Questionnaire Evaluation

Questionnaire Evaluation

We gave our questionnaire to 15 volunteers who completed the survey that offer both open and closed questions. The age range for questionnaires were those aged 16-17 years old of both genders, who were our initial target audience. This creates a varied response from different genders so that we gain a good idea of what people think about our idea. This gives our group a clear idea of what our target audience think about our opening sequence idea and how it could be altered to create a more effective opening sequence. From the results, we analysed what people had thought and took their ideas into consideration when we film and create the opening sequence.

The first question asked on the questionnaire asked the respondents what their favourite genre of film was. This allowed us to gain an understanding on what the most popular genre of film was and whether our chosen genre, thriller, appealed to its target audience.

(Question 1 on Questionnaire)

From the results of the question, we found out that the preferred genre of the film is Thriller. This is encouraging, as our group have decided to create the opening sequence within this genre. The second few favourite genres of Horror and Mystery are also likely to be present within our opening sequence, so the genre our sequence may fit into will hopefully appeal to the target audience.

We then asked what are expected to see within the films of their favourite genre. As the majority of the respondents replied thriller, horror and mystery, we created a table to show the various conventions that we could perhaps incorporate into our opening sequence.

(Question 5 on Questionnaire)

There are various conventions within each genre that cross over from each other, such as the use of weapons, narrative enigma and hidden identities. These conventions listed by the volunteers allow our group to select certain features that could potentially be used within our opening sequence to make the audience aware of the genre of film they are watching. These conventions could also give possibility of our group to gain a chance to challenge conventions and create a slightly different opening sequence within the same genre.

The next few questions are based on the plot of our opening sequence: “a mentally deranged man becomes obsessed with a typical teenage girl who lives near him. He creates a project starting with just a few pictures, however, over time his obsession grew to a point at which it drives him into a spiral of despair that he cannot escape from.” We asked the respondents what they thought of the plot and any ideas of how it could be improved.

(Question 7 on Questionnaire)

The results showed that the majority of the volunteers felt the plot was good. One respondent felt the plot was bad as it lacked a sense of danger or uncertainty. Some other volunteers also felt that the plot lacked a ‘scary’ feel for the genre in which the sequence fits into. We felt the results were promising as it shows that the majority of our target audience think our trailer is good or excellent. However, we took on board the various concerns with the plot and slightly altered some scenes in order to create a scarier feel. For example, by leaving weapons on show within the last scene creating an eerie and sinister tone.

We also asked some questions on some of the ideas we decided to put within the sequence, such as masking the identity of Vincent, the main character (stalker) within our sequence. Around 85% (13) of the respondents felt that it was a good idea to mask the identity of the villain to create a sense of mystery and uncertainty around the main character. However, around 15% (2) of the respondents felt that masking the identity of the stalker was not a good idea as it was ‘cliché’ and that it would be more exciting if we challenged conventions.

The last question on the questionnaire asked if the audience felt the plot of the film fits well with the genre we have decided to go into. All the respondents (15) felt that the plot does fit well within our genre as various aspects links with other films within that genre. The majority felt that our idea was good and related to the genre, however some felt that though it related to the genre, that our sequence needs to be unique compared to other films of the genre. We looked at the concerns and tried to adapt our film to make sure it is convincing and effective in portraying our plot and genre.