Research: Audience perceptions and expectations

We were told to produce a survey that would help give us a better understanding of what audiences expect to see in horror films and what they enjoy about them. I created 10 questions that would give me an idea of what I should include within my horror film opening. 

The majority of people that answered my survey were aged between 14-16, which is what I wanted as the targeted audience for my opening is teenagers from around 15 years old. However, I did get other people from other ages to fill in my survey. 

14 out of 20 people that completed my survey, were female. This isn't the greatest response that I could of got because I would of preferred to have an equal amount from both genders to get a wider variation in my results. 

One of the questions I asked was if they enjoy horror. 6 people said they didn't and 14 people said they did, I also asked why and the replies were all similar. For no, it was because that it was "too scary," or they "feel uncomfortable to watch them." Another answer for no was that not all horror films have a clear storyline. However, for yes, a lot of people answered that they "like the supsense" and how they "keep you on the edge of your seat."

2 people said that their favourite horror film was Carrie, which is a 1976 supernatural horror, which is about a 17 year old girl who is continually teased and bullied, but discovers she has telekinesis and is pushed to the limits on the night of her prom. Sinister is 3 people's favourite film, which  is about a crime- writing author who finds home videos in the attack of his new house. As he ventures on to other home videos, the videos become more real. As the audience we see that there must be some sort of curse. The writer and his family can't handle life in that house, so they move back home, but they don't realise the curse has followed them home and their are terrible consequences for discovering these tapes. Quite a few people put that they couldn't choose a favourite horror film. This helps me see, that people enjoy quite supernatural horror films and ones that involve a fictional villain that people don't believe is real.

Another question that I asked was what scares people most in horror films. A large majority answered that music was the thing that scared them the most in horror films. The next most popular answer was fake scares and things that make you jump. Other people replied saying that the villain was the thing that scared them the most. This helps me see that music is a very vital convention that I need to concentrate on, when making the opening to my horror film. In the clip below, you will see how music and editing can completely change a perfectly non- scary children's film.

The most popular type of horor film is a serial killer, with 11 people answering with this. Zombie films are also popular, with bloodthirsty being one of the least favourites with only 2 votes and vampire horror films the lowest with no votes. However 2 people did skip this question, so I didn't get to see what their favourite type of film is, maybe that may have slightly changed the results. This helps me see that the most popular type of horror film is one with a serial killer in it, so its up to me and my group whether we want to go with a popular choice, as its likely that people would wanna see it. Or do we go for one that brings a whole different concept to horror with different villains?

The tension built and the storyline in a trailer is the reason why most people go to watch a horror film. The actor/ actress being another reason to why people go to watch horror films. This helps me to see what I need to concentrate on when making my horror film opening.

The victim's house (with 8 votes) or a haunted house (with 6 votes) seems to be the most popular place for a horror film to be set. The woods seems to be a less popular place for it to be set as it only has 4 votes, but the least popular is a lake with only 1 vote. But again, someone skipped the question. this helps me see what people prefer for a horror film to be located, but once again, do we decide on a whole different location?

The most common conventions that people expect to see in horror films are blood, murder and fake scares. An interesting answer that someone gave was that a typical convention that they expect to see is "bad acting skills." Which I personally agreed with, as the following video clips will show you, however I don't think this applies for ALL horror films. This may not be something that I need to have 100% focus on when making my opening, as it is only 2 minutes long, but it definitley is something I need to focus on.

Horror appears to be a genre that people don't tend to watch that often, only three people answered saying that they watch horror films "once a week." This helps me to see that I need to make a horror film opening that if it was made into an entire film, that people would want to watch more often then typical films.