Film Marketing Survey - Responses

Lucy Bennett

Introduction

In order to find out more information about what people expect from marketing films (particularly thrillers), I decided to use surveymonkey.com to create a survey and collect responses to analyse and later work from when creating my own film trailer/poster/magazine cover.

By using social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter), I managed to collect 40 responses, including a range of demographics.

The majority of people who responded to the questionnaire were females aged between 16 and 20, due to that demographic being the most common in my friends on the social networking sites where I promoted the survey.

Although this may not be the main target audience for thriller films, I found that many of them are fans of thrillers from their responses, e.g.

Psychological thrillers are one of the most common sub-genres of thriller films.

Those responding to the questionnaire were allowed to choose as many genres as they wanted for this question. Thriller came out as the second most popular, with 65% of people liking to watch them.

Although most of the people who responded to the questionnaire/stated they like thrillers are not in the general target audience for the genre, the fact that 65% like thrillers shows that it is a popular genre with other demographics as well as those targeted in marketing.

I then uploaded images of a selection of thriller film posters, and asked various questions relating to them.

The first question I asked about conventions was so I could find out which common elements people can pick out.

I also gave people the opportunity to write their own suggestions.

These responses tend to focus on the layout of the posters, along with the camera shot types.

I then asked if any of the posters were different from the others:

Many people stated that they didn’t feel that any of the posters stood out as being particularly different from the others, though others people managed to find many elements they didn’t deem conventional for the genre.

The main difference that was pointed out was the use of white and light colours in the Black Swan poster. The high-key lighting is unconventional when compared to the other posters, which could signify its difference from other films and the fact the film itself breaks conventions, whilst still conforming to many genre expectations.

White is representative of purity and innocence, which contrasts with the title “Black Swan”. The detail of the eyes and lips are caused to stand out and grab our attention. It has also been mentioned that the white gives a “cold and clinical” feel, connoting illness, distance and suggests weakness and lack of control and mental disturbance.

Most people can spot the popular conventions of thriller trailers and can pick out the differences because they are instantly recognisable for the genre so people can automatically identify with it. The parts that significantly stuck out to those doing my questionnaire were:

• Colours• Layout (positioning of photos/text)• Camera shot/photo type• Character’s eyeline

Question 6 allowed me to discover if there are any parts of any of the posters that people don’t like:

From this, I have concluded that, although it is important for posters to follow conventions in order to identify with an audience and advertise the films’s genre, some people find that overdoing the conventions can seem a bit cliché and audiences tend to lose motivation to go and see the film.

This could be, in relevance to thriller films, due to the fact too much/little is revealed in the poster, when the thriller films themselves thrive from the apprehension and tension. If a poster follows too few conventions, not enough of the film’s aspects are being promoted in order to intrigue audiences to watch the films to find out for themselves what happens. Similarly, if the poster follows too many conventions, people assume everything about the film has already been revealed to them and don’t feel the need to watch the film. This has a very negative impact on thrillers as most thrillers have twists and rely on the surprise factor to involve the audience.

It will be very important to address finding the balance between giving clues about the film and not revealing too much when making our own products (trailers, posters and magazine covers.)

I then asked this question so I could discover how important different types of advertising are when promoting a film, and how people discover the films they watch.

Trailers were voted the most important form of advertising thriller films, with 95% of the people asked voting for them. This enforces how important it is to focus on the trailer and constructing it carefully to get the right reaction from audiences.

Radio trailers were suggested as an alternative method of film advertising, which can use most of the elements of a video trailer without the camera shots and visual elements.

One suggestion was that people go and see films based on the actors/directors of films. This links into genre, due to actors and directors being involved in many films of the same/similar genres. This then builds up a fan-base, and these people find other films within their chosen genre to watch. An example of this could be David Fincher (Se7en, Panic Room, Fight Club), who is well known for creating psychological thrillers and films using the popular elements of thrillers.

The response to this question shows that over 50% of people who responded to this question think that the posters reveal enough information to encourage them to watch a film without it being spoiled.

Although using trailers to promote films is incredibly important, it’s important to remember that other forms of advertising work well and a mixture of different kinds of advertising are more likely to grab someone’s attention and get them interested in watching a film.

Conclusion

From conducting this survey, I have learned the importance of both following and challenging conventions when marketing a film, and have gained an insight to others’ opinions on why they go and see films and what interests them about films.

I hope to take this information and use it in the creation of my own media products.