Audience Research Write-Up

What do you want to read about?

• Introduction
• Question Analysis
• Focus Group
• Potential Improvements?
• Conclusion

Introduction

Michael and I have recently received the feedback from the survey that we posted online via FluidSurveys and various social media platforms. We used this research to gather information about what the target audience would be looking for in our final horror trailer.

In this post I will be analyzing the feedback that we received and deducing what we learned from them. The information will be shown via various different charts and graphs to make the data that we received more visually appealing.

We wanted the people that responded to the online survey to be between the ages of 15 and 18. We chose this because 15-18 are the age groups that typically watch horror films often, so would have a good idea of what would make a good horror trailer.

Question Analysis

From the research that we conducted, we discovered that the number of males who enjoy watching horror films is greater than the number of females who enjoy watching horror films. This is in keeping with the stereotype that males watch horror films more so than females. This is because males enjoy violent and/or gory films more than women, who would not be so inclined to watch a film of this type.

One of the questions that we asked via the audience research on FluidSurveys was “What is your age?” This question was asked because we wanted to find out which age group would be more than likely to watch or be most affected by our horror trailer. Below, there is a pie chart visually showing the results of this question.

Now that we know this information about our target audience, we will be able to create media products that will better appeal to the majority of the audience. This will make them feel more connected with the trailer and ancillaries because it will be able to better represent their personalities, views and opinions.

Another question that we posted on the online survey, was what style the audience would like the trailer to be. This is one of the most important questions in the survey because it gave us an insight into what the audience was expecting to see, or rather wanted to see in our trailer. This question would also have a major impact on how we decide to shoot the trailer and what styles to use within.

As you can see via the bar chart, we can see that the style that the target audience most wanted to see in our trailer was parodic. This was something that I didn’t really expect to see from this answers to this question. I understand that parodic films are popular, just look at the Scary Movie series, but I did not think that it was something that a large denomination of the target audience would want to see. The trailers for every film within the Scary Movie series are very parodic, this is how the audience is able to understand the type of film and whether or not they are going to find it scary, or if they are going to laugh.

Personally, in my opinion, we have two options when including parodic humor in our trailer. I feel that these two options are:

• A completely parodic trailer with large amount of this type of humor included.
• Absolutely no parodic humor at all in the trailer.

I think this because if you see a largely serious trailer with a small amounts of this type of humor thrown it, the trailer looses it’s message or ‘seriousness’ This is because this type of humor is very cheesy and will spoil the trailer of there is only some included.

Focus Group

I do have a separate post for the focus group that Michael and I conducted. But the overall response that we got from the people involved is that we would need to include a lot of dark colours as these are the typical colours that are used in horror trailers, websites and posters. Because these are so often used on products like ours, the audience will be able to recognize that the trailer, website or poster that they are viewing is for a horror product.  .

Potential Improvements?

There was an instance where we encountered some problems. This was because of the question “What do you do in your spare time” The answers to this question were not completely serious or truthful, and therefore does not contribute or help us with the audience research. If we were to do this again, I would like to take this question out because of the answers that we received, and also because it doesn’t really help us with the research anyway. Or, if we don’t remove the question, I feel another way around this would be to only allow them to tick an option. This would stop the answers from being unhelpful as they would have already been pre-determined.

Conclusion

Overall, I think that the data that was collected from the research that we conducted was helpful because we’re able to see exactly what the target audience is expecting, and more importantly, wanting to see in our horror trailer. This will help us because we will be able to make the trailer appeal to them greatly,

This information will also be able to help us when deciding what things to include within the trailer, website and poster. This would include different font types, editing techniques, iconography and design styles. All of these things will allow us to create the best media products that we possibly can.

Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic

Contents:

• Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction
• Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive
• Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical
• Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist
• Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic
• Genre Development | Part 6 | An Overview

A Parodic film is one that completely changed the formula of what is expected from a horror film. If often combines elements from the horror genre with elements of highly satirized comedy. Also, rather than thinking up a completely original plot for a Parodic film, the makers will rip off parts from other well-known horror films.

