Psychological Thriller Questionnaire

Link: Survey Monkey Questionnaire

Font Analysis

Font by JessCB on Scribd

Because I will be creating my own font for my film, I will include only SIMILAR fonts to the one I could possibly be creating in my audience questionnaire so my target audience can advice me on the font style to use.

Legal Responsibilities

Legal responsibilities from 999msvalkyrie

My Film Title

Brief Synopsis:
A psychological thriller film set in a small village. When a young woman goes missing within this reclusive community, her sister begins receiving messages from her possible kidnapper. Unable to contact the police, she must play along with this kidnapper's mind games if it means finding her sister unharmed.

Film Titles:
A good film title is short and snappy so it is easily eye-catching on a poster and also sticks inside the viewer's head. Based on my synopsis, these are the titles of psychological thriller films with similar storylines:
- The Vanishing
- Gone Girl
- The Conspiracy
- Prisoners
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

All of these are short and to the point, they immediately give the viewer an idea of what the film is about. It should also be related to the genre of the film. Films like 'Saw' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' hint to blood and violence therefore are instantly recognisable as horror. My title must hint towards the mind or my synopsis about a missing person. Most film titles are around the central conflict of the film. 'The Vanishing' instantly tells us that the main conflict is a person going missing whereas 'Gone Girl' narrows this further by telling the audience a girl has gone missing. 'Prisoners' has a different effect because the centre of the plot is more about the father of one of the missing girls taking prisoner one of the suspects rather than finding the two girls that have gone missing.

Because a film title is very important and effects how the films comes across to the audience and how the marketing material will look, I will instead come up with a number of titles and then allow my target audience to choose the most effective one in my target audience questionnaire. These titles will be thought of based on my plot and genre, I will also be researching these titles to make sure no major films have the same title as that would cause problems for people looking to watch my film as they may get the two films confused.

My Film Title Ideas:
- Mind Games
- The Missing
- Pieces
- Finding Alice
- Breaking Down
- Wicked Games

Directors of Psychological Thriller

Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory'

Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory' from 999msvalkyrie

BBFC Age Classification

The British Board of Film Cassification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation responsible for film age classifications in the UK. Film classification is needed to protect children from unsuitable content within films and also gives viewers the opportunity to decide whether or not to watch a film based on its content. 

The BBFC work by having two examiners watching a film for its theatrical release (one for DVD) and giving it both an age rating and short description of issues found within the film such as swearing or drugs so the viewer knows what they or their children are watching. Each age rating has its own standards of what is or is not allowed, BBFC give a film an age rating depending on whether it matches the criteria or not. A senior examiner will then confirm the two examiners' reccomendation and if they disagree with the rating, the film will be seen by other members of the board, include the chief executive and presidential team. Sometimes the BBFC will also take specialist advice on the legal acceptability of the film and whether it has any potential for harm.

The themes looked at include discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence. Tone is also taken into consideration as often a horrific scene can be very different depending on whether its tone is also horrific. DVD and Blu-ray rating tends to be more strict than cinema release as home viewing is more accessible for underage viewers, this is why cinemas allow a 12A whereas a home release becomes a 12. 

Bbfc classification from 999msvalkyrie

When My Film Would be Exhibited in Cinemas and Why

Psychological Thriller Timeline Release Dates

1940s

Rebecca (1940) - March 28

Spellbound (1945) - October 31

1950s

Rear Window (1954) - September 1
Les Diaboliques (1955) - January 29

Vertigo (1958) - May 9

1960s

Psycho (1960) - June 16
Repulsion (1965) - October 27
Wait Until Dark (1967) - October 26

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) - June 12

1970s

Straw Dogs (1071) - November 2
Play Misty for Me (1971) - November 3
The Conversation (1974) - May 22

Taxi Driver (1976) - February 8

1980s

The Shining (1980) - May 23

Fatal Attraction (1987) - September 18

1990s

Misery (1990) - November 30

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - January 30
Cape Fear (1991) - November 13
The Vanishing (1993) - February 5
Falling Down (1993) - February 26
The Good Son (1993) - September 24

