When conducting the interviews I did with my two friends, I knew I couldn’t solely guide myself through that for my research conducted for my specific movie opening idea so I decided that the best way to further explore other peoples opinions was to create a Google survey and ask people to scan and complete it. I walked around my whole school at the end of class, going into at least six different classes and kindly asking for permission to get students to scan the QR code I created and even hung up a poster I created with the code in two different classrooms. Through this method I was able to receive 118 responses.
When creating the survey I knew I had to make the questions quick, easy and short if I wanted everyone who scanned my code to actually complete the survey. I knew if I put the idea of the film opening I had in the description of the survey, no one was going to sit there and read through the whole idea and then answer questions about it so I had to pick questions that would answer a few questions I had and still fit under the idea I have. I include a quick description of what a coming-of-age film was as well as two images. I included a picture of Pitbull (Mr. 305) to grab people's attention, he's a famous singer who many people find funny and it's not something you expect to see when asked to complete a survey. I wanted to get people talking about the survey, I wanted to make it a unique experience and get people to be surprised when seeing it. I've personally never scanned a QR code, opened a research survey and seen Pitbull as one of the first things on the survey.
I also included a picture of KATEYE, a global girl group. Everyone has been talking about them as a group for the past few months from their appearance in the "Better In Denim" GAP AD, as it has reached 48 million views solely on YouTube. I knew someone would recognize them from either that or their 33,356,460 monthly listeners on Spotify as well as them being recent MTV award (VMA) and two Grammy nominations. Thankfully it worked and many people were surprised by the random feature of both images and I even overheard people talking about the images as they were taking the survey.
(YouTube)
(Spotify)
The questions I included:
What’s your gender?
How old are you?
What are some of your favorite coming-of-age movies?
Which student struggles do you think are most important to show in a coming-of-age story?
Do you prefer fast-paced sequences or slower moments that focus on emotions?
How much do visual techniques (close-ups, tracking shots, high/low angles) help you connect with a character?
Would seeing a character struggle despite getting good grades make her more relatable or less appealing?
Would you relate to a story about a student working hard to earn a scholarship?
While I repeated some of the questions I asked when interviewing my friends I created some new ones as well to know what a more generalized audience thought as well as a gender group as well as an age group.
Question results and analysis
For the results of the first question there were 67 females (56.8%) and 51 males (43.2%) who took the survey. Although there wasn’t an exact slip down the middle with 50% of each gender and more women completed the survey, a good amount of men completed the survey as well, enough to give me an overall idea of what they think on the matter.
The outcome of the second question was that 103 people who completed the survey are 15-16 years old (88.8%), 9 people are 17-18 years old (7.8) and 4 people are 20+ years old (3.4%). The results for this question let me know that the overall audience that provides the information for the survey are 15-16 years old.
The answers for the third question were a mix of a lot of different movies. However the main movies that were picked as favorites were Mean Girls with 59 picks (51.39%), The Hunger Games with 58 picks (50.4%), Clueless with 39 picks (33.9%) and Dead Poets Society with 19 picks (16.5%). The results make sense when considering what draws people to these specific movies. Each of these films connect with viewers in different but such meaningful ways. Mean Girls stands out because it captures the ups and downs of high school life such as friendships, fitting in, self-discovery and unfortunately mean girls that we’ve all encountered while keeping the mood and tone of the movie funny and entertaining for its audience with some of its scene still being used as memes 20+ years after its release. The Hunger Games attracts its audience through its strong female protagonists and themes of bravery and standing up for what you believe is right. Clueless remains a favorite for its humor, style, and focus on personal growth which out of all the movies I put on the choices to pick from as the answer I personally disliked the most. I know how iconic the film is but I didn’t resonate with the characters, story and overall plot. There’s movies like Clueless that people love but there's also Dead Poets Society that resonates with people who value creativity, inspiration, and staying true to themselves. Overall, this specific question shows that people tend to connect most with movies that explore real emotions, personal growth, and the journey to find where you belong, which are experiences many people can heavily relate to.
