Trailer music research - audience questionnaire & analysis

Analysis of trailer music audience questionnaire

Firstly, I asked a group of people 'What genre of music do you think is most appropriate for a neo-noir, science fiction film trailer?' 70% of the group voted for 'electronic', 20% voted for 'other', 10 % for 'rock' and 0% for 'jazz' and 'classic'. Subsequently, I will listen to my audience and use electronic music in my film trailer.

In addition, I questioned 'How many instruments would you expect to be used?' 80% replied that they would expect '3-5' instruments to be used, 10% said '0-2', 10% said 6-8% and 0% of the survey expect '9+' instruments. When I combine this information with my previous question, I can conclude that I should use 3-5 electronic instruments.

I asked a variety of people 'What instruments do you believe should be used?' 30% believed that 'drums' should be used, 30% replied 'strings', 20% for 'other' 10% for 'piano and 10% for 'guitar'. Consequently, I will take the advice of the survey and use drums and strings in the trailer music.

I asked a group of people 'Do you think pleonastic sound should be used?' The audience's opinion, regarding this question, was less one-sided. From my results, I can interpret that the audience were more divided as 40% thought that pleonastic sound should be used, whilst 60% thought that it should not be used. Interestingly, those who disagreed with the use of pleonastic sound noted that this might distract the audience from the trailer music.

Moreover, I asked the survey 'Do you think ambient sound should be used?' 80% voted for 'yes' and 20% voted for 'no'. The survey largely agreed on the idea that ambient sound would be an interesting addition to the trailer. However, I am not sure on whether I should follow the advice of the survey for this question as adding ambient sound would contradict their aforementioned idea that additional sound effects, such as pleonastic sound, would distract the audience.

I asked a cross section of people 'What pitch would you expect the music to be?' 30% of the survey believed that the music pitch should be 'high', 50% thought 'medium' and 20% though 'low'. Subsequently, I will follow the opinion of the majority of my audience and make the music a medium pitch. 

I asked a variety of people 'Would you expect the pitch to change throughout the trailer?' From my results, I can interpret that 70% would expect the pitch to change and 30% would not expect the pitch to change. Some of the survey added that they would expect the pitch to become higher when it changed.

For the question 'Would you expect a voiceover to be used during the trailer?' 80% voted for 'yes' and 20% voted for 'no'. The 80% that voted for the inclusion of a voiceover suggested that the voiceover should be provided by one of the main characters from the film.

Also, I asked a group of people 'Would you expect the pitch of the music to be altered for a voiceover?' 90% thought that the pitch should be changed and 10% thought that the pitch of the trailer music should remain unchanged throughout the trailer. The 90% that voted for the pitch to be changed argued that the voiceover would be difficult to hear unless the pitch of the music decreased when the dialogue is spoken. Consequently, I will lower the pitch of the trailer music sections that are heard with the voiceover.

I questioned a group of people 'When should the music start?' 10% said that the music should start 'with the BBFC certificate', 10% said 'with the distributor company logo', 10% voted for 'with the production company logo' and 60% thought the music should start 'at the start of the film footage.' Therefore, the trailer music will start after the BBFC certificate and when the film footage starts.