The questionnaire results showed that the target audience for the short film was 18-24 year olds, with most respondents having a university degree. They enjoyed horror films rated 8/10 and watched them weekly or monthly. Tom Hiddleston was the most popular choice to play a psychiatrist in a horror/thriller, and respondents preferred supernatural and psycho killer elements in films. Their favorite trailer was Silence of the Lambs, and most liked thriller and drama subgenres. The results informed decisions about the film's plot, characters, and genres to appeal to the audience.

1. Elliot Brown – Short Film Research
QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS ANALYSIS

2. WHAT AGE GROUP ARE YOU?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0-12 13-17 18-24 25-35 36-50 51-64 65+
The questionnaire results showed
us that the majority of respondents
were in the age group 18-24. Our
second highest result was the age
group 25-35. This was useful for us
when analyzing the results of our
questionnaire. Our primary target
audience is within this age group
and we could rely on the results to
show us a fair representation of our
target audience’s opinions. We
needed the other age groups to
answer aswell, however, as they
would be a secondary audience for
our production.

3. WHAT IS YOUR GENDER?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Male Female
Our questionnaire was given out to
half male; half female. We
proposed to do this when giving our
questionnaires to the respondents
because, although our target
audience will be specific to one
gender, we felt it was important to
understand both perspectives and
which both genders would find
preferable.

4. WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATION LEVEL?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
GCSE Degree Not In
Education
We felt it was appropriate to find the
education level of our audience due to
the initial plot idea we had. We
planned to have a plot which involved
a storyline to follow along to – the
education level of the respondent
becomes necessary, therefore, as we
would base the complexity of our
storyline on such results. With the
predominant respondents being of a
degree level, we can assume the
viewer will work out any storyline
which should be followed. Also, the
predominant audience for short films
is university students.

5. ON A SCALE OF 1-10, HOW MUCH DO YOU ENJOY
HORROR FILMS?
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Our results showed us that the
respondents mostly enjoyed horror
films: the most popular answer
being 8/10. This was important for
us in our production planning as we
plan to have a thriller/horror genre;
these results will show us how
much the audience would enjoy
more horror being incorporated into
the genre and how effective this
would be to the viewer. The next
question had the same idea, it
would show us how often they
watch horror films and would have
the same effect on production.

6. HOW OFTEN DO YOU WATCH HORROR FILMS?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Weekly Monthly Annually Never

7. WHO WOULD BE MOST SUITED TO PLAY A
PSYCHIATRIST IN A HORROR/THRILLER?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Benedict
Cumberbatch
Tom Hiddleston Jake Gyllenhaal
The results to this questionnaire
showed us that the respondents felt
that Tom Hiddleston was the most
suitable to play the protagonist in
our plot (psychiatrist).
Unfortunately, Tom Hiddleston isn’t
available for us in our production;
the acting quality will be hard to
resemble. However, the results
showed us that the respondents
preferred a younger male and we
would consider this type of
character when making the crew
list.

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TRAILER?
0
5
10
15
20
25
Amityville
Horror
Unfriended Woman In
Black
It Follows Silence of
the Lambs
The results showed us that the
most popular film shown was
‘Silence of the Lambs’. We
would consider this when
creating our film plots, thinking
about what aspects to avoid
(ones similar to those in
‘Unfriended’) and which to
think about including (similar to
those in ‘Silence of the
Lambs’). This film shows a lot
of psychology in the character
and mental disruption, so we
would consider having this
aspect in our characters.

9. WHAT TYPE OF HORROR DO YOU LIKE?
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2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18 The results showed us that the
respondents most liked the idea of
supernatural and pyscho killers in
horror films. This is important to us
when creating our plot as we can
see that the audience would most
enjoy these elements. I had the
idea that we could have a
psychological disablement
throughout all the deaths in the film
to appeal to this answer, as well as
incorporating the supernatural
aspect of the ring possessing the
characters to death.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SUB-GENRE TO
HORROR?
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2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Comedy Sci-Fi Thriller Drama Adventure
The results showed us that the
most popular results in the
question was thriller and drama.
We would consider these
answers in the plot of our film,
introducing a storyline for the
audience to follow, with
characters which the audience
could relate to – appealing to the
drama genre. And we chose to
have our film as a horror/thriller
genre, the results of the
questionnaire showing us that
this would be favourable to the
viewer.

11. WHAT PUTS YOU OFF HORROR FILMS MOST?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16 These results showed us what to
steer away from when creating the
plot of our film. I decided in my plot
draft that I would avoid a
predictable ending by having the
start of the film as the ending; there
being a flashback. This disruption of
the storyline avoids this. We also
decided to stay away from using
any form of comedy in our
production as it may result in
cheesy script lines; this was one of
the things which respondents most
disliked in horror films.