Questionnaire Results & Analysis

Mollie, Scarlet and I made a questionnaire together before handing it out to 40 different people. We received 30 responses.

Question 1) What is your favourite genre?

This chart shows that, for the people we gave the questionnaires to, the most popular genres were:

• Action/adventure 
• Scifi
• Romance

Romance being the most popular for females and Crime for males.

Question 2) Could you define the genre social realism?

This shows that 50% of males answered no to this question, the other 50% answering yes. Where as 60% of the females answered yes and 40% answered with no. This may show that many people are unaware of Social Realism films and what they are.

Question 3)Would you watch a social realism film? What issues would you expect to find?

25% of females said YES

15%  of females said NO

40% of males said YES

20% of males said NO

Most of the time, the people who knew what the films where about answered yes, saying they expected to find real life modern day society issues and then gave examples.

 However as there were many people who were not sure of the genre and what issues it exposed within its films, as a group, Scarlet, Mollie and I explained to them what issues social realism films tend to focus on and their codes and conventions, before giving them some popular examples.

After which we asked  if they would watch a social realism film and this is how we came to the above results. Our results show men were more open to watching this genre over other genre films.

Question 5) Do you feel music is an important element of a film opening?

100% of the people we asked in our questionnaire said that music was definitely an important element in film openings, with many commenting on how it helped set the scene or mood to an opening. Many also said it was important that the music tied in with the genre and tone of the overall film or it could confuse the audience or not fit with the film, making it a bad opening. This is very important to remember whilst making our own opening.

Question 6) What is an important feature to make a successful opening in your opinion? 

 Only 20 people answered this question out of the ones we asked. They were able to pick two answers out of the following options:

• Voice Overs/Narration
• Music
• Setting the overall atmosphere
• Camera Angles
• Typography

This shows that in the opinion of the audience, they focus on and find the music and the setting more important as the camera angles and typography. It also shows that voice overs were least popular, possibly suggesting the audience don't like them?

Also although camera angles was not the most important chosen by the people answering the questionnaire, as a media student I know that camera angles are very important in itself but also to help set the scene, which is a higher choice by the candidates.

Question 7) Do you feel the font type for the opening credits plays a key part in reflecting the theme/atmosphere of a film?

While answering the question many people gave examples of when type was important, such as when the font type reflected the genre or atmosphere in thrillers or crime.
Many people also said that the size was an important thing to consider with type but as long as the font was not too ambiguous that it was not as important as other factors.

Question 8) Do you feel a voice over/ Narration is effective or non-effective in an opening?

Most of the people who answered the questionnaire said no to this question, however some commented that within the comedy genre it might be effective as use of dry humor.

Question 10) What elements do you feel are not as important or effective within a film opening?

 Not all candidates answered this question, saying they were not sure and that all aspects of an opening come together to create a successful piece. However some commented on the length of the opening and the amount of credits shown effects can affect the overall setting of the scene.

Voxpop: Research

Here is a Voxpop, which Mollie, Scarlet and I filmed and edited to contribute to our research for target audiences. The questions we prepared in advance. 

Audience Pen Portfolio

Name: Steph Mensing

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Photography, surfing

Favourite Film/s: The help, how to break up a guy in 10 day, avengers and maze runner...

Favourite TV show/s: How I met your Mother, Big Bang Theory, That’s 70’s Show.

Favourite Genre/s: Romantic Comedy

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] I think they can be really eye opening to what is happening in the world.

Have you watched social realism films and partially liked them? If so what are they? slumdog  millionaire

Name:   Anita Stanley

Age: 66

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Driving, reading, meditating, singing

Favourite Film/s: Lord of the rings

Favourite TV show/s: Criminal Minds 

Favourite Genre/s: Social realism 

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] Films that focus on Identity, Institutions and ideology.

Name:  Scarlet Ryan

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Ice skating, guitar, photography

Favourite Film/s: Catch me if you can, the beach (the beginning)

Favourite TV show/s: Friends

Favourite Genre/s: Action, rom-coms, thriller

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] Good because people can relate to the real life issues that they cover.

