Audience research

 

•  79% of this film appeals to 15-24 year olds with 53% being male and 47% female. 25-34 is the second highest with 12%. This shows that this supernatural horror film mainly appeals to a younger age group as people who are too young wouldn't want to watch it, and people who are too old wouldn't want to watch it.

• 41% of this film appeals to 15-24 year olds, although 35% appeals to 25-34 and 19% to 35-44. This shows that 'The Grudge' doesn't really have a main audience base like 'Paranormal Activity' as the percentages shown for 'Paranormal Activity' have a much bigger gap inbetween the age groups. This also shows that 'The Grudge' appeals more to older people than 'Paranormal Activity.' 56% of the audience were males, and 44% were females, showing that males prefer this film.

 

•  74% of this film appeals to 15-24 year olds, with 40% being males and 60% being females. The second highest is 25-34 year olds and 45+. These statistics show that this film generally appeals to a younger audience and mainly females, as females may find it scarier than men.

• 54% of this film appeals to 15-24 year olds with 51% being male and 49% being female. The second highest percentage is 26% which is 25-34 year olds. This shows that this film doesn't have a wide preference gap as both gender's almost equally like it.

• 57% of this film appeals to 15-24 year olds, with 52% being male and 48% being female. The second highest group is 25-34 with the viewing being 31%. 

 
 

• Overall from looking at these film statistics, it shows that horror films are mostly watched by 15-24 year olds, with most of the population of that being males, with females not far behind. This shows that most horror films are equally liked by males and females. Also from the age group percentages it shows that people younger than 15 don't really like horror films, and people above 34 don't generally watch them as much. The films show that some 25-34 year olds watch horrors, but 15-24 is still the dominant age group.
  
   
  
  
  
  

Soundtrack research

• 'The house of leaves' may be a good choice of soundtrack because it has quite a dark, sinister feel to it from the choice of string instruments. There is also a build up which may make the audience feel wary of what is going to happen next. Also the occasional drum beat suggests that something dreadful is going to happen on one of the next few beats, so the audience are frightened as to what is happening. 

• 'Pop goes the weasel' may be a good choice of music for our soundtrack to our film because at the beginning there is a build up, and the drum beat sounds as if there are footsteps or possibly like the audiences heart beat as the music has a very obvious beat to it.

• 'Redletter' could be a good soundtrack choice because it fades in and out, so the audience would be straining to hear what it happening with the music, whilst in the background of it there is a steady rhythm building tension for the next events to happen in the film.

• 'Epic unease' may be a good choice as it has string instruments to highlight areas of our film that we want the audience to feel a greater fear of, whilst other instruments blend in to make higher pitches at certain points to emphasis the change in a scene. 

• 'Constancy part 2' has a build up at the beginning, which could be good in our film as at the very start not much happens. If we used this music it could show how our film is going to get scarier with time, and how the audience should still be worrying and watching closely. 

• 'Interloper' has a very quiet beginning, and then occasional drum beats. As it continues the drum beats become more common and louder. Our film could benefit from this music as it is not incredibly loud and noticeable throughout, but the occasional times when it does kick in could scare our audience. Half way through it goes incredibly quiet, so this could give our audience a false sense of reassurance, when in actual fact something bad is going to happen next.

• 'One of them' has a very quiet beginning, and then some drum beats and tense music. It also has a certain element of the 'Jaws' theme tune too it. From this resemblance the audience may know that something bad is lurking waiting to happen, as the music is thrilling. Also it could let the audience know that someone may be waiting to strike like the bad guy, and that they should watch out for him.

• 'Private reflection' has quiet a saddening tune to it, which could make our audience feel sorrow for our characters if we were to play it towards the end when one of them had been killed. From the element of voices our audience members may be slightly worried as anything could happen next.

This music may be good to use as it is all dark and mysterious, and most of it is very tense. Music plays an important part in creating the mood for a film, so for our films to be able to scare people we need to use very dramatic music. This would be by using songs that include drums and string instruments as they can really vary the mood in a film for the audience.

Dead Tone Analysis

Interview with actor 1

Alex Munro

L: Hello.

A: Hello.

L:  What made you think about being in our film?

A: Well, I did a film last year, but never got to star in it.

L: Oh I see. Do you like the horror film genre then?

A: Yes, but it is not probably my favourite genre as some horror films are just too gory.

L: What horror films do you think are too gory?

A: Saw. They are disgusting.

L: Do you prefer thriller type horror films over torture horror films then?

A: Yes.

L: Do they scare you more?

A: Yes.

L: Why?

A: You can relate more to them as they are based more on real events, whereas Saw is just pointless bloody violence. 

L: I see. Do you have any ideas of what you would want your character in our film to be like? Bearing in mind you are the bad guy.

A: Hidden identity, because it makes it more scary when you don't know who the villian is or what he looks like.

L: Okay, thank you for answering my questions.

A: That's okay, anytime.

