Questionnaire analysis

Questionnaire analysis

I handed out my questionnaire to 20 people in order to collect data for analysis. I hope to use this data to create the best footage I can for my horror opening.

How old are you?

By learning the gender of the people doing my questionnaire, I can understand why they have chosen the answers that they have. Generally, males like lots of blood and gore in there horrors, while females like more psychological films which also make the audience think. For example, the gender of the victim was chosen to be female, with 18 people preferring this. This shows that the results being dominated by more males than females, as every one of the males who gave their opinions chose a female victim.
Do you prefer the victim of a horror to be male or female?

Based on the data collected, I have decided it would be best to have a female victim in our horror opening. If many females are killed throughout our film, and we utilize the final girl, it would make her look stronger; as she would be the only female overcome the antagonist and survive. This would allow the final girl to look strong, and make our victim in the opening suited to the audiences taste, as she would be female.

 Are you an internet user?

As our desired audience is between 16 and 18, using the internet to advertise our film would be a very strong idea, and an easy and cheap way to gain publicity. However if no one of that age range uses the internet then the whole idea would be pointless. Thankfully, everyone who took part in my questionnaire was in the age range and all used the internet. This would allow us to advertise and generate buzz for our film a lot more easily.
 What is you favourite horror film, if any?

While almost half of the people asked said that they didn’t have a favourite horror film, those that did provided excellent data for me. 3 people said nightmare on Elm Street and 5 said scream. As both of these are teen horrors, these results have given us 2 films to draw inspiration from. The majority of both of these films also take place in the common home, giving us a great setting to shoot our footage in. 3 people also chose independent hit film paranormal activity. This is useful for us as paranormal activity is also set in a house, and plays on a fear of what isn't seen, a technique our film could use to add to the fear.

Do you visit any of these websites on a daily basis?

Knowing what sites our age range visits most on a regular basis allows us to choose which sites we use our advertising. As the data shows, sites like MySpace and bebo would be pointless, as none of our participants use them. On the other hand, facebook and hotmail wound be excellent, as they are used by all of our participants and are often visited many times a day to check for status updates etc.

Do you own any of the following?

Knowing what items people own that are capable of video playback is very useful. It allows us to make trailers and advertising that the audience is able to watch at any time. This is especially apparent for mobile devices, as people can watch them on the go, as well as share them with their friends.
Which subgenre of horror do you prefer?

By understanding what subgenre our age range prefers, we can create a film which suits their tastes, resulting in a more enjoyable viewing experience. The most preferred subgenre was slasher; this is most likely due to the large amount of males who took part in this questionnaire. Second was psychological, due to its complex and involving narrative. Monster films were least preferred, which is useful, as making a costume for a monster would be difficult and time consuming. Apocalyptic was liked, but not enough for me to choose it as the subgenre for our footage. This is due to needing lots of extras to play zombies, as well as having to prepare all their costumes.
Identify the main conventions of horror films

When the questionnaire asked the participants to write down the conventions of horror, all of them wrote down blood gore, death and false scares. As this is what they perceive to be fundamental conventions of the genre, it would be best to include them in our film. Including a death would be good, as it allows our opening scene to build to the death of a character. Just over half of them said a villain who’s identity was concealed. This is something that we could also incorporate into our film, as it would make our antagonist stand out more, and add a layer of suspense. This could be used to tie into a psychological theme as well.

With the information collected, I have now decided that using a female victim, concealed killer, and elements of the slasher and psychological subgenres. This should help the film appeal to the audience that it is aimed at. Furthermore, the choices made are all easy enough to do, unlike making a monster horror, which involves making the costume and is time consuming and expensive.