Se7en (1995) - September 22
Copycat (1995) - October 27
Primal Fear (1996) - April 3
The Game (1997) - September 12
Pi (1998) - July 10
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - July 16

Fight Club (1999) - October 15
The Bone Collector (1999) - November 5
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - December 12

2000s

Memento (2000) - March 16
What Lies Beneath (2000) - July 21
The Cell (2000) - August 18
Hannibal (2001) - February 9
The Others (2001) - August 10
Session 9 (2001) - August 10
Don't Say a Word (2001) - September 28

Donnie Darko (2001) - October 26

Frailty (2001) - November 7
Vanilla Sky (2001) - December 14

Insomnia (2002) - May 24
One Hour Photo (2002) - September 13
Red Dragon (2002) - October 4
Identity (2003) - April 25
Mystic River (2003) - October 15
Oldboy (2003) - November 21
Gothika (2003) - November 21

The Butterfly Effect (2004) - January 23
Secret Window (2004) - March 12
November (2004) - July 22
The Village (2004) - July 26
Trauma (2004) - September 17
The Machinist (2004) - December 17
Hide and Seek (2005) - January 28
Next Door (2005) - March 10
Hard Candy (2005) - April 28
Zodiac (2007) - May 18
Mr Brooks (2007) - June 1
Anamorph (2007) - September 21
The Killing Room (2009) - January 16
Orphan (2009) - July 24
Triangle (2009) - October 16

2010s

Shutter Island (2010) - February 19
Inception (2010) - July 8

Black Swan (2010) - December 3

Sound of my Voice (2011) - April 27
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - December 20

Side Effects (2013) - February 8
Prisoners (2013) - September 20

Gone Girl (2014) - October 3

The research shows that September and October are the two most popular months for a psychological thriller film release. Naturally I would avoid summer, christmas, and 'dump months'. Summer and christmas months such as July and December should be avoided because these are months where children have a break from school and visit the cinema often, therefore these months are filled with blockbuster releases that could become potential competition for my own film. 'Dump months' are months commonly known to feature movies that flop. The biggest one of these is January and February though August and September can also be considered 'dump months' some years. The reason for these months being so unpopular amongst audiences is because they come right after christmas and summer months which are typically the most active months where all the blockbusters are released.

Because my film is likely to be released in 2017 since most trailers are released a few months before the film's actual release, I researched what other films are scheduled to be released in September and October so I could decide between them.

September
IT (Horror) - September 8
The Solutrean (Thriller) - September 15
The Lego Nijago (Children's) - September 22
Granite Mountain (True Story) - September 22
Victoria and Abdul - September 22
The Equalizer 2 (Thriller) - September 29
American Made (Crime) - September 29

October
Blade Runner 2049 (Sci-fi) - October 6
My Little Pony: The Movie (Children's) - October 6
Friday the 13th (Horror) - October 13
The Snowman (Mystery) - October 13
The Commuter (Suspense) - October 13
Insidious: Chapter 4 (Horror) - October 20
The Mountain Between Us (Romance) - October 20
Geostorm (Sci-fi) - October 20
Saw: Legacy (Horror) - October 27

Because October has more film releases during this year and more films similar to my own such as 'The Snowman' and 'The Commuter' therefore more competition, my film will be released in September. I also examined the release days of the films released in the September month and decided to release my film on September 5 since that puts it before any of the big releases in September such as The Equalizer 2 and IT. I searched up what films come late August just to make sure my film is not close to any potential competition and the last film to be released before mine that's worth noting is Flatliners but this is a Sci-fi and comes out August 18.

