Friday, 14 October 2011

Target Audience

Those who participated in my questionnaire were of both genders and ranged from the ages 16-35+. This tells me that documentaries are not specifically made for a certain type of person. You can be of either sex and any age to enjoy a documentary. Therefore, my documentary is aimed at anyone interested in the topic I have chosen which is 'Forced marriage'.

When I posed the question 'what makes a documentary interesting?', I wanted to find out what the audience enjoy watching. Out of those who participated in my survey, more than 5 replied that the topic of the documentary was what they found most interesting. So as my last question I asked if 'they would be intrigued to watch a documentary on arranged/forced marriages?'. To this many replied that they would be interested because it is a known topic but not talked about. Some also said that it is a matter close to their hearts therefore they would enjoy watching something on it.

For this documentary myself and my group have been thinking about the codes and conventions of documentaries. We came to realise that music and reconstructions are very common when making a documentary but we asked ourselves, although it is a common attribute to documentaries, do the audience actually enjoy them? So in my survey, I asked if background music was preferred to no music and if reconstructions were a vital part to a 'good' documentary. In reply to the music, some participants replied that music was enjoyable if it fitted with the scene of the documentary, because they felt that it would enforce what the documentary was on about. Also some said that music was good because it filled the minor gaps of silence some documentaries may have. However, one participant said that music was distracting from the seriousness of a documentary. In reply to the reconstruction being a vital part of a good documentary, some participants said it was vital because it helps the audience to gain a better understanding of the content of the programme. However, some participants said they weren't vital for a good documentary however they were useful if used in the right context and accurate.

Therefore, I now know that when I am making my own documentary, I am only going to use music that flows with the content of the scene and also only use reconstructions that are accurate and don't exaggerate the topic because then it is not a realistic view of the topic.

Doing this online survey was useful because it provided me with good research information to make my own documentary and was quick and easy to do and didnt take up alot of time.

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