Research for my Channel 4 documentary Games

Violence
For a good quality final product, there are some key research techniques
that should be used. These are the gathering of information in primary
and secondary sources. The reason to why these are important is because
it helps the programme director by making their job a lot easier because
they will have a lot of statistical evidence, facts, opinions from members
of the public and a lot of other data in front of him/her.

Primary Source Information

There are different ways to carry out primary research and collect primary
source data. Some of these ways are: Interviews could include face to
face, telephone or E-mail, Observations, Questionnaires, Surveys, Focus
groups, Audience panels, Meetings and Self-generated. The first method I
will use to collect information will be a questionnaire. The questionnaire
will cover different questions like: What type of games do you play? and
How many hours in a week do you play games? The questionnaire will
then be given to different teenagers from 14-18 years old for them to
answer. The questionnaire will also have up to 10 questions for them to
complete.
I did some research for my documentary on video games violence in the
form of a questionnaire. I made a questionnaire with 10 questions that
either relate to violence or the time and type of games played by
teenagers. I included the genre and the time that people spent playing
games so that it might link with if they are violent towards other people or
not. The questionnaire was an important form of research for my
documentary because it allows me to see what people are like when
playing games. It also lets me to find any links, if possible, between
violence, genre of game and the length of time the game is played for. Im
making this documentary to be against the thought that violent games
make a person violent. This is because of personal experience with violent
games and to prove that a person doesnt get violent because of what
games they play. Two of the most important types of research are
qualitative and quantitative research. I will gather quantitative research
by using primary and secondary research. My questionnaire comes under
primary quantitative research because it is first-hand collected research.
For my secondary quantitative research I will look at some already
existing facts and figure from websites and online reports. Here are some
of the results that I got from my questionnaire:

Out of the people that answered

the questionnaire, 100% of them
play a type of video game.

Out of those people, I found that 25%

of them play over 13 hours in a week.
However, 37% of the people answered
only play 1-3 hours a week. The last
percentage of people who answered
then say that they play 7-9 hours a
week.
I
then asked what genre of games they
play. This didnt help that much in
making my documentary because only
28% of the people who answered play
action games. Most of the people,
43%, play sports games. Then the last
of them chose the other option. It
would have been more helpful if there
were more people that play action
games to answer my questionnaire, because thats the most important
answer I need for my documentary.

However, the next question

showed to be more helpful. Out of
all the people who answered, no
one said that they dont get angry
or stressed when playing a game.
25% of the answers said that they
get angry or stressed a lot, which
is useful because this is the
answer that I need for my
documentary. Although, it could be
even more useful if these people
that get angry a lot were people that dont play action games. This is

because it will show that it isnt violent games that makes a person
violent.
These are two of the answers that said they get angry a lot when playing
a game. One of them said that they dont play action games, they ticked
the other option. However, the other said that they do play action
games. This is helpful because it shows that the people that get stressed
while playing games dont always play violent action games.
Qualitative research is gathering
information from high end businesses or
the general public. As an example, I
could want to go from house to house asking
people about their violence levels and about what genre of
games they mostly play.
Another type of primary source to
gather information I could use is
interviews. These can be face-to-face, phone call or
through messaging. This will be useful to do because I will get
information from another person on their feelings towards violence in
games making a person violent. In my case, it would be good to interview
another teenager about what type of video games they play and what
their feelings are towards the violence. I could also find out what they
think about themselves if they play violent games, like if they think that
the violent games change them as a person. I am thinking of interviewing
a 16 year old male teenager that I know plays games quite often. This will
be good because he plays a first-person shooter for at least 2 hours every
day. This information that I will gather will be useful in my documentary
because I will find out what his views are on his own behaviour, as he
plays a violent game quite often, and his views on what violent games can
or cant do to other teenagers.

Secondary Source Information

Along with primary research, a lot of secondary research also needs to be
done to create a good quality documentary on my chosen topic. Some
examples of secondary sources are: Books, Journals, Reference based
books and directories, Periodicals, Newspapers, Film archives, Photo
libraries, Worldwide web, CD ROM databases, Audio material, Interviews,
Published statistics (ratings, circulation figures, government statistics),
Data gathering agencies (BARB, RAJAR and ABC).
There are 4 different secondary sources that I would like to gather
information from for my documentary. These are: Videos, Reports from the
news, Statistics and the Worldwide web.

