Research techniques Take two

Primary Research:
Simply put, Primary research is research you have done yourself, or by people you have hired. The methods they would do this involves: Questionnaires (Similar to what i had done in my advertising work), Observing peoples opinions though reviews (Film critics do this part for them in the film world though), Focus groups, though in my opinion, are not the best thing to use in finding information on how a film did, and so forth.

There are other methods that can be done aswell, such as those rating boxes that can be put in peoples houses to see which channels are seen the most and at what times.

Anyway, what i ended up using in this unit was mainly primary research, seeing as i used a questionnaire to ask people what they thought of the two posters presented, I.E the one i made, and the original movie poster. though on the original movie poster one, i asked what they thought should be improved, while on the my one, i asked what i could have done better aswell.

Secondary research:
Secondary research is literally research that had been done by other people/companies and are being used by you. this option can be considered the more "Cost efficient option" Considering most of the work has been done for you. This can be found in books or files of information, meaning they can be bought or sold to others, which it quite often is.

Another method secondary research can be done is by literally looking on the web, or even just using loyalty cards if you have them at your disposal, since they show what people often buy.

Arguably, i did use it a bit, seeing as i used reviews to see how the movie did in general. for this, i ended up using IMDB since it's a collection of info including overall rating.

Quantitative Research:
Quantitative research Literally means finding out how many  people have used your product. The ways to find this out is to literally look into accounts in your product / stores, or in the media world: Looking at box office results, or even looking at hits on a website about the film.

Though i did not really use this myself, i did end up using it a slight bit on the presentation, seeing as i needed to find how many people when to see the films (though the amount of money they earned). 

Qualitative research:
qualitative research mean finding out how people though of the product in mass. this can be in the form of reviews. I ended up using this in the presentation when it came to finding ratings from reviews.

Data gathering agencies:
Easiest method of explaining this, is by looking back at the secondary research part, since this is exactly what they are there for. There are several groups who can do this, Such as the broadcasters' audience research board (Or BARB for short), who are the guys who end up using those "Ratings boxes" i mentioned earlier.

another example of a data gathering agency would actually be IMDB since they gather bits of information from others, and post it on their site for others to see / use in their research. 

Audience and market research:
 Audience and market research literally means "Trying to find information about your key target" the reason for this is so you end up "Selling" the right thing to the right people, Such as the call of duty fans all love the series due to it's capability of "Making a realistic wartime feel" (I assume. not a CoD fan myself), So, to find this out, you would need to find things such as Demographics, which means "what does X group of people like and/or do?", they would also want to examine how the target audience reacts to similar products in general.

This also includes finding info of similar products and how they sell. in the filming world, this can include genres or even franchises. i ended up using this by targeting the fans of the fantasy genre, so i modified my poster to make it more likeable by Fantasy film fans.

Production Research: 
This is litterally finding information about the stages of creation of the  product, so in the scenario of crating a movie, it's the budget, what props are needed, what people are needed to be hired, what locations can be used and the list goes on. This can be cut into having a part for each thing that may need it, such as in making a movie, this also includes advertisement which would also make it's own segment.

In my presentation, i ended up using this to find the budget of the films aswell as the marketing campaign.

To assess research data, you would need to find out three (or rather four) things: Reliability, Validity, and Representativeness and generalisability.

To see the reliability of something, you would need to do a specific test over and over again. this can include surveys, which in this scenario is what i used. Using this, i was luckily un-able to find many issues, but what i did find was the odd person who was not a fan of the genre or the poster.

To find the validity, you need to essentially do the exact same thing, Though it's a bit more situational than Reliability, since you need specific things to occur before you can use it properly. You need all your Results to end up being slightly similar. This essentially caused my theorys that the poster was good for attracting the right crowd of people, it just needed some work.

Representativeness and generalisability can be tested by asking a larger scale of people but in the same general area about a specific question, though this can be changed to a degree, since the location can be changed to a specific group of people, I.E Gamers, Religious parties, poltical parties and so forth. In my presentation, i ended up asking a group of gamers (Specifically fans of the fantasy universe) what their opinion was on the posters, causing it to be representative of that group of people.

