Target Audience Research

Target Audience Research: 


We then had to produce a questionnaire for our target audience research to find out what they are interested in the most, within our topic of supernatural, this will therefore give us an idea of what to focus on and what our target audience will want and enjoy the most when watching our documentary.

Supernatural Questionnaire

1)      Are you male or female?

Male    Female

2)      How old are you?

Under 16?    16 – 20      20-26     26+

3)      Do you like documentaries?

Yes      No

4)      What is your preferred genre of documentaries?

Crime?    Nature?   Supernatural?  History?   Religious? Scientific?

5)      Do you believe in the super natural?

Yes   no

6)      If so what type are you most interested in?

Ghosts/Spirits/Haunting/Psychic readings/Fortune Telling

7)      On a scale of 0 -5 how much do you believe in Psychic readings?

0  (Not at all)    1          2         3 (Sceptical)      4       5  (A lot)

8)      Have you ever had a supernatural experience?  Or do you know anybody who has?

Yes   No?

9)      Would you ever go/pay for a fortune telling?

Yes     No


11a) Do you know anybody who has been for a fortune telling?
Yes   No


11b) If so what was there experience like?


12) Do you believe fortune telling are true or made up?
True?   Made up?


13) Do you read your horoscope?
Ye s   No
14) If yes do you believe they’re truthful?
Yes    No


15) Have you ever done a Ouija board?
Yes    No


16) If yes, did you make any contact with the dead?


17)  Do you believe in extra terrestrial’s?
Yes    No


18) Do you think houses can be haunted?
Yes      No


19) Do you believe the theory of Children and animals being able to spot the dead?
Yes   No

20) Do you believe in life after death?

Initial Plans

Initial Plans:  Once decided what topic to continue with we needed to write down our initial plans. We decided to base our documentary around the supernatural, and focus more in depth on psychic readings and fortune telling. This topic will be based around objective opinions about fortune telling/psychic readings, and how accurate they can actually be. Also it will involve interviews from people who have encountered supernatural experiences to make the documentary have more of a variety.

The target audience for our documentary is going to be 16+ because we feel people our age will mostly be interested in this topic, and we feel other ages on from 20+ can be quite interested, therefore our target audience is very broad and covers a range of ages. We have decided our programme will show at 9pm every Thursday night,we thought this was a very compromised time and we believe this is a appropriated time to show our documentary about the supernatural, as children under ages of 16 will most probably be asleep or not allowed to watch it, therefore this time can suit every ones availability. We choose it to be on a Thursday also because it was in the middle of the week, and if we choose it on a weekend night our target audience will most probably wont be at home watching tv, therefore Thursday nights should be fine, because they can relax after a busy week at work. We decided to show our documentary on channel 4 because it is a very common channel to hosts documentaries and we know people who are interested in documentaries will defiantly watch ours. Another reason why choosing channel 4 is because if people miss the show they can also watch it on 40d online, which is a good way to catch up on all the documentaries, especially if our target audience miss ours.

Brainstorming our ideas

Brainstorming:

When brainstorming for ideas of possible outcomes for docuemntries we decided to start off with things we found interesting, these topics also fitted the target audience of 16-20 as we had an idea of what people our age would be interested in. As you can see here is our detailed brainstorm of possible ideas to use for our documentaries.

GENRE ANALYSIS Lara Croft

Types of documentary

Themes:
Video/Virtual Games - Shows how games have so much planning and Lara croft was for entertainment purposes only, this is debated within the documentary.
Violence: Shows the violence within the video games, and how people can be influenced in with this
Representation of Women: Shows the opposite to how women have been represented and oposes the stereotype of women being the 'damson in ditress' not as Superior as the male sex. Also shows opinions to what women think.
Feminism: Opinions of other women, discussing that Lara Crofts character is Superior and the same stereotype of men but why does she have to wear little clothing. Debates is it for entertainment purposes...
Control and Puppeting: Relates to the debate about entertainment purposes only or the idea how men feel in control and they are in a virtual world where nothing can defeat them.