One of the most famous series of Parodic Films is called Scary Movie. This series includes five seperate films, each parodying horror films. For example, Scary Movie 3 parodies horror films such as:

• The Ring
• The Others
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• And others

The spoof of the horror film The Ring that is featured in Scary Movie 3 can be seen below:

Other Parodic films include:

• Scary Movie
• Shaun of the Dead
• Fido
• Severance
• And others

Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist

Contents:

• Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction
• Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive
• Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical
• Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist
• Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic.
• Genre Development | Part 6 | An Overview

These are the films that change-up what is typical expected of a horror film. Often, these films contain various elements of the original genre, but also add more into the mix. Creating what is known as the Revisionist type of film. Often, Revisionist films are often considered the ‘new-wave’ of the genre as they typically appeal to the younger denomination of people.

Some of the most well-know revisionist films include Insidious and Paranormal Activity, These are some of the most scary and creepiest horror films around today, as they feature ghosts, something that is completely unknown and alien to us. Below, is the trailer for the well know Revisionist horror film Evil Dead:

Revisionist films are often considered some of the most shocking films that have been made. Although, they often are thought of as being better than the Classical horror films, I don’t really think that they are. This is because they all pretty much follow the same story line as each other. They are typically about a family living in a haunted/possessed house.

Some more Revisionist horror films can be seen below.

• The Conjuring
• Sawney
• And others.

Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical

Contents:

• Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction
• Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive
• Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical
• Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist
• Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic
• Genre Development | Part 6 | An Overview

Films that fall within the Classical category are the ones that are created when the genre is at its peak. This is when the genres characteristics have been fully defined, and when people know what to expect when they sit down to watch a horror film. There have been many films made during this era, with two of the most famous film makers being Alfred Hitchcock and George A. Romero.

Alfred Hitchcock is known as being the filmmaker that really understood the genre that he was working with and knew how to incite terror into his audience. One of the most famous of his films is the film Psycho, in which a secretary steals $40,00 from her employers client and ‘goes on-the-run’, ending up in a motel. A clip from the film can be seen below:

There have been other classical films that have been made over the years that have shocked and terrified its audiences. One such film, The Shining is infamous for just this reason.

It follows a family who are stranded in an isolated hotel for the winter, Where an evil presence influences the father to become insane and increasingly violent towards his wife and son. The most well-known clip of the film can be seen below:

Because this film is so infamous, it has influenced a number of other films and television shows to remake and parody the story line. One of these include the popular series The Simpsons. This version can be seen below:

There are some of the most well-known Classical horror films. The Classical type of horror films really connected the audience with the genre, scaring them more than they had ever been whilst watching a film.

StoryBoarding

During this lesson, we have been creating the storyboard for our horror trailer. We have been planning when the various scenes of the trailer should appear on the screen, and what types of transitions should be used during the trailer.

We also started writing a script for the trailer, to be used by the characters when filming the trailer. We really only need to have lines for two characters, as they are the only people who are going to be in the trailer.

We worked out where all the various pieces of the trailer will appear on the timeline. This will help us when making the final trailer.

The trailer starts with the green preview screen that often appear at the start of real trailers. The camera then Hard Cuts to a shot of one of the characters running through the woods, this will be shot as though one of the characters is holding the camera, in the same style as films such as Cloverfield and Quarantine. This makes the audience feel more connected with the characters as they are seeing exactly what they would be seeing in this scenario.

Then, as almost all trailers have, there will be another Hard Cut onto the logo of the film production company. This will again connect the audience with the film as they will be familiar with the logo, and they will know the quality of the film before they have even seen the rest of the trailer.

After this, there will be a shot of the two characters looking out of  a window, they will be dressed as average students dress. This further reinforces the fact that these are just two, normal average students in Sixth Form. The connotations of this are that these characters are unsuspecting about what is going to happen to them, and that they have dont nothing to deserve the torment they are going to receive.

