2. Questionnaire
We have made a questionnaire to
find out what people would like to
see in our opening sequence, and
this helped us to engage with
them, as we could use their ideas
and opinions in our final piece.
3. Q1. What age do you think the characters should be?
Teenagers (16-19)
Young adults (19-25)
Adults (25-35)
Older age adults (35-50+)
4. Q2. What gender do you think the characters should be?
Male
Female
Mix
5. Q3. Which one of the following is the best setting for a
psychological horror?
Ordinary house
Woods
Abandoned hospital
Big schools
Other
6. Q4. What elements would you like to see in a
psychological horror opening sequence?
Some sort of death
The Killer
Introduction to the main
character
All of the characters in
one scene
The location
7. Q5. At what time of the day would you prefer a
psychological horror opening sequence to be set?
Daytime
Night
A mixture
8. Q6. What time of the year do you think is most suitable
for a psychological horror?
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
9. Q7. What colour scheme should be used for a
psychological horror?
Black
Red
Navy
10. • We have used some of their answers in our
opening sequence to satisfy them and simply
interest them, however, the sequence was mostly
based on our own opinions and what we think
will suit the best. For example, they wanted to
see the killer, an introduction to the main
character and the setting which was done in our
piece of work. We have filmed during the day
and in the evening, which allowed us to present
what our audience wanted to see. The fact that
the action takes place in an ordinary house and
that the main character is alone in the house
makes the audience afraid because we all live in
this setting and we’re often in the house by
ourselves. By using their answers in our opening
sequence, I believe we have helped them engage
with our work so they could enjoy it more.
11. Cinematography
• The use of high angles in our opening sequence
gave the viewer an impression that they’re being
watched, and someone that watches
psychological horrors can easily tell, that when a
character is being watched, they soon get killed.
We have used this shot to let the audience know
that the killer is constantly there and that he has
much more power over the victim and it makes
him seem more terrifying. The audience also
wonders who is the killer standing above the
victim and it creates mystery which is very
important in this horror genre.
12. Sound
• The sound that we have used
in our piece can be described
as haunting, it scares the
audience, and makes the
moment more mysterious so
they know that something
awful is going to happen very
soon, yet they can’t figure out
when, which makes it worse.
Creepy sound is stereotypical
in any horror, and this makes
the viewers understand that
it’s a horror before it actually
starts, as the music is played
even during the opening
credits.
13. Mise-en-scene
We have chosen the certificate to be
15+, therefore we have decided that we
won’t use blood or too much violence in our
opening sequence, because this would mean
that we have to raise our certificate to 18 and
we would get less viewers. Near the end of
the opening sequence, the main character
gets grabbed by someone, but we don’t see
who they are, they are dressed up in black
and have a black glove on. The fact that this
happens early on in the movie will make the
watchers aware that more things like this or
worse will happen later on in the movie and
this will make them watch more of it. When
we were recording it was still daytime and
the light was shining through the
curtains, however, after we’ve shut them, it
was dark enough. The fact that not much can
be seen creates mystery and tension and
makes the audience feel scared because they
know that the killer will be waiting
somewhere and we won’t be able to see
them and expect when they will show
themselves. Our main character is a teenage
girl, and we used a laptop as a prop, which is
something that each or most of teenagers
have so they can relate to the situation.
14. Editing
• We have used short and quick shots and this
would attract the fans of horror because the
shots are too short to realise what’s going
on, to think about the situation. The pace of
the shots creates tension, which is a massive
part of the horror genre.
