ANALYZING THE SURVEY

DESIGNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

 Place a pic of the survey

 I looked at a number of different sample surveys in class and discussed what

questions would be most helpful to elicit the information I needed from my
survey. I decided SurveyMonkey.com as it’s an easy efficient way to get the
information I needed by sharing it online and it would analyze the results for me,
producing graphs and charts and pie diagram.
 I found it fairly easy to use, only taking me a few minutes to get familiar with all
the options and settings. However I did find there wasn’t a lot of space for open
ended questions and was limited to a maximum of 10 questions. I did get around
this by adding in “other” option block after further discussion in my second draft.
 GETTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE FILLED IN
 To get people to fill out my media survey I sent a snap (photo) out to all my contacts with the link
attached making it more convenient to them as all they would have to do is swipe up to get on the
webpage. I then posted the same snap with the link attached to my Snapchat story incase any of
them had skipped the snap and needed to access the link again. I sent it to all my contacts making
sure they would see it and also by having them receive it personally from me would make them feel
more obligated to fill it out. I then attached the link to my Instagram bio and posted on my
Instagram story asking everyone to click the link in my bio to fill out the media survey I had that
would count towards my grade. Within 24 hours I had received 95 completed survey responses.


QUESTION 1: WHAT GENDER DO YOU BELONG TO?

From this chart we can see that

more females than males
responded to the survey.
However, there isn’t a huge
disparity between the numbers for
each gender so I feel that this is a
good sampling of the population.
My target audience is both male
and female so this mix of
respondents is beneficial.
I feel that the number of
respondents is a good thing
because it gives me a broad
spectrum to glean information
from.
QUESTION 2: WHAT AGE RANGE DO YOU BELONG TO?

Most of my respondents (64.21%) are between 17-

20 years.
My target audience is 16-25 years so again this is a
strength of my survey. I’ve managed to get
information from the demographic that I want to
target with my movie.
Results from this age range (17+) will be analysed
thoroughly as this is my target demographic.
QUESTION 3: HOW OFTEN DO YOU WATCH MOVIES?

I asked this question because I wanted to see how

involved people were with movies or how much time
they spend consuming this media format. The feedback
from those respondents who watched more movies
would be more beneficial for me in my analysis.
Obviously they will have more to say, will have more
ideas and will be more informed on the subject. These
specialists’ will have more valuable input as I analyse the
results for the later questions in the survey.
The opinions of those who watch movies a few times a
week or every day may be given more weight, as
opposed to those who only watch movies a few times a
year, or every couple of months.
QUESTION 4: WHAT GENRE OF FILM DO YOU
LIKE TO WATCH (SELECT ONE OR MORE)

I asked this question so that I could discover what genre the majority
of people watch. I had already decided that my movie was going to be
in the psychological thriller genre following on from the feedback I got
on my presentation pitch.
The focus group were obviously a small group and this meant that
their feedback was limited.
Additionally I only gave them two options of movie choices in my
pitch, namely psychological thriller and teenage/real life drama.
Consequently I wanted to discover how many of the respondents to
the survey would watch this genre.
However I also wanted to give them other options and see how
popular this genre was with a wider audience.
As you can see from the chart, comedy was the most popular genre
(65.26%). However as I only have a two minute opening to film I felt
that this was a poor choice given the difficulty there is in establishing
the characters, setting and storyline as well as creating humour in that
short space of time. A lot of comedy results from the ‘set up’ of the
joke and I didn’t have the time to properly develop something within
this genre.
Action was the second most popular type of movie with 50.53% of
the votes.
This was what I had expected to see as these are the most
mainstream of the genres.

From the graph it’s clear that adventure and horror are the next
most popular genres with 53% and 46% respectively. This is useful
because horror as a genre shares some features with both of these
categories. Therefore finding out what these respondents felt
would be helpful to me. I paid close attention to their other
responses.

