reviews to reinforce that it is infact a great movie, we get more of the impression of a tragic ending with the shots of the woman crying and our main character being beaten up. In this way, the trailer presents us with an outline of a story. Then the title comes up in a distinctive style of title.

Analysis : Trailers : Winter's Bone

The Trailer

Camera
There are several establishing long shots showing nothing substantial on camera, this conveys that this is not a heavily populated area.
A majority of the shots shown are mid-shots showing conversation between characters.
Shots tend to be quite stationary at the start, movement increases later in the trailer, again highlighting the increase in intensity shown on screen.

Editing

The opening shots of the trailer fade to black and back from black to set the scene and at the same time. Then a lot of quicker transitions to convey the build up to a finale. It is clear that the film will have a large ‘reveal’ at the end and they show this in the trailer by cutting the shots quicker and quicker.

Sound - Non-diegetic

Build-up as if suggesting progression towards a finale
The singing man at the beginning is contrapuntal to what is shown on screen, the lack of backing music, similar to the typical use of singing minus backing instrumental in the horror genre to build tension.
The mood of the music changes from mellow to speedy and wild, highlighting the fact that what originally appears to be a simple mystery is far more complicated than expected.

Sound - Diegetic

The accents suggest the rurality of the area of America in which it is set.
‘You were warned and you didn’t listen’ suggests a strong conclusion
There is a clear link between each instance of speech shown in the trailer, each one highlights the fact that they don’t know where her father is, or maybe they do adding more and more to the mystery

Mise-en-scene

Grey sky, dull landscape
The yard with the dead dog and the charred furniture gives the sense of a lack of real community, alienation from real society.
There is realism in this world, we are made to believe in this community and the places in which they are taking place, there is nothing, at least in the trailer, to hint at the supernatural.
The titles fit with the filters and colours shown on screen, this allows a certain mood to be set, also assisted by the silent stationary text, which looks more sophisticated. Silent text is generally used in thrillers and dramas.

Analysis : Trailers : Inception, SALT and Heartbreakers

1) What cinematic techniques are used to establish mood and tone?

Visual Special effects show that this is largely an effects-driven film. Voiceover tells us a vague, maybe too vague idea of the concept of the film. Music is building, showing the progression in the plot and an increase in the tension throughout the film.


2)How does the trailer establish the themes and narrative?

Establishes plot using narration by Leonardo DiCaprio
They make sure that what he is saying and what is being shown on screen correlate, ‘A single idea can build cities’
We are intrigued to know what this idea is, and why he is stealing it

3) How does the trailer establish genre?
The effects and chase sequences suggest an action movie or a thriller. The idea of the idea being all-powerful suggests science fiction. I think I would describe as a

4) Who is the target audience and how is this audience targeted in this trailer?
The main target audience I would say is 15-35 year olds,it is also appealing to the audiences of other movies, it looks similar in many ways to ‘The Matrix’, what with the city being controlled by the mind being similar to that of the collective imagination in ‘The Matrix‘.

5) What is the reason/ effect for using the director's name and previous work?

The trailer states clearly that it has the same director as ‘The Dark Knight’ which was insanely popular. Christopher Nolan has a reputation for making great films and being a real upcoming film maker and so the audience will be great.


1) How does this trailer promote and focus on the big star? (look at camera work, editing, sound...etc..)

A vast amount of the shots clearly show Angelina Jolie’s face. As well as this, she has the largest amount of dialogue and all the other dialogue is used as voiceover to almost describe what she is doing on screen.

2) Action films are thought to appeal to a predominately male audience. How does this trailer target both a female and male audience separately?

The film is targeted at a female audience by having a woman as the protagonist, however this also appeals to the male audience because she is Angelina Jolie, who has been considered to be one of the World’s most beautiful women

3) How does this trailer use editing to create atmosphere?

It shows what I presume to be the most action-packed moments of the film. As well as that, there are fades to black in the establishing shots and they get faster. The trailer also attempts to make us excited by spending the entire first half of the trailer slowly setting out the plot and revealing the twist, which is the USP of the film.

The Heartbreakers trailer displays many cultural differences between France and the UK. The UK distributors know that they will sell less if they show that it is a foreign language film, so they include the only English dialogue in the movie, on the other hand, they do not show any of the real substance from the movie, the voiceover is unable to really demonstrate the tone of the movie. The British trailer portrays it as a romance film with comedy, the french trailer seems to portray it as a film that is mainly comedy with a romantic plot, the trailers show the film as two completely different films.