The Importance Of Market Research

Market research by-and-large is the most effective means of discovering an audience or customer in many forms of enterprise. In the case of documentary or any other television programme. It is the most widely used form of research to discover the prime demographic for the production.

Specifically, in the area of factual programming, market research can provide us with the age range, educational depth, time slot, and requirements of the audience. There would be no point, for instance, putting a factual programme about the state of the economy on CBEEBIES in the Saturday morning, 7am slot. Equally there would be little value in presenting a factual programme with in-depth medical descriptions that only a consultant physician would understand to an audience of the general public.

Market research can never be a one hundred percent indication of requirement but can, in the main, give us an insight into the initial strategic direction for the factual programme. Market research, used correctly, after a TV channel has commissioned you to create a piece of work for a specific time slot, age range, or subject, can tailor the basic structure of the production and eliminate certain counterproductive aspects of creative block, while on occasion providing the producer with ideas that they may never have thought of.

Market research, showing a due diligence, can also be used by the freelance producer as a pitching tool for the programming executive, who may wish to commission his work and on commercial channels, market research can indicate the particular kind of advertising that would fit in context with the subject matter.

In short, market research is the guide and sales tool that most points out the creative and non-creative aspects of the factual programme and it's position in the market. Without question the imagination and skill of the creative team will be the overwhelming factor in the production of a factual programme, however a solid understanding of market forces and requirements will definitely make the more prepared team stand out against the less-prepared competitors.

Sadly, in many of the creative arts, the lack of such business skill has led to some very good creative ideas not making it to market and some of the most talented producers, writers and film-makers remaining in the shadows forever.

Production Schedule

Friday 2^nd December

1. Filming the opening scene – the typing of the title
2. Filming the hidden subject under a blanket
3. Filming the hidden subject behind a newspaper
4. Filming possible scenes - the interviews with the elbow and the knee (later discarded)

Saturday 3^rd December

1. Filming the conclusion

Sunday 4^th December

1. Searching for images of celebrities for use as examples in the documentary
2. Searching for suitable music for the interludes

Between Monday 5^th December and Thursday 15^th December

1. Editing the video into my documentary – 'Am I Camera Shy?'
2. Adding credits and stills
3. Scripting the narrative

Tuesday 13^th December

1. Recording the voice over and editing it into the piece

Throughout the process

1. Storyboarding in the style of Roy Lichtenstein
2. Researching camera shyness, it's causes, reasoning and any other available knowledge

Research Findings By Gender

Female Statistics

Of the females asked -

90% are on social networking sites

70% ‘share’ photos on the Internet

80% said that they don’t like being in front of the camera

60% don’t mind being looked at

Around half think that their perception of cameras has changed throughout their lives

Male Statistics

Of the males asked –

60% are on social networking sites

50% ‘share’ photos on the Internet

30% said they don’t like being in front of the camera

70% don’t mind being looked at

Again, around half think that their perception of cameras has changed throughout their lives

Therefore, while general, everyday confidence is approximately equal between the genders, camera confidence is more easily found in males. However, females seem more likely to share their photos on the internet (the majority of which are on facebook).

Questionnaire Results

These are the first results of the questionnaire I made about confidence in front of cameras.

Shown in another slide for the presentation, this graph shows the difference between confidence in ages and in genders, as taken from the first wave of questionnaires. 

Plans For The Questionnaire

Using the information gathered from the questionnaire, I hope to answer the following questions - 

·      Who is more confident in front of the camera? Men or women?

·      Which age group is more affected by camera shyness? Do we loose/gain camera confidence with age?

·      Are older people less likely to use modern technology?

·      Does the age/gender of a person change their attitude towards sharing photos?

·      Do people think that camera shyness is a form of modesty? For example, do they say that they are camera shy and then post pictures of themselves on the Internet etc.?

·      Is it a social phobia? Do people who are not confident in front of people always get afraid in front of cameras too?

·      Does situation/company make a difference to the attitude?

Therefore, I must endeavour to ask a wide range of people of different genders, age groups, situations etc. 

I must also find an appropriate method of calculating the results and putting them to use. 

Questionnaire About Confidence In Front Of Cameras

This is the first draft of the questionnaire I plan to gain my primary information from...

               Please circle ONE answer for each question.

1.             Gender

Male                        Female

2.             Age
-10               11-16                 17-21                    22-25              25-30                 

31-40                        41-50                        51-60                        60+

3.             How confident do you think you are, as a person?

Very confident                        Quite confident                        Confident                       

Not confident                          Nervous                                    Very nervous

4.             Are you on social networking sites?

                              Yes                        No

 

5.             If so, which ones?

____________________________________________________

6.             Do you share photographs/videos of yourself on the Internet?

Yes                        No                        No, but others share my photos/videos

7.             Do you like being in front of a camera?

Yes                        No

8.             Do you mind being looked at?

Yes                        No

9.             When are you most comfortable in front of the camera?

With family           With friends            Alone             No preference

10.          Do you think your attitude toward cameras has changed through your life?

Yes                        No

Research Presentation

Today I completed my PowerPoint presentation on the research for my documentary – ‘Am I Camera Shy?’

With the hope of presenting it tomorrow, I have included the slides Title, Introduction, BBC Three and the Target Audience, Proposal, Documentary Modes, Issues, Subject Research and Conclusion.

With these slides, the idea is to illustrate the research that I have done, both primary and secondary, into the actual subject of the documentary and into the target audience.

Using simple bullet points as reminders, I think I have kept the slides clear and easily understandable; also sticking to a single theme colour of a pastel purple and the purity of white font. With this, I hope that it is easy to read, while still pleasant to look at.

Using the font Arial and some interesting, yet subdued images, I think that I’ve suited the presentation to the target audience and the upcoming documentary (as shown below).

Hopefully I’ve done what I was supposed to do!