Questionnaire Analysis

Part 1

1) What is your gender?

2) How old are you?

The first two questions were designed to gain some information on my target audience. The first
question showed that there was an even split on the gender choices, whilst the second question
showed that the 16-20 age group was the most popular choice, with only 2 votes given to both 2024 and 30 +. These results suggest that I should be aiming my production at a mixed gender group
and at the 16-20 age range, due to its large number of respondents.

3)

Where do you prefer to watch films?

This question was created to seek the viewing habits of my target audience. The results showed me
65% of the respondents preferred to watch films at home, whilst 35% enjoyed watching films at the

cinema. This suggests to me that the audience arent seeking visually extravagant content (which is a
large factor to why people go watch films in the cinema) and would prefer better storylines and plots
in a film instead. This is helpful to know as it implies some thought should be made into my own
storyline and extravagant material isnt necessarily needed.

4) What makes you go watch a new film?

This question was also designed to gain some background information on my target audience. I
wanted to see what makes people go watch a new film when it is released. The most popular
response with 45% of votes was the Genre of the film. Another popular choice with 40% was the
Actors featured in the film. With 10% of the votes was Other, which the two respondents stated
the Storyline and whether it Looks good are both important elements. Lastly Reviews of the film
were not seen as crucial feature in drawing in viewers, receiving only 5% of votes. These results can
help with my production as I now know some enticing elements to films which I can potentially
incorporate into my own work (e.g. Actors, Storyline, etc).

5) What do you think is the most effective form of advertising for a new film?
This question was created to show me what my audience felt was the best way to advertise a new
film. I found that the Film Trailer and Social Media were the two most effective ways of
advertising a new film, receiving 40% of the votes each. TV appearances from cast was another

popular choice with 20% of votes which implies its relevance, however Magazine reviews received
0% of the votes which suggests (similarly to question 4) that reviews arent a popular form of
promotion. This data is very helpful to my production as I now know some crucial forms of
advertising I could incorporate in my production to help sell the trailer.

6) What sub-genre of horror is your favourite?

This was a very important question in my questionnaire as it offered me guidance on which subgenre of horror I should use for my trailer. The results showed that Psychological and Paranormal
were most popular options, sharing 45% of the votes each. Gore was the only other option to
receive any votes, with 10%. This was incredibly helpful as I could see my audiences preferences
whilst comparing them to my own ideas. I decided to go with Paranormal as the sub-genre. This is
because it was a popular choice amongst the audience and it matched my own personal preference.
I like this sub-genre because in my trailer analysis The Gallows showcased the Paranormal genre
and I liked the themes and ideas it presented. I also think it is one of the scarier sub genres in horror,
so it could help create a scarier trailer (which is a very important feature in horror trailers/films).

7) What scares you the most in a horror film?

This question was included to help pin point the areas my audience felt were the scariest when
watching a horror film. Real life scenarios received 50% of votes, Paranormal activity received
30%, Killers received 15% and lastly Gore received 5% of the votes. These responses are fairly
dispersed, but clearly the most popular choice was Real life scenarios. This is helpful to see as I now
know the incorporation of Real life scenarios is an effectively scary component, and could help

create an appropriate atmosphere for my trailer. Also Paranormal activity received a large share of
votes with 30% which meets my sub-genre being Paranormal, so I can easily incorporate this
feature into my trailer as well as Real life scenarios.

8) When watching a horror trailer what do you expect to see?

This question was intended to find out what my audience expected to see in a horror trailer, which
would offer me insight of what to include in my own trailer. This question was open ended so I could
receive some qualitative data. The responses I received included, Horror/Scary scenes, Suspense,
Quick Editing, Storyline, Music and Acting. Horror/Scary scenes was mentioned most commonly,
with suspense and quick editing following closely behind it. This is helpful for my trailer as I now
know some crucial components that need to be included to create and effective trailer. These results
also support my own research into horror trailers, which emphasises the importance of these
features.

9) How much should be revealed about the story line in the trailer?
This question was similarly created to help sculpt the design of my trailer. I wanted to know the
audiences personal preference on how much of the storyline should be revealed in the trailer. I
found that Little received the most amount of responses, with 65%. Moderate amount received
35% of the votes, with Lots receiving 0%. This is helpful, as it shows the audiences doesnt want lots
of the storyline revealed, but enough to entice them to go watch the film. I will probably follow the
audiences preference and choose not to reveal lots about the characters, events and plots, but
enough to engage them. This fits into my own research as this is the design all the trailers took when
I analysed them.

10) Do you prefer horror films to follow normal conventions or to have a unique twist?
This question again was used to aid the design of my trailer. I wanted to know what people
preferred when watching a horror film, if they wanted a conventional approach or for the film to
include twists and go against conventions. The results were very clear with 100% agreeing that they
prefer twits to basic conventions. This is helpful as it shows me that my audience want my trailer to
offer something different to the rest.

Questionnaire Analysis
Part 2

1) What do you dislike about horror films?

This question (similarly to the last few questions in Part 1) was created to help with the design of my
trailer. I wanted to know what people didnt like about horror films so I could avoid these areas in
my own trailer. I found that the most common responses were Unrealistic, Predictable and Bad
acting/storylines. Clich and Scary scenes/jump scares also appeared, but the Scary scenes and
jump scares appeared infrequently, so decided to ignore them. This information will be helpful when
planning my trailer as I now know the key areas to avoid and the areas I should put extra care into to
make sure I dont fall into any of these categories (e.g. spend time on the storyline).