Personally I expected Comedy and Sci-Fi to have the most votes

seeing as they are the most …. Genre right now.
One thing that I was surprised to see was that musicals got 10.53%
of the vote as this is a genre that is quite niche and not one that I
find appealing at all. It didn’t surprise me how few people voted for
it just that it got as many votes as it did. I found this particularly
interesting as my target genre is a niche genre also. Perhaps one of
the reasons for the growing popularity in these niche genres could
be improving techniques that are being used for lower budget
movies due to more easily accessible technology and/or the
audience growing weary of the bigger budget action movies which
all have a formulaic aspect to them.
In some ways I feel like 2010-2012 there was a spike in the
psychological thriller genre’s popularity with movies like ‘Shutter
Island’ (2010), Black Swan (2010), Gone Girl (2014), The Skin I Live
In (2011), Looper (2012) etc.
In the past few years there have again been several psychological
thrillers released, however these may not have had such a big
impact as the twists weren’t as good as previous movies. Some
success stories were Split (2016) and IT (2017).
However I feel that the visual, technological side of things were the
main focus as opposed to clever writing and unusual twists which
are the main appeal for these audiences.
QUESTION 5: WHAT FILMS DO YOU DISLIKE
(SELECT ONE OR MORE)

For this question I already found out what genre

movies people preferred watching and felt it was only
right to find out what genres people disliked watching
as well, seeing as it would be kind of pointless to make
a movie for a target audience who wouldn’t choose to
see it.
The results for this question surprised me seeing as
two of the genres I thought would be the most
preferred were actually two of the least preferred
(Horror leading with 31.91% and Sci Fi with 24.47%). I
was disappointed to see Teen Dramas as one of the
most disliked as well (26.60%) considering it was my
preferred preference of choice. However it’s a good
thing I found this out now rather than after it was too
late.
QUESTION 6:WHAT DO YOU FIND CREEPY IN
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS/HORROR
MOVIES (SELECT ONE OR MORE)

This question was beneficial to me as it gave me

insight on what sorts of characters I could consider
in my film in order to frighten my audience. It
allowed me to see what things people find creepier
and what doesn’t jump out at them.
Obviously they’re all creepy things which is why I
gave them the choice by including an “other” field
One person added “Darkness” which to me would
fall under the “shadow” category.
Another person mentioned
 Other Category
Answers

One person added “Darkness” which to me would fall under the “shadow” category.
Another person mentioned

One person wrote in “White people” which I initially thought was a joke answer. However, I
realized the respondent was being serious when I went to check his other responses on the
survey form (a handy button on monkeysurvey.com makes this easy) and discovered that he
had referenced “Get Out” in Q8 as the movie with the scariest scene being the one “When the
black dude went to the dinner party and when he left his girlfriend’s family auctioned him off”.
However, as I don’t feel that this is an universal fear my target audience will share I don’t think
that this is necessarily something I’ll include in my movie.
QUESTION 7: HOW OFTEN DO YOU WATCH HORROR MOVIES?

This made me come up with a few outdoor locations I knew of

in the area such as the Abandoned Ghost Village in Al Hamra
and some alley ways near school. I decided to scout these
locations and take some images before deciding which to go
with. I am concerned that outdoor location might be difficult
because of traffic or other elements such as people
interference or outdoor noises as well as lighting and
commuting issues. Therefore I will also look at some indoor
locations such as the theatre in school seeing as it would be
easy to access and quick to get to.
QUESTION 8: DESCRIBE THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT IN A
THRILLER/HORROR MOVIE YOU HAVE SEEN? WHAT MADE IT STAND OUT?

POPULAR RESPONSES
 11 people mentioned IT
– This was a recent release which got a lot of publicity which probably meant it was fresh in their minds BUT
this movie features … the scariest moments were ….these could help my movie b/c…
- A number of the respondents mentioned scenes where there were jump scares e.g. the bathroom scene
where the clown shows up behind the female central protagonist, or the scene where the clown appears in the projector. I
found this interesting as I’d seen two different versions of the projector scene which means it was filmed twice, one
possibly for different country regions? This shows how important it is to cater to different audiences.
- Another respondent mentioned a scene where pennywise the clown appears however everything else is
silent, they stated this was memorable because it builds up tension. This shows the importance of the soundtrack, or lack
thereof, which could be useful as my school’s media department doesn’t have microphones.
 2 people mentioned The Grudge
- Neither respondent elaborated on why they found this movie scary. This is one of the limitations of a survey
as opposed to a focus group.
 6 people mentioned The Conjuring
- Again a number of respondents mentioned the use of jump scares. As my movie is a Psychological Thriller,
jump scares may not be as relevant as they would be in a horror movie however it would add to the tension and therefore
something I will definitely consider.
INTERESTING COMMENTS

