Introduction.
When commencing any production many aspects need to be considered and one of these key factors is that of research. Research it covers many aspects of a productions ‘to do list’ from information required for areas of filming, from logistics of a film which can include the basics, is there a market/audience wanting this type of production. Research can be conducted in two ways. One being primary and the other being secondary, and these can be either qualitative or quantitative. It is a process that can take many different forms and each of these forms can indicate to a producer if a production is going to be a success.
Research can cover a variety of areas from demographic, SOC and geographic. These three areas can determine a large portion of what a production will produce. Based off of the demographic, SOC and geographical location can alter who will come and see a movie or watch a TV programme. For example research from 2013’s 12 years a Slave would have told the producers the film would more like be watched by African-Americans who would identify more closely with the premise of the story.
Research can cover a variety of areas from demographic, SOC and geographic. These three areas can determine a large portion of what a production will produce. Based off of the demographic, SOC and geographical location can alter who will come and see a movie or watch a TV programme. For example research from 2013’s 12 years a Slave would have told the producers the film would more like be watched by African-Americans who would identify more closely with the premise of the story.
Types of Research.
Research is broken in to two formats. One being primary and the other being secondary. Primary research is original research that is undertaken to find out new information. Secondary research is where information has been gathered from books, magazines and archive material (Baylis & Procter. 2010).
To the right, the table illustrates how the two types of research are conducted and the major differences between them. As you can see primary involves all the data being collected by those intending to research, where secondary is relying on data already gathered by others. Primary research has a major pros is it is first hand and current. Secondary research can have several downfalls. One major one is the year a piece of data was collected. Simply looking at employment rates of male to female ratio from the 80s would not reflect accurately the statistics of the 2010s.
To the right, the table illustrates how the two types of research are conducted and the major differences between them. As you can see primary involves all the data being collected by those intending to research, where secondary is relying on data already gathered by others. Primary research has a major pros is it is first hand and current. Secondary research can have several downfalls. One major one is the year a piece of data was collected. Simply looking at employment rates of male to female ratio from the 80s would not reflect accurately the statistics of the 2010s.
When working on primary research there are two primary forms, quantitative and qualitative. The difference between the two is simply down to quantitative being measurable where qualitative is based more on opinions, views and preferences (Baylis & Procter. 2010). These two methods can be used in a variety of forms to help gather information on audiences, finances and competition. Depending on what you wanted to find out would depend on which you would use. So for purposes of a film’s success is shown in the box office takings which is quantitative data and reviews which would be qualitative.
To the right, the table illustrates how the two types of research are conducted and the major differences between them. As you can see primary involves all the data being collected by those intending to research, where secondary is relying on data already gathered by others. Primary research has a major pros is it is first hand and current. Secondary research can have several downfalls. One major one is the year a piece of data was collected. Simply looking at employment rates of male to female ratio from the 80s would not reflect accurately the statistics of the 2010s.
To the right, the table illustrates how the two types of research are conducted and the major differences between them. As you can see primary involves all the data being collected by those intending to research, where secondary is relying on data already gathered by others. Primary research has a major pros is it is first hand and current. Secondary research can have several downfalls. One major one is the year a piece of data was collected. Simply looking at employment rates of male to female ratio from the 80s would not reflect accurately the statistics of the 2010s.
When working on primary research there are two primary forms, quantitative and qualitative. The difference between the two is simply down to quantitative being measurable where qualitative is based more on opinions, views and preferences (Baylis & Procter. 2010). These two methods can be used in a variety of forms to help gather information on audiences, finances and competition. Depending on what you wanted to find out would depend on which you would use. So for purposes of a film’s success is shown in the box office takings which is quantitative data and reviews which would be qualitative.
Types of Quantitive and Qualitative Research in TV and Film.
Research and the Industry.
Audience.
The audience is a crucial factor of pre-production research. Without doing the appropriate research you will not know who your production is aimed at. This can be a complex question as an audience can be broken into many different pieces. Age, social class, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality and geodemographic can call impact on who will go to see a movie or TV programme.
Age
A key factor as it will determine the people who can see a movie. For example in the United Kingdom all film shown in the cinema and available on DVD/Blu-Ray are given an age category by the British Board of Films (Baylis & Procter. 2010). This instantly changes who can see your movie. In more current years some films have even aimed to reduce graphic content to allow for younger audiences to enjoy the story. For example The Hunger Games saw many deaths of its contestants ‘watered’ down or even changed from the graphic scenes described in the books. By simply doing this the film was awarded a 12 certificate in the UK meaning any child 12 or over could see it without an adult. This meant they increased their audience by avoiding a 15 age certificate. However this is sometimes not the safest choice as many parents complained that the film was still too graphic and had too much of a mature themed story for a child of 12 (The Guardian).