Name:  Olivia Sprouting

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Shopping, reading, internet browsing, going to the movies and meeting up with friends

Favourite Film/s: Catch me if you can, the hunger games

Favourite TV show/s: Friends, Vampire Diaries and 8 out of 10 cats

Favourite Genre/s: Rom-Coms, sci-fi and thrillers

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] It's good because it introduced people to the different aspects of life and shows that sometimes its not all that it appears to be.

 Name: Loulou Vines

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Shopping, seeing friends, going to the cinema

Favourite Film/s: Fast and Furious series, 22 Jump Street, Planet of the Apes and Bourne series.

Favourite TV show/s: Friends

Favourite Genre/s: Comedy and Action

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] I think that depending on how extreme they focus on a specific issue that it could be wrong.

Have you watched social realism films and partially liked them? If so what are they? Perks of being a Wallflower.

Name: Rebecca Conduit

 Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hobbies: Seeing friends, listening to music and baking

Favourite Film/s: La Vita é Bella, Ratatouille, Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Ugly Truth.

Favourite TV show/s: Fashion Police, Fresh Prince, Everybody Hates Chris, Modern Family and Mindy Project

Favourite Genre/s: Romcom's and comedies

Opinion on the genre Social Realism and their films: 
[If you don't know what social realism is: it's a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern society.] They are very good because they can make people more aware of the issue that the film could be focusing on.

Have you watched social realism films and partially liked them? If so what are they? Pursuit of happiness and Juno.

Questionnaire Plan : Social Realism Film Openings

For research on social realism and film openings, ready for our course work, I am doing a questionnaires for people I know and don't know to fill out, so I can find out what kind of openings are popular and effective to a range of different people.

Questionnaire:

Personal information:            
      
Gender: Female   Male

Age: 13-16 -17-22 23-29 30-35 36-40 41-46 47+

1) What is your favourite film?

2) What is your favourite film genre?

3) What do you know what a social realism film is?

[If not definition is provided: Social realism is a film that focuses on the different issues that represent the modern societly. Such as drug/alcohol abuse, relationships, metal disorders, physical abuse, bullying, family issues etc. Some examples of of social realism films are: Trainspotting, Billy Elliot, and Juno.]

4) Now knowing what a social realism film is, do you think you would watch it?

5) Do you have a favourite film opening? If so what?

6) Do you feel music is an important element of a film opening?

7) What makes a successful film opening in your opinion?

Voiceovers/narrations

Music

Setting the overall atmosphere

Camera angles

Typography

Other ________________________________________________

8) Do you think the font of the film plays an important part in reflecting the theme and atmosphere of the film?

9) Do you feel that a voiceover or a narration is effective or noneffective in the opening of a film?

10) What do you think isn't effective in a film opening?

Social Realism Opening Scenes: Trainspotting

The second clip I am going to analyze in depth is the first minute and a half from the social realism film Trainspotting.

Here are my initial notes from the clip:

 Music - straight away
introduced to what appears to be main character straight away (also narrates) RENTON
chase scene - in trouble?
stereotypically quite rough looking, ear piercing, dirty looking clothes, shaved head
'fucking'
hit by a car - reckless
'choose..' repeated, emphasis, advising the audience
repeatedly swearing
contradictory 'choose health' while smoking
drugs, alcohol
rhetorical question. 'why would I want to do a thing like that?'
'Who needs reasons when you're got heroine?' VERY clearly a drug addict

The first camera angle of the opening clip is a very simple one of lots of people walking around in a street, then suddenly someone runs into the shot and music begins to play. The music already gives a fast pace to the music and compliments the chase scene that comes.

This is when we are introduced to the main character 'Renton' who is played by Ewan McGregor. In 1996 when this film came out, McGregor wasn't a massive actor and had only been acting for 3 years. This is popular for social realism films because its cheaper for the genre as they tend to have smaller budgets than other and it adds reality to the film, as an audience we can build our own judgements on the characters as they know little about them as actors.
By Renton starting straight away by narrating to the audience the audience already feel like they are being spoken to directly and makes the narration at the beginning seem more personal and the audience is more likely going to want to understand Renton.
He also repeatedly says the word 'choose'...as if he is advising the audience.