Here the pace of the trailer is relatively slow, this allows the viewer to understand the plot of the film, and get to know the characters that are going to feature within the film. After this bit, there is a Hard Cut to a screen that has the words “They didn’t expect what they were going to see”. This gets the viewer thinking hard about the plot of the film, and what it is that they saw and whether or not they also want to see it.

Now that the audience are immersed in the trailer, and they are thinking about the plot, there is another Hard Cut to a screen showing “From the Producers of A Day in the Life” If this where a real trailer, the audience would immediately be able to connect with the trailer because they will be familiar with the film that the Producers had previously made. They will instantly know that this trailer will be of the same quality as the previous one. Because they were already thinking about the plot of the film, and if it is going to be worth watching, this will fully make them want to watch it as this film is made by the Producers of their favourite horror film.

Another Hard Cuts gives way to more footage of one of the characters in the woods calling for the other. The connotations here are that something has gone deathly wrong, and the two characters have become separated from one another. The audience then know that the character on the screen is now extremely vulnerable, and that anything could happen to him at any time.

During the planning of this trailer, I feel that we have conformed to a large amount of the stereotypical conventions of a horror trailer. I feel this because we have included fast transitions between some of the scenes, and also included a lot of hard cuts in the trailer. However, we also subvert the conventions through the use of a POV camera is not often seen in trailers as this type of cinematography is not used very much.

Above, you can see the script for the trailer. Although there is not a lot of dialogue, will make up for it in suspense and scares. We feel that too much speaking or interaction between characters will take away from the rest of the trailer.

Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive

Contents:

• Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction
• Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive
• Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical
• Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist
• Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic
• Genre Development | Part 6 | An Overview

The Primitive stage of a genre’s development is when the genre is in its infancy, when it’s characteristics have not yet been defines and when the genre is not yet accepted as being ‘popular’ with the general public.

It is a generally accepted idea that the first horror film was Le Manoir du Diable or The House of the Devil by the French illusionist and filmmaker Georges Melies in 1896. This film includes a large range of camera tricks that had never been seen before, including skeletons appearing from thin air and a bat that magically transforms into a man. This silent film can be seen below:

But, the American Inventor Thomas Edison actually made a horror film one year before Melies in 1895. It was entitled The Execution of Mary Stewart. This is based on the true story of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots in 1567. This film ran for 15 seconds, and shows a crowd surrounding the Queen as an executioner swings an axe down upon her neck, cutting off her head. This film can also be seen below:

Le Manoir du Diable is the film that played a vital role in the creation of the now incredibly popular, and one of the most loved genre of films. Some other films that fall within the Primitive category of horror film include:

• The Haunted Castle
• Frankenstein
• The Student of Prague
• And others

Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction

Contents:

• Genre Development | Part 1 | Introduction
• Genre Development | Part 2 | Primitive
• Genre Development | Part 3 | Classical
• Genre Development | Part 4 | Revisionist
• Genre Development | Part 5 | Parodic
• Genre Development | Part 6 | An Overview

Rick Altman spent a lot of time devising a theory about genre development. In this theory, he outlined four different stages that all genres must go through. These genres include Primitive, Classical, Revolusionist, Parodic.

These posts will outline the various stages and give example of films that fall within each of the different stages of the horror genre.

What Did We Learn From The Audience Research?

We have conducted audience research that would be used to help us when making our horror trailer. The research was conducted in two ways, one was in the form of a survey that was sent out online via various social networks. The other form was a Focus group that we conducted. We did this with three people of the age group that we would be appealing to.

We asked them the following questions:

• What do you specifically like about horror films?
• Do you watch horror films regularly?
• Do all horror films need to include gore/violence?
• What do you expect to see in a horror film?
• What is your idea of a perfect horror film?

