Results of horror questionnaire

Ten people answered the questionnaires on various questionnaires more than one answer was required

1) What age group of characters best suit a horror film? 

Teenagers = 9/10
Children=1/10

2) Do you expect to see violence and gore?

Yes=9/10
No=1/10

3) Who is your favourite evil horror character?

Michael Myers=1
Chuckie=1
Sprits in various films=2
Freddie Kruger=1
Hannibal lector =2
Pinhead=1
Preacher in poltergeist=1

4) Who is your favourite hero in a horror movie?

Van Helsing =3/10
Special agent graham=3/10
Unknown=2/10
Care worker in case 39=1/10
The victim in hostel=1/10

5) What kind of music do you expect to see in a horror film e.g. famous song/backing track?

Backing track=5/10
Loud music=1/10
Eerie/spooky music=3/10
Silence=1/10

6)What do you think of changing gender dynamics in a horror film?

Yes=4/10
No=4/10
Do not know=2/10

7) How do you expect the title in a horror movie to appear e.gfast slow, big small and where on the screen and the effects present – fading in and out?

Fast=2
Slow=5
Fade in and out=7
Various effects=1
Big=6
Small=3
Centre position=3

8) What kinds of settings do you expect to see in a horror movie?

Bedroom=1
Dark backstreet=3
At work=0
Woods=6

9) What is your favourite horror movie?

Zombie land=1
Silence of the lambs=1
Dawn of the dead=1
Scream=1
Final destination =1
6^th sense=2
Halloween=1
Jeepers creepers=1
Do not know=1

10) How do you expect the editing to be in a horror movie?

Twist=2
Sharp=2
Slow=1
Fast=2
Do not know=3

Analysis from the questionnaire
From the survey we have drawn the conclusion that most candidates liked teenagers and children as the main type of character in the horror film. This suggests that they liked the idea of innocence present in a character which is manipulated as children and teenagers are usually viewed as more innocent then adults as they are stereotypically less knowledgeable. Therefore suggesting when children and teenagers are the antagonist it is much more disturbing and wrong as it is unnatural.

A large number, nine out of ten, expected to see violence and gore in a horror film inferring that people associate a horror film with a lot of violence and acts of murder or pain. Whereas only one person voted no to violence and gore implying the idea that a horror film doesn’t necessarily have to contain violence and gore instead mental violence ,hurt and breakdown . implying not all horror s have to contain blood .   

The next two questions consisted of asking people there favourite hero and villain characters were in a horror film and why. There was a range of answers implying that a range of creatures or evil characters are viewed as equally scary in the horror genre. The reasons to why consisted of people feeling sensitive when the villain was a spirit for example saying they felt unprotected and unsure as the hero couldn’t protect themselves physically . other answers consisted that their favourite movie villains were people who had an appearance at first of purity but turned out evil e.g. Hannibal lector and Michael Myers who was a child at the beginning of a film this suggests that the audience like characters who appear as something they or not implying a sense of mystery is liked.

The heroes on the other hand such as Van Helsing were predominately male except for a few exceptions implying that a male character as the hero is viewed as most realistic as the reasons why consisted of strength and braveness something usually associated with the male gender opposed to female . However some people liked female heroes such as the case worker in case 39 suggesting sometimes a women hero is liked as it challenges the norms of a stereotypical horror film when the women is seen usually as the damsel in distress . This idea is reinforced on the gender dynamic question where 4 candidates like the idea of a women hero or villain with two not being fussed implying that the gender dynamics of women is a topic open to the public who are ready to embrace it.

People also voted that the music in a horror film should be a backing track opposed to a famous song containing as a backing track more spooky loud and eerie suggesting people found the music in a horror film important towards creating the scary horror setting.

The most popular setting for a horror film was the woods and a dark backstreet inferring that the audience liked places which were silent, dark and mysterious as both places are very good hiding places such as the woods where the antagonist can hide.

For our two minute film opening we have decided to make the opening of a horror film in order to prepare for this we made and sent out ten questionnaires based in horror dynamics in order to retrieve information on what an audience of a horror movies desire so when it comes to making and editing our film we have a clear idea of what will most appeal to our audience .

The majority of the questionnaire answerers seemed to prefer horror film titles that faded in and out and titles that were in the centre of the screen along with fading in and out slowly this inferring that there is a set particular style of titles that the audience like film makers to conform to that include the titles appearing slowly and fading in and out at the same time. It is implied in order to build u suspense and tension stereotypically. A majority of the questionnaire answerers also stated they like the idea of the titles appearing blood like suggesting gore is liked at the very beginning of the film rather than introduced slowly.

A range of horror films on question nine implied that a set type of horror film is not always desired by the audience and they like a range of films as each type of film had a different sub genre or very different characters from human to alien. This suggesting that our horror film does not necessarily need to stick to a certain type of horror film as the idea of variety is highlighted in this question.

The desired editing in a horror film varied greatly with some answerers confused at how they like to see a horror film edited however fast cuts were highly desired implying the audience like there horror films to be fast paced as the fast cuts create a sense of excitement and tension giving the impression the film is heading. This is something to consider when filming and editing our horror film .