INITIAL IDEAS

Copy of Initial Ideas on Prezi

Questionnaire

Horror film market research

Please circle relevantly

1.  What is your Gender?

Male              female

2.  How old are you?

14-20            21- 30           31-40             Other (please specify) 

How many times have you been to the cinema in the last 6 months?
0       1-5       6-10    11-15    Other (please specify)   

         

3.  How many horror films have you watched in the last 6 months?

0       1-5       6-10    11-15    Other (please specify)

4.  What is your favourite type of horror film?

   Supernatural – e.g zombies, demons

   Torture- e.g saw

   Natural- e.g jaws (when nature attracts)

   Real life- e.g The strangers (people breaking into your house)

5.  What is your favourite horror film at the moment?

----    .................................................................................

6.     

 

7.  Do you go to the cinema to watch these films? Why?

  Yes           No

  .................................................................................

8.  What do you think is the best location for a horror film? Please state if other.

•   Woods

•   Town

•   House

•   Other……………………………………   

For the next 2 questions, please rate them on a scale of 1-5.

9.   How badly are you affected by them on a scale of 1 to 5? 5 being a huge amount.

1    1         2            3             4             5 

10. Do you think the music plays an important part in the build-up of tension? 

 1             2            3             4             5

RESULTS

Our study consisted of asking 10 people (all of different ages and different gender.)

• 5 out of 10 people were male, and 5 out of 10 people were female.
• 7 people asked were in the bracket of 14-20, 2 were in the bracket of 21-30 and 1 was in the bracket of 31-40.
• 8 people answered question 3 with 1-5 times of going to the cinema in the past 6 months, and 2 answered none.
• 4 people answered question 4 with 6-10 times, and 6 people answered 1-5 times.
• 6 people asked preferred supernatural horror films and 4 preferred real life horror films.
• When asked their favourite horror films, answers varied - Creep, The Shining, The Happening, Paranormal Activity 3 (Chosen 3 times), The Sixth Sense (Chosen twice), The Strangers, SAW.
• 3 out of 10 people went to the cinema to watch their chosen film, 7 out of 10 people answered no, they didn't because it is too scary.
• 8 people answered the woods for the best location for a horror film, and 2 people answered a house.
• Out of the people asked, the most common numbers were 4 and 5, on the scale of how much it affected them.
• 10 out of 10 people answered 5, to the music being an important part in the build up of tension.

SUMMARY

• From our results, it is clear to see that it does not depend on your gender, to whether or not horror films are suited to you, and ages do vary with horror films, but with 15-24 year olds being the group who choose to watch them the most. From our results stating that 8 people went to the cinema 1-5 times in the last 6 months, it suggests that people do not choose to go to the cinema very often anymore, as they can watch the films more times for cheaper when they come out on DVD. The answers we were given about how often people have watched a horror film in the last 6 months, compared to how often they have gone to the cinema suggests that people prefer to watch horror films at home because 4 people have watched 6-10 horror films recently, and 6 people have watched 1-5 which shows that everyone asked had seen a horror film recently.
• Our results also show that people mainly prefer supernatural horror films and real life horror films, due to the fact that they are scarier because people can relate more to them. The answers to people's favourite horror films do vary which is helpful to use because if we were in need of ideas, we could watch these films to find out what is interesting and good at them, and relate some of their ideas back into our own film production. By 3 people choosing Paranormal Activity 3, it could be due to the fact that it came out recently and is part of a Saga that people most likely enjoy.

Possible actors/actresses

Alex Munro

Name: Alex Munro

Age: 17

Favourite genre of film: Comedy

Most prefered horror film: The Strangers

Why this actor may be suitable: We could use him as the possible 'bad guy' for our film as he is tall and if he was wearing all black, would look very scary. Also generally in horror films, the bad guy is usually a man so we may want to follow that stereotype so that the audience can relate to that in our film. 

Amie Bretherick

Name: Amie Bretherick

Age: 17

Favourite genre of film: Romance/Comedy

Most prefered horror film: Paranormal Activity

Why this actress may be suitable: We could use Amie as the possible girl in our film as she is quite petite and could be made to look very vulnerable. Also she looks very innocent already, so if the audience were to see her in the woods or house by herself, they may be able to feel more fright for her as she would be all alone in the dark.

Jasmine Bann (right)

Name: Jasmine Bann

Age: 17

Favourite genre of film: Horror/Comedy

Most prefered horror film: Shrooms

Why this actress may be suitable: For a start, Jasmine has blonde hair. This was the stereotypical image we wanted to aim for as blonde girls are usually the first victim's to die, and the most vulnerable looking. Jasmine may also be suitable as she likes horror films already, so would have watched how the victim's in horror films act, and be able to match that. Also Jasmine is petite, so the audience would also be able to feel fright for her if she was alone in the woods or in a house etc.

Louise Hickmott

Name: Louise Hickmott

Age: 17

Favourite genre of film: Romantic comedies

Most prefered horror film: Hannibal

Why this actress may be suitable: Louise may be a suitable vulnerable girl in our horror film, as she is blonde, so fits the stereotype, and in general has a very innocent look about her as she is always so smiley. If we were to have her in our horror film people would be able to feel sympathy towards her because we could make her character likable, so the audience do not want her to die. Also she is not shy, so would have no problem talking in our horror film, as she is an out going person, which would mean she would be a very easy person to film with.