Primary research is new research carried out by yourself that consists of data that addresses specific issues and questions. Some examples of this are observations, interviews, surveys, analysis, focus groups etc. For my documentary I carried out a questionnaire to find out if people would understand the terminology used and discussed in my documentary and to find out how interested they would be in watching it. When it came to filming I carried out an interview with the guitarist and bassist of the band in order to give the audience a true representation of the band and what they do.
Secondary research is research and data that already exists. With this kind of research you can access and summarise other's data, for example you can look at books, newspapers, film archives, on the internet, ratings etc. For my secondary research I looked at different websites and articles on how to film gigs and bands as this was something I'd never done before.
Quantitative research is research that will result in numbers, figures, statistics etc. Some examples of this are programme ratings, hits on a website, box office figures and sales of CD's and DVD's. My questionnaire results are one example of the quantitative research I collected. For example the question I asked asking if they would be interested in watching my documentary, 9 out of 11 people said they would be interested. In the industry they use this type of research for budget figures etc. For example the production budget for Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End was $300,000,000
Qualitative research builds on concepts and ideas and helps develop ideas for or from quantitative research. Some examples of this are discussions, game reviews, film reviews, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage etc. The questions I asked in my questionnaire are examples of qualitative research. It helped me understand any issues that would arise in discussing certain topics in my documentary. For example few people didn't know what DIY venues really were or didn't know much about them so I made sure that the people I interviewed gave a longer answer to the question about that. In the industry this type of research is used for film reviews etc. For example on IMDb there is a review for the documentary Making a Murder, this is a form of quantitative data.
A data gathering agency is an organisation that collects data and also has access to a variety of data and then uses this data to compile figures and information. Some examples of this are Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board and Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd . BARB is an organisation that has been delivering official viewing figures for UK television audiences since 1981. They do this by measuring how many people are in an audience and then the television ratings and compiling the information together. They commission different research companies to collect data that represents the viewing behaviour of UK households. This information is important for assessing how programmes and channels have performed. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is an online data base consisting of information about films, games and TV programmes. This information includes cast, crew, characters, plot summaries etc. Actors and crew can post their résumés on the site for a yearly fee. All data is checked before going onto the site and registered users are able to submit new materials as well as requesting edits. Users can rate any film, game or TV show on a scale of 1-10.
It is important to establish a target audience in the pre-production stage. Once you are sure of your target audience it is also helpful to study the characteristics of the audience such as demographic and psychographic factors.From this you can also do some market research. Some of the thing you could look at are consumer behaviour and attitudes, advertising placement, product market, geodemographics and advertising effects. As mentioned previously I carried out some audience and market research when doing my survey as I asked people if they would be interested in watching my documentary. I also asked related questions to do with my documentary to get a better understanding of what my audience knows about the topic. I also carried out audience and market research in the advertising task we did by doing a similar survey to the one I done for this unit.
Production research is a really important part of the pre-production process. Pre production paper work includes location recces, location releases, talent releases, budget sheets, storyboards, risk assessments, talent releases, scripts, prop/costume list and production schedule. For my documentary I completed all of these apart from a storyboard and a prop/costume list. I had to collect signatures from all the band members for my release forms in order to use the footage I got of them. I filled in location recces for all the locations I planned to film at in order to get a clear understanding of the limitations and advantages to filming at each location. I also had to get written permission in the form of an email from The Engine Rooms and The Shackelwell Arms in order to use the footage I got at the venues. I also completed a budget form and production schedule.
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