Narrative structure:  The narrative structure for this documentary is linear with a chronological storyline. It shows the history of Lara Croft, including how she was evolved and the way she has progressed through the media industry, and how she has been developed through time.

Camera work: The camera work in the interviews use
extreme close ups and close ups which helps us understand their facial expressions and there opinions of what they think of the discussion showing personal views and opinions. In all of the interviews the camera angles varied from close ups to extreme close ups and also used mid shots. I think this was used to how intense the topic they were talking about is and grabbing their attentions audience by the shots used, because it was very in our face.
During one of the interviews with the actress 'Angelina Joile' there are a lot of extreme close up shots involve, which can show in detail how she can be a match of Lara croft, Whether it is successfully or not.
Mise En Scene: In the Mise en scene for the interviews they had relevant backgrounds to what they where discussing. They showed clips of Lara Croft in action, and featured the game itself which gives us a better idea of the theme of violence in the game and what the game is about if the audience has not watched it before.

 Also the lighting in the interviews was blue and green, which also related well with he videos because it gives a setting of a jungle like atmosphere (which is one of the themes about the game)

Another mise en scene was the setting of all the male gender playing the game in a Internet cafe, with computers and headphones. This also demonstrates the  idea how the game is male populated and can show the male obsessive element about the game. The computers in the Internet cafe relate to how we play the game, and also the amount of people it shows playing the game shows us to the audience how popular it is.

Sound:  In the introduction of the documentary there was 'lara croft' themed music to help introduce the game, and if any of the audience knew what the theme tune was they could reconisge and get an idea of what the documentary will be about. It helps set the introductory to what they are discussing and it is very relevant to Lara croft. Also at the beginning there was sounds of Lara crofts voice to also introduce the game, this gives us an idea and a 'taste' of what the animated game would be about.

Other sounds involved where when the interviews were being held, there were sounds to go with the background video, for example gun shots, trees moving, bushes being chopped down, struggling and enthusiastic sounds of Lara crofts voice. These sounds obviously would be out of the game, which also helps our audience connect to what we are discussing.

Editing: There were lots of cutaways involved during the interviews, for example the people being interviewed would be the narrative discussing points, whilst the shots would cut to related images of the game, video material, relevant things they would be talking about. An example of this is where they were discussing how lara crfot has developed over time, to be more of an entertainment for men figure, they showed a small animation clip of Lara croft , the original from where she had transformed (breasts and bum had been enhanced).
Another cutaway involved was the shot of all the men on the computer in the Internet cafe, this was own footage captured, and whilst this was playing they were discussing over the narrative how it can become obsessive and how popular it is with men. This shot was sped up into fast motion/fast forward, it also looked like elliptical editing which still shows the time length meant to be created, however is cut down to a second or two. This was of editing was also just a stylish and creative way to help vary the camera work to make it look more interesting.

Another editing feature was one way to present the interviews, they selected an interview of the maker of Laracroft, and edited to put it inside a small animated laptop, so it slightly looked like he was on web cam. This could show he career, a computer game Creator (inside the computer) or it could give a stereotype to his job, for example a geek, smart, successful man.  By editing interviews and putting them with animations it can vary the way of presenting interviews so they are less boring and more interesting

Fading was used in the editing, to help visually show the transition from Lara croft to Angelina Jolie, this helped the audience understand the physical transition. This also shows from fantasy to realism and helps empathise the obsessive element.



Archive Material: The archive material in this documentary was video clips of the realised film, and opinions from Angelina Jolie (who plays lara croft in the film) from previous interviews. Other archive footage was images of newspapers and magazines that included headlines about Lara croft and her fame. By showing magazines and newspapers this shows the impact Lara Croft had on the media industry, and how she was turning from fantasy to realism.
There is also archive material of clips from fan pages, and chat rooms, which shows elements of obsession. This archive material would be used to show evidence backing up opinions from the interviews, and also showing evidence to show how Lara Croft has become and obsession.

