Purposes of Research: (Production Research)

Production Research:

Content:

- When conducting your own film there are a vast amount of research tasks which are required which involve content. The content in which you want may be original or optioned, both of which require research. A route you could choose to go down would be a contractual agreement between a potential film producer this could be for example a movie studio, a production company or even an individual, also a writer or third party to hold ownership over a certain screenplay. As stated earlier you will have to research whatever route you go down as you will have to search for screenplays in which are available to you. Unless you come up with your own content/ story which would take an immense amount of primary research methods as to what you would want to base your film about for example stories from real life which you could find out by conducting interviews, or even shooting live events for the purpose of gathering information etc. 

- Within content, copyright is a type of intellectual property in which cannot normally be used without receiving permission from the owner. But there are ways of going around this as with other forms of intellectual properties copyright can be bought and sold. Another way of doing this would be for the copyright owner to choose to license others to be able to use whatever it is while still retaining ownership of it. An example for short film makers would be perhaps a song for a short film, so they would perhaps email an existing song writer who has suggested that he will share copyright for a small fee to allow people such as short film producers to use this material in their films. In addition to this there are other solutions such as music which is produced by new productions as you wouldn't have to gather permission as no copyright is labelled onto that music. 



"Copyright And Fair Use Animation". YouTube. Web. 29 Dec. 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suMza6Q8J08

Viability:

With viability it is crucial to think logically about the budget when it comes to producing a short film as most companies would be running on a low budget. All information below is what you will need to think about when it comes to expenses as well as the availability of pretty much everything:
It is essential to check/ demonstrate that your planned product which may be a short film is workable. 
You need to test the viability of your product at a number of different levels:
- Is the product financially viable?
- Do you have the necessary skills to undertake the production process?
- Do you have the right equipment and technology available to you?
- What help and support will you require?
- Have you got enough time to produce the product?

These are all important questions in which you should ask yourself to ensure the success of your film.

Other relevant things to look into for viability would be:
1. Availability of Crew
2. Equipment Availability
3. Financially healthy to look into the project
4. Assistance and Support availability
5. Location Availability
6. Travelling facilities


Media Placement:

- This refers to any type of advertising which would be used to increase the awareness of a producers short film. The advertisements in which could increase awareness could be; radio stations, TV adverts, magazine adverts, posters, billboards or even newspapers. For a short film distributor they can use any of the previous methods to directly communicate with their target audience to then be able to inform them of any upcoming short films to therefore be able to increase awareness of the product so that it would be more likely to receive views when released. 

Finance & Costs:

Is the product financially viable? This meaning can the audiences as well as yourself being a short film producer can you afford to make all the products/ services at which you  are offering.

Short Film producers have to consider the costs of the following:
- Crew 
- Locations
- Talent
- Props/ Costume
- Permission
- Equipment
- Miscellaneous e.g food and drink

At the end of the day a short film will not be cheap to make. By ensuring you pay rightly to avoid copyright will ensure that nothing goes wrong later on in terms of copyright issues.

Technological Resources:

- When it comes to looking at audio and moving image products this will require the use of various types of recording and editing equipment. A range of hardware and soft ware options are available for print and multimedia production. However, if you were working as an independent producer then your equipment would have to be purchased or hired for the duration of the production process. You would therefore have to research the costs in advance so that you can budget for them. In some cases a group license is required, this is where you would be requiring more than one editor.

Personnel:

When creating a short film it's key to be able to come up with new and up-to-date ideas, to be able to do this you would require technical expertise to assist within the production stages, also marketing people will be required to help sell the product and then to be able to generate an income from the advertising, sales and merchandising. 

There are different types of personnel for example;
- Sales Team
- Distribution
- Legal
- Editing team etc.

Locations:

- In regards to location a filmmaker will almost certainly have to undertake location research, this research can consist of a location recce this identifies all suitable venues for when the filming takes place. Also assisting in the overall planning when choosing specific shots and assessing any health and safety issues and implications to ensure no cast or crew will be injured while in production. 

Questions within this stage in which you should be asking yourself are:
- How viable is the location in which you would like to film your short?
- How is the sound in your location, is it nearby, is the lighting appropriate?
- Is the location in which you have chosen offering enough space for your short?

References:

"Media Book with all the knowledge" Web. 29 Dec. 2015.
https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Secondary/EnglishAndMedia/MediaStudies/BTECNationalInMediaProduction/Samples/Samplematerial/BTEC_Nat_Media_Unit01.pdf

Purposes of Research: (Market Research)

Market Research:

Product Market:










- A product market focuses around the qualities of a particular product, this could be things such as researching into innovation, which would affect how it then appeals towards the target audience. An advantage towards product market for short film creators would be that it allows them to identify ideal qualities of products that are desired by their target audience. 
- With a briefer definition this allows you to be able to understand exactly what your customers want, initially enabling you to tailor your products and how they are offering to meet demand which overall gives you a competitive advantage. 

