questionnaire

Questionnaire on crime drama genre

1. Please circle your gender

 

Male

Female

 

2. Please circle your age range

 0 – 16
 17 – 21
 22 – 30
 31 – 45
 45 +

3. How often do you go to see a film at the cinema ?

 Once a week
 Once a month
 Once every two months
 Once every six months
 Never
 Other

4. What is your preferred genre?

(You may choose more than one)

 

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Crime

Fantasy

Gangster

Horror

Romance

Science Fiction

Thriller

 

5. What form of advertising would encourage you to go to watch a crime drama?

( You may choose more than one )

 

Billboard posters

Internet advertising

Television advertising

Magazine articles

 

 

6. What conventions of crime drama do you prefer?

( You may choose more than one )

 

Multiple suspects

Professionals solving the crime eg. police officers

The crime itself

Exploring the crime scene

Evaluating the evidence

 

7. Do you prefer the police officer in charge / private detective to be

Male 

 

Female

 

8. Do you prefer the villain to be

Male

Female

9. Do you prefer

To have the crime as the opening scene

 

To be introduced to the characters before seeing the crime

  

 

 

Analysis of questionnaire

I gave this questionnaire to 40 people.

I chose a representative cross section in order to get a fair sample.

 

 

 Question 1

 I gave the survey to 20 male and 20 females.

 Question 2

 

I took a representative sample of age ranges

0 – 16     4 people

17 – 21   22 people

22 – 30   6 people

31 – 45   7 people

45 +         1 person

 

 

 The majority of those questioned are of a similar age to me.

 

 

Question 3

 

 

To the question - how often do you go to the cinema -  I received the following answers :

Once a week                       1

Once a month                     16

Once every two months    10   

Once every six months       5

Never                                     5

Other                                     3

 

 

 The people who ticked other all said that they went very infrequently, maybe with several years’ gaps. One said that they only went on a special occasion such as a birthday, and another said that they only went if a particular film really caught their attention.

 The majority of the people who went regularly were from the age categories 17 – 21 and 22 – 30. These people have a reasonable amount of money as they are earning and can afford the entrance fees. Also they do not have as many commitments due to family ties so have more spare time.

 

Question 4

The answers to the question on preferred genre threw up an assortment of answers as this is a matter of individual choice. Some people circled more than one option.

 

 Action               18

 Adventure        16

 Comedy             9

 Crime                 11

 Fantasy               3

 Gangster            10

 Horror                 5

 Romance            1

 Science fiction   8

 Thriller                4

 

 

 Only 1 person chose romance . This was a female and I feel stereotypical.

 Action films were the most popular choice, and people who identified these also liked adventure movies and in some cases gangster movies. These tended to be males of the 17 – 21 and 22 – 30 age range.

 The score for Fantasy films was surprisingly low, and all these came from the 0 – 16 age range.

 Science fiction was enjoyed again mainly by the younger age brackets.

 All the people who enjoyed crime drama came from the age ranges from 17 onwards.

Question 5

The answers to the advertising question again reflected the age of the people.

Billboard posters    15

Internet                    21

Television                26 

Magazine                 10

Internet advertising appealed to age ranges of 17 – 30, reflecting the use of the internet by this age range. Television advertising appealed to all age ranges, but in particular the older age ranges. Magazine advertising was mainly appealing to 17 – 21 age range as they would be the target audience for magazines where films would be advertised.

 

 Question 6

 The answers to the question on conventions of crime drama was interesting.

 Multiple suspects                                                              32

 Professionals solving the crime eg. police officers      16

 The crime itself                                                                   5

 Exploring the crime scene                                                 11

 Evaluating the evidence                                                     21

 

 

 The results show that people watching a crime drama enjoy being introduced to the characters and analysing the evidence in order to try to solve the mystery for themselves. They want to become intrinsically involved in the plot. Very few were watching for the crime itself.

 Question 7

 

Do you prefer the police officer in charge / private detective to be

Male      34

Female  16

 

 

 Stereotypically we think of police officers and detectives as men and the majority of those questioned preferred this to be maintained.

 All of those who preferred a woman police officer were females.

 

 

 

 

 Question 8

 Do you prefer the villain to be

  

 Male       35

 Female    5

 

 

 The vast majority preferred the villain to be a man. This fits in with the stereotypical image of females being kind and gentle, not capable of a crime.

  

 Question 9

Do you prefer

 

To have the crime as the opening scene      29

To be introduced to the characters before seeing the crime   11

 

The majority preferred to be introduced to the crime immediately and then meet the suspects. I think that this is so they can begin to analyse

 

the characters immediately, knowing what has happened.


