Audience Analysis

1)      Does Music Affect You When Watching A Horror Movie? If So Please State How Below

From the answers I received it seems that music is a key part in people’s perceptions of what makes a good horror movie. The majority of the responses stated how music builds suspense and tension and should be used just before a key scene, such as a killing or a scene in which I wish the audience to jump as it adds more drama to the scene.

2)      What do you prefer in horror movies?

Being Made To Jump		78.9%	15
Blood And Gore		21.1%	4

From the results gathered the majority of people I asked stated they prefer “being made to jump” over “blood and gore”. However due to a fact that I am going to try stick to the conventions of horror movies I may include some blood and gore although not too much as I still would prefer to make my audience jump.  

3)      Do you think the representational characters in a horror movie are too cliché?

Yes		57.9%	11
No		10.5%	2
Don't Care		31.6%	6

From the results gathered it shows that most find the representational characters in the movie to cliché. This may be quite advantageous as I am hoping to change the audience’s perspective of certain characters, thus subverting the typical horror genre characters.

4)      Do you find young children in movies scary?

Yes		100.0%	19
No		0.0%	0

From the results gathered it shows that everyone I asked finds young children in movies scary. This is extremely important as now I know that having young children in my movie is a must.

5)      5. When the Movie says "Based on true events ". How does it make you feel?

Makes the movie scarier		36.8%	7
Makes you think more about the story line/narrative more		52.6%	10
Makes you think they're lying as it couldn’t be real		10.5%	2
Doesn't affect how you feel		0.0%	0

From the results gathered it seem that I should definitely include how my movie was based on true events as it either makes the audience think more about the narrative or makes the movie seem more scarier. And by doing this I am somewhat following another horror convention.

6)      How much of an influence does the trailer have on you? And if yes please state why.

From the answers I received it seems that the trailer of a movie is key to the success of the movie. However some answers were that the trailer can sometimes ruin the movie as it can sometime create too high of an expectation or all the best bits will be in the trailer thus making the movie somewhat less scary.

7)      What Props/objects scare you the most in horror films? And why?

From the answers I received it seems that sharp objects such as knives are what people consider to be most scary. Although due to the fact I want to make m audience jump and am aiming for more of a ghost type horror it may be include this. However people also stated how the way in which you could use a mirror could be somewhat scary, this is rather helpful as I am hoping to do the same thing.

8)      Please state your favourite horror movie. And please state why it is your favourite.

From the answers I received it seems that there are two clear favourites, these are Orphan and Paranormal Activity. Orphan seems to have been chosen due to its narrative and how surprising it is, I also believe it’s due to the fact a young child was used the reason I believe this is because of my previous data. Paranormal Activity was chosen due to the fact that hand held cameras were used and how that made the audience jump more and made the film seem more realistic. This is very helpful as I am also using handheld cameras to film my trailer and from the results gathered it seem that if I am able to film the trailer successfully then it should be a convincing horror movie.

My ideal target audience are teenagers aged between 16-19, they are likely to be students who have a small disposable income who enjoy horrors, therefore meaning they are likely to fall into the band E on the demographic table which includes people who are unemployed,students, pensioners and casual workers. Due to the fact I'm  targeting people at my school its clear the large majority will be made up of students. As well as being in the demographic group E my audience may be considered to be Mainstreamer's as they are likely to want to stick to the conventional horror movie as they are against change. although my audience may be aspirer's as they may be attracted to the "packaging of the movie" and tend to prefer the look of the movie rather than the actual movie.