"| Marketingdonut". Marketingdonut.co.uk. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
https://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/market-research/new-product-research

Competition:

- A competitive advantage can be gathered through altering products to meet the consumer needs specifically, this will then make it highly more effective in the way of appealing it to the target audience for them to want more. With the right innovation having regular product testings and market research this will allow you to generally be a step ahead on competitors. 
- An advantage to this for short film directors would be that they would have a unique image which could be created through meeting and therefore maintaining their target audiences interests. 

Technologies, Einfolge. "New Product Research". Einfolge.com. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
https://www.einfolge.com/new-product-research/

Competitor Analysis:

- A competitor analysis looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the different competitors. This allows short film writers as well as directors to be able to identify any potential opportunities or even threats from competing short films, this therefore providing them with the insight of what they need to meet their target audience. Then generally allowing them to improve their own ideas to allow them to appeal more to their audience. 

Revolvy, LLC. ""Competitor Analysis" On Revolvy.Com". Revolvy.com. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Competitor%20analysis

Advertising Placement:

- An advertisement placement consists of a group of specific advertising units which allows them to place their ads using placement targeting. Ad placements tend to be able to cover a large mass area, this could consist of a website or specific ad unit. Paying to get your product or service is a form or marketing within advertising. You can advertise through channels which would then promote high service, products or even ideas. The ad also needs to be clear and in bold to allow it not be missed, it needs to catch the audiences eyes.
- Short film creators can decide whether they would like to advertise specific products which their target audience would be attracted to or already like them are then more likely to come across. An advantage to this potentially would be that they would then be addressing directly to their audience, then avoiding any unnecessary adverting which would be done through placing the advert where their target audience would of most likely been to view it. For audiences who are interested in short films, this could be sites like fanzine websites, adverts which are projected through internet forums etc, also YouTube would be a big hit.

"Ad Placement And How To Create It - Adsense Help". Support.google.com. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/160534?hl=en-GB

Advertising Effects:

- With advertising effects this allows consumers to be able to view an advert without being forced to give up an early opinion towards it. Viewers would be able to learn more and then choose to evaluate perhaps a short film trailer and or poster if it was to be created to meet their interests, therefore learning it themselves that it is truly 'ideal' for them. This would then influence the success of the product and then hopefully keeping a successful target audience hooked onto the products/ services in which you are offering to them. 

Purposes of Research: (Audience Research)

Audience Research:

Audience Data:

- Producers capture audience data to help them improve their products and create successful marketing. This is applicable because it can relate to short films due to audience data showing ratings. An advantage of this would be that it is relevant to short films due to it being able to be used as a marketing tool to sell products, as well as help developing short film ideas. A disadvantage of this would be that the data could be old, meaning that the data which was collected could have no use for the present time.

Audience Profiling:

- Audience profiling simply helps in the way of spending your time and money for the greatest return of investment. It gives marketers the general opportunity to be able to make more marketing choices to ensure that you are searching/ looking in the most profitable area. 
- Short film creators can use this to be able to identify their target audience's lifestyles. Audience profiles can generally be useful for researchers as it simply enables them the opportunity to gain a clearer and more developed view of what actually appeals to their target audience. 
This can be based on:
- Race
- Age
- Gender
- Income
- Sexuality
- Education
- Occupation
- Interests
- Frequent Purchases etc.



- An advantage of using audience profiling would simply be due to the fact that short film producers are able to find out specific and relevant information on lifestyle characteristics towards their target audience, this generally enables them to be more effective in their creativity department for short films to be more appealing for their target audience. 

Demographics:

- Demographics are the study in view of the qualities, characteristics of a certain individual. These are potentially critical in terms of audience research as they show clearer proof, ID of consumer markets. Demonstrating the developing populace inside businesses and different organisations however to this demographics are marginally distinctive. 
- Short film creators will use the characteristics of their target audience for the ability to market any new products in which they would like to introduce. An advantage of demographics would simply be that short film producers would be able to create short films that are meeting the needs of their target audience. However, there are disadvantages to this and one would be that the research would only be based on a certain group of individuals who share mutual/ similar interests. 

"The Definition Of Demographics". Dictionary.com. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/demographics

Geo-demographic:

- This is a type of study which tends to be utilised as a form/ part of a business, social research as well as policy making geo-demographics a solid part in the decision area of audience research. Geo-demographics has some sharing qualities with demographics however slightly contrasts also. Geo-demographics are mainly focused towards human commonality this regards to space and area/ location and not in general.
- Short film researchers would use geo-demographics to practically base their target audiences characteristics, however this would only be locally. Geo-demographics would focus on the location side of 'demographics'. An advantage of using this would be that researchers would be able to focus their research on a specific area. However a disadvantage of using this would be that the results would only be able to be based on certain individuals who were based in one location, it wouldn't generally apply to people in other locations.