The fact that Renton is being chased at the beginning suggests that he has done something wrong or upset someone, implying that he is in some sort of trouble. This makes the audience question what sort of trouble he could be in and what kind of man he is. Whether he is stereotypically 'rough' or if he is a bad role model etc.The contradiction of 'choose health' while smoking (possibly drugs) suggests that he is in fact a bad role model even if he is advising the audience against it.

Renton as a character looks quite stereotypically 'rough' with an earring and a shaven head with quite dirty looking clothes. His clothes are also quite cheap looking which suggests that he can't afford more expensive clothing and the possibility of lack of money can also be shown in the lack of furniture in his house and the whole in a wall suggests carelessness and lack of respect for the things he does own. He can also fit a 'rough' stereotype with his use of language and how he swears on several occasions.

There is introduction to all of the main characters by freezing a moving picture and putting a name of them or their nickname next to them. This is to show the audience who will be involved in the film and also gives them a small snippet of the type of person they are and their personalities after the image has been unfrozen.
The characters names are very simple and all of the lettering is in capitalized showing the importance of each character. The colour of the words are plain white which goes well and with the darkness of the background, making the words more bold.
The name only lasts for three seconds but is still enough time for the audience to read it and take in the frozen image behind.

The question 'who needs reasons when you're got heroine?' at the end, shows the main theme of the film which is a very stereotypical theme for social realism as it focuses on real life issues, drugs being one of them. Quite often social realism films show the negativity of drug use and can be used to get the audience to think of the consequences of things such as drugs.
The repetitiveness of drinking, smoking and drugs shots also helps emphasize the important role they have on the characters and throughout the film.

Social Realism Opening Scenes: Fish Tank

The first clip I am going to analyze in depth is the first minute and a half from the social realism film Fish Tank.

Here are my initial notes from the clip:

Production logos-  4 (background music) quite simple
Title is shown straight away!! Plain background, background noises
Heavy breathing- unhealthy?
Main character? straight away - bad pronunciation.
view of the town, showing where it is sent (establishing shot)
'ring me back bitch' rude, blunt
stereotypically rough or 'chavy'- strong accent, scruffy, hoop earrings, tracksuit
chucking stones - no respect for others property
lots of swearing!! (in front of children - gives the impression of not caring)



The first thing I noticed in the clip were the four production logos. Some of which contained distinct background music and all of their logos were very clear.

The titles at the beginning is very simple and uses quite a small font. All of the letters is in capital letters to emphasis the name and show its importance. The colour of the words are plain white which goes well and contrasts with the background which is black, making the words more bold. The colours chosen are quite simple and boring colours which could link to where the film is set.
The title only lasts for five seconds and has deep breathing in the background which is the introduction of the first and possibly the main character.

When the young girl is first introduced she is breathing very heavily, which could suggest she is unhealthy or that she is just out of breath. She is wearing grey and black, almost slightly cheap looking, sporting clothes, dark make up and hooped earrings. The look is quite scruffy and stereotypically seen as quite common. When the girl talks on the phone and then again to the other characters which are later introduced, she uses a lot of slang and swear words, this gives us the impression she's rude and the language she uses makes us think that maybe she's from a lower-class background. Also the way that she is swearing around the younger children suggests she has little respect for them and doesn't care if they hear her, or that this is normal around that area and that the children are probably used to it. Near the end of the two and a half minutes she throws a stone at somebody's flat window, this shows she has little respect for other peoples property and quite rebellious.
During the clip we meet three young girls, 'Tyler' and her two others which we assume she is friends with. They are all younger than the first character that we met in the opening scene but they all know each other, or at least the older girl and Tyler do. You could question that they may be siblings? All of the children are wearing skimpy outfits which were designed for a much older age group.

There is no background music during the clip other than when the production logos are being shown at the beginning. However there is background sound of what would normally go on in the surrounding where it is set which helps make the film more realistic.

The location is shown at the beginning, once the main girl has been introduced, with an establishing shot once she has moved to the window, showing where the film is set. From this shot we straight away can assume that the film or at least the opening clip is set on a council estate because of the tightly packed houses.
After that clip, it moves to outside of the flats and onto the actual estate, where we can now see more of whats going on around. The buildings look quite dirty suggesting that the estate is quite a dirty place.