Graphics: Graphics used in this documentary was mostly for the subtitles. The subtitles in this just introduced who they are and what they do, the text was plain white i think to stand out over the busy background of the interviews.

GENRE ANALYSIS Extrodinary People - The couple with 27 Children

Themes:
Adoption: Adopting the 23 children they have, from an early age out of unwanted homes
Care: Caring for them, and treating them as their own children
Disability: Helping them get through their disabilities so they can live a normal life
Family relationships: Relationships between the parents, and siblings and how they deal with family day life/activities
Law: The law of adopting so many children and how it could affect them

Narrative Structure: The narrative structure for this documentary is in chronological order, from why they adopted so many, the order they did and what problems/experiences came along with this

Camerawork:
In the camera work there was a lot of closeup shots, from the interviews. These were used to show the facial expressions clearing of members of the family being interviews, and by seeing a clear facial expression things can get more emotive especially because we concentrate on what they are saying, as it grabs our attention.
Crab right/left was used lots of times int he scenes, where they showed footage of the family doing daily life activities, and i think it just helped us get a brief overview of what it is like. This is a good camera shot to set the scene, because it clearly shows the scene from most angles. Example of when this was used, was when they were shopping as a family, also when they were playing in the back garden.

A low shot was used in the shopping centre, when the family walks past in a line. I think this shot exaggerates how many of them is because it is a still shot, we see them ALL walking. I also think this angle helps make them look powerful, and this can reflect and be seen as how powerful there family bond is and relate to family relationships.

Viewpoint angle is used when walking around the house, and in the back garden. I think with this angle it helps the audience interact and feel involved, and it can create an atmosphere  and maybe the audience could relate to how one of the family members feel, because the camera angle looks like its from your point of view. This can also help the audience feel emotive and really understand what the documentary is about and how the people feel.

A bird view shot is used to show the playground.back garden. This gives the audience a good view of how they children live as you can clearly see what goes on and the activities.

Handheld camera is also used, when following the family around in their daily jobs/activities,. Examples from the documentary is when they are in the shopping centre, and walking around the house. This camerawork could also help the audience again feel involved and because of the unsteady camera work, it can create a mood of rushed and how busy their family life is.

Mise En Scene:

IN the mise en scene the interviews are mostly taken inside the house/all around the house and also outside the house. This is a relevant background because it allows audiences see rooms they may not see in the documentary and they can get a feel of what the house is like, and how the family lives and every ones personality, depending on the room they are being interviewed in.

There is an establishing shots also of the presidents house, this is cut away over when they are discussing about the law and the government, which relates back to the theme well of law.

Sound
In the introduction to the documentary there is happy inspirational music which makes things seem more lighthearted and thinking about the positive sides to this documentary. It could also reflect well off the family's and especially parents personality, because it shows they are willing to do anything for their children, and they are always so happy and have a positive side to the  experiences they have to deal with in life.
When introducing the parents/mum and dad, it showed snapshots for when they were younger and at their wedding, the sound to this photos sounded like a camera snapshot sound which also puts a cheesy side onto the way things have bee presented. Also when these images were being showing 70's country music was being played in the background, this just helps the audience reconisge what time era the documentary was looking at.

In most of the clips, most of the ambient is the sound of the children playing and none of this has been cut out to make speech of the interviewees or scenes more clearer. I like the way they have done this because you can hear all the children playing and laughing in most scenes which also puts a positive aspect onto the family. I also think it helps create an atmosphere of busyness and demonstrates how the parents never stop and always have something to do, which shows how caring they are towards the children.

When the scene where they were looking back at terrible experiences in the family, especially when they focused on the death of one of their children sad,emotive music was introduced. This made things seem more serious and as an audience we feel sympathetic for the family, and it makes you think and appreciate how lucky your life can be. It also again shows the personality of the parents how devoted they are to their children and the effect the death had on the family, which looks at the theme of family relationships and we can see they were a very close family.

The narrator of this documentary is a women. She does use alot of rhetorical questions which are answered in most of the interviews. I think by using a women's voice she can be more emotive and this emotion can be reconisged in her voice, so the audience will respond to however the narrator wants us too.

