Primary Research: Audience Interview Analysis

I conducted an interview of two members of my focus group to see what they thought about my podcast idea. Through this, I was able to gain audience feedback and see if my current ideas were good enough for my intended focus group.

The first question that i asked was "would you prefer a music intro opening or a sound effect opening?"

To which they responded that it was better to include elements of both but make the sound effects more prominent. For my final podcast I will add sounds that are relevant to the game of which the two main characters play.

The next question that I asked was "what type of sound effects would you expect to hear?" The audience members stated that they would expect to hear arcade noises such as the moving of joysticks, the clanging of coins and traditional game sounds, such as the generic game over noise of which could be used to signify a character's failure or the end of the story. Through the use of relevant sound effects i can make the story seem more comical if they are added at certain points.

After this, I asked "do you think my characters should have accents?" The audience members concluded that the main protagonist should have quite a strong accent to set him apart from the other competitors. By having a strong accent and an obnoxious tone i can establish the champion as a detestable character. To further support this idea of a detestable character as the play continues his accent could get thicker and his tone more serious as the student slowly becomes better than him. The audience also stated the student shouldn't have an accent to portray him as an ordinary person. For the student, similar to what will be done to the champion, his tone will become more professional as the play progresses.

I then asked if any of the character should have a specific phrase or signature tone that differentiates them from the other characters. To this they replied that the student should have quite a neutral tone as he he is learning more about the game. They also said that for the student he could develop his own signature phrase as he slowly progresses. They said that the champion should have a signature phrase to set him apart from the other gamers. The general tone champion should start off as positive but evolve into something much darker as the story progresses.

Finally, I asked "Of these 3 locations, which do you find most suitable for my place; England, America or all around the globe?" To the question both of them responded with "around the globe". I also think this to be the most effective way, by constantly moving the two characters around the audience is not given a chance to get comfortable with the environment of which they are exposed to. This can also be used to make the rivalry that later develops more shocking as the two characters have travelled all around the world. This could also be used to help add to the fire of audience hate for champion, as he cuts off his own student, someone of which he has many memories with.