Target Audience Interviews:

Question 1

How do you find out about new films?

Most of the interviewees find out about new films through word of mouth. I found that people are more likely to watch a film if it has been approved by someone that they know. The interviews also reveal that a lot people find out about new films through adverts, the main type being on social media i.e. adverts on YouTube. Other forms of advertisements that the interviewees use to find out about new films include bus adverts, TV adverts. 

Question 2

How do you feel about a trailer revolving around a girl gang?

A majority of the answers given agree with the idea that a girl gang would be empowering. The interviewees liked the idea of females being in control and showing a more aggressive side to them that usually connotes with males. An interviewee suggested that the female gangster members would differentiate from the typical male gangster member. Other interviewees would have enjoyed observing how different a female gangster is from a male gangster. Also the interviewees found that this idea would be quite interesting as it subverts from the stereotype that gangs are very male orientated. However, a few interviewees did not find this idea for a trailer interesting as it subverted too much from gangster film conventions.

The reason that a majority of the feedback were in preference of a female gangster film may be due to the fact that a majority of the interviewees were female. I can infer from the results that our main target audience should be females. 

What stereotypes do you associate with gangster films?

I noticed that a few stereotypes that the interviewees associated with gangsters contradict with one another; Most of the interviewees expected for gangsters to be dressed in rough clothing (i.e. tracksuits) and to live in quite derived areas, however they also expected for gangsters to wear gold chains and to have a lot of money.

All of the interviewees gave answers that connote with modern day gangster films, such as Kidulthood, Brotherhood, etc. instead of the original mobster films from the 20^th century, such as Scarface, The Godfather, etc. This may be due to the fact that all of the interviewees are of a young demographic and live in urban areas.

Other stereotypes include: involvement with drugs, most of the gangsters being black and male, and the use of weapons (i.e. guns, knives, etc.).

Question 4

Which idea do you prefer for the trailer: conflict within the gang or conflict between the gang and something else?

At the suggestion of a trailer containing both the interviewees agreed that that would be ‘too much’ for the plot and one of the two would be a lot better. 

Most of the interviewees preferred the idea of conflict between a gang and perhaps a rival gang. This idea imitates several other gangster film plots and this is perhaps why the interviewees preferred it. The interviewees found the idea of conflict between the gang members as too distressing as gang members are supposed to remain loyal to one another. They stated that gangs are supposed to be a family and therefore a fight between members would be too much conflict. 

 Question 5

Should the audience feel any sympathy towards the gang members?

The interviewees answered yes, however the audience should only feel sympathy to the gangsters to a certain extent. The overall response was that the audience should not forget that the gangsters are criminals, but should also consider the gang members’ reasons for joining a gang.

 Question 6

What is the first thing you notice on a film poster?

The first thing that the interviewees notice on a film poster is the image and the title of the film. They said that the film poster is more appealing if a famous actor is on the cover or if the colours used are vibrant. The interviewees also responded that a shorter film title is more appeasing to the eye in comparison to a long film title. 

Question 7

What do you expect to see on a film poster?

From the response given I can conclude that the interviewees expect to see a lot of weapons on the poster, i.e. guns, knives, etc. This is due to the fact that violence is what most people link to gangs. They also expected to see drugs and for the gangsters to be in quite urban clothing, such as tracksuits, trainers, etc.




By Elizabeth