The target audience for my crime/drama film is males from the ages of 18 to 30. Even though I believe that my film would appeal to most people, I have chosen to use 18 to 30 year olds as my main target audience. My target audience would not be below 18 as I will explore some intense themes in my film. I have chosen to target older teenagers and adults in social classes B+A. This would mean they are in the high end of their careers e.g. lawyers. This would mean they are extremely intelligent and would be able to follow all the complex themes and story plots that will be created in my film. They would understand the plot of the crime/drama. My target audience enjoys going out with friends to the cinema to watch films. They are very sociable. They would have an outgoing personality and are very interested in law and the legal side to crimes.


This will aid me in producing a film opening as it has given me insight into the mind of my target audience and what they expect from this genre of film. I will have to ensure that my film opening contains all the key signifiers that this audience will expect in order to entice them into the film.

Look at other genres to see how generic conventions are shown in film openings.

Most films openings use certain conventions regardless of their genre.

• Studio production logo
• Establishing shots
• Titles
• Theme
• Introduce characters
• Narration
• Action
• Non-diegetic music
• Enigma

Most film openings start with the logo of the production company. This acts as an advertisement for the company and is often adapted for the specific film.

Establishing shots often set the scene for the film.

Titles are the opening credits which give a list of the important members of the production crew, the title of the movie and the cast. They can also give information about the topic and theme of the film. They are often displayed in a similar order within every film.

The theme of the opening scene will extend into the film itself. It leads the audience into the film. For example in Love Actually the theme of love is shown immediately in the airport with people hugging.

Main characters are introduced in the opening scene. This shows their importance in the film and gives the audience the chance to get to know a little bit about them.

The narration sets the scene and lets the audience know what is going on in the film. The narration can be spoken or written.

Through action, a little bit of the story is given in the opening scene.

Many opening scenes use non-diegetic music and the type of music will depend on the genre of the film. Certain sounds can be associated with certain genres, for example gun fire associated with war films. Diegetic music can also be included.

Enigma involves the raising of questions which makes the audience think about what is going to happen in the play. It could be questions about the characters, the setting or the action.

Different genres all have different conventions to set the mood of the film and help the audience understand the film. 

Horror

The sound in horror films is used to scare and give an atmosphere of fear. The soundtrack will have an uneasy feeling, and there may be screams and bangs in the scene. The pace of the music tends to increase as the tension rises. Titles are often portrayed as red on black connoting blood. The lighting is often dark, sometimes at night, sometimes in dark unlit areas such as woods, dark streets, churches or haunted houses. Props often include guns, knives and maybe torches.

 

Romantic Comedy

The rom-com often features a couple and aims to give a perfect picture of love. Often there is the idea that the two people need to overcome an obstacle if they are to live happily ever after, They are often shown as normal people going about their everyday lives. The non-diegetic music usually consists of modern, upbeat love songs. The symbol of a rose is common. The titles are usually quite plain as it is the characters that are important. The lighting is bright giving a lively, happy atmosphere.

 

Action

The music used in action genre is often tense orchestral music. This adds tension and captures an audience’s attention. It rises and falls, building in peaks to add tension. There is a goodie and a baddie who fight to overcome each other. It is often set in a city, full of hustle and bustle, and often involves car chases through crowded streets. There is often a female character who might be in trouble and adds romantic interest. Long shots are used to create atmosphere. Titles are often plain.

 

Thriller

There is often a use of montage in thriller genre to create enigma and suspense.  Non-diegetic sounds often include screams, moans to connote death and mystery. There is often an intense thudding beat to music. Masks can be used to hide faces and give anonymity.

Saving Private Ryan

Genre

Saving Private Ryan is an American epic war film set during the Normandy D Day landings of World War II.

Narrative

The narrative in the scene comes from the characters. We feel we are in the scene. There is the normal interaction of the family and the commands issued by the officer.

Character

The old man in the cemetery is immediately seen to be a key character in the film. As he walks into the cemetery he is seen to be anxious and distressed and swallowing hard. Concern is showing on the faces of his family as they approach the graves. The man is unaware of everything around him. He almost collapses and is beside himself with grief. His family try to comfort and support him. As he kneels at the grave we know there is a history between him and the dead man.

There is a close up shot of the man and we see right into his eyes and this takes us to the pain of the war.

In the scenes in the boat and on the beach, one man is singled out. Initially there are close up shots of his shaking hand showing his great fear. When giving orders he is clear and confident, showing attributes of a good leader. There are close up shots of his face. We see right into his eyes and we feel how dazed and confused he is.

