Research Into Real Audience Tastes And Trends

For me to research into real tastes and trends I designed a questionnaire with the following questions:

• What is your gender? Male, Female
• What is your age?
• Would you choose to watch a thriller film? Yes, No, Sometimes
• Are there any specific actors you would associate with the thriller genre?
• What sub-genre of thriller would you prefer to watch? Psychological, Crime, Action, Disaster, Other(name)
• What do you associate with the thriller genre?
• What type of music would you expect to hear in a thriller film? Tense, Orchestral, Dark and Eerie, Whispers and Screams

I have shown the results in the PowerPoint presentation below using SlideShare

Research into real audience tastes and trends from bectansley

The results showed that the most common actors associated with the thriller genre were Liam Neeson, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio. The audiences preference for a sub-genre of thriller would be psychological and they expect to hear tense music throughout the film.

I made sure I considered all of these responses before planning my opening scene because these are what a real audience like to see. They were also in the right age group the target audience I was using for my opening scene. The target audience I am aiming my thriller opening at is ages 15+ and my questionnaire was given to ages above 15 up to one 24 year old.

Pitch

Missing

 

It all seemed like a usual morning for Owen as he awakes in his home. This all takes a turn for the worst when he realises he has been reported as missing. After seeing all his family have disappeared from his home Owen is welcomed by a member of the army who kidnaps him and takes him to an unusual location. Throughout the film the reason for Owen's disappearance will be unravelled.

Owen meets people at different stages throughout his journey and finds out information on why he is in fact missing and what has caused his family to have left so suddenly.

Basic Plot
- Owen wakes up and goes into the bathroom
- He hears his name on the radio and hears that he has been reported as missing
- He then checks the whole house for his family but they cannot be found
- An army soldier comes to the door and kidnaps Owen
- He then takes Owen to an usual location in the dark
- Owen then manages to escape
- He calls the police but they hang up
- Owen then meets a friend who also heard the missing persons report


The target audience for this film would be teenagers of around 15+. This is because they are old enough to understand the storyline and keep up with the many twists and turns. However, it probably wouldn't be interesting to some adults as they may find it unrealistic and not like that there are young actors involved that they cannot relate to.

Sub-genre
I would say that the sub-genre of my film is an action thriller because of the suspense leading up in the opening scene until the army soldier comes to the door to kidnap him. After that Owen's home is entered by the soldier and he is taken to an unknown location where he will manage to escape and be on the run from people similar to many other action thriller films such as Taken and The Maze Runner.


Opening Titles Order

Production Company:

Spyglass Entertainment

Distribution:

Columbia Pictures

Director:

Rebecca Tansley

 

Producer:

Dan Carnell

 

Actors:

Starring

Owen Lawton

Liam Best

Screenplay by:

Charlotte Heap

 

Film Title:

Missing

 

The reason I have listed the names of people in this order is based on order of importance. The first names listed are the production and distribution companies as they are the people who have invested the money into the film being made and it is important for them to go first. I chose Spyglass Entertainment because they are well known within the thriller genre through films such as Instinct, The Sixth Sense and The Insider.  The second name shown is the director they are also important as they are the people who create the film and ensure the process runs smoothly so that the film can be successfully made. Shortly after this the producers name will be shown I chose to put this third because they are also an important roll within the making of the film. The actors I chose to put next because it would draw in the audience as usually they would know actors and choose to watch films if their favourite actor was part of it. The screenplay name will come after this as they are the most unlikely people to be recognised within the film making industry. Last I chose to put the title of the film. This is a typical convention of the thriller genre and I wanted to follow this pattern within my own work.

Call Sheet

Call sheet from bectansley

Reece Shots Of Locations and Character Profiles

Reece shots of locations from bectansley

This is my reece shots of locations and character profiles for my thriller opening scene. I will be following this throughout my film making process.

Story Board

 

Animatic Of My Storyboard

 

Production And Distribution Companies

A production company might be directly responsible for the fundraising for the production or it may be accomplished by a parent company. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organisation of staff, the production itself, post production, distribution and marketing.

The distribution company is usually different from the production company. The distribution deals are very important in terms of financing a film. The distributor might set the release date and decide which method of viewing the film has. For example, the film may be available directly to the public through cinemas or for home viewing on DVD or TV.

There are many production and distribution companies within film making. Many of them are known to be associated with a specific genre of film. I have done some research into what production companies are known to be involved with the thriller genre. Firstly, I researched some films and noted down the common production companies. The first company I researched was 20th Century Fox as they produced films such as Taken 3, Gone Girl and Poltergeist (2015). The second production company I researched was Warner Bros who have in the past made films such as Inception, The Prestige and Godzilla. Another production company was CBS Films who have made thriller films such as The Woman In Black, Afflicted and The Last Exorcism Part II. The final production company I researched into was Spyglass Entertainment who produced films such as Instinct, The Sixth Sense and The Insider.

All of these production companies above are involved within the thriller genre as they have each produced a number of successful thriller based films.