Unit 6 Critical Approaches

Learning Outcome 1 Booklet on defining a media audience for a film of your choice
Ill be talking with regard about the new Disney film Frozen.
Task 1a
Quantitative research involves the gathering of statistically valid data samples, which are then
compiled in different ways and are frequently presented graphically in the form of pie charts or bar
charts. This is a more structured method of research than qualitative, which is less absolute in
nature. For example, qualitative research might gather opinions on the quality of a product, the
preference for a particular colour, or a target audiences preference for one trailer over another. The
purpose of quantitative research is to generalise results from the chosen sample and apply them to
the population category being researched. The sample is often a random selection of people, and
the research is gathered via structured techniques, e.g. on-street or telephone interviews, or online
surveys using tools such as SurveyMonkey.com.
Qualitative research, unlike quantitative research, is not statistical and might be used to gather the
various opinions and views in a chosen sample of people. This method of research may be used to
highlight trends in peoples opinions via group discussions and/or individual interviews. The findings
of qualitative research are often inconclusive, but can provide insights into certain aspects of a
production which might lead to later quantitative research. However, qualitative research has
enormous value in that it enriches quantitative data with examples from real situations which allow
the data to be more intelligently interpreted. Qualitative research may include actual verbatim
opinions from interviewees to aid comprehension, and is exploratory and investigative rather than
conclusive like quantitative research, and is used when one doesnt know what to expect from the
results.
In general terms, producers use these techniques to explore and investigate views in the interest of
developing a final course of action. There are different benefits to each method, depending on the
outcome a producer wants to achieve. Ideally, when budget allows, a producer will want to use both
methods of research because although alone they are effective and useful, the synergy they provide
when used together is often better than if one had just used one method because the two
complement each other. Qualitative research can lead to problems being outlined which can then be
addressed by quantitative research results, and quantitative research can often benefit from some
follow-up qualitative research to explore some of the findings of the quantitative research in more
depth.
Qualitative research pros and cons
Pros
Used to define problems and develop an approach to problems that exist
Helps to understand the values and feelings that influence opinions
Can help set parameters for quantitative research (e.g. when setting up a range of responses)
Produces more in-depth, discussion based results
Questions are open and can be answered as such there are few limitations in choice
Cons
Smaller variety of sample respondents
Questions can be difficult to interpret which can lead to misunderstanding of the point and
ultimately confusion in the results
Very time-consuming
Results are inconclusive which can make collaboration and evaluation of the data difficult
Quantitative research pros and cons
Pros
Large samples can be used
Questions are closed which makes them easy to interpret and result in very definite responses
Collaboration of results is simple
Results are easy to interpret
Can be done quickly and efficiently
Can be done entirely using the internet
Low costs

Cons
Answers cannot be in depth
Not much opinion can be given

Based on what we know about qualitative and quantitative research we can decide, if the situation
requires a choice, which method is more appropriate to be used. If I were the producer of Frozen, I
would have an enormous budget and would undoubtedly employ the use of both methods. If I had
to make a choice though, I would base it on the following queries:
How much time do I have?
Do I know the rough plot of my film yet?
Do I need statistical values or opinions?
Asking myself these questions would lead me to know which method of research best suited my
needs as a producer. I think if I had to decide and put the value of one method over the other I
would choose quantitative research as the better method. With time management and cost
efficiency being very important when making films (particularly the former), quantitative research
would provide me with clear, easy to interpret, conclusive statistical information in a very short
space of time. While qualitative is still an extremely effective method of research, I feel that it might
become a bit long-winded with everyone giving a lengthy, detailed view on each and every topic. In a
filmmaking scenario time efficiency is of paramount importance and thats why I would choose
quantitative research as the method I would prefer to use. I also feel that if the right questions were
asked, a quantitative survey could cover almost as much detail as a qualitative focus group
discussion.
Task 1b
Frozen Questionnaire
1. How old are you?
________________________________________________________
2. What is your gender?
________________________________________________________
1. What is your sexual orientation?
________________________________________________________
2. What is your salary?
________________________________________________________
3. Where are you living at the moment?
North East
North West
East of England
London
South East
South West
Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
4. What is your marital status?

________________________________________________________

5. Do you have any children? How old are they and what gender?
________________________________________________________
6. What is your occupation?
________________________________________________________
7. On average, how many films might you normally watch in a week?
0-2
3-5
6-8
7-9
10+
8. What are some of your favourite films? List as many as you like.