 Oculus
The use of mirrors is very symbolic in films and something we looked at in Media
Studies so I find this comment very interesting. In this particular movie the mirror itself was
possessed, a demonic item that possessed innocent families and caused them to have
delusions. The respondent said that the mental confusion caused by the mirror made this
stand out to them. This ties in well with my idea to a Psychological Thriller as my character
will be very confused throughout.
Mirrors have long been symbolic items dating back to the legends of Narcissus who falls in
love with his own reflection and dies. Mirrors and reflections symbolically represent either
the truth about ourselves or aspects of ourselves that we may want to keep hidden. In films
they can be used to symbolize being trapped or stuck in a situation e.g. Shutter Island.
One director who uses this technique a lot is M. Night Shyamalan whose movies are full of
symbolic resonance.
OTHER RESPONSES

Other than jump scares, other things that

made memorable moments in movies
were plot twists, bloody gruesome scenes
and stereotypical villains.
I was particularly interested in the movie
Split as it was a Psychological Thriller. I
found it interesting they mentioned the
sound effects as it came up in some of the
other movies.
QUESTION 9: WHAT SOUNDS CREEP YOU OUT IN
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS/HORROR MOVIES?
(SELECT ONE OR MORE)

This question relates back to question 6 as it gives me insight on

different ideas I could use to up the fear factor and frighten my
audience. Silence was clearly in the lead with a vote of 51.06%
which surprised me as they found the absence of sound spooked
them. I expected the Creepy Background Music to take the lead
however it was a close second with 36.17%, as I personally find it to
build suspense create atmosphere in the scene.
What surprised me however is how many people voted for
scratching sounds (27.66% ) and Ticking Clocks ( 19.15%) as I
typically don’t tend to find either of these sounds necessarily
creepy. I can make the scratching noise but it depends on the
location/scenario.
I wouldn’t necessarily class screaming with creepy as I find it to be
more impactful with the jump scare aspect of movies. I see creepy
as suspenseful and drawn out while screaming is sudden and in the
moment. Due to this I didn’t expect it to have as many votes as it
did (26.60%) but perhaps the respondents aren’t drawing this
distinction doesn’t allow for this kind of subtlety.
QUESTION 10: WHERE DO YOU PREFER
MOVIES TO START FROM?
Most people said they prefer movies to start from
the beginning however I found this interesting as to
me this a common feature amongst most movies
causing them to be more predictable throughout.
There are however certain movies such as Memento
which I find to stand out due to their disoriented
storyline. I also like movies like Limitless which
started at the climax and then tell the majority as a
flash back.
Although I will take on board what respondents
have said as it’s a part of my market research, in this
instance I disagree with the majority. I’m not sure if
they’ve thought through their response or just gone
for the most obvious choice but either way as my
movie is targeting a niche audience I prefer to go
against the crowd.
OVERALL EVALUATION OF SURVEY
 Most of the answers were what I would have expected but it was nice to receive conformation that my ideas or plans
would appeal to most audiences. A few things surprised me like that the jump scares stood out more than the actual
storyline. Considering these last for mere seconds as opposed to the storyline that develops throughout, the impact
they have on the audience was surprising.
 I was also surprised at the number of people who in question 10 voted on the movie opening from the beginning. Some
of the responses indicated that people like to be confused or startled during the movie. For me these two elements are
mutually incompatible as I only have two minutes. As a result of these responses I plan to begin my movie in the middle
of the action. In the opening of my movie will only be 2 minutes and so instantly creating confusion in the audience will
be an interesting task.
 One of the strengths of my survey was the confirmation of different ideas that I already had. Another strength to my
survey was the amount of respondents I received feedback from as they ranged over a broad spectrum. Also most
people elaborated well and gave me relevant feedback. There were however a handful of people who didn’t fill in all the
questions provided or gave joke answers but the majority did well. Another strength was the website I chose to use,
SurveryMonkey.com because of the breaking down the analysis of answers as well as the different options for questions
such as multiple choice or comment boxes etc. Another benefit was being able to share the link online and that’s
probably why I got such a broad spectrum of answers.
 A weakness of my survey was the limited amount of questions I was able to ask without having to pay however people
may have gotten bored or not been willing to complete all the questions so in hindsight maybe this wasn’t as bad of a
weakness.