"Geodemography". En.wikipedia.org. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodemography

Consumer Behaviour:

- Consumer behaviour is the investigation of individual clients, gatherings or associations select, purchase and utilise or dispose thoughts, merchandise, and services to be able to fulfil their requirements and selected needs. This is alluded to the activities in which the consumers in the marketplace and the hidden thought processes within those specific activities. 
-  Short film researchers study individuals and or groups in their specific target audience in the order in which to identify sort of short films which they watch and show an interest towards. This could be a potential advantage as the overall consumer needs and interests are potentially more likely to be met when interests in which they take into account are being advertised to them. A potential advantage to studying consumer behaviour would be that the researches would then be able to easily identify the interests and qualities in which their target audience is looking for, whereas a disadvantage would be that it wouldn't specify to their overall exact interests. 

"Consumer Behaviour". En.wikipedia.org. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

Consumer Attitudes:

- Preferences and distastes, these are the feelings of consumers. At the point of when the individual is gathering a sense of feeling around an item, service, entity, person, place or think, it has been said that to be a summed up customer state of mind that it could influence the marketing of that individual, item or even entity in positive or negative ways. 
- Consumer attitudes generally are often measured by researchers when trying to figure/ find out how they react to things, including their beliefs, views and even behaviour towards short films, or a film in general. This could potentially be seen as an advantage as the researches would be able to gather a clear and pristine view of the responses they receive towards their products, this therefore results in them obtaining results quickly and opinionated answers received. 

"Consumer Attitudes: Definition & Changes - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.Com". Study.com. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/consumer-attitudes-definition-changes-quiz.html

Audience Awareness:

- Audience awareness is having the understanding and information relevant to your audience, whether readers or listeners. 
- Researchers would be able to use online forums or even internet survey to find certain information in which whether their target audience have viewed or shown any interest in a particular short film, this will also help with discovering how many people are showing interest. In order to create a higher understanding of their audiences researches may take further action and put advertisements on their short films within the websites or even include YouTube trailers to their short films to gather information on how many people are actually viewing. Researchers would then be able to test the consumer's ability in recalling their short film without having to name it through asking open questions about a specific short film production.
- An advantage to using these methods would be that it would be great for researchers to be able to find out those certain opinionated responses about the audience's knowledge and thoughts towards their short film, as well as being able to gather the statistical data.
- However, a disadvantage to this would be that a part of the audience may not want to be included within the participation of any online surveys or even want to view any advertisements. 

"Audience Awareness: When And How Does It Develop?". Vtaide.com. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Audience-Awareness.htm

The Advantages and Disadvantages of using Primary Research

The Advantages and Disadvantages of using Primary Research:

What is primary research? 
- Primary research is new research, carried out to answer specific issues or questions. It can involve questionnaires, surveys or interviews with individuals or small groups.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Research

Advantages:

Penna has stated four advantages of using primary research. These are: targeted issues are addressed, data interpretation is better, recency of data and proprietary issues (2012).

Targeted Issues refers to the notion of using focused topics on your research area as oppose to finding a semi related piece of research online. Penna claims Data Interpretation is better because you are analysing information that has been collected by yourself so you know the size of your respondents and where they were taken from.  Penultimately, the data is up to date meaning the responses will be more informed by the current contextual issues in society that could impact their answers. Finally, with the proprietary issues it is an advantage due to the fact that the collector of the primary research does not have to share the information gathered with companies or competitors.

Disadvantages: 

Penna has stated four disadvantages of using primary research. These are high cost, time consuming, inaccurate Feed-backs and More number of resources are required (2012).

High costs, Penna mentions that getting primary research is costly proposition as a marketer throughout and has to be in charge with designing everything. She continues to say that gathering primary research is time consuming, whereas secondary research would save time, but not as reliable. Then continues mentioning how inaccurate feed-backs is a disadvantage as you could be given inaccurate data this means that all the time spent on research would have been a waste of time and money. Finally, she proceeds to mention that with primary research more number of resources are required, would cost time as well as money. Other resources which are required is human resources and materials too are needed but in larger quantities to be able to do surveys and data collection.  

References:

"Define Primary Research - Google Search". Google.co.uk. Web. 21 Dec. 2015.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en-GB&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=define+primary+research&gbv=2&oq=define+primary+research&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3..0l5j0i22i30l5.649.3495.0.3585.23.18.0.3.3.0.136.1512.11j7.18.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..2.21.1530.CYfQUPVD8pc

Sparrow, Penna. "Primary Research Advantages And Disadvantages". Ianswer4u.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 21 Dec. 2015.
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/02/primary-research-advantages-and.html

Methods and Sources of Research: Primary Research (Interview Techniques)

Interview techniques:


Firstly, what are interviews?