Audience Use and Gratification Theory

What is it?
Audience theory strives to ask three questions; why do audiences choose certain media, how do they consume this media, and what happens when they consume it? Audience use and gratification theory asks why and what people do when they choose to consume a media rather than the media's affect on the actual audience. It believes that rather than the media being forced onto an audience, the audience willingly chooses the media in order to gratify their needs. Audience use and gratification theory works on the idea that the relationship between the audience and the media has evolved to the point where the audience no longer simply consumes the media but becomes a part of it. The audience choose a certain type of media to fulfill their gratification therefore it is up to marketing to win the audience's gratification over competing medias.

Audience and Media Relationship
An audience can interact with a media in numerous different ways. An example would be writing a review on a movie rather than just watching it, or even just talking about the movie on social media counts as interacting with the film rather than consuming it. People start conversations about TV shows or films and media has become a part of our everyday lives. But because of this, it's believed that audience use and gratification theory is false because we have become so addicted to the media it is no longer an option to willingly choose not to consume it. The media is everywhere whether we want to see it or not. Therefore it's the media that has influence over the people and not the other way around. This has come around with the growth of the media. We can now have more control over the media we consume and how we can interact with it.

Criticism
This theory excludes marketing strategies that target a specific audience group. For example, marketing campaigns assume that women are the general audience for romance films therefore it doesn't market towards a male audience therefore goes against the audience use and gratification theory. But this theory would apply to my own psychological thriller film because it's targeted towards a niche audience that typically explores various films whether they are independent or low budget. Therefore my targeted audience is very open age and gender-wise as it's the type of audience that doesn't follow general trends or fads. 

The theory also suggests we have some form of control over the media which many believe is not true. The media is everywhere from advertisements to television and can have influence over our lives without us even realising it. This happens at a very young age, maybe even before we our conscious of what influences us. An example of this would be children's television shows such as Bob the Builder which is a show clearly targeted towards young boys and first plants the idea that a male role is typically filled with manual labour whereas girls are introduced to shows such as Barbie which introduces feminine elements such as dresses, hair and makeup. This follows up into adulthood where the typical daytime shows revolve around cooking or house refurbishing - shows that have a general audience of housewives. The general public also does not have much control over the information shared across the media. Newspapers decide what information they want to prioritise such as having a celebrity on the front page rather than an update on the Syria crisis. 

My Target Audience

Psychological thrillers prioritise storytelling over visual elements which means they can often be unpopular amongst the mainstream film audience. Because of this, my film marketing will be targeting a niche audience. Because my film will mainly be shown in independent cinemas or art houses, it's important that it targets directly towards a certain target audience in order to generate a profit. A niche audience is typically mature therefore my target audience would be over 18 years old. Therefore the age range of my target audience would be 18-45 years old. Most psychological thrillers will typically have either a 15+ or 18+ rating therefore this suits my target audience. 

Despite psychological thrillers being aimed towards a more mature audience, the majority are given a 15+ rating in order to gather a bigger revenue since psychological thrillers do not easily make a large amount of money like blockbuster movies. An older audience is more suited to a psychological thriller film because whereas a typical teen audience is looking for a thrill-seeking horror or eye-catching cinematography, a mature audience is more likely to be looking for a film with an interesting plot and characters. Despite teens typically being the generation most associated with social media, the adults within my age range are also likely to have access to social media so it is still possible for me to use social media sites such as Facebook and Youtube for marketing strategies. 

Since my film will be targeting a niche audience, they will be the type of people who regularly watch independent films such as The Machinist and Memento, films that are out of the ordinary and not popular amongst the general audience. This type of audience would also be considered 'film buffs' and watch an endless amount of movies within their spare time. This type of audience will also not mind watching low budget films such as American Psycho and Donnie Darko as they focus more on storyline and character development of a film rather than cinematography and action.

My target audience won't have a certain gender to it as both male and females are in a typical niche audience. This is opposed to, say, and action movie which would target towards a male audience as it's usually men who are interested in action. 

Because independent cinemas and art houses tend to be more expensive with food and drinks yet cheaper on the ticket, watching a film at an independent cinema isn't a typical night out with friends. Therefore my mature target audience would be there for the film rather than a good night out with friends.