Social Class
Social class may make you wonder how it would play in to someone seeing a film but it is not too difficult to understand. Social class plays directly into marketing. For example an expensive sports car will not be advertised toward those of a lower social class, as they are not the intended market (Baylis & Procter. 2010). Many companies use a scale to understand social class (pictured to the right). Social class can play a part in a production as the content of the movie will speak to difference social classes. A film such as Educating Rita is more likely to appeal to lower middle classes as it depicts a woman wanting to change her place in the world by gaining further education.
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Ethnicity/Culture/Religion/Geodemographic
Ethnicity, culture, religion and geodemographic all can be grouped together nicely as in many circumstances the target audience will have all three in common. Media is now very much global, meaning no take on life has been missed now and the film industry will target a specific people from a specific culture for a film (Baylis & Procter. 2010). Films can easily be found covering all aspects of ethnicity, culture and religion. These films aim to please those who can identify with the movie/TV programme. An ideal example is 12 Years a Slave. This film would have known the African/American audiences would have been looking for flaws in the film as it telling a story from their cultures past. Luckily for 12 Years a Slave it was met with great praise due to the hard research conducted by its research team during the pre-production stage.
Gender
Another important factor is gender. Some products are specifically designed for men and others for women (Baylis & Procter. 2010). The same is true for film and TV. All though not a solid rule it is arguable that a woman is more likely to watch a romantic themed film where a man is more likely to enjoy an action based genre. Bridget Jones’s Diary is a great example as it spoke directly to its female audience, where The Expendables saw more revenue coming from its male audiences due to its action theme.
Sexuality
In years gone by representations of homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals were always negative stereotypes. In more recent years this has changed, mainly due to social attitudes changing towards sexual orientation, forcing all areas of society to change accordingly. Now TV and film companies consider the sexual orientation of its audience and make positive and more realistic homosexual, lesbian and bisexual characters (Baylis & Procter. 2010). This can see a franchise gain major public praise with how they handle their story. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was praised for how they depicted the change in sexual orientation of their character Willow. Audiences enjoyed how it was a slow transition and how the character took them on her own personal journey.
Market.
The market can tell a production team a lot about what they need to consider before even starting to shoot. The market is key as this is the area that will help generate a cash revenue back from a production and without a financial success being seen the studio will see the production as a failure. This area is broken into five sections financial, genre, competition, season and advertising
Genre
Genre is a French word meaning ‘type’ and is used in creative industries to help classify distinct types of productions. Each genre has a ‘codes of conventions’ which are essentially a guideline of what a production needs to have to be classified by a specific genre, however sometimes a producer will purposely break these rules to make their production stand out (Baylis & Procter. 2010). People tend to be drawn to genres based on personal tastes which can automatically determine what they will see. Someone with a personal interest in World War II is likely to seek films such as Pearl Harbour and Saving Private Ryan, where someone with an interest in science and nature may be drawn to films such as Gorillas in the Mist. However genres also come round in cycles in popularity. So from decade to decade mass releases of different genres can be released. For example in the early 2000s a large amount of horror films focusing on zombies were released as it was a popular genre at the time. Genres can cross over with each other also, which helps broaden a potential audience.
Financial
This part of the research process will show the likely hood of a blockbuster success. It is not a solid basis for a success as many films will spend millions in production but end up making only a fraction back in the box office. That is another key part of financial research, if production costs exceed the projected estimate it can change the financial success of a film. If the appropriate research and planning is conducted this can be avoided and if the production is deemed a financial success it can result in a franchise being creating to truly collect on the success. This can be done through sequels, TV series and merchandise. All of this extra income can then be channelled into other productions for the studio allowing even more revenue to be created.
Competitions
In addition to researching ideal audiences, companies will also look at what is out in the market already. This is for two reasons. One reason is to avoid making a production that is similar to an already existing title. The second reason is to see what is popular at the time and to figure out how they can make a production to cash in on the current themes in popular demand (Baylis & Procter. 2010). There are many franchises that clearly show popularity during certain times. The late 1970’s saw the start of a science fiction theme craze with films like Star Wars and Star Trek which then saw films such as Alien and even Terminator to emerge. Of more recent years superhero movies have been the hits at the box office. Starting with the X-Men franchise it has seen many other comic book titles spawn from the success including Ironman, The Dark Knight and The Avengers.