Understand the nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

Types/Methods of research

Primary research

Data provided by research projects and experiments conducted by the researchers (The person  / people who is organizing the primary research. can be the guy who is handing out the surveys to be filled)  of a project, such as surveys or observational studies, often provide the basis for primary data. This data is obtained and collaborated into a whole to form the 'Primary Reasearch' of any individual research project. (Can even be previous surveys done on the same thing not to long ago by yourself.) It can be done through multiple methods, including, but not limited to, questionnaires and telephone surveys in market research, or experiments and direct observations in the physical sciences (Such as those "Rating boxes" That some people have in households), amongst others.

The term primary research is widely used in academic research (Universities), market research (Business, Often when making trailers and the like) and competitive intelligence (Creating products).

An example of primary research in opinion research: the government wants to know if people are pleased with how the government is being run, so they hand out questionnaires to the public asking if they are happy and, if not, how to improve. Another example is what i had to do in this segment, asking people about what they thought of Poster A and how it could be improved, and the same with poster B.

An example of primary research in the physical sciences: Can the transition temperature of high-temperature superconductors be increased by varying the composition of the superconducting material. The scientist will modify the composition of the high-Tc material in various ways and measure the transition temperature of the new material as a function of its composition.

Translation on the last paragraph for those not into engineering or the sciences, Can two highly reactive materials handle the heat when transferring the heat From Material A to Material B, and how effective it is by changing a part of the Materials each time.

All research, whether primary or secondary, depends eventually on the collection of primary research data.

Methods of primary research

-          Observation

-          Experimentation

-          Surveys

-          E-marketing

-          Focus groups

In the end, this is the kind of research I used, seeing I ended up using surveys. I also used quantitative research since I was looking to see the ammount of people who wanted to see the film due to the poster(s).

Secondary research

Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis (In short, Combination) of existing research rather than primary research (In which you go out or hire someone to get the research), where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments, or even the general public.

The term is widely used in medical research and in market research. The principal methodology (If i have to explain THIS word, Just hit yourself for me.) in medical secondary research is the systematic review, commonly using meta-analytic ("How it should be or is" Research or studying) statistical techniques, although other methods of synthesis (A part of combining, Mixing the ingredients into one, Often used in fiction when creating potions), like realist reviews and meta-narrative ("How a Story or event recorded is") reviews, have been developed in recent years. Such secondary research uses the primary research of others typically in the form of research publications and reports.

In a market research context, secondary research is taken to include the re-use by a second party of any data collected by a first party or parties.

In archaeology and landscape history, desk research is contrasted with fieldwork. In short, Secondary is finding about it from a library, While Primary is going and trying to find something.

Sometimes secondary research is required in the preliminary (First) stages of research to determine what is known already and what new data is required, or to inform research design. At other times, it may be the only research technique used. Depends on how much information is needed, or if you are using alternative methods aswell, such as primary.

A key performance area in secondary research is the full citation of original sources, usually in the form of a complete listing or annotated listing.

Secondary sources could include previous research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content, and government and NGO statistics.

Methods of secondary research

-          Internal

a.      Epos (electronic product of sale) E.G. Tills, Stocks

b.      Loyalty card

c.      Website stats

d.     Accounts

Warning: The next two segments are VERY word heavy. 

Quantitative research

In the social sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical (Relying on or derived from observation or experiment (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/empirical) investigation of social phenomena (Random events) via statistical, mathematical or computational (Calculating) techniques. The objective of quantitative research is to work on and Use mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena. Measurement of the statistics is central to quantitative research because it provides the fundamental connection between empirical observation and mathematical expression of quantitative relationships. 

Quantitative data is any data that is in numerical form such as statistics, percentages, etc. In layman's terms, this means that the quantitative researcher asks a specific, narrow question and collects numerical data from participants to answer the question. The researcher analyzes the data with the help of statistics. The researcher is hoping the numbers will yield an unbiased result that can be generalized to some larger population. Qualitative research, on the other hand, asks broad questions and collects word data from participants. The researcher looks for themes and describes the information in themes and patterns exclusive to that set of participants.