9. Do you enjoy most Disney films?
________________________________________________________
10. Do you like musicals?
________________________________________________________
11. What genre of film do you enjoy watching the most? Tick as many as appropriate.
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Crime
Drama
Fantasy
Historical
Horror
Musical
Romance
Sci-Fi
Thriller
War
Western

Quantitative research (detailed questionnaire for a peer group showing the film and asking who
they think the audience would be; record one-to-one interviews with parents/teachers (different
peer group) asking their opinion)
Qualitative research (BARB; IMDB; BFI; Rotten Tomatoes read reviews and look at the profiles of
each reviewer)

Task 1b Qualitative research

By looking at the website rottentomatoes.com Ive been able to deduce several things about the
reviewers of the Disney film Frozen.




















Link to trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQm5doF_Uc


It should of course be noted that the majority of people writing reviews on websites like these are
not one-offs these are people who critique films on a regular basis, and who will watch a film just
so that they can review it. Therefore, the majority of those reviewers shown above are not an
accurate representation of the sort of audience the film typically attracts. As it stands, analysis of the
above reviewers is as follows:
Most are male
Judging from profile pictures, most are aged around 30-50
Almost all come from movie-reviewing magazines or blogs

In order to gain a more accurate representation of the type of audience who watch might watch
Frozen I spoke to an expert in movies, Harry Cowley. He also spoke to me about another film, so we
provided information for each other in this way. The videos of this are below this document.

Task 1c Audience Profile
From my research into the target audience of the film, I have managed to conclude the following:
Age 5-14 years, 15-20 years & 21-35. This film is mainly aimed toward a very
young audience; certainly the majority of the viewers will be young
children aged around 6-14. The inclusion of the older parameter (15-20)
is, it could be suggested, due to the fact that people of that age have
enjoyed watching most of the Disney films their entire lives and have
developed a nostalgic passion for them, despite their young style. The
inclusion of the oldest parameter (21-35) is due to the film being the sort
of thing a family might watch; for example a mother with her daughter or
a couple with young children. The film is aimed at these people as well
because the producers dont want the parents to get bored. In order to
keep these people interested, the producers will use the oldest trick in the
book and include jokes that very young people wont understand, but
older people like parents will.
Socio-economic status Frozen is mainly aimed at young people, so this doesnt quite apply. It
does however apply if one considers the socio-economic status of the
parents who watch this film with their children; of those, the general
status is middle and upper class.
Psychographics Childrens interests include playing, singing, drawing, having fun, and not
going to bed on time. Many young and fun activities are included in the
film its a musical so theres plenty of catchy singing (many viewers have
taken to boldly bursting out in song in the middle of the street so its
obviously working), theres a talking snowman, general fun involved the
sort of thing kids like to watch is all included. For the parents, interests
include taking the kids out to the cinema to watch a film while they get a
chance to switch-off parent mode for a while and let the film do the
teaching.
Gender Based on my research, mostly males have reviewed this film which is
aimed mostly at females. This is based on the gender of my respondents,
the characters in the film (typical princess), the musical edge (little boys
never seem to like singing princesses very much, but rather competition-
based films and action) and so on. This is also to be taken into account for
the parents more women are likely to take their little girl to see this film
than men purely because of the mother-daughter bond that is present
with these kind of things.
Sexual Orientation Although all people in my research are heterosexuals, I cant definitively
say that the absolute target sexual orientation for the film is
heterosexuality because there are many more heterosexual people than
there are homosexual people. If I had the time to properly construct a
piece of research where I was able to choose a selection of people who
could be divided between every single possible category equally then this
would be far easier to ascertain. As it is, I dont think that a target sexual
orientation for this film even exists although if it did (if they were asked
about it) Im sure Disney would say very benevolently that the film was
open to people of all sexual orientations with no favouritism whatsoever.
Regional Identity Although all respondents for my research are White-British, this film is
famous now across many countries in Europe, as well as China, Japan and
other parts of Asia. From a bit of online digging, I discovered that the USA
holds the most fans of the film.
Mainstream This film somewhat follows the mainstream demand in that it is an
animated musical with a talking animal and a princess in it. With Les
Miserables being the biggest musical of note recently, a musical aimed at
young people (Les Miserables being aimed at older generations) was
required to fill the space in the market. Videos are still appearing (almost
6 months after the films release) of people singing covers of the films
biggest songs, or even just mouthing the words to the real song and
dancing along to it its become hugely popular in mainstream interest.