Survey Questions Analysed and Response

Gender

We asked an equal number of female and male teenagers to get an unbiased opinion from our target audience, which is not exclusive to gender. This allows for our results to be reflective of the whole audience, and not more suited to a particular gender.

Do you prefer to see male dominant characters or female?

We found that our audience preferred to see male dominant characters than female, which is important for the representation of gender throughout our trailer. With this information we can make sure our trailer appeals to our target audience by making the dominant character(s) in the group, male.

Do you prefer characters to conform or oppose stereotypes?

Our results showed that conforming to stereotypes was most popular, while the other forty per cent of our audience respondents chose either a variety of conforming and opposing, or just opposing stereotypes. Using this information we have decided that for the majority our characters should conform to the stereotypes of gender, social group etc, but that we should include aspects of characters that do not conform to the stereotypes. We feel this will both appeal to the audience preference but make the trailer more intriguing to watch.

Which title do you prefer?

From the two suggested titles our results showed that 'Ready or Not' was most popular with our target audience respondents. We have decided to use this as we believe it will be more effective in appealing to our audience and making our trailer more successful.

Which method of conveying information is most successful?

The results of our survey show that titles are the proffered method. Using this information we can make sure our trailer appeals to our target audience by using titles to convey any extra information as this seems to be more dramatic.

How much withheld information is most appealing?

Our survey showed that ambiguity, not revealing much information, is most popular in a thriller trailer. A revealing trailer was voted to be unpopular so we have decided to only give our audience the necessary information in our own thriller trailer, using the sense of the unknown to convince the audience to want to watch the film.

Which type of camera footage is more appealing?

Our audience respondents said that they preferred hand-held camera footage equally with professional 3^rd

Ideas of Shots to use in Trailer

Potential Fonts To Use

We chose these fonts as ideas we would perhaps like to pursue in our projects as we though they were well fitting to our genre and most could be quite challenging to use. 

Survey Results

Audience Survey Response

Gender:
Male	17
Female	12
Age:
Under 10	1
11 to 14	4
15 to 18	15
19 to 25	5
26 to 30	1
30 to 40	0
41 +	1
Are you a fan of thriller genre?
Yes	21
No	8
Further	0
Gender Sterotypes
Men in Power	12
Women Power	2
Both	15
N/A	0
Type Oof thriller most appealing
end-of-world	2
Sci-fi	1
Action	8
Horror	9
Investigation	6
Protagonists
One	13
Group	16
Favourite Thrillers
Orphan	2
James Bond	3
Pulp Fiction	2
Shutter Island	3
Cabin Woods	4
Paranormal	5
Conventions
Sci-Fi	1
Horror	3
Suspense	17
Mystery	8

Trailers
Mise-en-scene	5
Characters	10
Sound	6
Editing	8
Appealing location
Woodland	6
industrial	7
open fields	5
town	1
village	1
lake	9
Appealing camera footage
handheld	5
3rd person	10
both	14
Does gore appeal?
Yes	8
No	12
in moderation	9
Character dynamics
V-P	14
P-V	7
remain V	3
remain P	5
Plot progression
complex	10
simple	3
both	16
Light-hearted elements:
Momentary	10
none	5
lighthearted	14

Ideal Characters - Character Profiles

Character Profiles – Ideal Set Of Characters

This can be altered depending on availability of actors.

Antagonist:

- (Poppy) Presented as being not very talkative, a little shy in comparison to the other group members. Dressed in the darkest clothes throughout trailer so at first glance she comes across as being possibly a little vulnerable, conforming to female stereotype but later in the trailer it is established that this may not be true.

Protagonists:

(Reece) portrayed as being the dominant character of the group, who makes the decisions and generally leads the group. Presents the light-heartedness with his confidence, instigating banter with the other characters. When problems arise he is the one to take control of the situation and the other characters follow.

  (   -(Sean) does not conform to male stereotypes, lacks the masculine attitude and presence. Outwardly shows signs of fear and is the first to express vulnerability. Has the hand-held camera throughout. Camp style of dress.

-       (Bexx) conveyed as a stereotypical girly girl, confident and comfortable within group but in an event of danger lacks bravery and react typically dramatically (squeals/scream) – dressed feminine but practical, not striking clothes.

-       (Marko/-) the character who is experienced/intelligent when it comes to technology; dresses well – of the group he is dressed the smartest – not very talkative. 

Eden Lake Trailer And Plan For Response

We asked a group of people mainly from our target audience to give us feedback and comments on the 'Eden Lake' Trailer (below) so we could decipher which techniques we could apply to our own trailer.

We made sure that the person we were about to interview/question on the trailer watched it right before we asked them questions or before they shared their viewpoints on it, this made sure that their thought and opinions were fresh in their minds and they were able to share their true opinions. 

We used this voice-recorder to record the interview/opinions of the audience, this helps us make sure we know their exact thoughts and opinions without anything getting lost or cut. It also allows us to refer back to it easily at any point if we ever need to consider out target audiences responses. 

First Draft Of Story Board

Audience Survey

Audience Survey

Circle your gender:

Female            Male

Circle the relevant age range:

Under 10     11-14   15-18     19-25     26-30     30-40    41+

Are you a fan of the thriller genre?

Yes         No         Further comments:

Which type of thriller appeals to you most?

End-of-the-world Thriller                Sci-fi Thriller           Action Thriller            Mystery/investigation

Which gender stereotypes do you prefer to see in the thriller genre?

Men In Power           Women In Power          Both Equal Power           Non-Applicable

Is one main protagonist or a group of protagonists more appealing to you? Please circle your answer.

What films come to mind when asked your favourite thriller?

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

In order of preference what conventions of the thriller genre do you enjoy most?

