2. We began our group questionnaire/ focus group by asking ‘What
topic of documentary appeals to you most, and why?’ and gave the
examples of ‘made of stone’, a music documentary following the
reunion of the pivotal manchester band –the stone roses. David
Attenborough’s planet earth, and the channel four documentary,
‘the undateables’ which follows disabled people under the impression
that they would be hopeless in any situation that could be considered
romantic, then sets them up on blind dates, in some sense ironically,
particularly when the ‘datees’ are in fact blind. The purpose of the
examples was not to make them choose one of three, but rather to
give the group more ideas to base their answers on. Generally the
group seemed most interested by far with Made of stone, and we
agreed that it does seem like the best suited for the age range we
wish to target, which is primarily teenagers, and young adults. It would
also probably be the most effective at reaching the audience on a
higher level, as interest in in reality documentaries is usually something
that is only really there while watching it, but especially with
teenagers, music is a large part of many people’s lives.
3. We then asked the group, based on their answers to the previous
question, which documentary type they felt was best suited. So, which
documentary would be best suited to a documentary in the vein of
made of stone. The majority of responses were towards reflexive
documentaries, also with a few answers towards interactive. If
possible, a mix of the two would be perfectly suited in my opinion, as
we would be able to have the realism shown through the reflexive
techniques, so the audience knows exactly what they’re getting, and
can take into account all factors that could sway the actions of the
‘characters’. Yet we could have interviews explaining the situation in
more depth, and having an outside reaction to what the
documentary is about. For example, with Made of stone, fans of the
band are asked about the reunion. In our documentary, something
similar could be done.
4. Next, we asked whether, as teenagers, the group felt as though their
interests were catered too enough by the documentary industry. The
response was that teenagers rarely seem to be the devoted target
audience, and although there are documentaries that they can enjoy
as teenagers, there are rarely documentaries that are solely aimed at
them. One participant however, did mention that when a
documentary can give insight into something interesting, it is
appealing. Again, made of stone was mentioned for an example of
this, the participants agreed that they were attracted to gaining some
insight into the lives of the stone roses.
5. Penultimately, we asked which institution the group were most likely to
watch a documentary from and why, offering the examples of the
BBC, Channel 4, MTV, and ITV. The responses varied slightly, but the
majority were in favour of the BBC. One participant mentioned sky
arts, and was corroborated by others and ourselves, and through
further research, both channels seem suitable, as would an
independent film maker, but BBC4 is contracted to make 100 hours of
new arts and music programmes per annum, and therefore is likely the
most suitable of the three.
6. Finally, we asked whether they believed teenagers to be a suitable
target market for documentaries, and the response was, that as there
is a gap in the market, -made clear by previous questions- it would
definitely be worth aiming it, at least mostly at teenagers. Also, being
teenagers, we would have the advantage of knowing what would be
appealing.
