2. I surveyed a group of 15 16-18 year old boys and these are the results they gave me.
My survey results told me a lot about the type of things that people like to see in horror films.
One of my questions asked what it was the people found the scariest in horror films. Out of the
options I gave the most popular by far was the fear of the unknown. This allows me to exploit
this in my film to get the best result possible. The second most popular was a fear of the
supernatural. This almost ties in with the fear of the unknown because we don’t really know
much about the supernatural and so adds to this fear.
I also asked how often people watch horror films with the options of: all the time, every so
often, barely ever and not at all. This gave people a fair spectrum to allow them to answer
accurately. The majority of people chose the option of “every so often” This shows me that
people don't watch horror films all the time however they do like to watch them. This adds
pressure on to my film as if people don’t watch horror films all the time my film could turn them
away from the genre completely however if it is a success it could inspire people to watch
more horror films.
The final question I asked was if the people enjoyed gore in horror films. I gave them the
options of: Yes, No and moderately. Giving the option of moderately completely changed the
way the results went as the majority picked that option. This tells me that people aren't too
attracted to films that rely on blood and gore as their main source of horror. Knowing this
allows me to adapt my film to the audiences needs and wants.
3. Younger people are usually more likely to watch horror films with the majority of
viewers being under 25. About 42% of horror fans are female meaning the
majority are male at 58%. A lot of the time horror films are laced with elements of
thriller films meaning that the viewers are expecting a thrill/scare by experiencing
horrifying situations from the comfort of their own homes. This is why most
horror/thriller viewers are younger as they enjoy experiencing these emotions and
is the same reason why older people don’t enjoy them as much.
Horror films are intended to give the audience a fright or to feel panicked. These
types of films try to show us our worst fears or most uncomfortable situations so
that we are able to feel scared. However by just observing the situations instead
of actually experiencing them we get to feel a sense of relief after the fright as we
have only watched the events happening instead of actually being there. It is this
feeling that gives us such a rush and is also why younger people are more likely
to want to watch horror/thriller films. When you get older sudden shocks can
negatively impact your health and so we are only really able to experience these
feelings safely at a young age.
4. The target audience for the film I am going to be producing will be young people.
Young people are extremely attracted to horror/thriller films and love to be scared.
Most young people are thrill seekers in one way or another and horror/thriller films
are a quick and easy way of experiencing that thrill. The target audience will also
be male as 58% of horror film enthusiasts are male and so if the film is targeted
towards them it will please the majority. Social class doesn’t really effect the target
audience as everyone is able to watch a horror/thriller film. Horror films aren't too
expensive to go see which allows the lower classes to be able to view these films.
It is one of the cheapest ways to experience the thrill feeling as things like theme
parks cost a lot more money to attend. The middle and upper classes are also
able to watch these films as it gives them the same thrill feeling whilst being in the
comfort of their own home. This gives them the opportunity to experience being
scared/thrilled in their down time when they are not out doing other things that are
also going to give them the same feeling.
5. My film would have to be appropriate for people of my age. This means that there are certain
lines I'm not allowed to cross whilst filming to keep my film appropriate for my audience.
My film is allowed to show light discrimination only if I show it in a negative way and don’t
glorify it.
The use of drugs is acceptable only if the film is not encouraging the viewer to repeat the
action they see on screen. However the misuse easily accessible and harmful substances like
solvents or aerosols would not be appropriate.
Dangerous behaviour that the audience is able to easily copy should not be shown in extreme
detail and shouldn’t be too realistic.
Strong language is permitted depending on the context and how frequently it is used.
There are no restrictions on the use of nudity if the film is non-sexual in nature however there
shouldn’t be strong focus on nudity in the film. The same goes for sexual scenes.
Strong themes of threat and horror are appropriate.
Violence is acceptable but should not focus on the infliction of pain on others reference to
sexual violence is deemed appropriate however depiction of such acts have to be subtle.
The majority of mature themes are deemed appropriate for a 15+ rating however they should
never be glorified or justified.
6. There are a few production techniques that I can use to use to
convey a certain message to the audience. This is really important
for the genre for my production as I am creating a horror film and
seriously relies on using production techniques to scare the
audience. One that I will be using for my production is the use of
POV shots. Using these puts the viewer in the characters shoes and
further immerses the audience into the film. I was thinking of filming
a scene in the perspective of the creature in the woods. This will
increase the horror and thrill factor as the audience are aware of the
creatures location however the character in the film will not be. This
is known as dramatic irony and really helps adding tension in horror
films. Having things like branches in the way of the lens to make it
look like the creature is hiding and also editing in a colour overlay to
show that the shot is from the creatures perspective makes the
scene look more realistic. This technique is fairly basic and will be
easy to achieve in my production.
7. Because I am creating my short film with no funds I have to keep
everything very cheap. This means that some certain scenes I would
want to shoot are, unfortunately, impossible to do so. However I am
able to work around this and in a way it adds tension to my film. One
of the ways I am going to get around my budget is by never showing
the creature in the woods. I will use sound effects to show the
audience that it is moving and am also going to film scenes from the
POV of the creature. This means I don’t need to buy a costume for
the creature or spend extra time editing it into the scenes. This, in my
opinion, adds tension to my film as the audience never know what
the creature is in the woods. At the very end when the creature finally
attacks the main character I also wont need to show anything. I am
planning to cut the screen to black whilst playing audio of the
creature attacking the main character. This clearly conveys the
message that the main character has been attacked to the audience.
8. To add extra themes of thrill/horror to my production I am going to
film as the night draws in so that the environment will be darker.
This will make my production look scarier as the darkness is
always associated with the genre of horror. Shooting at night
allows me to instantly give a scary tone to my production which
helps with the overall goal of my film. I also have the option of
adding colour overlays on my film to add to the same effect to
make my film look even more sinister giving the film a
professional feel to it.
9. The Birch is a short horror film based around a
creature in the woods. From this synopsis it
sounds incredibly similar to the film I am going
to create. However the film is from the
perspective of a boy that is bullied. The film
continuously cuts to a conversation the boy is
having with his grandma. There are also
multiple scenes that quickly flash on the scene
in-between the boy getting bullied and his
grandma telling the story. In these quick scenes
there is very close up clips of what seem to be
human body parts. This foreshadows the
events that are to happen later As the film
progresses more is revealed about what the
boys grandma is talking about. Finally as the
film comes to a close it is revealed that the boy
is protected by a creature made from a tree in
the woods. This film takes a completely
different perspective on horror and makes you
sympathise for the boy who is bullied.
10. The short film tEXt, like mine, features no
audible dialogue. Due to this all
conversations held by the characters
occur via text message. This was
something I was thinking of doing so
seeing this film helped me to understand
how I could show the audience the
conversations between characters. It also
showed me how I would be able to create
an atmosphere just from text messages.
The film used minimal music with the
majority of the audio in the film being
noises made by the phone receiving,
typing and sending messages. This gave
the film a more realistic feeling as there
was little to no music to manipulate the
audiences feelings.
11. The short film Run was filmed almost entirely
using POV. This literally puts the audience in
the characters shoes and so immerses the
audience in the film further. This film like tEXt
and mine includes no audible dialogue. To get
around this obstacle this short film uses
subtitles whilst the main character is speaking
on the phone. This happens at the beginning
of the film and sets up the story for the rest of
the film. This is unlike tEXt as in that film the
characters are talking to each other
throughout the entire film. Because Run only
uses subtitles at the beginning of the film it
relies on the rest of the film to convey its
message. It does this by showing tapes
throughout the film that add to the story and
also add tension. As the tapes are played the
characters motivation is uncovered more and
more.
