Quantitative Research For Slasher Trailer

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Audience Research Quantitative
Laima Reha
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The first research carried out was quantitative
research, this was in order to find out our
target audience and to get a better understanding
of how we would have to approach the slasher film
category in terms of what the audience want and
expect from a slasher film. The first question I
wanted to ask was Which sub-genre of horror
films do you prefer? this was because if I know
how big the target audience is, then I can figure
out how much work we would need to put in to the
trailer in order to make it successful and
acceptable for the category of a slasher film.
The total number of responses for this question
was sixty, the most preferred category of horror
is ghost films with twenty responds, but the
second most preferred sub-genre was slasher films
with a respond rate of twelve and the least
preferred sub-genre was vampire films with a
respond rate of only five. By knowing that the
target audience preferred slasher films second it
showed that we would need to carry out further
research to find out exactly how to market the
trailer and what is expected to be in the
trailer.
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The next question was Do you visit individual
movie websites?, I used this question in order
to find out the extent of online marketing that
would need to be produced in order to attract
more people to watch the film. By creating a
specific webpage for the film it makes it easier
for the films target audience to find up to date
information about the film, this is because in
today's society the extent of the internet is
still growing and so film makers have to use all
the digital options available to them in order to
promote the film as much as possible.
The number of people who responded yes to this
question was 45 out of 60 respondents and only 15
responded no to this question. This shows that in
order to market the film successfully it is vital
that you keep up to date with the latest forms of
marketing.
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The question Where do you find information on
horror films? was a multiple choice question and
made it easier for the participants to complete
the questionnaire. I included this question
because if I know where my target audience find
information about the films within the horror
genre then it will enable me to use the same
resources to post information about the movie.
This will mean that by targeting those particular
resources I am not wasting time or money on
marketing the film in the wrong places i.e. if I
were to post information about the film on a
website that my target audience do not use then
it will mean that financially I would be making a
loss because my target audience would not have
seen that information.
The results for this question showed that 40 out
of 60 of my respondents use IMDB to find
information about horror films , this means that
the one most important place to put information
on is IMDB, only 20 respondents said that they
use wikipedia.com and upcominghorrormovies.com
and only 10 use fangoria.com. These results show
that it is vital to post information about the
movie on IMDB because this is where a majority of
my target audience use.
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The bar chart below shows the number of
respondents and which source they use to watch a
film, this was a multiple choice question as well
and helps to show that other than the cinema
where else would you release a film and so use
marketing techniques effectively.
The results showed that 30 respondents said that
the watch a film at the cinema and the same
number said TV. However only 20 said that they
buy a film on DVD to watch and just 10 said
through the use of the internet. This means that
other than the cinema release the film has to be
shown on TV and the DVD has to come out quite
soon after the cinema release. This is because
people are still in the buzz of the film and so
will want to watch it again for their social
purposes.
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The table on the right is a coding frame for the
open question During which time of year would it
be most likely for you to watch a horror film?,
this question would help with the deciding when
to release a film because if you release an
independent film when all the major studios
release their blockbusters then it is very
unlikely for that film to be successful. So you
would need to release the film at a time when the
audiences are looking for something different to
watch, i.e. releasing a film on valentines day or
Christmas then it provides the audience with an
option. The results showed that 19 out of 60 of
the respondents said school holidays, 13 said
weekends, 12 respondents said in the autumn and 3
said in summer. This means that you would need to
release the film during a time of year where the
major companies dont release their horror genre.
Time Number of Respondents
School Holidays 19
Summer 3
Winter 10
Autumn 12
Spring 5
Weekends 13
Anytime 11
Depends On Mood 7
Other 8
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Would you buy merchandise and anything in
particular?
No 37
Yes 23
The reason I asked this question was that when
your considering marketing and promoting a film
you may need to make use of other strategies of
making a profit. Buy using merchandise you are
then able to hopefully make a profit through the
sales of the selective items which people would
be likely to buy. However the number of people
who said that they would buy merchandise was only
23 out of 60 which means that there may not be a
bigger market for merchandise, but you can have
merchandise just not to a greater extent.
Examples of particular merchandise people buy.
T-shirts
Pencils pens
Mugs
Mouse mats
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How would you recommend a film if you liked it.

