Target Audience Questionnaire - Response Analysis

After receiving the necessary responses needed to identify my target audience, I collated the results and analysed reoccurring similarities that would help my group and I define who our product is aimed at (our product being our virus sub-genre revolving around an individuals loss of senses).

Firstly, I asked for the gender of the individual answering the question. Above, is a print screen of the results retrieve. As you can see, majority of the 34 individuals that took part in the survey were female.

33 out of the 34 individuals that answered 'What is your age?' fell into the 15-19 age category. This question was essential as the content of our horror film would have to alter in order to comply with what the British Board of Film Classification guidelines state (http://rosielinesmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/bbfc-classification-of-film.html).................

33 out of the 34 individuals that answered 'Do you own an account on a social networking website?' answered yes. This supports the idea of web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. 

There are various social networking platforms available online. For example, Twitter and Tumblr reach niche targets through hashtags and by joining conversations whereas, Facebook is more adapted for a broader mainstream group of individuals. Similarly, a blog can be a better solution for audiences interested in a detailed and informative message.

16 out of the 34 participants are employed part-time and 10 out of the 34 are unemployed looking for work. This means that taking into consideration the results obtained, my group and I will have a primary target audience of individuals that fall into categories E and D. Whereas, our secondary audience will be those of a niche group who are independent filmmakers, admire independent film (especially British) or want to gain an insight into how the production of a film is achieved.

Potential Title Font Styles

Below, are screenshots of potential film fonts which I have taken from Dafont.com; I have chosen these as I thought they conveyed across the convention of virus sub-genre well enough to consider its use within our final film. Dafont.com allows individuals to upload fonts they have designed and publish them for others to use. This is a free website service meaning that my group and I will not have to pay to download or use the target audience's preference.

I have chosen 'I Still Know' as a potential font as it reminds me of Francis Lawrence's 'I Am Legend' title font which is also a virus sub-genre film. Here is the link to an earlier post I put on my blog where I analysed 'I Am Legend' poster design (http://rosielinesmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/film-poster-analysis.html)

This particular font gives the appeal of being written in some sort of thick, liquid substance; if coloured red, this font would add to the conventions of the horror genre by presenting the idea of blood being used to write a message. This makes the audience question where the blood has come from supporting Barthes enigma theory.

Phobia characterized by a severe fear of the dark. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would, or could, happen when in a dark environment.

Similarly to 'ANARCHY', this font gives the appeal of being written in blood. This relates to how the infected within our virus sub-genre film begin to bleed from different parts of the body.

This particular font for me, connotes some form of authority losing power. This is due to the upper case lettering through (which suggests dominance) used throughout but how the colouring is uneven and the letters are slightly slanted to one side.

Out of all the potential title font styles, this is my least favourable style as I feel as though this font suits more of the vampire sub-genre of horror. This is due to its creepy, uneven width and how I personally think its shares similarities with F. W. Murnau 'Nosferatu' title font.

This font looks as if it has been scratched in order for a message to be presented. This connotes the idea of some sort of desperation as instead of the person using a pen or paint, they have chosen to engrave. Moreover, this juxtaposes the narrative of my film as the lettering would never fade yet the existence of society and normally begins to fade within our virus sub-genre film.

Photoshop Workshop

Photoshop workshop was an opportunity for my class and I try out some of the many effects within Photoshop. Prior to the workshop, I had very little, if no experience of Photoshop meaning I could experiment with the many effects available and familiarise myself with each tool and what they could achieve when used. Below, is a screenshot of what each tool logo within Photoshop can be used for.

Our Media Studies teacher (Miss.Macdonald) gave us all a Photoshop guide which informed us on what processes we can do in order to achieve a specific look. On the left, is a screenshot of a page from the booklet. As you can see, I chose to practice colour popping. Colour popping an image is an effective way of drawing the consumers attention to the key focal points in the frame. Colour popping especially when designing my film poster and film magazine cover will give a simplistic yet effective appeal; for example, emphasising blood spatters adds to the audiences understanding of the genre of my film and presents the typical conventions of horror.

The image on the right is my final version of my attempt at colour popping in Photoshop. Seeing that it was my first attempt, I was satisfied with the overall result; although, I did receive some help from my teacher when wanting to know how to erase finer details such as grains of sand.

Naming The Virus Within Our Film

My group and I have taken into consideration how the presence of the Ebola Virus has dominated the news headlines internationally in recent months. Due to this, I have taken the time to research how the virus itself was named 'Ebola' and the process taken when naming a virus. Researching information like this is essential within the development of a narrative; in doing so, all of the information presented has been based on fact. Whilst my group and I will alter certain aspects in order to dramatise, we are motivated to make a believeable film about how the public health and scientific response to the pandemic influences mass panic and collapse of social order.