Editing
In the editing techniques they fast forwarded the introduction, of when the family enter the garden one by one before they're picture is taken. This is used as a way similar to elliptical editing which still demonstrates the time length however is sped up in a few seconds. I think this technique works well with the music involved as it is happy, fast music which works well with it.
Another editing technique used was freeze frame when the ''picture'' in the scene was being taken it froze, and flashed, trying to show a picture has been taken in a technical more interesting element.

Archive Material
The archive material involved in this documentary was the family videos, examples of these were the wedding of the couple, the children growing up and everyday home videos.  This archive material mostly appeared when the family and children were being introduced. Also when they discuss about the history and past events that have happened in the family,  it shows snapshots of different images from the family.
An example of these past events is when showing a slow presentation of images from the sick son in hospital. I think by showing these images slowly it helps us get a feel of the pain the family was going through, because they fade into one another.

Graphics:
In the graphics the font was very similar to child like writing, like primary school font. Because the title is in this font, it introduces the audience to what the documentary is going to be about, this font always is again less serious and light hearted which creates a positive mood towards the documentary.

GENRE ANALYSIS The cultered Ape - Own Analysis

Themes:
Wildlife - Where apes live, how they live. General overview of the environment they live in
Evolution - Theory of how we are evolved from them
Human Behaviour - Relating human behaviour to ape behaviour, how they are similar

Narrative Structure:
In the narrative structure of this documentary it has a linear narrative. It discusses how we have discovered apes were similar to us, and the development of this, telling us the points and evidence in a chronological order.

Camera Work:
In some of the interviews the camera would zoom, from a long shot angle slowing zooming into a close up. I think this was used, to show what he was saying was important, and for it to capture the audiences attention, if they had zoned out or been uninterested in the rest of the interviews, because the point he was making was long and hadn't been interrupted with a cutaway or some form of editing.
There were also close ups in the interview's, particularly on the interviews, with the famous/ important people who made an impact in the apes discovery of human behaviour. I think this shows as an audience how passionate they were as we capture a full view of their facial expressions, making the point they are suggesting very emotive too.
In the footage of the apes, and showing them in their environment the camera work is mostly handheld. I think this is used to create a atmosphere of danger, and the unexpected because it makes it like the camera is more on edge and things are constantly happening.
Point of view shots are used in the handheld camera work, walking through the jungle. By using this point of view angle, it gets the audience involved and makes them feel like they are connected more, therefore they will feel more of the mood and therefore feel the way we want them too, in some cases in this documentary, emotive.

Mise En scene
In the mise en scene there is generally a lot of jungle themed things/places that we see.
In most of the interviews the experts being interviewed have some sort of plant or in a workshop full of plants in the background and i think this is a relevant background because it relates to nature the wildlife and reminds us of the apes environment that they live.
Another background for one of the interviews is in a library, or an scientists office/laboratory and i think this is also a relevant background. It also reassures the audience that the experts we are interviewing are professional and this can reflect off our audiences opinions in how they perceive the documentary, and if they believe in the narrators opinions.

Again in the mise en scene, there was a shot of an ape driving in a car with a human. I think this really reflects on what the documentary is talking about, the way in how apes have been humanised and how similar to us, that they show a scene of an ape doing human things like driving a car. In other clips if the mise en scene there are apes drinking tea which again reminds our audience in what the narrator is trying to suggest, visually showing how they can be similar to humans.

Sound
In the introduction of the documentary, there are phrases being cut away over the clips, from the interviews. These phrases give us as an audience what the documentary is going to be about. These clips that are shown again are similar to the on e of the apes being humanised for example the ape is painting, the girl in the interview that is cut over this clip, speaks how they're minds are very similar to humans and from this sentence and clip straight away we know what the documentary is going to be about.
The main sound throughout the clips, and mostly occurring in the interviews is an old, ancient delicate sound of an orchestra playing violin like music, this music stays very mellow throughout the interviews.