The first of my 5 secondary sources is statistics. I went on to the internet

to firstly find statistics on the top selling PC games. This was so that I
could find out how popular violent/shooter games are. This is what I found.
Out of the most popular
games on PC, the majority
of them are violent or
shooter games. The most
popular with 23% share of
play time is League of
Legends, which is a violent
game. The second most
popular with 7% share of
play time is CounterStrike: Global Offensive
which is a first person,
tactical game. This shows
that violent and shooter
games are the most popular genre of games on PC. This, however, doesnt
yet have any evidence that violent games make a person violent, it just
shows that they are the most popular to PC gamers. This is probably
because they are only available on PC or that the graphics and modelling
on them is better so gamers choose to play on a PC.
I then looked on the internet for a list of the most popular Xbox 360
games, to get a range of game genres and consoles for the games. This is
what I found.
Xbox 360 games which have sold or shipped one million copies
Title

Kinect
Adventures!

Total copies
sold

24 million

[a][1]

Sales breakdown

Release
date
November
4, 2010

Genre

November
10, 2010 Sports

Developer

Good Science
Studio

Publisher

Microsoft
Studios

November
18, 2010

Grand Theft
Auto V

17.79 million[2]

Sandbox
September game
17, 2013

Rockstar North Rockstar Games

Xbox 360 games which have sold or shipped one million copies
Title

Halo 3

Total copies
sold

Sales breakdown

Release
date
September
25, 2007

Genre

September First25, 2007 person

shooter

14.5 million[3]

Developer

Publisher

Bungie

Microsoft

Mojang/4J
Studios

Microsoft

Treyarch

Activision

343 Industries

Microsoft
Studios

Infinity Ward

Activision

September
26, 2007
Minecraft:
Xbox 360
Edition

May 9,
2012[5]

13 million[c][4]

Sandbox
game

November
9, 2010[7]

Call of Duty:
Black Ops

November
18,
First2010(Sub) person
shooter

12 million[6]

December
16,
2010(Dub)

Halo 4

9.41 million

Call of Duty:
7.562 million
Modern Warfare
2

6.44 million
in the US
November
2.22 million 6, 2012
in the UK

Firstperson
0.04 million November shooter
in Japan
8. 2012

0.70 million
on other
regions

6.471
million in
the US[citation

November First10, 2009 person

shooter

needed]

ecember
1 million in 10, 2009
the UK[8]

JP

Square Enix

Xbox 360 games which have sold or shipped one million copies
Title

Total copies
sold

Sales breakdown

Release
date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

87,374 plus
3,944 The
Best in
Japan[9]

November
7, 2006

November
17, 2006
Gears of War

Thirdperson
shooter

Epic Games

Microsoft

November
7, 2008[12] Thirdperson
shooter
July 30,
2009

Epic Games

Microsoft

Bungie

Microsoft

5 million[b][10]
November
23, 2006
January 18,
2007

Gears of War 2 5 million[11]

Halo: Reach

4.79 million

Batman:
Arkham City
Grand Theft
Auto IV

5.74 million
in North
America[13] September Firstperson
14, 2010[14]
shooter
53,126 in
Japan[9]
October
18, 2011

4.6 million
4.362 million

April 29,
3.29 million 2008
in the US[15]

1 million in
the UK[8]

65,486 and
6,453

ActionRocksteady
adventure
Studios
game
Action- Rockstar North
adventure
game

Warner Bros.
Interactive
Entertainment
Rockstar Games

Xbox 360 games which have sold or shipped one million copies
Title

Total copies
sold

Sales breakdown

Release
date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Platinum in
Japan[9]

