#3 Netflix Thumbnails - Research

I started research by simply seeing if there was a genre section for Film Noir available on Netflix. While logged into my account, I collected images of different thumbnails for different films within the genre and considered what could be done with the research. I realised as I was collecting the imagery that there may be a bias in what I am being shown as I am interested in the genre.

I decided to make notes on which scrolling banners the films I noted appeared and any potential bias. For example, the films with the black star next to them are included in 'My List' as I have saved them for watching another time. It makes sense then that these films would appear when I search the genre. I thought it would be interesting to see what has been recommended to other users compared to my recommendations. The choice of images I collected from my account is different as I hadn't considered how I would compare before I began. I later realised but chose not to rectify this as my account seemed to include a lot more bias towards this genre than the other users.

Designed in Illustrator to present the thumbnails collected.

When looking at the recommendations given for each user within the Film Noir genre, they were largely the same. I assume this is because I have search for a specific genre rather than looking at what appears on the landing page for each account.

The first thing I noticed that was different on each account was the spotlight trailer at the top of each page. On my account, I had Nightcrawler (2014), but this is also included in 'My List', so this could be why Netflix selected this film to appear at the top of the page. I did choose to note the trailers appear for the 3 users just in case this was useful.

User 1 - Zodiac (2007)

User 2 - John Wick Chapter 3 (2019)

User 3 - Spenser Confidential (2020)

Throughout the screenshots collected, I wanted to focus on the cover art; however, there is one other difference I wanted to highlight. On User 1, User 2 and my account, there were four scrolling banners below the trailer. These were; Popular, Trending, Netflix Originals and Top Picks (personalised recommendations). However, User 3 didn't have the Netflix Originals banner and instead had International Film and Crime Films. User 3 isn't really into content such as Film Noir, so I wondered if Netflix gave more options to introduce the User into the genre.

I picked out 4 thumbnails that differed between the accounts and have tried to figure out why this might be the case for each.

Inside Man (2006)

User 1 and 2 (as well as my account) all had a thumbnail containing Willem Dafoe for the Inside Man. However, User 3 had an action shot of a shooter. I thought this was rather odd as User 3 isn't interested in content that involves violence.

Shutter Island (2010)

All thumbnails for Shutter Island included Leonardo DiCaprio. However, User 1's thumbnail was a different image. This thumbnail was different as it contained only DiCaprio with no sense of set or costume in other aspects of the image. I wondered if User 1 had watched content containing DiCaprio and the thumbnail choice was so it was evident he was a leading actor within the film.

Spenser Confidential (2020)

While User 2 and the thumbnail on my account contained Mark Wahlberg, User 1 and 3's account contained Wahlberg and a female lead. I wondered if she was a love interest as User 1 and 3 have watched more content with romantic genres than User 2 and myself.

Zodiac (2007)

For all the Zodiac thumbnails, the focus is on the leading actors in the film. These consist of Robert Downey Jr, Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. However, User 2, 3 and I all had Robert Downey Jr alone in the thumbnails, while User 1 had Gyllenhaal and Ruffalo. I wondered if User 1 and watched content including either of these actors recently as this would affect which actors appear in their thumbnails.

I am unsure yet how useful this research is specific to my topic. I am sure I will find a purpose for the research further down the line.