Quantitative research is used widely in social sciences such as psychology, economics, sociology, and political science, and less frequently in anthropology and history. Research in mathematical sciences such as physics is also 'quantitative' by definition, though this use of the term differs in context. In the social sciences, the term relates to empirical methods, originating in both philosophical positivism and the history of statistics, which contrast qualitative research methods.

Qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only hypotheses. Quantitative methods can be used to verify which of such hypotheses are true.

A comprehensive analysis of 1274 articles published in the top two American sociology journals between 1935 and 2005 found that roughly two thirds of these articles used quantitative methods. (This is just here for an estimation on how many were bits of research used Quantitative methods)

These are often seen through Use of surveys, Ratings, readership circulation figures, hits on a website, box office figures, and DVD/CD Sales.

For this, I ended up using Surveys, as mentioned above in the primary section. I also used this as it ended up covering what I wanted to know.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often needed than large samples.

In the conventional view, qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only propositions (informed assertions). Quantitative methods can then be used to seek empirical support for such research hypotheses.  It is argued that qualitative methods and case study research may be used both for hypotheses-testing and for generalizing beyond the particular cases studied.

Examples of qualitative research are film reviews, Game reviews, fanzine websites, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage, responses to advertising campaigns and discussion in general.

In my research during this whole project was the reviews I looked at for the film. Namely, Rotten tomatoes.

Purposes of research:

Audience and market research

This kind of research is essentially looking to the people, and asking them what they like and so forth. we do this by collecting audience data and profiling through methods such as surveys and so forth.

Demographics are groups of people, and their general opinion on things. Examples are gamers, Religous groups, and even workers. Geo-demographics are essentially a similar thing, exept instead of using groups as mentioned earlier, It uses whole locations, Ranging from cities, to countries.

Then, there is consumer behaviour and attituded, which obviously is how the consumer reacts to certain things, like how a group of fantasy film lovers would react to In the name of the king: A dungeon siege tale. Any research would indicate that people despised it due to how far they strayed from the source material, And it ended up with people not buying the DVD. This ended up being a good point of research for future films, should their producers and directors want any ideas on what to avoid.

In the creation of the prezi, I ended up looking at demographics, and consumer behaviour and attitudes. I also collected Audience data.

Production Research

This is essentially  research that i ended up covering in the previous segment. this includes how much we will need to pay, who you need to pay, advertising, Resources available (Such as editing software and voice recording software).

This also includes the viability of certain locations, these can range from studios, to open environments like mountain ranges.

Though I cannot say I really done any in this assignment, I can say in my previous bit of work, O ended up using all of the things mentioned above, seeing as they are all key parts of making a film.

Assessing research Data:

Reliability

This is essentially how relyable certain bit of information can be. This information can range from surveys to questionnaires, since it usually involves asking/testing alot of people. in order to find this out, you need to ask a specific demographic, and see if they have a similar outlook on the product in question.

Validity

To check how valid any bit of research is, you need to ask the right kind of questions, such as if your doing questions about a movie poster, you need to ask how they feel about the poster and whether they think it fits with the film. this can be achieved by using surveys or questionnaires. Questionnaires would be better, since you are giving them more of a chance to give their opinion.

Representativeness and generalisability

I would say with what I have done, the participants of my questionnaire asked were the original kind of target audience. I would also say that the data obtained was generalizable, since it was at a decent group targeted. Though, I cannot really say that my own poster was liked more than the older one, since both were equal.

Movie Remarketing Presentation

Guide to film Distribution

Every film has its own tailor-made distribution plan, which the distributor develop in consultation with the produced and/or studio as appropriate. The most important strategic decisions a distributor makes are when and how to release a film in order to optimist it's chances.

"Who can be convinced to buy a cinema ticket to see it and why should they do so? Can the film be positioned within a popular recognizable genre? what sort of audiences have similar films attracted recently? When were they released?" These are all questions that flow through the head of a distributor.
As with every business plan, the goal is to recoup the costs and turn a profit. When planning a new release, Relying solely on conventional wisdom is never an option. Early information can be gleaned by reading the script and from discussions with the filmmakers, but every release is a one off and individually planned given current circumstances. sometimes, Final distribution plans may be confirmed only when the finished film is available to view.