Mystery               Suspense             Horror             Sci-Fi

How do trailers convince you to watch a film?

Mise-en-scene (what’s in the shot)         Characters              Sound            Editing   

Other (please specify)…………………………..

Audience Survey

Circle your gender:

Female            Male

Circle the relevant age range:

Under 10     11-14   15-18     19-25     26-30     30-40    41+

Are you a fan of the thriller genre?

Yes         No         Further comments:

Which type of thriller appeals to you most?

End-of-the-world Thriller                Sci-fi Thriller

Action Thriller                                Horror Thriller               Murder/Investigation Thriller        

Which gender stereotypes do you prefer to see in the thriller genre?

Men In Power           Women In Power          Both Equal Power           Non-Applicable

Is one main protagonist or a group of protagonists more appealing to you? Please circle your answer.

What films come to mind when asked your favourite thriller?

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

In order of preference what conventions of the thriller genre do you enjoy most?

Mystery               Suspense             Horror             Sci-Fi

How do trailers convince you to watch a film?

Mise-en-scene (what’s in the shot)         Characters              Sound            Editing   

Other (please specify)…………………………..

Location - Paxton Lakes

The following images are of the destination we intend to film our Thriller Trailer, we chose to do it here because of the possibilities and potential we agreed it held. This destination should help us convey the conventional and non-conventional ideas we would like to get across. 

The lake during the day will show the natural, happy, normal side of the trailer (and the characters life) and as they day progresses so will the plot, the darker the lighting gets the more sinister the plot may turn. 

Thriller Genre Image

This is the improvised prop we created in order to add detail to our image (below), we made this in a short amount of time just by copying an original image of a gun and roughly cutting out to use a prop in our shots.

This is our image we created. We used a shadow instead of showing the actual person holding the 'gun' to show conventions that are normally held in the thriller genre, for example withholding information and showing an dark and sinister tone. The overall image is quite a typical, conventional thriller genre shot as it shows mystery, suspense and it is also quite puzzling and also quite cryptic. 

The image shows a strong hidden figure who seems to have the main power in this situation, and a cowering, vulnerable  less powerful individual crouched down in a subservient position.   

Storyboard for our thriller trailer

The Happening

This trailer shows typical thriller conventions throughout. They use rapid and abrupt editing (quick cuts) to build tension and suspense. The quick cuts also get the adrenaline flowing in the audience which builds more tension and excitement. In this trailer they use 'two shot's and 'shot-revese-shot's to show people in conversations, they do this so you can clearly see facial expressions and the panic and alarm in their faces as they learn more of the situation. There is also the use of close-up shots to show the emotions of the characters, like fear and panic.

 

In the trailer they also use non-digetic sound to build tension and suspense,for example they use a heartbeat in the background then it abruptly stops, this could be to show the outcome of death and this builds fear and shock for the audience. They also use a kind of bell drone or a war siren, this for warning people, which shows that there will definately be danger ahead of them.

 

The trailer shows a sort of montage of the bad things that are happening, they do this to show the audience how far spread this epidemic is, and how it is effecting everybody. They also show a series of people watching news programmes reporting this epidemic this helps the audience to infer that it is global. The repition of the word "attack" could make the audience infer that somebody or something is doing this to people on purpose.

 

This trailer shows many conventional themes, one of which could be the 'helpless blonde' this is often a character used in this kind of genre, it represents women as the 'Damsels in distress' and men as the ones who are calm and hold control. Although the trailer its quite conventional for this genre they also use unconventional ideas, for example the worms eye view of men jumping/falling of the roof of a tall building, this is unconventional because it is not something you'd expect to see, its showing the audience something they have never seen before, the low angle also makes this scene much more dramatic then it would from a high or mid level angle.

 

 

Analysis of Limitless, showing conventions of Marxism and Feminism

Limitless

At the beginning of the trailer, the main protagonist (Eddie) does not conform to the typical stereotype of a male in this genre. We are introduced to a man who starts off as a low status citizen in New York City, with little money, power and authority, and it appears to be struggling with his life, whereas typically men within this genre of film, are associated with these things. Feminists are likely to respond quite positive to this this as it demonstrates that it is not just female characters that have to fight for equality, and that men can also be just as inferior as woman can be. A man struggling for equality in a way goes against stereotypical ideologies. However, by the end of the trailer, Eddie has manipulated some of the biggest business men in the world, and become incredibly rich and famous - and as a result, the hierarchy difference becomes more balanced, and so her becomes more equal. 

However, it could also suggest that if you are of a lower class, with little money, power isnt an option for you unless you cheat you way into the business. At the start of the trailer, the main protagonist, Eddie, states the reason 'Why he looks like this' is because he is 'a writer' suggesting that this job title hasn't got much hope, and because of the job you won't have much going for you, so potential lacks. The trailer also suggests that the only way to overcome this is to cheat cheat, ( In this case by using illegal drugs to make you more intelligent) and cheating will help you gain more authority. 

Feminists are likely to respond negatively to this trailer. The trailer shows a clear power divide between male and female characters. The female characters are not really associated with any business related power, except from Eddies boss, but she is only shown when her power is being challenged when he demands a raise. The majority of the dominant characters within the trailer are male, suggesting that women are less capable, and inferior to men. 

Women are also represented as quite shallow throughout the trailer. At the beginning of the trailer when the main character is a low class citizen with little money, women did not appear to be interested in him, however when he gained money, power, and fame, women seemed to be instantly attracted to him. This suggests that they are only willing to look twice when men have fast cars, expensive watches and private jets. 

Women also seem to be objectified in the trailer, as they only seem to appear when they are involved in sexual scenes, suggesting that they are only good for one thing, showing they are not powerful, just used. 

Example of film in the thriller genre