AUDIENCE RESEARCH: QUESTIONNAIRE, FOCUS GROUP, RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

By Sam Hodgson

Focus Group AnalysisI used a group of four 16-17 year old males for my focus group as this was my ideal target audience. I asked multiple questions regarding narrative and content within their favourite horrors and discovered what they thought made a horror film entertaining and successful. Early on I discovered that my target audience was appropriate as they all admitted to enjoying some degree of horror filmography. The group agreed that “blood” and “gore” were very significant within horror, I also discovered that a key reason that 16-17 year olds enjoy horror is because they “stay with you”. This has truly inspired me to delve into the idea of creating a strong element of fear that is evident in many previous horror productions to let the film manifest inside the viewers mind. One member of the group told me that horror films must make you “wonder what’s behind closed doors”. This is an effective idea and coincides with the point about enhance the element of fear to my production. The group told me that characters are increasingly important in the genre, I discovered that characters in horror should be easy to relate to in order to have the audience put themselves in the characters shoes and ultimately on the edge of their seats. The group told me that sub-genres of horror were a different experience and had major differences from the original genres. The group notified me that the villain itself isn’t an important aspect of horror but the reason the villain is considered a villain and the way he deals with his “victims” such as “Jigsaw” in “Saw "is important as it constructs and heavily influences the narrative. From this evidence I have discovered what 16-17 year olds like to see when watching a horror film and what helps create the narrative and make it more realistic for them.

Link to Online Questionnaire:

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/iVKVfPuC

Questionnaire Background Information

My questionnaire was created via the 3rd Party site Freeonlinesurveys.com, this enabled me to receive a broader variety of results simply via link sharing. I received 15 results from my questionnaire by people of different ages. Unlike my focus group I asked both male and females of different ages to take my survey, by doing this I was able to achieve a more rounded result.

Results

YesNo

Should a film give the audience an idea of what genre it is within the opening?

It clear to me that my production should give the audience an idea that the film is horror within the opening. This feedback is of stellar importance as it reinforces the fact that I will need to include typical codes and conventions such as music and setting to try and best portray the genre within the opening five minutes.

YesNoNot Sure

 Do you like to see “Cliff-hanger” openings?

I received varied opinions from this question. While the majority of people admitted they do enjoy“Cliff-hanger”film introductions a large sample said that they did not like them. I believe in going down the root of the majority vote and henceforth this survey has informed me of the desire for enigma openings or some sort of mystery based essence.

YesNo

 Do you judge a film upon its opening sequence?

A mass amount of survey takers admitted that they do judge a film upon the quality of its opening sequence. Based upon this result I now understand just how important it is to make the introduction gripping and interesting in the effort to convince the audience to pursue the film. Judging by this I should make it paramount importance to ensure that our film opening is pristine and of the greatest narrative quality available.

 Should a horror intro be intense or mysterious?

All Data

Intense Mysterious Both

4(26.7%)

4(26.7%)

7(46.7%)

I received very mixed results from this question. The majority vote was in favour of having both an intense and mysterious film opening while smaller samples decided upon the individual options. I think that the evidence I should take from this is that each and every person has an individual opinion so by incorporating multiple themes/ideas into my opening I can cater to the desires of many different audiences and henceforth I should be creating a production by intertwining both ideas and including an element of both mystery and intensity.

 Do you think sound/soundtrack is important in a horror film opening?

All Data

Yes No

12(80%)

3(20%)

Most of the surveyed audience believe that soundtrack is important within an opening. I need to find a suitable track to issue to the production as the soundtrack is of great importance to creating the tone. It also needs to not only represents the production but also reinforce the eerie, dark nature of horror and convince the audience.

 Do you think a certain atmosphere/tone is important in a horror film opening?

All Data

Yes No

11(73.3%)

4(26.7%)

Obviously what I can take from this is the fact that atmosphere/tone is a crucial aspect of a horror opening. The majority vote clearly indicates this which has reinforced my original ideas. I need to have a certain ambience to replicate the classic eerie/mysterious tone seen in many horror productions throughout the years.

All Data

Yes No

6(40%)

9(60%)

Should a film opening represent what will happen later in the film?

This was another question where I received mixed results. 60% of people decided that the idea of foreshadowing within a horror opening was not necessary while 40% of people disagreed and said that it should be included. I believe that this sometimes has an excellent effect on the narrative if it is executed correctly however, for our production I do not believe it to be a necessity or requirement and will pursue the majority vote by not including foreshadowing.

All Data

Yes No

10(66.7%)

5(33.3%)

Do you think the characters and location should represent the genre in a horror film opening?

67% of the survey takers have informed me that characters and location should represent the horror genre. I have to agree with this statement as it is a key aspect to “mise-en-scene” and henceforth has a huge impact on the films representation of genre and society. 33% of people decided that it should not represent the genre, I believe by arguing this they are trying to bolster the idea of mystery. I think it should be of paramount importance for me to construct representation through the form of character and location.

Common Horror AudiencesUsually, major horror institutions such as “Twisted Pictures” and “Hammer Horror” tend to target their films towards the younger generation of adults and teenagers with films using a predominantly young cast such as “The Woman in Black”. This has inspired me to consider also targeting this audience. Gender is also regularly targeted within the genre especially males, however in recent horror productions there has been a surge in female audience causing many productions such as “The Cabin in the Woods” and “The Forest” to feature a female protagonist in order for the production to seem more realistic and relatable for the female gender. This is largely due to the idea of “couple” horror in which females and males feel inspired to watch a horror when together. A good example of this would be the film “Scream”. In my production however I will be aiming to target a teenage male audience as I believe this is the audience most commonly associated with the genre, by doing this we will also be able to utilize our male cast to optimum fashion by making it easier for the audience to relate to the product whilst also making the most of audience positioning by inspiring a gender relevant polysemy/negotiated reading.