2) What typical locations do you like to see in a horror film?

This question was created to show me what my audience felt were the best location choices for a
horror film. The results showed Haunted House and Abandoned Area were the most popular with
35% of the votes each, while Forests/Woods received 20% of the votes which shows this is another
popular choice. The respondents who selected Other stated unexpected normal places and
Homes of the characters would also be effective locations. This data has suggested to me that an
Abandoned area and Haunted House would be the ideal location choices. I hope to incorporate
both into my trailer but the Abandoned area may be too hard to organise safely or even find. If that
is the case, I can use the forests/woods instead due to its similar popularity.

3) What is your favourite horror film of all time?

This question was designed to gain some background information into my audiences preferences. I
wanted to see what horror films were the most popular amongst my audience. The results were
massively dispersed with similar scores given to each film. Some of the films mentioned include
Paranormal Activity, House at the end of the street, insidious, Psycho, The Grudge and The
Shining. There was a reasonably mix between old horror films and new horror films mentioned in
the results, but the more modern films were mentioned more frequently. These results are
interesting as I was expecting a stand out film to be mentioned but instead there was lots of
variation in the results.

4) Who do you like to watch horror films with?

This question is similar to Question 3 in Part 1 (Where do you prefer to watch films?) where I
wanted to find out about the viewing habits of my audience, but in this question I wanted to know
who my audience watched these films with. Watching horror films with Friends received 60% of the
votes, watching with a Significant other received 20% and watching Alone and with Family
received 10% of the votes each. These results showed that watching horror films with friends was
the most popular choice with a large percentage of the votes. This could potentially be useful
information when designing my poster or magazine cover, as it could be used as a promotional
technique to entice consumers.

5) When looking at a Film Poster, do you prefer there to be lots or little text?

This question was created to help with the design of my poster. I wanted to know whether people
preferred lots of text on a film poster, or rather it have little text. 100% of the respondents said they
preferred Film Posters to have little text rather than lots. This is very helpful as it has given me some
guidance for when I design my poster.

6) Do you like to see pull quotes of reviews on the poster?

This question similarly to Question 5 was created to aid the design of my poster. I wanted to see my
audiences opinions of pull quotes on film posters. The results showed the respondents were evenly
split on this topic, with 50% saying the liked pull quotes with the other 50% stating they didnt like
them. Although the audience is split on this topic I am quite interested in incorporating pull quotes
onto my poster. This is because I know lots of the audience find this a desirable feature, some of my
research into horror posters showed pull quotes in use and lastly because they are an effective
promotional technique. However, I will have to see how effectively it fits in with the design of my
poster and make the decision then.

7) Do you prefer artistic or informative posters?

8) For this question I wanted to know whether my audience would prefer an artistic poster or a
more informative one. I found that 90% of the respondents stated an artistic approach
would be better than an informative approach. These findings were similar to the results of
Question 5 (When looking at a Film Poster, do you prefer there to be lots or little text?) as
all the respondents selected Little text, which implies they prefer a more artistic approach
as they were all against the idea of lots of text (which would have retrained the creativity of
the design). These results are helpful for when I create my own poster as I know my
audiences preferences in terms of design, which will therefore allow me to create a poster I
know they will enjoy.

8) Do you read any Film Magazines? If Yes which ones?

For this question I wanted to gather some background information into film magazines. I wanted to
see the proportion of my audience that read Film Magazines, and find out which ones in particular
are most popular. The results showed 75% of my audience didnt read Film Magazines, with only
25% of the respondents stating they do. The 25% of respondents who selected Yes then went on to
specify which ones the read, with a 100% of this group saying they read Empire. This is helpful as it
shows me the dominance Empire has in this magazine industry and implies that I should do some
research into their covers to see if there are any of their features I could incorporate into my own
cover.

9) How often do you purchase Film Magazines?

This question was created to showcase how often my audience purchased Film Magazines. The
results showed 60% selected Never, 25% selected Rarely, 15% selected Sometimes and 0% of the
respondents elected Often. This shows me that film magazines are quite an irregular purchase
amongst my audience, with the highest percentages being matched with the less frequent options.
This is helpful for the design of my magazine cover as it shows me that a weekly magazine wouldnt
be appropriate, but something along the lines of a monthly issue would be more appropriate. This

also fits into the themes of current Film Magazines, with very few releasing a weekly issue and more
preferring a monthly system (e.g. Empire).

10) Do you prefer more artistic or informative magazine covers?

This question was designed to help with the design of my Magazine Cover. Similarly, to Question 7, I
wanted to know whether my audience would prefer an artistic piece of work or a more informative
one. The results showed me 70% of the respondents said they would prefer an artistic cover, with
the other 30% saying they would prefer a more informative approach. These results followed the
same trend as question 7, with the majority preferring a more artistic design. This is helpful as I
know how to design my Magazine Cover and meet my audiences expectations. Although the
majority stated they would prefer a more artistic cover, some of my audience wanted a more
informative piece. Therefore, informative methods will still be included in this cover, but an artistic
design will be the main focus.