The document summarizes research conducted through a questionnaire about audience preferences for horror films. 20 people aged 15-50 were surveyed about their gender, movie watching habits, favorite genres, and expectations for 15-rated and 18-rated horror films. The findings showed females generally prefer romantic comedies and paranormal horror, while males prefer action and psychological horror. This information will help shape the opening sequence to appeal to both male and female audiences aged 18-30 by creating a mysterious atmosphere without revealing too much of the plot.

2. To help me gather information for my audience
research and their individual likes/dislikes I
personally made a questionnaire based on which
genre of film they like and why they like it, I also
added in a section around my chosen genre which
is horror to obtain feedback to help me towards
my coursework.
I carried out this questionnaire on 20 people to
get a wide range of opinions, the questionnaire
itself contains overall 10 questions giving me
enough points to cover when it comes to audience
such as ages, and what they would expect from a
certain rated film.

3. As said in my previous slide, overall I asked 20
people with ages ranging from 15 up to 50. This is
due to most horrors usually having an age rating of
15 or 18 in terms of language and, of course, gore.
I halved my 20 participants into 50/50 in terms of
gender, this is because even though the horror genre
usually points to a male based audience I also
wanted female opinions on the genre not only for
non-stereotypical purposes but also to help me
gather information into what way I could possibly
spread my aimed audience to both genders.

4. How old are you?
18 under 25 under 25 over
What gender are you?
Female Male
How often do you watch movies?
Not at all A little Often All the time
What’s your favourite genre?
Action Romantic-Comedy Horror Thriller
What do you like about this genre?
_____________________________________________________
Do you personally like the horror genre?
Yes No
What’s your favourite horror movie?
___________________________________
What do you like about this particular movie?
______________________________________________________
What do you expect from a rated 15 horror film?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
What do you expect from a rated 18 horror film?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

5. My main findings were also linked with other information.
Out of the 10 females I asked 6 of them answered their favourite genre is a
Romantic-Comedy however 1 answered Action and the final 3 answered Horror.
In referral to the 10 males I asked 7 of them answered Horror as their favourite
genre and the final 3 answered Action.
These particular findings also link to my gender stereotype research in terms of
audience, how females would rather watch a romance as they like to relate to
them or a comedy to make them laugh. On the other hand males prefer to stay
away from romance and base themselves around genres like Action as they
have more packed and exciting scenes.
When asked about whether they personally like the horror genre 18 of the
participants answered „yes‟ minus two females. Showing that even though
horror isn‟t everyone‟s favourite genre they still like to watch them.
In referral to them being asked what their favourite movie in the horror
genre, the female participants named films which were based around the
paranormal while the males films were based around psychological-thrillers or
plain gore. Showing that females prefer films which contain a lot of jumps and
also have a history, and the males prefer films with a puzzling yet interesting
plot and also to be quite graphic.

6. From my findings I have learnt that audience stereotypes do apply
when it comes to the horror genre which is what I had originally
hoped for therefore it‟s confirmed my target audience of both
genders however between the 18 and 30 age range.
Even though we found that females tend to lean towards the
paranormal section of horror and males towards the psychological
section. These have also helped me decide to have an opening
sequence which doesn‟t reveal too much about the main storyline
therefore giving the audience a feeling of mystery making them
want to continue watching, this is because each section of horror
doesn‟t usually jump straight into the action unless it‟s in the gore
section, film such as “Saw.”

7. If I were to carry out my research towards finding out about
audiences again I do believe that I could have added more
questions as to finding out what they expect to see in particularly
rated 18 horror films rather than asking about rated 15 horror
films as they aren‟t really what I wish to focus my piece on. I
would have also added more about what they expect from the
characters based in horror such as what they would expect them
to look like, what weapons would be a good choice to use etc.
Finally I would have also chose my participants age more carefully
focusing on 18 year olds up to 30 year olds at maximum rather
than getting opinions from some in their 40‟s. This would‟ve
helped me be able to concentrate more towards my aimed target
and what they personally seem to like best.
Having said these points I overall think that this particular
research into audience was a success and helped me find out
information which will contribute to my opening sequence.