The focus group provided useful insights for the target audience of 16-17 year old males. They enjoyed elements of gore, fear that stays with you, and wondering what's behind closed doors. Characters should be relatable. The villain's actions are important, not the villain itself. The online questionnaire with 15 respondents of various ages provided additional perspectives. Most felt the genre should be clear from the opening. Opinions varied on cliffhangers. Soundtrack, atmosphere, characters, and location representing the genre were deemed important by most. Common horror audiences include younger adults and teenagers. While males are regularly targeted, recent films have increased female audiences by including female protagonists. The production will aim for a

1. AUDIENCE RESEARCH: QUESTIONNAIRE, FOCUS GROUP,
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
By Sam Hodgson

2. Focus Group Analysis
I used a group of four 16-17 year old males for my focus group as this was my ideal target audience. I asked
multiple questions regarding narrative and content within their favourite horrors and discovered what they
thought made a horror film entertaining and successful. Early on I discovered that my target audience was
appropriate as they all admitted to enjoying some degree of horror filmography. The group agreed that “blood”
and “gore” were very significant within horror, I also discovered that a key reason that 16-17 year olds enjoy
horror is because they “stay with you”. This has truly inspired me to delve into the idea of creating a strong
element of fear that is evident in many previous horror productions to let the film manifest inside the viewers
mind. One member of the group told me that horror films must make you “wonder what’s behind closed
doors”. This is an effective idea and coincides with the point about enhance the element of fear to my
production. The group told me that characters are increasingly important in the genre, I discovered that
characters in horror should be easy to relate to in order to have the audience put themselves in the characters
shoes and ultimately on the edge of their seats. The group told me that sub-genres of horror were a different
experience and had major differences from the original genres. The group notified me that the villain itself
isn’t an important aspect of horror but the reason the villain is considered a villain and the way he deals with
his “victims” such as “Jigsaw” in “Saw "is important as it constructs and heavily influences the narrative. From
this evidence I have discovered what 16-17 year olds like to see when watching a horror film and what helps
create the narrative and make it more realistic for them.

3. Link to Online Questionnaire:
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/iVKVfPuC

4. Questionnaire Background Information
My questionnaire was created via the 3rd Party site Freeonlinesurveys.com, this
enabled me to receive a broader variety of results simply via link sharing. I
received 15 results from my questionnaire by people of different ages. Unlike
my focus group I asked both male and females of different ages to take my
survey, by doing this I was able to achieve a more rounded result.

5. Results

6. Yes
No
Should a film give the audience an idea of what genre it is within the opening?
It clear to me that my production should give the audience an
idea that the film is horror within the opening. This feedback is of
stellar importance as it reinforces the fact that I will need to
include typical codes and conventions such as music and setting
to try and best portray the genre within the opening five minutes.

7. Yes
No
Not Sure
Do you like to see “Cliff-hanger” openings?
I received varied opinions from this question. While the majority
of people admitted they do enjoy“Cliff-hanger”film introductions a
large sample said that they did not like them. I believe in going
down the root of the majority vote and henceforth this survey has
informed me of the desire for enigma openings or some sort of
mystery based essence.

8. Yes
No
Do you judge a film upon its opening sequence?
A mass amount of survey takers admitted that they do judge a
film upon the quality of its opening sequence. Based upon this
result I now understand just how important it is to make the
introduction gripping and interesting in the effort to convince the
audience to pursue the film. Judging by this I should make it
paramount importance to ensure that our film opening is pristine
and of the greatest narrative quality available.

9. Should a horror intro be intense or mysterious?
All Data
Intense Mysterious Both
4
(26.7%)
4
(26.7%)
7
(46.7%)
I received very mixed results from this question. The majority vote
was in favour of having both an intense and mysterious film
opening while smaller samples decided upon the individual
options. I think that the evidence I should take from this is that
each and every person has an individual opinion so by
incorporating multiple themes/ideas into my opening I can cater
to the desires of many different audiences and henceforth I
should be creating a production by intertwining both ideas and
including an element of both mystery and intensity.

10. Do you think sound/soundtrack is important in a horror
film opening?
All Data
Yes No
12
(80%)
3
(20%)
Most of the surveyed audience believe that soundtrack is
important within an opening. I need to find a suitable track to
issue to the production as the soundtrack is of great importance
to creating the tone. It also needs to not only represents the
production but also reinforce the eerie, dark nature of horror and
convince the audience.

11. Do you think a certain atmosphere/tone is important in a
horror film opening?
All Data
Yes No
11
(73.3%)
4
(26.7%)
Obviously what I can take from this is the fact that
atmosphere/tone is a crucial aspect of a horror opening. The
majority vote clearly indicates this which has reinforced my
original ideas. I need to have a certain ambience to replicate
the classic eerie/mysterious tone seen in many horror
productions throughout the years.

12. All Data
Yes No
6
(40%)
9
(60%)
Should a film opening represent what will happen later in the film?
This was another question where I received mixed results. 60%
of people decided that the idea of foreshadowing within a
horror opening was not necessary while 40% of people
disagreed and said that it should be included. I believe that this
sometimes has an excellent effect on the narrative if it is
executed correctly however, for our production I do not believe
it to be a necessity or requirement and will pursue the majority
vote by not including foreshadowing.

13. All Data
Yes No
10
(66.7%)
5
(33.3%)
Do you think the characters and location should represent the genre in a horror film opening?
67% of the survey takers have informed me that characters and
location should represent the horror genre. I have to agree with
this statement as it is a key aspect to “mise-en-scene” and
henceforth has a huge impact on the films representation of
genre and society. 33% of people decided that it should not
represent the genre, I believe by arguing this they are trying to
bolster the idea of mystery. I think it should be of paramount
importance for me to construct representation through the
form of character and location.

14. Common Horror Audiences
Usually, major horror institutions such as “Twisted Pictures” and “Hammer Horror” tend to target their films towards the
younger generation of adults and teenagers with films using a predominantly young cast such as “The Woman in Black”.
This has inspired me to consider also targeting this audience. Gender is also regularly targeted within the genre
especially males, however in recent horror productions there has been a surge in female audience causing many
productions such as “The Cabin in the Woods” and “The Forest” to feature a female protagonist in order for the
production to seem more realistic and relatable for the female gender. This is largely due to the idea of “couple” horror in
which females and males feel inspired to watch a horror when together. A good example of this would be the film
“Scream”. In my production however I will be aiming to target a teenage male audience as I believe this is the audience
most commonly associated with the genre, by doing this we will also be able to utilize our male cast to optimum fashion
by making it easier for the audience to relate to the product whilst also making the most of audience positioning by
inspiring a gender relevant polysemy/negotiated reading.