Specific questionnaire analysis

1. Specific questionnaire analysis

2. What is your favourite horror film and why? Here is a list of all the responses we received for this question: • When A Stranger Calls- It has an unusual story with a lot of unexpected aspects • The Strangers- I like the abnormality of it • Saw 3: I like films that contain a lot of gore and I like the concept of playing life deciding games • Shaun of The Dead- I like the comical side of a horror film • The Orphanage- It has many shocking moments that make me jump • Scream- Because I like the suspense and the recurring theme of the phone calls • Halloween- Because its relatable • Mirrors- It has an interesting story behind it • The Hole- The characters are well thought out • Carrie- Because I like the religious theme used alongside the horror • Paranormal Activity- Because I like how it’s all filmed in a documentary style • The Crazies- I like how innocent people turn evil • Clockwork Orange- It has a unique story • Orphan- Because it has a big unexpected twist that takes you by surprise the first time watching • Alien- It’s a classic, and I like the elements of sci-fi • The Last House On The Left- Because I like how the family of the victim is involved aswell • The Grudge- Because it’s content keeps you on the edge of your seat • Saw 4- I like how the villain has changed and is carrying on the games on the others behalf • Silent Hill- Because I like the fact in the day it’s deserted and in the night it’s pathetic fallacy • Candy Man- Because it submerges you into the film • Silence of the Lambs- Because of the music and the atmosphere. • Dead Silence- Scary and jumpy. • Marta (French film)- It’s complicated, gory and unexpected. • The Crazies- Because it is the scariest film I have ever seen. • Saw- Because it has a great storyline • The Crazies- Because it’s not too scary • Last House on the Left- Because there is a lot of suspense • The Wicker Man- Because it creates a feeling of unease amongst the audience • The Fourth Kind- Because it is based on true events • The Shining- Because it is psychologically disturbing • Jaws- For half the film you never see the killer. Suspense is built through music and clever editing • Dusk till Dawn- It’s got a good storyline • Saw- because it has mind-blowing action • The Final Destination- because of the gore and death • When a Stranger Calls- because it is tension building and you don’t see the killer until right at the end • Zombieland- I like the mixture of comedy with the horror, well-edited and clever • The Blair Witch Project- It is set in a forest and you never see the killer – a lot of suspense • Cabin Fever- It is in a forest location and a normal situation slowly turns into disaster • Alien- The killer looks really scary • As you can see we received a wide range of answers; but from our responses it seems that people enjoy horror films due to the unexpected, suspenseful and shocking aspects of the film’s storylines and characters. These are features we will have to look at incorporating in the planning stages of our opening sequence.

3. What location do you think is best for a horror film? From the responses we have found that most people prefer the Normal House environment as a setting for a horror film, I think this is probably because a homely environment is expected to be quite safe, therefore scary things would be unexpected making them even more scary. The 1 person who answered other to this question defined his chosen location being “space”, although it is an interesting idea, it would be difficult for us to portray effectively. These results will be helpful in helping us decide on a location, as the majority people seem to like the normal house setting it is likely we will use this, if we manage to come up with a suitable storyline that would fit the setting.

4. What is your favourite kind of horror As you can see from the chart of our audience responses we can see that psychological horror is the most popular genre of horror. We will be trying to design a storyline that will fit this criteria or will at least be suitable for the second most popular genre, which is slasher.

5. What do you like about horror films? • These are the responses we received: • The storylines x3 • Suspense x7 • Death, etc. • The way people’s minds are played • They scare me x3 • Weird people and the intensity • Don’t know x2 • They are tense and exciting • All the effects • They freak you out • I don’t really like them • Unexpected scares • I like that they are shocking and make you jump • I enjoy how I get absorbed into the film • The realistic qualities • That some are based on a true story • The twists • The after effects • The characters/ monsters they create • The dark atmospheres • The unrealistic events • The responses we gathered from this question again varied but went along similar ideas with the fact that most people just like the effects of being scared. Some people had the same responses for example 7 people said they like the suspense that horrors contain, and 3 people said they liked the storylines. We will have to find a way of incorporating good scary elements of horror and suspense that will provoke the audience to feel scared, in order to create a successful story.

6. If a weapon was to be used , what would you like to see being used? • The vast majority of people voted knife as the most popular weapon to use in a Horror film, so if we decide to have an attack or murder in our opening sequence this will probably be our weapon of choice. The 3 people who responded other specified there results as being eaten by zombies, physically killed by hand and flamethrower. Being killed by hand is the only option of the 3 that we would be able to do well and will be considered when coming to the planning process.

7. What characters do you expect to see in the first few minutes of a horror? The feedback we have had for this question show that both Killer/Monster and Victim were a popular response for who people expect to see in the opening. Therefore we will definitely be using a victim character in our story, whether we use a killer will be decided at a later stage. We may decide to use a killer/monster and not reveal much of their identity in the opening; in order to create suspense for a later part of the film.

8. If there were a villian, who would you expect it to be? • The audience have indicated that they would expect a villain in a horror film to be some sort of psycho. The one person who replied other in this question said they expect a villain to be a monster. Because of our responses we may decide to use a villain with psychotic characteristics in our opening sequence, however we could choose to go against these results in order to create shock in the later stages of our film.

9. Do you like when a character is killed in the opening sequence? Most people of our audience responses show a like towards the killing of a character in the opening, but there is not a massive difference in responses and so we will decide if a killing would be effective during the planning stages; judging by what other responses we decide to follow and what ideas we have for our storyline.

10. What should the main storyline be? When asked what the storyline should follow most people voted that a person should be stalked and killed in a house. I think people voted this because houses are meant to be a safe environment and something scary happening there would be unexpected and quite shocking. When planning the film we will probably go with this idea, and try to add more depth to the story.

11. What genre of music would be most effective in a horror film When asked about the what music is most effective in horror, 19 people felt Classical is the most relevant. Other types of music that will also be taken into consideration for our opening sequence are eery accents and contrapuntal sound, we could use a range of music types as long as they fit the imagery and go together. The one person who answered other said they like when metal music is used in horror. The use of music is something that will be taken into more thought during the editing process.