The majority of the most popular games on Xbox are first or third person
shooters. This shows that gamers on Xbox also prefer shooter or violent
games over the other genres. This still doesnt give any evidence towards
a violent game making a person violent though, it just shows that they are
one of the most popular genres of games to be played.
My second source that I chose was videos/programmes on violence in
video games. This will be useful for finding information for my
documentary because they will have a lot of scientific evidence for and
against the impression of a violent game making a person violent. It will
also be useful because it will include a lot of statistics and real
experiences on the topic from gamers or people who used to play a lot of
games.
I went on to the BBC
website and found a
programme that they
did on video games. It
was about the violence
in video games and if
they make gamers
violent people, which is
really useful for my
documentary. It
included different
points from both sides
of the argument and scientific evidence.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06cjypk/horizon-20142015-19-arevideo-games-really-that-bad
I could use some of the information off this programme in my
documentary so that I have scientific evidence and statistics. I could also
use the information off an interview with someone who plays a lot of
games. This information from the interview can be used as a primary or a
secondary source.
Another source that I chose to use is reports/news articles off the internet.
I have found some different news reports on the internet from both sides
of the argument. I have found some that believe a violent game makes a
person violent or less mature, and I have found some that believe that
violent games dont affect a person that is playing them. The first report I

found was on the BBC website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26049333
It is for the idea that violent games make a person
violent. It says how a person lose their maturity
when they play violent games for over three
hours. This could be useful in my documentary
because it is on the other side of the argument to
what my documentary is going to be on. It could
also be useful because I could use it and compare
it to evidence that violent games dont make a
person violent to show that it might not be true or
might be biased.
A second report I found was against the
idea that violent games make a person
violent by using a real experience. It says
how someone called Lanza, who plays a lot
of games, shot his way into Sandy Hook
Elementary School and killed 26 people.
The report then goes on to say how the
police investigating the crime and people
who knew Lanza believed that the violent
video games he played changed him and
made him shoot the 26 people. However, it
was said that, for a long period of time
every night, Lanza went to the cinema and
played on Dance Dance Revolution, which
is the complete opposite to a violent game.
Decades of research have turned up no reliable causal link between
playing violent video games and perpetrating actual violence. This is very
useful for my documentary because it is scientific proof for my side of the
argument, which is that violent games dont make a person violent.
I decided to gather my secondary source from the worldwide web. This is
because it is the best secondary source of information on television
programs. It is also the best because there are different websites for the
same topic but from a different perspective or with a different experience
towards it. I also chose to use the worldwide web because it avoids the
hassle of searching through books or newspapers, I can just type in a word
or phrase and find a lot of different websites for the same thing.

Audience Classification
With my documentary, the target audience that it will have will be
teenagers. The program will start at around 18:00 until 18:30. This is
because it will be the time that teenagers have finished high school or
college. It is also because The Simpsons finishes at 18:00 on Chanel 4 and
it is a popular program with teenagers. This means that the majority of

teenagers will already be watching television, so it will be the time that

my documentary will get the most views it can possibly get from
teenagers.

Age
The age of the teenagers that Im targeting my documentary at will be
from 14-18 years old. This is because its the age that they are in high
school or college and they know about, and usually play, violent or
shooter games. My documentary may also appeal to teenagers parents
because they might get frustrated or paranoid for their sons/daughters
behaviour or social lives.

Gender
The gender that my documentary will be aimed at will be mostly male.
This is because, stereotypically, the majority of teenagers who play violent
games are male. However, I will also make it appeal to female because
there will be some female teenagers who will watch it that play violent
games. I will also aim it at both genders because of the teenagers
parents that may be interested in watching it.

Occupation
With the audiences occupation for my show, the target audience will be
14-18 year olds. This is because they will either be in high school, college
or an apprenticeship. This means that they will have plenty of time in the
late afternoon/evening to play video games that they may enjoy. It may
also appeal to their parents that might have full time jobs or work until
late in the evening. This is because they will be at work and so wont have
any control over the teenagers with playing video games all evening.

Market Research
The documentary that I am making will be on Chanel 4 on a weekday. This
is because most teenagers will be out using their time with friends on the
weekends, so they will most likely be at home on a weekday after their
school or college has finished. I think that Wednesday would be a good
day because it is the middle of the week and teenagers would have just
come home from college or school, so they wont be doing anything. My
documentary will also hopefully be able to watch On Demand so that
anyone who may have missed it but wanted to watch it can. Im not going
to broadcast my documentary too early or too late, so that I can get as
many views as possible. If I broadcast it too early, the majority of my
target audience may still be at school/college/work. If I broadcast it too
late, however, my target audience may be tired or asleep so they cant
watch it. Im going to broadcast my documentary at 18:00, this is so that I
know my target audience will be at home and not at college/work. It is
also so that I know it isnt too late so my audience will still be awake.