These questions allowed us to get a good understanding of what the target audience would want to see, and want to get out of, a horror trailer.

The main thing that we learned that would be helpful to us when making the trailer is that the target audience feel that a horror trailer should contain gore. This is something that will really help us when making the final trailer for our coursework.

 

Trailer Analysis – You’re Next (2013)

The trailer for the horror film You’re Next is one of the most interesting that I have seen in a long time. It’s about a group of, what look like, people wearing animal masks that terrorize a ‘perfect’ family.

The trailer starts as any other would. Showing the house that the family live in, or the parents of the main characters live in. Also, during this time, there is an introduction to the family in question. This allows the viewer to understand the family and see that are good people and haven’t done anything to deserve what is going to happen to them in the rest of the film. Also, during this time there is also the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed being played over it. This backs up the idea that this is a ‘perfect’ family enjoying their day. Not only that, but during this sequence we see the family sitting around the table for dinner. The character at the head of the table, whom we presume to be the father, is praying. Again, this shows that this is a religious family, suggesting that they are good people who have never ‘sinned’ and do not deserve what is going to happen to them. 

During the first scene in which we are introduced to the family, we can see titles appear on the screen in between the clips of the family and the song playing in the background. These titles, at least one of them, are synced to the song that is playing. For example, as Lou Reed sings the words “Perfect Day” the words “The Perfect Family” appear on the screen. This further plants the idea that the family is ‘perfect’, this is also given more weight by the fact that word “Perfect” is both on the screen and in the song.

But, the mood of the trailer suddenly turns from being cheery and upbeat to scary. This happens when a title appears on the screen saying the words “But in one moment”. Also at this point, the music in the background fades out fast, making room for a sound of a muffled scream to play to the viewers.

We can then see a woman (the daughter?) at the kitchen getting a drink of water. We are looking at this through the window, as if spying on her, possibly through the eyes of the person looking through. We can then see a reflection of a man in a cat mask appear in the window. This makes the viewer feel uneasy and uncomfortable about what is on the screen in front of their eyes. This also makes the viewer feel intrigued about what the film is going to hold and who this person is.

After this point, we can see a man looking out of a window noticing something in the background. He then says what the audience is thinking: “What is that?” It’s here that the audience realizes that the characters do not know what is going to happen to them, and that they are in the same frame of mind audience.

Just after this moment, presumably the same one who was looking out of the window, we see a man standing at the dinner table. This is almost the same shot as when they are all sitting down to have dinner. This shot type allows the viewer to become fully immersed in the chaos that has happened, and realize how much has changed in such a small amount of time. From serenity to chaos. We see the man fall to the ground whilst holding his, something hit him when it flew in from the window in the previous scene.

The next few moments of the trailer show the people within the house running around, locking doors, windows and trying to find a place to hide. During this time we can hear various people asking what is happening. Both of these things, the video and the audio, add up to make the viewer feel sorry for the characters, that they are in such vulnerable positions, and intrigued to find out what is attacking them.

After this sequence has taken place, the pace of the trailer becomes slower. This represents the strange quite that the characters would be experiencing. They have locked all the doors and windows, and are now waiting for something to happen to them, no one wanting to say anything.

We can hear a man saying the words “They’ve been watching us for days.” This allows the viewers to see that this wasn’t just a random attack on the seemingly ‘perfect’ family, but something that has been carefully planned and executed. There is then a point when we see that whatever has been attacking them, has made its way into the house.

This is the point when the viewers fear and interest will reach its peak. This is when they really want to know what has been attacking them and what has now found its way into the house of the ‘perfect’ family.

We can see a woman leaning against a door with a terrified expression on her face. To her left, we are able to see a hole in said door with light shining through it. Then, the light is blocked out by someone (something?) standing on the other side. At this point, the characters realize that this is really happening and whatever had made its way into their house is a real threat to them. Here, the viewer is also wondering, What is on the other side of that door?. Making them grow more interested in the plot and wanting to watch the full film.