How the Ebola virus was named

The virus was originally going to be named after the village it was first present in. Yet, naming a deadly virus after one location would stigmatise the village and its residents. Another researcher suggested naming the virus after the nearby river to tone down the emphasis on one particular place. Eventually, this was supported which resulted to the Ebola Virus being called 'Ebola'.

Source - http://www.livescience.com/48234-how-ebola-got-its-name.html (LiveScience.com)

My group and I looked at changing the lettering of 'Ebola' and naming our virus after the outcome. The only problem being that it might have been too similar to 'Ebola'; this could create the issue of being inconsiderate to all the helpless victims of the virus. Below is the list of potenital virus names we created by changing the lettering of 'Ebola'.

Lobae -Loaeb - Bolae - Bolea - Boale

Potential Film Titles

Above, is a Prezi presentation of potential film titles written in Latin. The reason my group and I have considered Latin is due it being a language hardly ever used within modern day society therefore, a film title in Latin would create curiosity as to what it means.

Contagion/ Contagious - this relates to how victims of the virus become contaminated and therefore are themselves, contagious. They can no longer hide from the danger or harm as they are harmful to themselves.

Lost/Loss - this title helps with the audiences understanding of how the virus victims feel loss on many levels within our film. For example, the loss of senses. An equilibrium is broken when the victims begin to lose the ability to smell, taste, feel, hear and see. Loss of purpose - when the victim's senses begin to deteriorate and eventually disappear, they are merely shells of their former selves. Lost (as in location) unaware on where to go once infected.

Sense/Senses - these deteriorate and are eventually absent when infected with the virus.
Outbreak - a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome. In this case, the virus.

Virus - this titles (in my opinion) is the most honest of the titles. This doesn't necessarily create any enigmas as the audience are aware on what the film revolves around.

One of my virus sub-genre group members (Jasmine Rosser) designed a preliminary survey in order for us to have an insight into what ultimately could be our final choice. As you can see, over 60% of those that participated, suggested that Outbreak should be the tile of our film.

Potential Filming Location - Marke Wood

Marke Wood Park, Walmer - (http://www.dover.gov.uk/Leisure-Culture-Tourism/Leisure-Facilities/Parks--Open-Spaces/Marke-Wood,-Walmer.aspx)

Some scenes for our virus sub-genre film need to be filmed in an outdoor location in order to convey across to the audience how equilibrium has been disrupted. This recreation ground serves the community as both a recreational area and sports facility and includes a changing pavilion. The reason my group and I have considered this as a potential filming location is due to the creative aspect of presenting a juxtaposition between what is typically associated with this popular public area (i.e. children playing, dog walkers etc.) and showing the opposite. As well as this, this location is accessible to all of us to commute to on filming days.

Target Audience Questionnaire - Improvement

After sending out a preliminary questionnaire to individuals via our school e-mail system, I was able to see for myself  what questions would help me have a better understanding of my target audience. I initially sent out my questionnaire in Microsoft Word format. The reason for this is because I could publish posts directly from the word document. Furthermore, I could configure Office Word to link directly to my blogger webpage. Here is the following link to the Microsoft website - (https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Microsoft-Office-Word-2007-Top-10-Benefits-1757d862-2ba1-4db3-b4d5-9cfb3d9a875a?CorrelationId=decf034b-72f6-4b23-b093-71512b065221&ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB)

As well as this, releasing a preliminary questionnaire meant I was able to acknowledge where I could make improvements to questions asked. Below, is a screenshot of  one of the questions asked -

As you can see, I didn't ask the participant a specific time scale regarding when they purchased a film within store. This meant that this question was an anomaly as those that answered were unsure what number option to select. From this, I learnt to improve the questionnaire and be careful when wording the questions I would like answered.

Because of this, I have chosen to use SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey is an online survey development cloud company that provides free, customisable surveys that help with data analysis, sample selection, bias elimination, and data representation.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WL2XMN3 - Target Audience Part 1 of 2

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SM659QG - Target Audience – Part 2 of 2

Independent Film Magazine Case Study - Little White Lies

Horror Animated Storyboard

Potential Font Title Questionnaire - Results

Below, are the results from the question I posted online through SurveyMonkey regarding the potential font style consumers of my virus sub-genre film would like to see. As you can see, out of the 42 participants that answered the question put forward to them, 12 of them answered 'Face Your Fears' as their most favourable font style that they thought conveys across virus sub-genre best.

Film 4's List of Top Horror Films

(http://www.film4.com/special-features/top-lists/top-50-horror-films) - Film 4's Top 50 Horror Films of All Time

(http://www.film4.com/special-features/top-lists/ben-wheatley-top-10-horrific-films) - Ben Wheatley's Top 10 Horror Films