Audience Research Draft One

These are the complete results and evaluations from the seventeen questions that I asked to ten men and ten women of all different ages.
I have shown my results by re-writing the question with the results underneath.

1/ What gender are you?

I asked my questions to ten males and ten females. This gave me a clear understanding when looking into different opinions that different sexes sometimes have about films.

2/ What age group are you?

1-12 13-16 17-18 19-30 31-50 51-70 71+

Over half of the people that took my questionnaire were in the age group of 13-16. The other ten people were a mix of ages from 17 right up to over 70. The benefits of asking people of different age groups is that some people from older and younger generations share different opinions in answer to my later questions.

3/ Do you enjoy watching films?

Every one of the twenty people I asked this question to said yes. It become apparent that films are very popular with all people.

4/ Where do you mainly watch your films?

Cinema Home School With Friends Other A Bit of All of the Above

Seventeen people who took my questionnaire said that they most enjoy watching films in the comfort of their own home. Only one person prefers the cinema and two people said they enjoy watching films at school, home, cinema and even at work. This tells me that now film must not just be made for the technology of the cinema but also for people to enjoy at home.

5/ Do you mind watching short films as well as full length feature films?

Twelve people who took my questionnaire said that they would not mind watching a shorter film. It became apparent that the older people who took the questionnaire also added that sometimes they prefer short films as they are easier and quicker to watch. Eight people stated that they only like the full feature length films.

6/ What if your favourite genre of film?

One quarter of the people who took the questionnaire said that comedy was their favourite genre film. Three other people, and notably female, liked the comedy hybrid with romance. The two oldest people who took the quiz liked thrillers, which could reflect on their age and that thrillers were very popular when they were younger. Four other people said they were not particular about their choice of films, so they liked all. Sci-Fi, drama, western, action and horror had one person each. The most interesting favourite genre, which could connect to social realism, was the one person who liked true stories the most. Social Realism films show true to life depictions of people in the world.

7/ Do you believe there should be a greater choice in genres in films realised in the cinema?

In answer to this question, sixteen people believed there should be a greater choice of films but 4 people were happy with the versatility they have now in film genres.

8/ Does the use of famous actors influence your interest in a film?

Sixteen people out of twenty said that they would be influenced to see a film because of a recognisable face staring in it. It will however be taken into account that the minority of people who said no to this question were all from the youngest age group and between the age of 13-16. Their age could reflect their interest in the acting as they are more likely to just enjoy a film for what it is.

9/ Do you think the use of bad language and violence is always necessary in films?

In this question which created the most interesting amount of debate showed that eight people think violence and bad language is necessary, while twelve people disagree. The minority who do not mind bad language and violence in films were all below the age of 18. This reflects on teenagers upbringings and beliefs about the world today.

10/ Do you enjoy films that relax you and help you to escape from the real world?

A huge majority of people agreed that they like to be taken out of themselves and relaxed while watching a film, leaving only two people out of the twenty, who took the questionnaire, stating that they believe relaxation is not the most important thing while watching a film.

11/ What is your understanding of the Social Realism genre?

Seventeen people could give a very clear and definite understanding of what the social realism genre is. Only three people could not even give an accurate guess as to what social realism means. They could though, guess at the later questions in the questionnaire.

12/ Do you watch many social realism films?

This graph show the amount of people who do not just have an understanding about social realism films, but watch them as well. Fourteen people have seen or even often watch social realism films and a further six people have not. With reference to the question before, there must have been three people who although do not enjoy watching social realism films, have a clear understanding of what they are.

13/ Do you enjoy Social Realism films?

From the sixteen people who have or often watch social realism films, fifteen of them enjoy watching the genre as well. The same minority who did not understand or watch social realism films, are the five people in this question who unsurprisingly do not enjoy social realism films.

14/ Do you enjoy being able to relate to topics in a film?

Every single person who answered the questionnaire agreed that they thoroughly enjoy being able to relate to topics and events which happen in films. All 20 people said yes.

15/ What Social group do you think are most frequently represented in Social Realism films?

This question was not answered by everyone who took the questionnaire. Six people could not hazard a guess to the answer, meaning this question was only answered by fourteen people.
It becomes apparent from these results that peoples opinions of social realism depictions is of the lower class who live in poverty. Teenage youths are often connected to poverty and so are gangs and even domestic problems between couples. The odd one out in this table is the rich and one persons opinion that the upper and more privileged class are depicted in social realism films.

16/ What social groups do you think should be represented in Social Realism films?

Like the last question, number 16 was not answered specifically by everyone. Six people agreed that all groups should be represented in social realism films. This table shows the results from the other fourteen people who came up with specific answers.

Not to be confused with the last question, this question asks what social group the viewer thinks should be shown in films, rather than what social groups are already being depicted in social realism film. On a personal note, I feel that this question produced the best answers. Seven people said that teenagers should be focused on in social realism films and three people said that gangs should as well, but I believe it was the others answers that were most interesting. One person, surprisingly from the 13-16 age group, believed that old age pensioners should be represented as a social group of people. Another person said that the police’s struggles should be documented in film and one other person said that the struggles and tribulations of the homosexual community should be shown. Most importantly for me, just one person said that the rich community should be represented rather than the poverty of teenagers and gangs of today. My film hopes to look into the rich community of England and how present times have affected the people. Knowing that there are people who want to see different subjects rather than the usual poverty, coincides with my ideas for my film.

17/ What subjects do you think should be tackled in Social Realism films?

Like the last question, number 17 was somewhat difficult to answer for some people. Four people were unsure as to what subjects should be tackled in social realism films. Therefore, this table shows the results from the other sixteen people who came up with specific answers.

Not to be confused with the last question, this question asks what issues should be tackled in social realism films, rather than what social group of people. The issues however, could be influenced by what social group is being depicted in the film. For example, if the film was depicting rich and upper class people it would be unlikely that the issues of the film would involve drugs and alcoholism.
Over one quarter of people who took the questionnaire believed that racism is an issue which should be tackled. Hooliganism and family issues had two people each that thought they should be looked into. War, domestic violence and drugs were also suggested and even one person believed that a work place would be good place to show a social community of workers.
My film plans to focus on the rich community and how global recessions have created problems. This is to do with the work place and tackles the issues of our rich nation.

On reflection I believe that I gathered information well. I asked my questions to a wide group of people from different sexes and beliefs, which in turn provided me with a large range of helpful research and advice for when I create my own Social Realism film.

These are examples of how people answered my Questionnaire.

Please click on the images to enlarge