Nobody can be absolutely sure what makes a hit, or when and where it might happen. Market research may be conducted to proe audience reaction at pre-release test screenings or to evaluate alternative marketing campaigns - fundamental considerations for every release. Test screenings, after which the viewers complete questionnaires, can help the distributor to be more confident of the expected audience or box-office prospects.

A detailed understanding of the target audience-age group and gender, but also lifestyles, social networks, media consumption patters are needed, since they always inform distributors on what decisions they should take on a particular film the are promoting.Though generally, in the UK, Cinemagoers are more up market, Esspecially for the more "Specialized fare", and is often a shared experience with an average of 3 people per party, Altering the thoughts slightly.

Though, Just aiming to attract a larger scale of people is not what should only be done, Since there is always a core target audience for the film, and if it's lost, It won't do to well in the box office.

Cinemagoers are often split into 4 Key demographics. These are 15-25 males 15-25 Females, 35-65, And family and the most frequent cinemagoers are a combination of 15-25 year olds, Since for teenagers, students, and young adults, The cinema is, Arguably, a favorite out-of-home leisure activity. Although a large quantity of people in those to demographics visit the cinema at least once a month, overall its only a quater of the population that goes often.

This causes the average number of cinema visits per person in the UK to be only 2.7 a year, which though it does seem pretty bad, is still a major improvement from mid-1980's which Barely was an average of one per year. Though, this is affected by how well a film preforms in the box-office. the better it is, The more likely it will attract more attention from infrequent cinemagoers and it may even get repeat visits to watch the film. Though, Infrequent cinemagoers tend not to come out for the opening weekend, only going after the film has extended, This gives distributors a challenge to sustain the run in cinemas.

There are often key questions asked when making a film, and promoting it. These often are:

• "Besides the target audience, What do we (The distributors) have to take into account hen developing the release plans and assessing their risk?"
• "Is it an event film, a prospective mass market blockbuster, or a specialized film for a more discrete audience?"
• "Is there any star power among the cast such as actors, And what were their previous work? Same question goes for Directors or producers."
• "Are any cast members avaiable for UK/international publicity or to attend a premiere?"
• "Will the film lead the media reviews of that week's new releases?"

Though there is much i really can say to answer these questions, all i really can say is In all circumstances, Competition is always a primary consideration. It affects how the film will be Publicized, compared with, and when it should be released.
These questions how ever are not the only questions asked. they often also include what certificate the film has, If it's a sequel or a franchise entry, and several other aspects.

Different releases are managed in different ways. for example, A saturation release "At cinemas everywhere" May open simultaneously on 1000 screens UK-wide, playing at two or more screens per multiplex. By contrast, Specialized films offer a different cinematic experience.

London, with an increasingly diverse population of 7.5m people, accounts for about a quarter of UK cinema admissions, although only 15% of screens are situated in the capital.

Complimenting the distribution plan, Every film has a detailed marketing plan. The most common marketing objective is to create visibility, Raise awareness, and engage interest, cutting through the blizzard of competing messages. Distributors must compete for a significant share of voice not only against other distributors, but also against other leisure activities.

Social recommendation is key - A personal recommendation from a friend, colleague, relative or trusted online community can be the most powerful stimulus for a cinema visit. But, Distributors' campaigns are generally effective aswell, as most cinemagoers known in advance which film(s) they want to see before setting off for the cinema.

When constricting a campaign, distributors aim to reach as much of their target audience as possible, as frequently but cost-effectively as possible.

The main image or artwork distilling the appeal and positioning of the film - its stars, genre, credits and often a tagline to whet audiences appetites. With often a dozen or more different posters on display in a cinema at any one time, distributors and their designers must work hard to make each one stand out. Film posters may be created by the studio or sales agent (As applicable) and rolled out internationally or adapted for use locally.

A poster is produced for every release, in quad formation (I.E the usual poster size in the UK of 30" x 40" landscape orientation) or one-sheet format (The us equivalent with similar dimensions, portrait orientation) Many months before release, an initial teaser poster may be created to announce that a film is coming to whet the audience's appetite. Distributors are also provide other display materials for cinema foyers - prime space for advertising current and future releases- Such as cardboard standees, banners, Window clings and mini-posters.