There is then a hard cut to an exterior-long shot of the house that the family are living in. At first, we can see that all of the lights are on within the house, but in an instant we see that all of the lights (and any sign of life) is quickly switched off.

There is then another hard cut to inside of the house, we are looking at a mirror in the house, with the words “You’re Next” sprawled across it, in what looks to be blood. Possibly the blood of the man who was killed earlier on in the trailer. After this we see a woman being grabbed by an arm that breaks through the window. This shows the danger that the family is in, because before now, we hadn’t seen anyone being directly attacked. We then see another woman falling over with a bunch of knives, each of them scattering across the floor. This shows the urgency of her actions, the urgency to protect herself and her family.

It is just after this that we finally see what has been attacking the family. A man in what looks to be a Panther mask walks into the room and stands above the woman on the kitchen floor. Seeing this antagonist for the first time allows the viewer to get a sense of what to expect in the film, and making them begin to wonder what this person or persons motives are.

After that we then see the true fear on the womans face as she is about to have a sledge-hammer swung at her. She rolls out-of-the-way of the falling hammer. We then see a close up of the hammer hitting the floor, in the background the woman is lying beside it. There is also a slight focus pull, from the woman to the hammer. This shows the audience the direct danger that each of the family members are in, whilst the antagonists are also in the house with them.

There is then another hard cut to a CD player, which what looks to be loading a disk before cutting to the timer on the player. When the time then ticks to one second, the same music from the beginning of the trailer begins to play. This provides a huge contrast from video to audio. The audio is calming and relaxing, whilst what is being shown on the screen is distressing and disturbing. Whilst this music is being played, there is a sequence of shots that show the family in various different scenarios within the house. We are able to see a man with a knife in his hand, a woman lying on a bed crying (then soon after a ‘cat’ looking over her) and another woman walking into a room that looks to have a trap set on the floor. All of these things add up to suggest to the viewer that the house has been trapped, and that they are being hunted and killed one by one.

During this time, more titles appear on the screen. They say “The Animals. Will Hunt. You” These fully backs up the idea that these animals are there to ‘turn the tables’ on the humans. By hunting them, the animals are turning from prey to predator. This also explains the traps that we could see around the house in the scenes before.

The speed of the transitions between each shot begin to escalate after the last title has been shown, and the music begins to fade out, making way for a low, dull noise to takes its place. This sound builds up the tension once again and spells fear within the audience. The transitions eventually speed up to where about six different shots are being shown every second. This makes the viewer become overwhelmed by what they are seeing, but also make them more and more engrossed in the trailer for the horror film.

At the end of the trailer, the typical Convention is seen. A woman is looking under a bed, when suddenly a cat (the same one we saw in the kitchen?) very quickly appears on the other side, directly in front of the woman. This is something that the view is not expecting to see, because this trailer hadn’t featured any up until now.

Overall, I think that this is one of the most effective trailers that I have seen, not just for a horror film, but for any genre of film. I think this because it supplies the perfect amount of action, gore and mystery to the viewers. It doesn’t directly give away the plot of the film, but shows a lot of what will be involved in the film.

What We’re Going To Gather From Audience Research

From the research that we are going to conduct, we expect to learn a number of things that will help us in the creation of our horror trailer. We expect that we will learn what the audience expect to see in a horror trailer, and what the audience actually want to see. We also want to learn whether or the not the focus group that we survey are regular horror film watchers, and if they are, why.

We are going to find out this information via two different methods. We are going to send out an online survey, because it will be able to reach a large amount of people in a relatively short amount of time. We are also going to use a focus group, as I have previously mentioned.

A focus group is a good method because the people who are being questioned will be face-to-face with us, and therefore give much more honest and detailed answers to the questions that we give them.

As a whole, we expect the research that we conduct to give us helpful information about what the target audience wants, and is looking for. Allowing us to make the best horror trailer that we can to suit the audience.