• The reason for this question was that
  by knowing which methods your target audience use
  to transfer information about a film between them
  selves you can then use those methods to create a
  buzz about the film and so it will be likely
  that the information will be passed on to others
  and so through creating this buzz you can rely
  on word of mouth to give your film coverage.
• The results for the above question
  showed that my target audience rather communicate
  electronically through social networking sites
  and so this means that advertising would need to
  be mostly electronic and this helps financially
  because it will cost less.

Facebook Face to face Sharing the trailer on youtube Other networking sites
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Would you buy a DVD of a film if you have already
watched it in cinema? Explain your answer.
For the above question 41 people said No out of
the 60, this shows that there is only a small
number of people who would buy a DVD and so there
is a niche market which means because the target
audience is small which will be a financial
misjudgement if you were to prioritise the DVD
release.
Reasons for not buying DVDs
Waste of money. You can watch it online. Wouldnt watch it again no matter how good the film is.
Dont like collecting DVDs. Would watch it in cinema again. Borrow it from someone else.
The reasons as to why people wouldnt buy the DVD
is that they either dont want to spend money on
it or that they are able to find the film on
online websites, which make it easier for them to
watch and in the comfort of their own home.
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What would you expect to see in a slasher film?

• This question helps with finding the most
  obvious codes and conventions that should be in
  the trailer because the codes and conventions are
  what creates the genre which results to the
  target audience and if you break a code or
  convention you will need to justify it or it
  could mean failure for the trailer to succeed.

Responses
Blood Gore Screams
Terror Harsh lighting Fear
Body parts Horror Anything sudden i.e. unexpected call
The responses show that these the most obvious
aspects of slasher films and that these are the
small things that make a film belong to a
specific genre.
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Which slasher film do you like best and why?

• I included this question because if you
  know which films your target audience like then
  you can reference those films in your
  trailer/movie. The responses showed that my
  target audience preferred the films Halloween
  and Nightmare on Elm Street which is shown in
  table 1. Due to this response the name of film is
  going to be Haddon field high and the reason for
  this is that real horror fans will know that this
  is the street name from Halloween and so will
  know that this film is also horror. This
  reference will make it easier for the audience to
  feel like their apart of the film because they
  know something about it. Table 2 below shows the
  top rated horror films which were chosen by IMDB
  and they are films from the last few years. The
  3rd table also shows the top rated films but the
  best of all time. The two tables show that there
  are different films from different years the
  reason why the target audience have ranked
  Halloween and Nightmare On Elm Street as the
  best is because for there time and when they were
  released.

Table 1 some of the most mentioned films for the question Which slasher film do you like best and why?
1) Halloween 4) Devil 7) The Last Exorcism
2) Nightmare On Elm Street 5) Paranormal Activity 8) Resident Evil
3) Saw 6) Zombieland 9) My Soul To Take
Table 3 Top Rated Horror Films (boston.com) Table 3 Top Rated Horror Films (boston.com) Table 3 Top Rated Horror Films (boston.com)
Rank Title Release
1 Arachnophobia 1990
2 The Innocents 1961
3 Book Of Shadows Blair Witch 2 2000
4 The Wicker Man 1973
5 The Blob 1988
Table 2 Top Rated Horror Films (IMDB) Table 2 Top Rated Horror Films (IMDB) Table 2 Top Rated Horror Films (IMDB)
Rank Title Release
1 I Spit On Your Grave 2010
2 Let Me In 2010
3 The Vampire Diaries 2009
4 Supernatural 2005
5 Paranormal Activity 2 2010
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Summary Of All Data

• By carrying out this task it has meant
  that the decision making in terms of conventional
  forms and structures which a slasher film should
  consists is made easier, this is because you see
  how much knowledge your target audience have
  about slasher films and what they would want to
  see in a slasher film from that genre. This task
  has also helped to find out what sort of films
  you should refer to when you come to create your
  trailer, what conventions to use and which
  conventions you can break or change. It is an
  important planning stage which allows you to find
  out a little more about your target audience once
  you have achieved this task you are able to make
  decisions easily because you know what your
  audience want in a slasher film. It has also
  helped with how you can distribute your film
  and what sort of techniques you should use in
  terms of the institutional context i.e. if you
  should take a multi-plate form approach or if you
  should have a merchandise range and what sort of
  merchandise. It is also important to carry out
  this research because you will know how you can
  make your film successful in terms of what time
  of year to release it, how many screenings in
  each area and how big the exchange needs to be.