Section 4: Audience research

Questionnaire

How old are you? 16-17 18-19 19 and over

Do you enjoy films? Yes No

Do you enjoy thrillers? Yes No

How often do you go the cinema? Often Sometimes Rarely Never

What was the plot of the last thriller you watched?
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................

What would you do to improve it?
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................

What do you believe makes a film certificated 15 different from an 18?
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................

What type of characters do you enjoy watching in a thriller? Heroes Drug dealers Gangsters Detectives Spies Other? Please state .................................................

Do you like thrillers to be set in a...? School City Farm Police station Prison Other? Please state .................................................

Do you think music makes more tension in a film? Yes No

Questionnaire results

82.5% of the people who were asked to take our questionnaire were 16-17.
10% were 18-19, and just 7.5 % were 19 and over.
So the people who took our survey were all quite young, and so this quiz has a young persons perspective.
92.5% of them liked films in general, and 80% said they liked the thriller genre.
When asked how often the went the cinema 20% said they went often, 52.5% said they went sometimes, 15% said the rarely went, and only 12.5% said the never went.
In regards to what kind of characters people said they like to see in thriller films, 30% said they like heroes, 25% choose gangsters, 17.5% said detectives, 10% went for spies, 5% said dug dealers, and the remaining 12.5 said other.
The most popular setting choice was a city with 47.5 %, 12.5% said farms, 12.5 said prison. 7.5 % said school, 5% said police station, and 15% said other.
When asked if they think eerie music makes something more suspenseful, 87.5% said yes, and only 12.5% said no.
We asked what the plot of the last film they watched was, some general characteristics of these plotlines are:
Murders, victims, crime type investigations.
Modern films with modern settings.
Twists and turns - these were written by many people, showing this tends to be the thing people remember.
Puzzles, and how they solve the.
Generally a hero involved in the solving.
Gangsters and drug dealers/criminals.
Mystery and complications.
We also asked how they would improve these plotlines. A lot of people tended to say the same things, and 50% said they wouldn’t change the film at all. Other things people said are making it less obvious, making it shorter, scarier, put more twists in, less cheesy, easier to follow, and more mysterious.
We asked them what they thought would make an 18, the criteria our participants said was as follows :
Strong and offensive language
Nudity
Sex scenes
Drug use
Gory scenes
Extreme violence
Disturbing scenes