Audience research is defined as studying habits of people who watch a particular genre of film, this is carried out so that producers know what an audience expects and likes from that genre, so that they can make a film that will cater to as many people as possible. This is important for producers because a film does better when it has a mass market, so audience research ensures that a film is aimed at a particular market while still appealing to a range of people.
There are two main types of audience research and within these two types there are many different methods of getting information. These two types are Quantitative research and Qualitative research. Quantitative research is mainly about getting numerical data, for example, the size of the audience - it can also show the audience's demographics such as gender, age and location. If a producer wishes to get numerical, quantitative data then they will probably send out questionnaires. Questionnaires using closed questions is the easiest and exact way to get numerical data for quantitative research because you can send the questionnaires to thousands of people and the results will give the precise demographics of the target audience. An example of a questionnaire, using Oldboy, could look like this.
What is your name?
Where are you from?
How old are you?
18-21 22-25 26-30 30+
How often do you go to the cinema?
Once a week - Once a month - Once a year
What genre of film do you usually see?
Thriller - Action - Romance - World Cinema
Do you enjoy classic remakes of thrillers?
Yes - No
Do you prefer to see films that have happy endings?
Yes - No
Qualitative research is all about getting information on why particular audiences respond to a particular genre or style of film. Two ways of getting qualitative research is through focus groups and interviews. Focus groups work by getting a group of between 5-10 people who are within the target audience and they are given a product to test, or in the case of Oldboy, they may get a clip or a viewing of the entire film so that the researchers can gather whether or not they will get a good response to the film or not and if there is anything that they may need to change or adapt in post-production. Interviews can either be on a panel or individual interviews and they usually work by asking the interviewees about their preferences either of genre or common themes that make up a genre. Some questions that might be asked in interviews, if conducting research on Oldboy, are “Do you prefer happy, understandable endings in thrillers?”, “Are you a fan of world cinema?”, “Are you more likely to see films that feature familiar actors?” and “Have you seen the 2003 version of Oldboy, what did you like about it?”.
After getting their audience research back, producers can then figure out if they want to make any changes to the film in order for it to reach the maximum amount of people, they will know what the audience wants and can cater to that need. Producers may also start figuring out a marketing strategy for the film i.e. movie posters, interviews and premieres so that people know the film is coming out and create a buzz for the film. For example, from conducting the quantitative questionnaire, Spike Lee may have realised that a majority of people do not enjoy a heavy amount of romance in thriller movies and so the research influenced him to take the least amount of the romance theme that is necessary for the plot and not including any romantic scenes that would take away from the intense revenge plot of Oldboy. From the focus groups, the producers of Oldboy may have also noticed that perhaps people would prefer to see some of the asian culture continue on in the Hollywood remake. This could inspire Spike Lee to use various scenes, for example, the dumplings and the many scenes set in chinatown, in order to keep a the sense of culture that audiences would appreciate. This would also ensure that an international audience are able to relate to the film, once again creating a larger audience for the film. Spike Lee changed the ending of the 2013 version of Oldboy, this could have been because during audience research such as interviews, the western audience said they would rather have a ending of the film that is easy to understand morally, instead of having the characters continue their relationship, which is why Spike Lee chose to have Joe Doucett atone for his sins instead of choosing to forget like Dae-Su.
In the run-up to the release of Spike Lee’s version of Oldboy he did countless of interviews talking about how he views the film as a ‘reinterpretation and not a remake’ of Park’s award-winning film. The interviews and chat shows that Lee did will create a lot of buzz and interest in the film, more-so perhaps alongside the trailer that they released for the film. Instead of giving any information about his version of the film Spike Lee just keeps repeating that it’s a ‘reinterpretation’ causing a rising intrigue and mystique to the film. There were also many reviews posted on the internet in the lead-up to the release of the film, however, not many of these reviews were very positive, some even saying that the film felt ‘impersonal’ which could have had a negative impact on how the film was received in the box office.
Bibliography:
- (No Date) Available at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/audience-research (Accessed: 16 May 2016).
- Audience research methods - Media@ESF (2009) Available at: http://www.esfmedia.com/page/Audience+Research+Methods (Accessed: 16 May 2016).
- Roberts, S. (2013) Oldboy interview: Spike Lee talks his reinterpretation. Available at: http://collider.com/spike-lee-oldboy-interview/ (Accessed: 16 May 2016).
- Strombo (2012) Spike Lee on Remaking Korean cult hit ‘Oldboy’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylrLtpeHK4Q (Accessed: 16 May 2016).
- Oldboy movie review & film summary (2013) (2013) Directed by Spike Lee, Matt Zoller Seitz .
- Chang, J. (2013) Film review: ‘Oldboy’. Available at: http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/oldboy-review-1200848857/ (Accessed: 16 May 2016).
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