The document discusses research conducted to inform the creation of a psychological thriller film. It asks respondents questions about their gender, age, preferred film genres and subgenres, what attracts them to thriller films, favorite character types, scary themes, and what makes a good thriller. The most popular genres are action and thrillers. Psychological thrillers and themes of murder, paranoia and being followed test well. Respondents enjoy heroes and compelling storylines. The research will help the filmmakers design an appealing thriller.

1. 1.
We asked this question to see if people of different
genders have different preferences when watching films
and they’re answers will be able to give us some
indication about which gender would be more likely to
watch our film.
2.
We asked the interviewees’ ages to also give us an
indication of the differences in film preferences
depending on their age range. People of different ages
will have different experiences with films, and more
likely the older they are, the bigger range of films they
have seen, which will affect the rest of the answers in
our survey, and their overall perception of films.
3.
We asked this question as a control, to see how many
people actually enjoy watching thriller films. It was
interesting to see how popular the genre is, before we
went on to specify the sub genres.
From this data, we can see that the most popular film
genres are Action and Thrillers, so if we were to create
a popular thriller, we could include some action scenes,
with some themes of a thriller film.
Because our film is definitely a thriller, under the
psychological sub-genre I think it will appeal to a lot of
people as it will have some action, drama and thriller
conventions in it.

2. 4.
Asking this question meant we could compare the
results to our thriller, and see if it is a fairly
popular sub genre so it would appeal to lots of
people. With an understanding of which sub
genres are most popular, we can assess other
certain features that join with that sub genre. For
example, people who enjoy films of the Action
sub genre would most probably like to see a Hero
character, with gangster & gun themes, while
people who prefer the Horror sub genre would
most like to enjoy seeing a Victim, and
Psychopath themes. We would class our thriller in
the psychological sub-genre, and as this came as
joint 2nd most popular in our survey, I think we
chose a good plotline.
5.
It is important to ask this question to see what
draws people into watching a thriller film,
therefore what we can include in our own film
opening. Obviously we couldn’t have a well
known actor, which the most popular thing that
attracts people to watch a thriller, but including the
other features which were also popular could
increase audience interest in our film.
The second most important thing to interest and
audience is the storyline. to get a better idea of
what people perceive as a good storyline we need
to see what people’s answers to our other
questions are.

3. 6.
We chose to ask this question to see what
characters people like to see in a film, and we
could compare the results to the character
dynamics in our own film. Most people like to
see a hero character, but surprisingly, the
second most popular character is a comedy
person. However this character type does not
really apply to the majority of thriller, so it is
irrelevant.
Most people like to see a hero character, but a
heroine is the least favorite character type.
Although our main character is a girl, she kind
of includes being a victim as well, which
wouldn’t work as well if it were a male
character as we tend to perceive females as being venerable and weak, therefore making the better
victim.
9.
This question was important to ask so we
could see if our thriller theme and plot
would actually interest the audience. It
would have made sense to conduct the
questionnaire before we planned our thriller,
so this would be something to remember for
next time.
The most popular scary themes for films are
murderers, paranoia, and being followed.
This applies quite well to our own film,
although we do not have much death.
10.
This question is not necessarily related to our thriller,
but is still an interesting topic that we can possibly refer
to in the future. The results were surprising, as I did not
expect the majority to vote yes.

4. On top of these 8 questions we asked, we also asked 2 open questions:
7. What is yourfavorite thriller film and why?
• Inception – Good plot, actors, action and mystery.
• 300 – Well filmed and produced,Gerard Butler, action and gore with romance as well.
• Silence of the Lambs – tense moments and good acting by Antony Hopkins.
• The Shaw-shank Redemption – Intelligent, atmospheric and unexpected turns.
• The Changeling – Good storyline, dramatic and a true story.
◦ Final Destination 2 & 3 – scary and jumpy, but due to the lack of realistic scenes it doesn't give
you nightmares
• Quarantine – Jumpy and looks realistic but couldn't happen in real life.
• Saw – Good plot, gruesome and suspense.
• The Hills Have Eyes – Scary, creepy and mutants.
• I Am Legend – Powerful, thought provoking, Will Smith, strong storyline.
• Flight Plan – Tense
• The Hills Have Eyes – Storyline
• Bourne Films – Action, constantly things happening.
• Watchmen – Soundtrack
• Inception – Interesting storyline, impressive graphics and awesome cast.
• Wrong Turn – Jumpy and deformed characters.
• The Shining – Good actors and creepy.
• The Fugitive – Good storyline & cast.
We asked this to give more freedom on answers, and to allow us to see exactly what people like in a
thriller film, without restricting them with multiple choice answers, and giving them the control of
answering the question. We can incorporate some of these features in our own film as we know what
people like to see.
Although having looked at several thriller openings for inspiration, we can now see what audiences
actually want to see in a thriller film.
8. What makes a good thriller?
• Good storyline
• Well written
• Strong characters
• One that scares you out of your skin
• Jumpy
• Suspense
• Good soundtrack
• Intriguing storyline
• Good cast
• Editing
• Directing
• Good acting
• Believable storyline
• Lots of action
• Special effects
• Blood/gore
• Not predictable/expected
• Violence
It is important for the respondents to give us specific feedback on what they look for when watching a
thriller, which will help us to define our own thriller to make it more appealing to an audience.