Summary of audience research

The main aim of doing my audience research is so I know who my trailer will be

aimed at, why it will be aimed at them, how I will achieve what my audience want,

and what my audience believes will fit in with the thriller genre.

From my research into similar products I found out all about the conventions of a

thriller trailer, and the thriller genre as a whole. I discovered that the mise-en-scene

of a thriller would be set in a mysterious, disturbing location, such as the mental

institution in the movie ‘Shutter Island.’ Or perhaps even a quiet neighbourhood,

where everything seems to be going well until the tension and suspense destroys the

tranquil environment.

I also discovered that the costumes and props the characters would wear and use in

a thriller, would represent its conventions. Police uniforms, army uniforms, guns and

knives are used a lot to convey the element of crime and conflict within the thriller

genre.

I also found out that there would also be a lot of low-key lighting used to create an

automatic tense and dark atmosphere, which is conventional for this genre.

Make-up, such as scars and injuries are also used frequently to connote danger and

violence, which I discovered are conventional themes within this specific genre.

The camerawork in a thriller ranges from extreme-close-ups that show fear and

confusion, to establishing shots, which show the audience where the thriller movie is

going to be set. In the trailers I watched, I found that the close-ups really gave me an

insight to how the characters were feeling. I had a sympathetic feeling towards them,

which would work perfectly within a psychological thriller, because it toys with your

emotions and your mind. The establishing shots work well within thriller trailers. The

showing of the mental institution in ‘Shutter Island’ is a conventional setting, which

instantly created a tense feeling towards the trailer. The establishing shot of the

neighbourhood in ‘Disturbia’ and the university in ‘The Roommate’ show us a calm,

friendly place, which I found out, would later be changed by the tension and

suspense that would gradually build throughout the trailer.

For editing, I noticed there was a lot of slow motion. I also noticed the editing within a

thriller trailer is normally very fast-paced. The slow-motion in ‘Shutter Island’ really

created suspense well, and made me realise that to make a successful thriller trailer,

slow motion would be a good editing technique to use. The fast-paced editing was

used throughout all the trailers I looked at. It signifies that there is a lot going on, it

keeps you on the edge of your seat, which I think is essential for a thriller, especially

now I have seen it used in all the trailers that I analysed.

From my audience research I can clearly identify that sound is a very important

technical area used within the thriller genre. I noticed that by using upbeat, tense,

non-diagetic music, suspense, tension and mystery can instantly be created. I

understood sound would be an importantpart of a thriller. However I believe that my

audience research really helped me understand the extent of how important it is to

include dramatic and tense music in a thriller trailer.

Research into similar products also gave me an insight of a trailer itself, (the form).

The conventional trailer includes production and casting details. Also details of the

film release date and website information. The main character/most popular actors

will also be mentioned within the trailer.

The character representations within a thriller are normally power versus weak and

good versus bad. I discovered this by analysing ‘Shutter Island’, ‘Disturbia’ and the

still image analysis of ‘The Roommate.’

From my ancillary tasks I found out all about film magazine front covers and their

conventions, and movie poster conventions. I discovered that the image plays a big

part of a film magazine front cover. ‘Inception’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ both have

thriller genre aspects to them. I chose these two to analysis because I thought it

would also give me more in-depth knowledge into the genre, as well as the

conventions of a film magazine cover. I found out that film magazine covers are

conventionally very ordered and organised in terms of layout. Sans serif font is

conventionally used because it is clear and easy to read. I also discovered that the

colours of the fonts/images tend to reflect the genre. For example, ‘Inception’ use the

colours red and black, which represent danger and power. Total film front cover,

which advertises ‘Sherlock Holmes’, use the colours white and blue, which represent

calm, purity, power and intellect.

The movie posters were very much the same in terms of conventions. ‘The

Roommate’ poster created a blurred out effect on the image, which created the idea

of madness, which I discovered is a conventional theme for the thriller genre. The

poster that advertised ‘Taken’focused a lot around the text. Phrases such as ‘I will kill

you’ are used on the poster to draw the audience in and keep them interested. A big

thing I have learned from my audience research as a whole is that I need to keep the

audience interested. I can do this by using certain conventions of the genre that are

intriguing and exciting.

I also found out from my ancillary tasks that the layout of a movie poster is much like

the layout of a movie magazine front cover. An organised, ordered and symmetrically

laid out layout. This helps the audience to take everything in, and understand a bit

about the movie, because there is not too much to look at on the page.

My final pieces of audience research were the focus group and interviews, and a

target audience questionnaire.

I discovered from the focus group that the majority of people thought the tense music

was very effective and appealing within the trailer ‘Shutter Island.’ I thought this

information supported my initial thought that sound was one of the most important

technical areas used within a thriller.

When I undertook the interviews I also discovered that people believed sound was

an important part of a thriller; it helped to create tension and suspense instantly and

effectively. The interviewees also believed that the image should be the main focus

of a film magazine front cover and poster, because it gives the audience an insight

about what the film will be like, and if they will be interested in going to see it.

I also created an initial genre research questionnaire which helped me build a picture

of who my target audience are, what they think a thriller trailer should include to

become successful, and what they like about thriller movies.

I found out the duration they think a trailer should be, (discovering how long they

would be entertained and interested in watching a trailer for.) and also what their

least favourite genre was. I asked them their least favourite genre so I could avoid

putting this as a sub-genre to thriller. For example their least favourite genre was

horror, so therefore I am going to avoid my trailer having an aspect of horror. I found

out that my target audience would prefer a psychological thriller.

In conclusion, I believe that the audience research has been very valuable in my

understanding of the conventions of the thriller genre. It has helped me understand

the importance of certain technical areas and their functions. Most importantly this

research has helped me build an accurate picture of who my target audience are and

how I can appeal to them.