Questionnaire results

Results of 5 returned questionnaires:

1.       2 under 16s, 3 16-30

2.       2 female, 3 male

3.       2 yes, 3 no

4.       Either no reason, not interested, or never heard of any
5.       3 4-6 minutes, 1 7-9 minutes, 1 10 minutes or over

6.       2 with speech, 3 silent

7.       3 comedy, 1 action and 1 animated

8.       4 solid ending, 1 cliff hanger

Question 1 - This shows the questionnaires were aimed at the correct target audience my short film is aimed at. This will enable me to see the preferred film specifics of my target audience.

Question 2 - I originally handed out 10 questionnaires (5 to females, 5 to males), but only 5 were returned. However the returned few were still a mix and so the results should produce valid results.

Question 3 - I chose this question to try to find out how wide the audience for short films is, though obviously only handing out 10 questionnaires wouldn't have brought back representative results. Only 2 out of the 5 people had seen a short film, which shows the audience for short films to be quite small.

Question 4 - I asked if there was a reason they hadn't seen a short film, they said either no reason, not interested, or never heard of any. This shows that short films aren't as publicised as full length films, which could be a major factor in why short films aren't as popular. After speaking with the person who answered 'no reason', I was told that they had heard of some, but only the titles, and so had no idea of what they were about or where to find them, which fits in again with their lack of publicity.

Question 5 - 3 people chose 4-6 minutes, which works due to the fact the limit for the short film is 5 minutes. If I rewrote the questionnaire, I'd change this question, as I think putting a question about length it pointless when there's a set limit. I'd possibly ask the question about prefered story lines (using general examples) or ask about my storyline, and get a rating and a written opinion, or different 'check-box' options.

Question 6 - 2 People said they preferred speech in short films over silent. As silent is the more popular, though people do want speech, I have decided to have no scripted speech and background music, though keep in background sound from filming, so that diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are merged together.

Question 7 - The most popular option was comedy, and so I'll try to incorporate some funny parts into it. Action and animation both got a 'vote', however, as this is only an A level piece, I don't have the budget, software or knowledge to make an animated film, though it would work with the storyline, an action film has the same problems, though wouldn't suit the genre.

Question 8 - More people wanted a solid ending, which works to my advantage, as a cliffhanger would probably need a sequel. In my experience, people don't like single films which end on a cliffhanger, as audience members want to know what happens to the characters, how/if the storyline ends, etc. I found this when I went to see 'The Golden Compass', whist it's a full length film, many people outside of the cinema screen were complaining about the ending.