My research essay

The purpose of researching for a short film production is to figure out

target audiences for your short film, inspiration and influences
regarding characters, locations, story and cinematography. As
well as an understanding of film in general so we are able to use
that knowledge of film and project it into our own productions.
For an example of how research can influence and shape our
production and idea, by researching what our target audience
should be for our initial plans for our short film we can then
further look into what that audience wants to watch to better our
audience’s response to our short film and get a better reaction.
Another example of research being important for our short film
is by using inspiration from characters, locations,
story/cinematography we are able to create something that we
know works and we know people enjoy, a lot of famous movies
are inspired by other creative media and art, it is not about
coping but appreciating and understanding art that sticks out to
us so we can better our own production and ideas. This goes for
characters like costume, personality traits, backstory and their
general feel they give. Locations, for example a location you
have seen that sets the scene in another movie that could work
well to do the same thing in the project you want to make. You
can even use inspiration for the theming and colours of your
production or use a base line narrative from another movie,
short film or tv show.

There are three types of research, Content, Market and production

research. Content research involves analysis to do with online
content and best preforming ideas that are relevant to your topic.
(in this case a short film production) Content research involves
finding and collecting information from different sources that
can support, enhance, or change your content. For example, the
content research we have looked into for this project so far
includes looking into our inspiration and influences which are
movies like ‘Gone girl’, ‘Thelma and Louise’ and ‘Wild things’.
We have researched into characters and the revenge aspect of
these movies to link it back to our short film in these same ways.
We also have looked back on the history of film to better
understand the techniques used in film over the years. Content
research is important because it helps production companies and
businesses understand their target audience, create successful
content and optimize content for search engines. Market
research is used to gain reliable data about spersific markets and
target customers, for example with our film we created and sent
out a survey asking questions like: How old are you?, How do
you identify?, What genre are you interested in? Ext... by doing
this we can better determine our target audiences age, gender
and wants for the short film project we are creating. Our
conclusion was that our short film is going to be aimed at
teenagers - young adults and mainly women. Marketing research
is a tool that businesses and organisations use to gather valuable
information about their target market and industry. By
conducting this kind of research we can gain insights into
customer needs and behaviour, stay competitive, make
informative decisions, manage risks and measure sugsess.
Finaly, as for production research the purpose of this kind of
research is to investigate things like how much the actual
production for your project will cost, the content of your
production and weather the production is viable for release. Like
for example, in our short film we had to discuss how we were
going to make a spersific Sene where a car would run over one
of our actors. As for budget, since we are in collage we have
access to most things we need already. But we do usually think
about added things collage don't fund, like things needed for
special effects, costume, travel, food and drink. Production
research is so important because it again helps understand our
market, customers, and competitors. It can provide us with
essential insights that can shape the development, marketing and
launch of a product or project. Primary research involves
collecting data that has not been collected before, for instance
you can collect this data by using interviews, surveys,
observations or any type of research that you could go out and
collect yourself. Primary research is under the category of
market research and is the reason me and drew created surveys
to better understand what we needed for our short film. Primary
research is often seen as being more valuable than secondary
research as it answers a spersific question rather then relying on
second hand data witch was originally collected for another
purpose. In conclusion, this means that primary research is
generally more conclusive than secondary research. On the other
hand, secondary research is an interpretation of a primary
source, for example any kind of data collected by someone else
or a company would be primary research but your own analysis
and interpretation of that data would be secondary research. In
our research for everything surrounding our short film
secondary research is a big part of everything as it shows our
personal opinions, thoughts and analysis. This is so important
because it helps us determine if more primary research is needed
for our production. Not only that but it can also support and
verify the findings from our primary research. Finaly, we have
qualitive and qualitive research. Qualitative researchers consider
the diversity of meanings and values created in media. Rather
than focusing media effects or influences, they attempt to
understand the many relationships that exist within media and or
society. For example in our short film we have looked into the
relationships between our characters, how they would act in
certain situations given there character we have portrayed to the
audience. For example, how our characters would react to grief
and how they would react to doing something they are afraid
they could get in trouble for. Qualitative research is important
because it is what helps our audience connect to our film more,
weather it is through characters or through the relatability of the
content within our film. Qualitative research is a type of
 research that explores and provides deeper insights into real
world problems. Instead of collecting data points, just like
quantitative research, qualitive research helps generate
hypotheses. This can include one on one interviews, case study
research, general observation, focus groups or record keeping.
Again, this is important because it helps the audience relate to
the story more as the story would be more relevant to the
viewers life due to the way it feels more real.
In conclusion, some of the most important benefits and overall
importance of research involve, helping communication and
effectiveness, This is because this will help marketing witch is
important because it helps people take notice to whatever you
are trying to promote and show the target audience. Especially
since we now have social media, using that as an advantage has
changed marketing completely the past decade and has given us
access to a sometimes free and very effective way to show your
idea to a larger amount of people all over the world. For
example, with the popular social media platform, TikTok.
TikTok has a very useful algorithm to do exactly this type of
research and has helped many videos, films, people and music
suddenly get extremely popular. The benefits of this research are
that we have such an easy but extremely useful way to reach
different audiences to have the best outcome. Secondly, research
that revolves around planning the actual production benefits the
end result since we are left with a smoother, thought-out finish
instead of having something unplanned and end up feeling
disappointed with the result. Going back to market research as
well, sometimes if you don't put enough thought into how the
production is going to end up you could have put expectations
up to a better standard with your marketing than your actual
product. This could lead to your production company being
looked down on when it comes to future projects. Finaly,
research that involves looking into how everything in the actual
story is going to work, how the characters will interact and what
 is in character for what you have created for them ext.... The
benefits of this research is that we are able to better understand
the audience and how they can relate more to the story and
characters they are seeing and listening too in front of them.
Research overall is important in media studies as it brings
objectivity and accuracy. A good production and story is always
the result of accurate research, investigation and discussion.
Media research is also used in conducting surveys, public
opinion polls, advertising and public relation campaigns. So, in
conclusion by using all different types of research for our
projects as well as in media in general we are able to better
understand how our production works, out target audiences
(witch will help us better marketing), take inspiration from other
inspirations and influences of what we want to create and
produce.

Bibliography
Thelma & Louise. (1991). [Film]. culver city, california, usa: Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer.
wild things. (1998). [Film]. Los Angeles, California , United
States: Mandalay Entertainment.

Gone girl. (2014). [Film]. Century City, Los Angeles: 20th Century
Studios.

Alexandra twin. (2024). How to Do Market Research, Types, and

Example. investopidea. 1(3), p.4. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/market-
research.asp#:~:text=Market%20research%20is%20the%20proc
[Accessed 19 April 2024].

adi bhat. (2023). Primary Research: What It Is, Purpose &

Methods + Examples. questionpro. 1(1), p.6. [Online]. Available
at: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/primary-research/
[Accessed 19 April 2024].