(36) Ancillary Task 1 // Audience Research

-
Audience Research: Magazines
I conducted research video in which I asked a select group of people questions regarding their consumption of magazines and what they expect from them. The findings of my research will help me understand what the public want from a film magazine which will allow me to apply this to the construction of my own magazine double spread during my ancillary task.

I asked the following questions:
  1. Are there any particular film magazines that you read or have ever read? If so, which ones.
  2. Have you ever read film reviews in non-specialist magazines (such as HEAT, Glamour, cosmopolitan, Grazia etc)?
  3. Do you ever read IMDB.com (The Internet Movie Database) for critics reviews?
  4. Do you ever read IMDB.com for user submitted reviews?
  5. In your opinion, which is more likely to affect your chances of seeing a film; a critics review, or a friends? Why?
  6. How important is a positive review in deciding whether to see a film or not?
  7. Which magazines do you regularly read (Any magazines, not just film ones)? Why?
In terms of the magazine itself...
  1. What would you expect to see contained in the layout of a double page spread for a film review?
  2. How important is the use and choice of image(s) in this?
  3. Do you like the idea of a star rating?
  4. Is the choice of font and text colour important?
  5. Is the choice of background colour important?
  6. Should the page number, month, issue, website, social media appear?
I also asked my participants to compare three separate magazine: 'Little White Lies', 'Empire' and 'Total Film'.


What Were Your Findings?
It's important to consider the reliability of my results. Firstly, I only asked a select group of people. This means that my sample size isn't representative of a large scale. Secondly, most of my sample were of a similar age and gender, this means that it is not representative of all kinds of people. Similarly, it's not representative of the entire public's opinions because all of my interviewees were from a similar region and of a similar class. However, I still have gathered a conclusion from my research.
  1. Nobody regularly reads film magazines.
  2. Most of the participants have read a film review at least once in a magazine at some point.
  3. Most of the participants use IMDB.com to look at both critics and user submitted reviews.
  4. Most people are swayed by their friends' opinions rather than a critic's when it comes to potentially watching a film. 
  5. Most people agreed that critic's opinions don't really matter to them because they watch films for entertainment value as opposed to the artistic side of film. 
  6. All of the participants don't read magazines regularly, however, some suggested that they used to. 
In terms of the magazine itself...
  1. Most people expected to see images of the film, information and a review. 
  2. Most of the participants agreed that images should be relevant to the film and give a good representation of it. A lot of them suggested the use of screenshots and posters. 
  3. Most of the participants agreed that font and colour play an important role in representing the film and making it stand out to a reader.
  4. Everybody agreed that they like the idea of a star rating.
  5. People agreed that the background colour is important, however, not the most important aspect of the review. 
  6. Most of the participants agreed that the page number is important in navigating the magazine and that the social media is important in promoting the film. 
Comparison: 
  • EMPIRE: Most of the participants agreed that EMPIRE MAGAZINE seemed to be very male oriented. They said that it seemed professional but only focused on blockbuster films. 
  • TOTAL FILM: Most of the participants mentioned the objectification of women throughout the magazine and agreed that it is sexist. A lot of them agreed that it was very bright, in your face and some suggested it was tacky. They suggested it only focused on blockbuster films. 
  • LITTLE WHITE LIES: Everybody agreed that LITTLE WHITE LIES magazine seemed more artistic and specialised in both blockbusters and indie films. They agreed that the texture and layout was nicer and that it seemed more high brow. Most of the participants also agreed that it was more of a specialist magazine in that it focused on film as an art rather than a commodity. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Film Endings & Cyclical Structures

-
Image
The Importance of Endings Most films have a beginning, middle and end. Beginnings set things up and hook the audience, so, justifiably, people stress the importance of them. Endings are often overlooked when talking about the importance of structure, however, a bad ending never fails to ruin an entire film for the viewer. Weak beginnings can be forgiven if the rest of the film is strong, however, a weak ending makes the film fall flat. Endings are what the audience walk away from thinking about - it's the last note the film leaves for them. With this in mind, many directors and writers want to create an impactful ending that leaves the viewer thinking and/or feeling something. The intertextual 'x' at the end of 'Logan', the cruel, unsatisfactory yet bittersweet glance at the end of La La Land, the contrapuntal music paired with nuclear explosions in 'Dr Strangelove' or even just the smile in 'Birdman'. These are all impactful endings that do just ...
Read more

(53) Evaluation Q.1

-
Image
In What Ways Does Your Short Film Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Existing Media Products? Forms, codes and conventions are important to consider and understand when constructing a film, particularly an amateur one. Firstly, there is a reason as to why they are conventional in the first place: they confer a sense of familiarity on the audience. This familiarity is important to help the audience understand something. They can work as short-cuts; by employing something the audience already understands it allows you to build on them to create your own original work. For example, take genre conventions. If you're creating a sci-fi film, you will likely include settings and props etc. that are easily identifiable to the sci-fi genre, such as space or aliens etc. This immediately allows the audience to identify the film as a sci-fi film, therefore, they're almost immediately familiar with the landscape on which your film is set (eg. alien or far away). This means ...
Read more

(7) Lip-Syncing

-
Image
To Lip-Sync or Not To Lip-Sync? That is the Question.  What is Lip-Syncing?  Lip-syncing is a technique commonly used in music videos in which a person featured in the music video moves their lips in time with the vocals of the song. Often, the people lip-syncing are usually the artist/performer of the song, however, occasionally, dancers or characters within the narrative can lip-sync with the vocals too. Lip-syncing is often used to separate narrative sequences from performance sequences, as the fictional characters that appear in the narrative tend not to lip sync. How Effective is Lip-Syncing? Lip syncing can be a very effective technique to separate music videos from short films by adding an element of performance that directly references and reflects on the song, rather than distracting away from the song with an irrelevant video. Furthermore, it creates a sense of professionalism as lip-syncing is a conventional practice seen in commercial music videos. It also he...
Read more