Season
Depending on the time of year can depend on a film/TV programmes success. It is simple to understand why, the time of year could have a seasonal holiday which will see an increase in films being released around that time. December tends to see a larger amount of Christmas themed movies being released. It can also see some TV programmes take a mini break from airing due to the time of year. The Walking Dead is a prime example of this as they stop transmission around mid-November and then continues transmission around mid-February. The creators have said they do this as they feel a TV series focused around a post-apocalyptic zombie world is not fitting with the festive time of year. To the right is a graph illustrating the times of year a genre will see releases.
Advertising
Seen everywhere through television, film, radio, magazines and on the internet, advertising is constantly being seen by people all the time. Advertising is key to ensure a success but it is also important to remember the target audience the production is aimed at. Certain advertisements remember this and is clear. Simply look at cereal advertisements. A cereal aimed at adults will focus on the health angle and tell them that their product give ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’. Where a cereal aimed at a child will typically create a mascot for the child to identify the product with, have a child-like theme music and use catchy lyrics to stick in the child’s head. Without a clearly focused advertisement planned out the hard work of the production could be all for nothing. Social networks such as Facebook have also seen a new form of advertisement. Facebook allows a production team to keep audiences keen before any footage has even been released on the production. This can however be a double edged sword. If the production meets with box office success it has done well but if the audience has been made to get excited about the film only for it to flop it can cause a backlash of harsh reviews which could damage the reputation of all involved in the production.
Production
The process of production can make or break a success depending on who is chosen at crucial parts of production. You can have the best director on set, but if the account manager fails to allocate the budget correctly it can then limit what the director is able to do. The same can be said for the actors chosen. Just having a big name in a movie does not guarantee success if the actor does not make audiences believe they are the character.
The process of production can make or break a success depending on who is chosen at crucial parts of production. You can have the best director on set, but if the account manager fails to allocate the budget correctly it can then limit what the director is able to do. The same can be said for the actors chosen. Just having a big name in a movie does not guarantee success if the actor does not make audiences believe they are the character.
Budget
The budget is an extremely important aspect of any production. This is for obvious reasons, to keep costs to a minimum and to make sure every aspect of production has the finances they require for production. If costs begin to spiral out of control it will firstly result in an angry producer but even worse the studio may shut down production if their own research indicates the box office will not make the money back. It is imperative that costs stay as low as possible to see the maximum return once a production has been released.
Casting
Casting can increase the attendance of the audience simply by who they hire. Johnny Depp has a huge fan base and simply his presence in a movie will entice his fans to watch the movie. This can see production costs increase as big stars such as Johnny Depp come with a price tag, but many production companies will choose this is worth it if it increases the chances of a box office success. The problem you can have is some actors/actresses do not like to stay in a role for long to avoid being ‘type cast’. Actress Jenna Louise Coleman is a prime example of this, tending to stay with a project for a few years before moving on.
Crew/Personnel
Looking into a crews’ skills can massively effect how a production works out. Certain directors tend to work in specific genres. Michael Bay for example tends to work more on films with large action sequences as that is where he is seen to specialise. If you were to hire Michael Bay to direct the latest romantic comedy it would most likely not be his biggest hit to hit the cinemas. The same can be said for camera men, location scouts and costume departments. A camera man who has worked closely on nature documentaries will have better skills in certain areas as opposed to a camera man who has worked more on soap operas.
Locations
There are many steps involved to ensure the use of a location which comes down to a location scout and a location manager (Patz. 2002). The most obvious thing they need to consider is if a location works for a description given to them from the script. If the location does not match perfect, can it be altered? Or can the script see a slight chance? These are questions that must always be considered and then quickly followed by the question of money and if they chances can actually be made with the budget given. Test shots could even be taken to allow the crew to decide if the location is viable or not. After a location has been chosen they must then research into any permissions required for filming in the location and obtaining them if they do. They will also need to look into insurance to cover them for damages during film also.
Time Management
Time management is particularly relevant in the production process as it will be give schedules and deadlines for cast and crew to comply by. These exist for a reason as overrunning on a films production can potentially cost millions to the studio (Baylis & Procter. 2010). It is imperative that everyone conforms to their agreements of what they will do and when. If for example someone from the costume department forget to acquire a key item for a characters costume, it would mean a day of lost filming. This would result in a loss of money and time making expenses increase.
Conclusion.