In the clips where it shows footage of the apes in their environment it uses the realistic ambient sounds being made at the time, for example the trees in the wind, the apes moving and living in there habitat. This helps set the scene making the clip have more verisimilitude.

When there are still images that fade into one another, there are sounds behind this, (realistic sounds) like the apes moving, plants rustling and birds. I think this is done to bring the image to life and make the audience a bit more involved, also helps the images look less repetitive and not as boring to our audience.

The narrator in this uses a lot of rhetorical questions. In this documentary we can clearly identify his purpose as he helps sum up the interviews very clearly, (there is a lot of professional expert language) so he makes it easier for us as the audience to understand. He also helps introduce and tell us the points in a chronological way.


Editing
There are lots of cut aways involved in the editing. Examples of this is where the narrator or people being interviewed are discussing about the chimps/apes and their behaviour, and it is cutaway to show old clips of them. Every cutaway involved is related to what they are discussing.

Another editing technique was used where they changed the way of how the interview was presented. For example there was an interview with the expert discussing the ape, and it was similar to a cutaway however you could see the ape and the person being interviewed on screen two as the screen was cut into half.

I think this was a really interesting way of presenting the interviews as you keep concentrated on both clips and don't really get uninterested in watching the long interview.


One cutaway for example, was when they were speaking about the apes eyes, and in the cutaway it would go to the apes eyes. I think the cutaways were most important in this documentary because there was a lot of expert discussions that could get repetitive for the audience, cutaways are an entertaining way to help give variety to the documentary.

Archive Material:
In the archive material it involved lots of old footage, showing how apes have similar human behaviour from similar tests and studies. This archive footage, because it is real it can reassure our audience that what the narrator is suggesting is objective, and can help persuade them more.
This footage also included news updates from previous ape news that happens, and because it is taken from the news, the news is something our audience can rely on so they will be more persuaded in what the documentary is suggesting.

Graphics:

In the graphics it involved text which presented us with quotes. These quotes appeared before every subsection of the documentary,or every time they were introducing a new top to discuss  An example of one of the quotes is 'Animals are more macklines... mans tends alone'' - Kane Descarles . This text appeared on a black background in white font in the middle of the page, these colours would definitely make the quote stand out to our audience from the contrasting of the colours.

The subtitles involved where used to introduce who the person was and where they were from. Again the subtitles were in a white text in a clear times new roman font this then stood for the audience to read clearer and understand who the person is more.

GENRE ANALYSIS Crystal Meth Analysis

Themes:
Drugs - Discussing crystal meth, how its progressed and become out of control to control
Crime - Illegally to sell/buy crystal meth
Peer pressure - How children can be pressured into taking it, how people are easily influence by it
Addiction - Addiction to the crystal meth, and how its hard to get out of the circle of relapse

Narrative structure: The narrative structure for this documentary is linear, in this it shows a time line of events of the evolution and development of crystal meth. This way our audience can easily understand the events through the journey of crystal meth, covering all the points that need to be made.

Camera work:
During the interviews they used close up shots, and extreme close ups of there faces whilst they was talking, this showed they're face and skin in great detail and it was obvious to us as an audience the effect Crystal meth has had on the users being interviewed because of the condition of their skin.
Pan up and pan down, was also used to show a full body view of the meth users showing the audience in full what the drug has done and how it has effected these people. From this camera work i think it is used to shock the audience because it is done in such great detail and isn't something you would usually expect.

The crab left and crab right was also used in the meeting held in the documentary, about crystal meth and its growing rate. This camera shot gives a full angle of the meeting and also because it happens very slow it can show some seriousness to it because it has no been edited or fast froward to make elliptical editing(which is what some documentaries might do).

Handled camera was also used when showing the abandoned/raided house of the meth dealers. By using a hand held camera, from a point of view angle it involves the audience and makes an atmosphere so you understand the bad conditions the people were living in. Also the handheld camera can make the camera work look rushed and because it isn't as steady it looks important so it grabs the audiences attention, for example like they have just raided the house in quickness and the audience is there to understand the importance.

