Audience Expectations

As a group we created surveys for 8- 10 to gain more knowledge and understanding into the different genres that we could possibly use in our film opening. My chosen genre was Horror. I asked questions based on their opinions and what they expect from a typical Horror film.

What is your favourite Horror film and why?
The Results I got from this question were varied but similar in explanation. 2 answers that I got were paranormal activity 2. This may be down to the chain of Paranormal Activity films that have been released and people finding new editions better than the first one. As the stories are linked within the paranormal activity films, they may have created a better narrative for the second release. The explanation for their choice was to do with the advertising and rumours that were spread about the film. As many people believed that the films are true stories, they find it more intriguing as their curiosity leads them to relating the film to their personal situation. Other answers were the Grudge 2 and the strangers. The reasons behind their choice were that the storylines were intriguing as the tension built up throughout the film. Another answer I got was the devil's rejects. The person is very interested in the director Rob Zombie.

What do you expect to be in horror films?
Out of all the people I asked they all responded with similar answers. They thought if it was a psychological thriller there would be innocent women who would be haunted by something e.g. a spirit or there would be a theme of metal health issues. They would also think that some characters will be dressed in destroyed clothes e.g. rags. For stereotypical horror films they would expect to see some blood and a dangerous weapon.

What sort of props/ set up do you expect horror films to have?
From conducting my survey, most people thought that would be a use of a gun or a knife. They would also expect the use of supernatural related props such as Ouija board that would be used in seeking spirits/ghosts.
They would also expect the set be partly inside and outside as an outside set would be a graveyard or a dumpsite. An example of an inside set up would be a haunted room.

From conducting my research I have gathered what people expect from Horror films. It has also made me think if I would consider having horror as my genre for my film opening. In my opinion, I think doing a horror opening won't be suitable for our group. We don't have the special effects equipment available to us and if we tried to make the opening it would be too difficult.