Probably the single most cost-effective marketing technique is trailers, since they play in both the big screen to a captive audience of active cinemagoers and also for any interested viewers. There are often specialist agencies or production companies are briefed by local distributors to create a trailer from the available material.

Distributors fund the duplication, and often the production, of trailers: a wide release will often have 2,000 copies circulated to cinemas.

Most films have an official website - sometimes hosted by a partner companies or social network site - offering trailers, stills galleries, Production information, and behind-the-scenes footage.
Even before principal photography begins, They may post updates online containing news snippets or teaser images, seeding interest among fans.

Ever more user-generated material, often including film or soundtrack grabs, draws comments on video sharing sites. Film distributor websites direct traffic to exhibitor sites where tickets may be purchased online.

As readers tend to accept independently-written items more than paid-for advertising, since an editorial coverage of a film can be highly persuasive. It's very important to have a selection of fine images from the film approved for publicity use, taken during production by a specially hired unit photographer.

Creative talent and film makers tend to have very tight schedules and they may only be in the UK for a few hours. Screenings for national critics are normally held on the Friday, Monday, and Tuesday before a film opens to the public; those for journalists with longer lead-times are scheduled further in advance.

The internet being a two-way street, the moment a film is screened, comments are shared instantly and constantly around the world, as online communities swap opinions and feedback in a galaxy of chat rooms. Distributors are eager for their films to be part of the conversation in online networks, but word of mouth - or word of click! - trends ebb and flow very rapidly.

The season of mounting speculation lasts up to five months before the Oscars and costly trade campaigns unfold to secure voter's attention to particular titles, performances and craft contributions.
Film sets are normally strictly enclosed to the public. But distributors may have valuable opportunities to visit the set, especially of UK-based productions, along with key journalists, exhibitors or marketing partners.

Media proliferation and fragmentation have given all advertisers a multitude of options. advertising placed on broadcast channels, outdoor panels and in the press is usually the largest expenditure item on a P&A budget. Terrestrial television is traditionally the most visual means of reaching a mass audience.

Event films/blockbusters with top stars need heavy advertising spends to support their wide releases. older audiences may respond best having seen the film advertised on television or in the press, while for younger audiences it's more appropriate to promote it online and on radio stations or bus panels.

Depending on the film's theme and target audience, the distributor will endeavor to arrange promotional partnerships. Importantly, too, tie-in advertising under license by a promotional partner or a brand with product placement in a film can add substantial weight to the distributor's own campaign.

Many releases, particularly family films, have merchandising programmes co-ordinated by the film company or an external consultancy agency. Films regularly have official soundtracks, games and books, which can generate significant revenues in their own right.

Such exposure helps to stretch the film campaign and create additional talking points. It may develope into a popular cultural phenomenon and become an international news item.

Premiers are often perceived as glamorous and exclusive, but in reality are painstaking and expensive to organize. Star-studded premieres and after-show parties are covered by celebrity publications and news media, and often transmitted worldwide.

A gala screening in aid of charity can raise a substantial sum via ticket sales and donations, while from the distributor's professional perspective the main goal of a premiere is to give the film a high-profile, entertaining launch, booting the all-important buzz factor. Most premieres in the UK - around 50 a year - take place in London's Leicester square, which has recently had a substantial make-over.

In addition to premieres, distributors may consider other 'experimental events' where fans and visitors can interact with the film characters or situations, for example via touring displays in shopping centers or themed presentations at movie conventions.

Questionaire graphs

3 Graphs which uses questions gathered from the questionaire data.




The one to the left is the age, The most common being 10-19 year olds.

The one to the left is Gender, With about 90% of the answers being male.

And finally, the Genre. I accumulated each count for the genres, and most people thought from the poster that it was a fantasy, and quite a few thought it was an action film. though, some people thought it was a Drama.

In the name of the king: A dungeon siege tale Prezi

A Screen shot of the finished prezi. In it, i comment on how it failed, and how it worked. I commented mainly on aspects like continuity errors, Using the same actor for 2 different parts of the same poster, And several other factors that may have caused the poster to fail.