Audience Research

Audience Research Analysis

I conducted a nine-question questionnaire and asked fifteen people both males and females between the ages of eleven and forty. I asked the respondents questions likes;
1. Which age group do you fit into?
2. What gender are you?
3. What genre of film do you prefer?
4. Do you prefer watching films in the cinema or at home?
5. Do you prefer subtitled films?
6. For a horror based film, where do you think the ideal setting would be to make an audience more attracted?
7. Who are two of your favourite actors?
8. Who are two of your favourite actresses?
9. Would you prefer to see a film with your favourite actors/actresses in?

These questions were designed to find out the correct and specific information from an audience of people who watched films at least once a month or read frequent updates of reviews.

The group I asked were mainly females between the ages 11-20. This is a good audience as the younger groups of people are generally attracted to horror films with scary titles and persuading trailers. Males also seem to be fans of the horror films to, this makes males appear like more of “macho” image if they see a horror film.

I asked my respondents what genres of films they prefer to watch. The majority chose horror, romantic-comedy or comedy. Others chosen were drama, animated, romantic, action, musical and sci-fi. Options like war, historical, western and adventure were not chosen so I removed them from my tally chart. As horror was one of the most popular choices, this encouraged my opening to continue through.

I then went on to question if people preferred watching films when they’re released in the cinema, or waiting until their available on DVD or on the television. Most people preferred watching in the cinema. When I asked further to certain respondents why they preferred watching in the cinema most said that the “atmosphere is different” and “it is generally somewhere you do not visit often, so for a horror film it creates an eerie scene”. When I asked if they minded paying £5 a time to visit, one replied “its not much if you think about it, I don’t go often and when I do it doesn’t bother me”. For the people who wait until the release of DVD also told me that they sometimes find illegal copies online or buy pirate copies. They said that this is cheaper and that it doesn’t cost them to travel and spend money in the cinema.

I continued on and raised the point of subtitled films, like Slumdog Millionaire – a film which won several film awards and was credited for the subtitles. Most people disagreed and said that they disliked subtitled films and believed they were pointless and annoying.


To find the perfect audience opinions location for a horror film, I went on to question where they would prefer to see a film based if it was a horror film. I gave out three options; In an Old House, in the woods/forest or in a high school. The popular answer was in the woods/forest. This was because people believed that the location of the woods is generally eerie and creepy. Nobody believed that a high school was a convenient location to film a horror genre. Someone said that “horror films based in schools are mediocre.”

For questions seven and eight, I asked my respondents about their favourite actors and actresses. I got a range of actors from everyone including;

o Taylor Lautner o Keira Knightly
o Jim Carrey o Megan Fox
o Hugh Grant o Rachel McAdams
o Lee Evans o Emma Watson
o Johnny Depp o Eva Longoria
o Ryan Reynolds o Kristen Stewart
o David Tennant o Anne Hathaway

I asked some people what they thought about these actors/actresses and why they liked them.

Taylor Lautner: “He is rather good looking with his top off”
Johnny Depp: “The characters he plays are interesting”
Megan Fox: “She’s hot”
Rachel McAdams: “She is very good at her job”
Kristen Stewart: “She is a good actress, but she needs to smile more”
Anne Hathaway: “Performs well in all her character roles”
Lee Evans: “He’s a funny person”

Most of these comments show that the opinion people have a generally about their appearance or another role they play in the media. A cross-over of roles in the media can be known as convergence.

Question nine asks finally if the respondents would find it a more appealing film if their favourite actors/actresses were included. All of the respondents said yes. As an amateur, I will not be able to get any of these Hollywood stars, however, I’ve got time.