30/10/17

Blog is looking flash just a few improvements to make;

Audience - Make clear questions asked in survey, and results. More examples of dark comedy audiences, add conclusions - how does this feedback influence me? DONE 

Genre - Explore the key players within dark comedy; Chris Morris, further development on League of Gentlemen. DONE

To come - Feedback on the Screenplay.

Pitch

The pitch went well. Unfortunately my media teacher didn't turn the microphone on, (a necessary procedure within filming), so no sound was not recorded. I received little feedback, people were generally supportive of the idea. 

The synopsis is difficult to explain, as a result I vaguely suggested the plot. In reality I'm still in the process of writing the screenplay so I'm not entirely sure what the synopsis is myself. 

Below are the slides within my presentation, its very simplistic because I wanted people to focus on what I said - not read ahead from a screen, I also wanted people to get a feel for the aesthetics of the video. 

Audience

Below I will gather information on the audiences of other dark comedies, through YouGov.

YouGov profiles are flawed in that they merely represent users of the site, so results are not generalisable to the wider public. For instance, I don't know anyone under the age of 20 that's filled in one of their surveys, so the averaged profile will not accurately represent the real audience.

The League of Gentlemen is far darker and grotesque than my film will be, but as a dark comedy is targeted towards the same audience.

According to YouGov the predominant audience of Four Lions is as follows.


The predominant audience of Fargo (film) is as follows.



Fans of Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton's and Chris Morris are below.


Profiles from YouGov suggest the predominant audience of dark comedy is middle aged men. This is useful in relation to my film, as the majority of the cast are middle aged males.

My Research 

I conducted some research using google surveys. Here is how the survey appeared to participants. Responses in a spreadsheet format. I received a decent response of 42, variously aged and gendrerd.





First I established which participants might be fans of the genre (important if to draw conclusions on the wants/expectations of the audience).





In conjunction with YouGov, I found those most likely to watch dark comedy are generally left wing. These were the raw responses;



In relation to my film, the audience may want to see a sympathetic portrayal of the homeless. They might relate with an underlying dissatisfaction with authority/government, particularly as a cause for the issues presented in the film. For example;




I also asked what the audience What would attract you to a dark comedy? - this is interesting, because the film should appeal to a dark comedy audience, but have an element of surprise, in that it doesn't follow a predictable story line. Responses are below;





"Plot twists", "gore" and dark, morbid, humour are reoccurring elements. In relation to Ratchet I will now add more gruesome elements, this adds complication, and perhaps the need for special effects. Gore can however be suggested without revealing much - sound/foley can be very effective at creating uncomfortable, gruesome moments. For example, the cracking of a skull in this elevator scene from Drive.

In summary, the target audience for my film;

Primary target audience  

• Left wing
• 30 - 50
• Predominantly male

Secondary target audience  

• Central outlook
• 16 - 24
• Both genders

I will consider the results of audience research because I want people to enjoy it, but realistically, I don't need to adapt my film for an audience, because I'm not trying to make a profit; I don't need to sell it, so it doesn't need to appeal to a wide audience.