By using long shots of people in the city, it shows how busy the city is and it shows how many people could be influenced. This shot also can make you wonder how many people are actually using meth, inbetween this busy city, and how they fade into the background which reflects on the high growing rate of dealing crystal meth. This long shot of the busy city could also relate to the growing rate of crystal meth, because the shot is fast forwarded a tiny bit so the people are rushing, it connects and can show how FAST the rate of growing crystal meth is.

Mise En scene
In the mise en scene there were interviews taking place in the police station as we could see policemen at work in the background, and criminals queueing up about to be interviewed, which shows lots of relevance to the theme of crime and how it relates to crystal meth.
Another scene from the mise en scene was the Indian work factory, and the workman in it. This allows us as an audience to know who was providing the sources to make crystal meth. There are a few establishing shots of the factory, and a lot of long shots of the workers at work within these scenes.
In the backgrounds of watching people get arrested, there were drug addicts sat on the side of the road hanging out with people who were smoking, and it tells us as an audience what those type of people are interested in and their addiction visually.
On the slides that faded into on another, there were alot of meth related equipment and meth itself constantly reminding us as an audience and giving us a wider view of all the elements involved.

Sound:
In the introduction of the documentary, it opens with the sounds of the narrator calling Meth different slang/drug names. As an audience from this we can gather in the first two seconds an idea of what the documentary is going to be about. With this there is upbeat music, to make it lighthearted and seem not as serious because the whole of the documentary does have a serious tone too it, this maybe makes it seem more casual, also this could empathises the rate in use of how many people use it;people just use it casually.

Also in the sounds of where they arrest people, there are sirens which also helps create the atmosphere, creating verisimilitude.

The narrator in this is a voice over, who's helps ties the pieces of the documentary together, and makes things clearer for the audience, for example when they show the images of people who have been taking crystal meth and people who haven't, we can tell clearly by the narrator explaining this. The narrator also explains the statics in the rate of growing meth, how many people using it and the outcomes/consequences. An example of this is when it explains that '50% of children are in foster homes from meth'
There is also alot of question and answer, within the interviews which also builds a narration as well as the narrator. For example the narrator would ask questions and alot of opinions and fact would be told from different interviews all cut into each other, also the questions would be asked by people being interviewed too so it makes it more interesting and various the way you could present interviews.

Other music involved was country music, when it was introducing the scene of the people in the county/town that they were discussing it helped put another view on things, because again it was very lighthearted.

In the documentary when they were introducing that man who was famous for attempting to make a different in the drug world, quiet intense music was in the background. This makes more impact in when he is introduced because he made a difference in the drug world, it makes it stand out from all the other music. Also a comic element was brought into this, because it also went into the country music, and by what he was wearing, suit and hat it gave him the stereotype of a cowboy/gangster. However these stereotypes did make us as an audience audience how important he was and the impact, because these stereotypes make an impact too, also this stick in our mind more of who he is and what he did.

Editing
Cutaways involved where from the interviews over a remake of an arrest, where the people being interviewed would narrate over the cutaway of the remake arrest. By using the people being interviewed we get a variety of voices and opinions about crystal meth, and also the interviews express the emotions well of people using crystal meth and how they feel/felt at the time. This can make the audience understand and relate to how people can feel using crystal meth, it also helps show the impact that it can do and how it can effect peoples lives and the audience can feel respect and sympathise with their honesty.
In the cut a ways images where also used, that faded into one another, with again narration of the narrator/person being interviewed.
The transaction of these images used a fading technique in the editing part/
Other cutaways was where they were talking about statistics and crystal meth, and there were graphics to visually show us pie charts, and graphs with the narrator explaining, helping us as an audience visually see to understand the impact more clearer.

Archive Material:

Graphics:
For the graphics subtitles where use to introduce who the person is and what they do, so the audience can understand what they are discussing. At the corner of the subtitle it had the icon for 'frontline' which is the logo for who made the documentary.

Other graphics used were pictures of graphs and bar charts to show statistical factual date to make it clearer to the audience.