The results for the fourth question were academic pressure with people 59 picking it (50%), family finances at 35 (29.7%), friendships with 65 picks (55.1%) and mental health issues being the highest at 71 (60.2%). This question I made sure to make it where you were able to pick multiple choices when choosing since I do think it is important to showcase the many struggles a human may have at a time. I really want my film to highlight that and as shown by the responses many people think mental health issues, friendships, and academic pressures are important struggles to show in a coming-of-age story.
For the fifth question the results were 69 (58.5%) people prefer slower moments as opposed to the 49(41.5%) who prefer fast-paced sequences. Many people would rather see the slower moments that focus on the character, emotions and the real time scene rather than the fast-paced sequences that I thought would showcase how much hard work the character has put into her school work through showing many different tasks, one after another such as the character writing, reading, typing and doing a bunch of school related activities and highlight how time consuming it all is for her and her life in general.
The sixth question's results were 13(11.2%) for not much, 46(39.7%) under very much and 57(49.1%) people picked somewhat when asked how much visual techniques help them personally connect with a character. I think a big part of why the results of this question are what they are is because many people don’t fully understand visual techniques and haven't trained their eyes to look at how a camera angle can develop a character. I’ve been studying how to do it and I still haven’t mastered the topic and probably won’t until hopefully sometime near the future. I think that’s mainly why so many people picked “somewhat”. I am also assuming this since the two girls I interviewed both stated how much visual techniques helped them personally connect with a character, but they are both taking media studies so that could have had a large impact on their current answer and if I were to have asked them last year when they didn’t know a single thing about visual techniques aside from something looking cool to them in a movie. With that being said, I want to reach a larger audience then just media studies students and film nerds so while I understand the importance of visual techniques I have to also remember that I can’t solely rely on visuals to connect the audience and the character. I have to think of everyone who goes into a movie simply to enjoy and not to analyze.
For question seven, when being asked if seeing a character struggle despite getting good grades make her more relatable or less appealing 12 (10.3%) people picked less appealing as their answer and 105 (89.7%) people picked more relatable. As seen by the results many students think it would be more relatable to see someone struggling despite getting good grades instead of less appealing since I do personally think good grades won’t stop people from having struggles such as depression, family issues and so many more struggles that people suffer from everyday despite being a student or not and getting an A or an F.
In question eight when asked if you would relate to a story about a student working hard to earn a scholarship 85(72.6%) of people said yes while the other 32(27.4%) of people said no. The results of this question honestly really shocked me, maybe it's because my ultimate goal in life as of right now as a teenager and a student is to have a good education and I understand the importance of a scholarship when it comes to wanting a good education but I do understand most students don’t necessarily work only towards a scholarship but I still expected those results to be very different especially with the results of the last question. I do however still think college and scholarships will still be the protagonist's ultimate goal in this story.
Doing this survey turned out to be one of the most useful parts of my research as it helped me hear from a variety of different perspectives than just my two friends I interviewed. It gave me a much better understanding of what different audiences think on the matter. I realized that while my own ideas are important, it’s just as valuable to know what others actually connect with, especially for a coming-of-age film. The responses really changed how I look at my film idea. Many people prefer slower, more emotional scenes instead of fast-paced ones, which made me really rethink how I want to show my character’s story. I plan to include more moments that focus on her emotions and everyday struggles, rather than rushing through scenes of her doing schoolwork. What stood out to me was how many people said mental health, friendships, and academic pressure were the most important struggles to show. That made me feel more confident about the themes I want to include in my opening since they clearly really resonate with people my age. Another thing I found interesting was that almost 90% of people said seeing a character struggle despite getting good grades would make her more relatable. That response really stuck with me because it showed how people connect with characters who feel real, people who might seem successful but still have their own struggles and challenges within their life that we may not know about because they never express themselves. The question about visual techniques also made me think since a lot of people said that visual techniques only "somewhat" helped them connect with a character, which reminded me that not everyone pays attention to the camera work or editing like film students do. It reminded me that I need to focus not only on visuals but other elements such as acting and storytelling to make the audience connect with the character. Overall, the survey helped me understand a greater audience better and gave a clearer view of which direction I want to take my film opening in. It showed me and gave me a good amount of experience with research which I’ve come to learn is not just collecting data but learning how to make creative choices that actually connect with people.
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