There is competition against my documentary that I have to face. I have

looked at other documentaries based on the same topic as mine. This is so
that I can see whats good about them and so I know what I can do that
they didnt to make mine as best as it can get. One documentary was on
the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06cjypk/horizon20142015-19-are-video-games-really-that-bad . This documentary was
good to watch because it has information about the topic that my
documentary is going to be on. I quite liked the way the documentary was
set out and edited. I liked how they put different clips from different
games onto the background on some of the scenes. I might do something
like this because it is quite good and effective. I also like how they brought
in both sides of the argument about violent games changing a persons
attitude. The second documentary I watched was a short documentary on
YouTube about the violence in games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DglEODhZknY . I liked this documentary because it brought in facts
about violence and games. I also liked it because it was focusing on the
same side of the argument that I am going to be focusing on, that violent
games dont make a person violent. It showed facts and statistics to help
in fighting against the argument of violent games linking to real life
violence. It also brought in different games that are really popular, but no
one thinks about adding them into a documentary.

Product Research
While producing my documentary, I will take into account legal and ethical
considerations. I will not use any offensive language in my documentary. If
I do happen to use some, I will sensor it so that it is suitable to be on TV at
the time that it is.
To gain as many views as I possibly can, I will make the documentary
available online as a webcast, as well as On Demand. This is so that
people who cant watch it on TV or On Demand have another way that
they can watch it. I am also going to include a famous person in it so that
it attracts teenagers who know who the famous person is to watch it. I
think that this famous person isnt going to be a mainstream celebrity, it is
going to be someone who plays games on YouTube so that it relates to
most of the target audience. This famous person that I am going to
include will probably be someone with at least 1 million subscribers on
YouTube, so that they have a higher chance to be recognised by my
audience. I think that I will choose Tom Cassel, known by Syndicate on
YouTube, because he has a lot of viewers, and the majority of teenagers
have at least heard of him when his name is mentioned. I will also choose
to include him because he earns his money just by playing games, so he
has an excellent experience with violent or shooter games.
I will be using different tools to help in producing my documentary. These
will be: Lighting, Film camera, Tripod, Camera crew and production team.

Lighting This can be found on the 4RFV website and for a maximum hire
price of 210 per day. I will need to hire this for 4 days so the cost of it will
be 840.
Film Camera This is the most important part to producing my
documentary because it will record everything. I will go for the Sony SF7
camera from the 4RFV website. This is because it can record in 4K so it
will have good quality for my final product. The price of it to hire is only
165. I will need this for 4 days so the price of it will be 660.
Tripod I will go for the Sony FS-7 Kit Double Zoom and Tripod Package
from the 4RFV website. To hire it is 200 per day. I will need this for 4
days, so the cost to hire it will be 800.
Camera Crew the camera crew I have seen to hire is 599 for a 10 hour
day. The cost for it includes their travel, camera operator, HD camera,
tripod, lighting, sound kit, monitor and a camera. Their company is based
in Manchester. I will need to hire the camera crew for at least 4 days, like I
will with the studio, because the filming will take longer than one 10 hour
day. The overall cost will be 2,396 for the hire of the crew.
Production Team I will hire a video editing team, which will cost 175 for
them to edit the videos on site. The hire is for 5 days. This hire is off the
vid4hire website.
I will also need to hire out a studio for the majority of filming to happen in.
I have seen a studio to hire on the SLVision website. This studio is 495 for
a 10 hour day. I think that I will probably need to hire it for more than one
10 hour day, because the filming for my documentary wont be able to be
completed in just one day. I think that I will hire it for at least 4 10 hour
days. This will make the price work out to be 1980. Also, I need to keep
in mind that they charge 50 for every hour longer you keep the studio
than you should have done. I am working with a budget of 10,000. This is
so that I have plenty to be able to hire all the equipment as well as hiring
transport, people to be in the documentary, food and drink for all of the
crew. The whole cost of all of the tools to film it add up to be 6,851. My
documentary will also be recorded in the studio alone, so people that are
in the documentary are going to be coming into the studio, instead of
taking the camera crew to another setting to record at.

Interpreting Results
Looking through my research that I did, I found out that most people think
that violence is caused by violent video games.