my questionnaire analysis for short films.

1. QUESTIONNAIRE OF
S HORT FILMS .
By Harry Beaumont

2. WHAT I DID AND WHY?
I had gathered primary research by asking 20 participants to answer a
questionnaire surrounding short films. My questionnaire had consisted of a total
of 8 questions, which were either open end questions or closed questions. This
enabled me to gather detailed and specific data, of what the expectations of my
target audience are; in order for my product to be appealing and entertaining to my
audience, therefore making my product successful.
The reason I carried out my primary research as a questionnaire is because
questionnaires are brilliant at generalising and gathering enough information for me to
make a clear understanding of who my target audience is. The questionnaire is to help
me understand what expectations my target audience are for short films and what
aspects they use to draw them in, in order for me to make my film successful in
targeting the right audience.

3. WHO I ASKED AND WHY I
ASKED THEM?
After carrying out secondary research I had found out that the conventional target
audience for short films are mostly Film producers/directors, film critics and then
a small percentage of the public. But as a result of me not knowing a lot of people
in the film industry and film critics; I had decided to aim my questionnaire at
media teachers and media students, who are most likely to have different opinions
on short films but as well as having the same infatuation of short films. Therefore
this had given me a broader result of different opinions to take into consideration
when making my product. I had targeted my questionnaire at both genders as
short films could be targeted at either male or female.
The reason for asking these participants is because if I am unaware of who I am
targeting my film at then, I will not able to create a film which interests and
entertains the audience making my film unsuccessful.

4. QU E S T I O N N A I R E I A S K E D
1) What gender are you? (please circle one)
Male Female
2) How old are you? (please circle one)
Under 12 12-14 15-17 18-20 21- 25 over 25
3) Have you ever watched a short film? (please circle one)
Yes No
If yes what was the name of the short film?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
4) Do you watch short films on a regular basis? (please circle one)
Yes No
If no, why not?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5)What was it about this film that made it your favourite?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6) How do you access short films?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
7) What type of genre do you like short films or feature films to be? (please circle one)
Thriller Action Romance Si-Fi Horror other
If other, what?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8)What is it about this genre that interests you so much?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. M Y F I N D I N G S – T H E D I F F E R E N T AG E D
PA R T I C I PA N T T H A T S A I D Y E S T O
WA T C H I N G S H O R T F I L M S .
Out of the 20
participants I asked 18
of them had said yes to
watching short films.
This cart shows that
the more older
generation prefer
watching short films,
telling that my product
needs to be challenging
and more appropriate
for the older
generation.

6. MY FINDINGS - WHAT IS THE NAME OF
T H E S H O R T F I L M Y O U WA T C H E D O R Y O U R
F AV O U R I T E S H O R T F I L M .
With this questions being open question, this gave the participants the
freedom to chose any short film they have watched, and therefore giving
me multiple answers. Even though giving them a chose of any short film a
majority had chosen the same short film. 5 participants had said that their
favourite short film was ‘Strangers’ and 7 participant had said the short
film ‘Black Button’. This question has enabled me to gather many
examples of short films that my target audience have grown fond of,
therefore allowing me to analysise these short films, and discover what it is
about them that appeals to my target audience, allowing me to apply the
same technique in order to appeal and build up my audience expectations.

7. Out of 20
participants 7 had
said that they don’t
watch short films
on a daily basis but
13 had said they
do, telling me that
short films are
successful due to
the result of my
questionnaire.

8. M Y F I N D I N G S - H OW D O YO U
AC C E S S F I L M ?
Majority of the participants I had asked, had said that
they access films via YouTube and Vimeo. Which
shows that in order to reach my target audience I will
have to distribute on short films via the same websites
in order to make sure that my product is being seen by
the right audience.

9. MY FINDINGS – WHAT T Y P E
O F G E N R E D O YO U P R E F E R ?
Due to the fact that only 18
of my participants had said
as to watching short films,
only those 18 could answer
this question. As you can see
the majority had said that
they prefer short films to
have the genre Thriller and
Romance, telling me that in
order to make my product
successful I should produce
a short film with the genre
Thriller and Romance, in
order to gather a wider
audience.

10. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS MY FINDINGS -
G E N R E T H AT I N T E R E S T S YO U S O M U C H ?
7 of the participants had said that they prefer the genre thriller,
majority of them said that they prefer it due to the way it builds up
tension as well as their expectations and ending in the result of giving
them a thrill. Also this helps convey the moral message as it plays on
their emotions and makes them step back and think about the moral
message.
7 of the participants had said that they prefer the genre Romance, as
short films convey love and emotions through unique ways which
could not be conveyed the same way as a feature film. They said that it
was conveyed through things like camera shots, special effects and the
narrative structure .

11. HOW MY FINDINGS HAVE
INFLUENCED MY SHORT FILM?
From my findings I have found out that when coming to produce my short film I am
going to have to take into consideration that I have to reach expectations of both
females and males. Who are aged between 15 and over, due to the fact that the
participants raging from 15 to over 25 had said that they enjoy watching short films.
This also matches my secondary research as by the conventional target audience being
film critics and film producers/directors, who would be in the same age bracket as my
decided target audience, therefore making sure that my product is being targeted at the
right type of audience.
I have found that the most popular genres are thrillers and romance, enabling me add
these aspects, codes and conventions within my short film. Overall this questionnaire
has enabled to discover who my target audience is, what is the preferred genre and
how I can build up their expectations in order for my product to become successful.
But due to the moral message I want to convey I feel that the genre of crime will work
effectively within my product which will help to insure that my product is successful in
conveying the right message.

12. EVALUATION.
If I were to carry out my primary research again I feel that I should of added more questions
to give me a more broad suggestions to add within my short film. I would also make my
question more detailed and collect a more wider range of data, as I had found that most of
my data collected was generalised than specific and this was due to the questions I asked. I
would also add more questions based around character and setting in order to find out what
the audience expectations on character and settings are, as these are the aspects of a film that
draws the audience in and keeps them watching. I would have also chosen a more wide range
of participants to give me a more wide range of data as I had found that most participants I
asked were mostly male, which could effect the content I put within my product, males and
females have different expectations. Overall I feel my primary research was successful as it
has given me ideas of what to include in my product to reach the expectations of my target
audience.