It is clear to see that the research process of any production is a major endeavour in itself before filming has even commenced. However it all is for the greater good to ensure a successful production over a failure. If the research team does their jobs properly they can effectively give a blue print for the entire production team for their production. It will indicate many factors that if they ignore will only damage the final result. It also helps to ensure accuracy and help to keep spending to a low. If all the steps are followed correctly and the information is accurate it will only help ensure the box office hit that everyone dreams of making.
References
http://art.ekstrax.com/2014/01/beautiful-pictures-from-different-cultures.html
Baylis, P. Procter, N. 2010. “Creative Media Production Level 2.” Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
http://boxofficequant.com/
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Davis, M. Mosdell. N. 2006 - “Practical Research Methods for Media and Cultural Studies.” Edinburgh Universty Press Ltd, Edinburgh.
http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2014/06/top-10-ways-for-effective-time-management-for-the-dental-executive.html
http://executivebusinesscoaching.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/4-tactics-to-help-business-grow.html
http://filmlocationbox.colicigno.it/
http://www.myfilmstories.com/indie-filmmakers-challenges/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/hollywood-zooms-in-on-china-film-market
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/mar/28/hunger-games-12a-classification-concerned-parents
http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/primary-secondary-market-research-difference/
http://www.marketingminds.info/effective-advertising/
http://mediamacguffingcse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/target-audience-social-class.html
http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/articles/film-financing-101/
Patz. S. 2002. “Film Production Management 101.” Michael Wiese Productions. Studio City.
Pramaggiore, M. Wallis, T. 2011. “Film A Critical Introduction.” Laurence King Publishing Ltd. London.
http://researchunesa.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/quantitative-and-qualitative-research.html
http://screenterrier.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/open-casting-call-for-feature-film.html
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http://twiniversity.com/2014/08/compromising-vacation-plans-making-the-most-for-the-whole-family/budget/
http://www.writeopinions.com/sexuality
Bibliography.
Baylis, P. Procter, N. 2010. “Creative Media Production Level 2.” Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
Davis, M. Mosdell. N. 2006 - “Practical Research Methods for Media and Cultural Studies.” Edinburgh Universty Press Ltd, Edinburgh.
Patz. S. 2002. “Film Production Management 101.” Michael Wiese Productions. Studio City.
Pramaggiore, M. Wallis, T. 2011. “Film A Critical Introduction.” Laurence King Publishing Ltd. London.
References
http://art.ekstrax.com/2014/01/beautiful-pictures-from-different-cultures.html
Baylis, P. Procter, N. 2010. “Creative Media Production Level 2.” Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
http://boxofficequant.com/
http://www.christianfilmdatabase.com/production-companies-3/
http://www.creativitymedia.co.uk/?attachment_id=567
http://www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk/beauty/features-beauty/skin-care-through-the-ages/
Davis, M. Mosdell. N. 2006 - “Practical Research Methods for Media and Cultural Studies.” Edinburgh Universty Press Ltd, Edinburgh.
http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2014/06/top-10-ways-for-effective-time-management-for-the-dental-executive.html
http://executivebusinesscoaching.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/4-tactics-to-help-business-grow.html
http://filmlocationbox.colicigno.it/
http://www.myfilmstories.com/indie-filmmakers-challenges/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/hollywood-zooms-in-on-china-film-market
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/mar/28/hunger-games-12a-classification-concerned-parents
http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/primary-secondary-market-research-difference/
http://www.marketingminds.info/effective-advertising/
http://mediamacguffingcse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/target-audience-social-class.html
http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/articles/film-financing-101/
Patz. S. 2002. “Film Production Management 101.” Michael Wiese Productions. Studio City.
Pramaggiore, M. Wallis, T. 2011. “Film A Critical Introduction.” Laurence King Publishing Ltd. London.
http://researchunesa.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/quantitative-and-qualitative-research.html
http://screenterrier.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/open-casting-call-for-feature-film.html
http://stopsellingvanillaicecream.com/tag/competition/
http://twiniversity.com/2014/08/compromising-vacation-plans-making-the-most-for-the-whole-family/budget/
http://www.writeopinions.com/sexuality
Bibliography.
Baylis, P. Procter, N. 2010. “Creative Media Production Level 2.” Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
Davis, M. Mosdell. N. 2006 - “Practical Research Methods for Media and Cultural Studies.” Edinburgh Universty Press Ltd, Edinburgh.
Patz. S. 2002. “Film Production Management 101.” Michael Wiese Productions. Studio City.
Pramaggiore, M. Wallis, T. 2011. “Film A Critical Introduction.” Laurence King Publishing Ltd. London.