Atmosphere

The opening atmosphere in the cemetery is quiet and peaceful, but we soon realise by looking at the character of the man that all is not well and we have a sense of dread from his face.

When the scene switches to the boat the atmosphere shows fear and a sense of dread – these are real people in an horrific situation and they are scared.

As soon as the gunfire begins the atmosphere is of horror and chaos. It is noisy and out of control. No one knows what is happening.

This chaos is contrasted by the eerie silence under the water.

Themes

We are immediately aware that this is going to be a war drama and we feel it will centre around the horror of war and the human loss.

There is going to be a real exploration of how war affects the people involved in it.

Setting

The film opens with an establishing shot of a World War II cemetery. A family group is walking up a long entrance road to the cemetery. It shows normality in this shot which will contrast strongly to the chaos of the war scenes.  An old man is walking unsteadily ahead of the rest of the family. This immediately raises the question as to who he is and why he is in the cemetery.

There is a shot of both the French and American flags which links the character to the Allied forces.

There are rows and rows of stark white gravestones. We get the sense of the enormous number of casualties. The gravestones appear to be endless.

The scene switches sharply to show the D Day landings on a Normandy beach. The landing craft are approaching the beach and there is an initial high angle shot to show all the landing craft. The shots then change to come from inside the hold of the boat and we feel we are in the boat with the soldiers. We see the shoreline and an overcast sky giving a sense of dread. The beach is strewn with man -made obstacles. We also see a concrete bunker and there is the feeling that this will play an ominous part very soon. There is a real sense that this landing will never be successful.

Once the order is given the scene changes to total chaos. The soldiers try to run up the beach but they are faced with blasts of gunfire coming from the Germans in the tower. The Germans are firing from a high angle shot which shows their supremacy. The Germans have the advantage and real power here. The scenes that follow show chaos, and are full of noise, mud, water, blood and death. The audience are thrust immediately into the horrors of war. There are horrific scenes of soldiers being shot down. There is one horrific shot of a soldier whose arm has been blown off. He is dazed and stops to pick it up in a trance.

Some scenes take place under the water. Above the water there is noise and chaos. Under the water there is an eerie quiet. The soldiers struggle to get off their equipment before they drown.

Sound

The sound of the opening changes with the scenes.

As the boats approach the beach there is the peaceful sound of the surf lapping the shore. As the moment of landing approaches, the ambient sounds gradually increase and we are aware of the noise of the diesel engines. The volume continues to increase.

 We hear the sounds of the bullets and the din of battle. Underwater the sounds become strange and muffled, much quieter.

We see how the main character’s mind tries to block out these sounds as he tries to understand.
Throughout the beach scene there is no non-diegetic music, this creates a very realistic atmosphere and immediately throws the audience into the world of D-Day

Titles

The titles are in stark white letters similar to the gravestones.

June 6 1944 sets the date in history.

Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach D Day World War II shows us the place and the conflict. They are clear and direct. 
 
 

Research into different genres and audiences

Research on audience and genre

Different genres attract audiences of very different types.

Age, sex, background, class and interests would all play an important part in dictating the type of genre a person would choose to watch.

My film is a crime drama and I will investigate the conventions of a crime drama and how these appeal to the audience.

Conventions

• Involve aspects of law enforcement – police/ detectives / psychologists / lawyers
• Involve a resolution to a mystery
• There is a question of morality
• Debates about guilt and innocence
• Often include ordinary people in everyday environments
• Teamwork to solve crime
• Struggles with bureaucracy

These aspects will appeal to different sectors of society for different reasons as different audiences will have different appeals.

The certificate of a crime drama is usually 15 or above, so that is where the target audience can range from. The audience is usually a mature audience because of the content and possibly the language.

If the crime drama centres around teenagers this would be more likely to appeal to a younger audience.

Both sexes enjoy crime dramas as there is not usually and sexist stereotypes to which only one sex will be favoured (typically the males are favoured and the females are subservient).

Men stereotypically enjoy the crime/ mystery element as this evokes masculinity. Murder and crime is often seen as involving men. Men are attracted by the action and pace of the drama.  They enjoy the sense of power. Often there are females in the plots which also encourages male interest. This incorporates the male gaze theory where the camera is the male's eyes.

Females also enjoy crime dramas. They enjoy the unravelling of the mystery and enjoy trying to solve the plot. They want knowledge and understanding. Often women are portrayed in a very positive light in crime dramas. They may be a detective or forensic scientist and females may watch the film as they aspire to be like them.

People may watch a crime drama as a form of escapism from their normal everyday lives. This would apply across the sexes and across age ranges.

People involved in real life roles in law or in the police may watch as they are interested in the topic.