Audience Research

I asked 25 people in my audience what they would like to see in a thriller opening scene. Here are the questions and results;

1) What would you rather see at the beginning of a thriller movie?
A - a beginning of a chase 
B - unsolved case 
C - Suspicious character

These results show that most people would like to see an unsolved case at the start of a thriller, when asked why they would prefer to see this, their response was that they have not seen that sort of thing in a while, and it would be most thrilling to watch as they do not know who or what the case is about, sparking narrative enigmas from the very beginning. 







2) Would you like there to be music straight away, or open up the scene without music and a different sound effect?

These results show that 18 out of 25 people I asked wanted to see a start with something other than music. For my thriller, I was thinking about opening my scene with a voicemail from the victim on the last night she was 'alive'. This will add to thriller conventions as it will put the audience on the edge of their seats awaiting the thicker plot.









3) What colour scheme would you like to see in a thriller movie?

Dull colours - 8 votes 
Vibrant colours - 3 votes 
A mixture of both - 14 votes

This shows that a lot of people like a mixture of colour within footage. This is helpful for me as my audience will not be put off by the colour scheme within the short film and can then concentrate on the narrative. I will not have to worry that much about filming with high or low key lighting, and natural colours produced will add depth to the piece.

4) Do you find my thriller idea engaging and would you continue to watch. 





My results show that people liked my idea for my thriller,however they said in order to keep watching the film they would have to first be hooked by the thriller first, and so cannot say for sure until after they have seen the opening credits. This being said, they found my initial ideas to be thoughtful and interesting. 


5) What do you associate with thrillers the most?
A - Creepy music 
B - Suspense 
C - A villain 

The replies I got for this question were relatively mixed, with just over half of the people saying they associate suspense with thrillers the most. However when I was asking this question, a lot of people found it difficult choosing just one option, therefore it might be a good idea to add a fragment of all into my thriller in order to please the audience widely.