Formal Interviews:



- A formal interview is set in a formal even and everything is exceptionally professional throughout the interview. For example, a blockbuster would admission a professional interview as they would want to become successful in the long run. The motivation and point behind this form of interview is to demonstrate to an extent how skilled the company can be to the employee. 

Informal Interviews:



- This tends to be more chilled and friendly. For instance, the majority of the short films recruit individuals following the guideline as they would be interested in what the employee is offering and evaluating whether he or she is suitable for the particular job role. This generally creates a neutral atmosphere which allows the interviewer to be able to see the true and natural side of the individual as they would be more comfortable in a "chilled and friendly" interview. 

What are Interview Techniques?

- There are different formal methods in which when interviewing, an example for this would be where ensuring each question in which is being asked is simple to understand and shouldn't require any grammar mistakes, this depends upon the individual in which is being interviews since some candidates would be wanted to be taken more seriously/ professionally. Additionally, casual methods for interviewing would be for example making inquiries that would generally have no relevance towards the subject, also not asking questions at a fast paced in order to gather more information in a certain space of time. 
- Interview Techniques are also relevant in terms of being prepared for the interview as the interviewee.

What is the purpose?

- The purpose of having techniques is to be prepared for the interview, whether your the interviewer or the other person in the opposite chair having techniques for the interview allow you to know what your saying and make the interview run smoothly. In terms for a short film creator the relevance to this would be whether they required actors or cameramen for short films and they would be having interviews to hire staff, however if the candidates weren't prepared for the interview then the short film producers would of wasted time as well as resources. 

References:

"Interviewing Techniques And Tips: Putting Your Best Self Forward And Getting The Job". Helpguide.org. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/work-career/interviewing-techniques.htm

"What Is An Informal Interview?". Reference. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
https://www.reference.com/business-finance/informal-interview-d877ff2ee59f83ff

"What Is A Formal Interview?". Reference. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
https://www.reference.com/business-finance/formal-interview-67fc69346bd3917

Methods and Sources of Research: Primary Research (Participation in Internet Forums)

Participation in internet forums:

What is it?

- Participating in internet forums is communication with others through the use of internet forums, this could be to talk about a film or something a similar bond alike person feels the same and looks for a forum to talk about it. 

What is the purpose?
- The purpose of participating in internet forums is to allow people to talk about things that other people want to talk about as well, this also could be revolved around a movie, say a short film, a short film producer could look at feedback on someones short film to see where they have made mistakes so they will not. This then would help with not making them mistakes when it comes to the producer producing their own short film in the future.

References:

"Internet Forum". En.wikipedia.org. N.p. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum

Methods and Sources of Research: Primary Research (Audience Panels)

Audience panels:



What is an Audience Panel?

- An audience panel discussion example could be a TV focus group this is where a group of viewers are assembled to give feedback to certain producers on a certain show. 

What is it's purpose?
- The point of audience panels is to allow a group of people to give feedback to the producers of a TV show for them to be able to take the advice and choose whether to improve on it.
- For short film researchers they can benefit from this as audience panels can represent different groups of viewers, this would therefore potentially enable the producers and writers to gain a realistic insight of the viewer's personal opinions around the topic of short films or a certain short film in which would be discussed. 

References:

"Panel Discussion Dictionary Definition | Panel Discussion Defined". Yourdictionary.com. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/panel-discussion

Methods and Sources of Research: Primary Research (Focus Groups)

Focus groups:

What is a focus group?

- A focus group is a small group in which are arranged to discuss a certain subject or matter.
- They also can discuss problem solving issues such as; idea generation or forecasting techniques where several experts or informed individuals share their POV (Point of view) within a specific topic in which maybe they are specialised in. 



What is the main purpose of using a focus group?

- The purpose of a focus group is to draw upon research and gather the respondents attitudes, feelings, beliefs, experiences and reactions in a way which you wouldn't be able to gather it using other methods for example; observations, one-to-one interviewing, or questionnaires/ surveys. 
- Within a short film production, a writer or director could potentially arrange a focus group which would consist of maybe 4-15 people which consists of their target audience who have seen it to therefore be able to receive valid feedback on the matter, with this they will be able to provide personal responses in which they liked and disliked about the short film which was shown to them. 

References:

"Which Of Your Friends Needs To Learn This Term?". BusinessDictionary.com. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/focus-group.html

"Which Of Your Friends Needs To Learn This Term?". BusinessDictionary.com. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU19.html