Questionnaire

This is our questionnaire which we will use to gain feedback on our initial ideas. We will begin by giving this questionnaire to people of the particular age group - being 15+ as this is the age certificate for our trailer. Once the questionnaires have been completed we will make an overall decision as to what will most appeal to our target audience.



Question 1
Our first question is based around the main character. The two options are a 'Young grudge like girl' and an 'Old women'. We were initially influence by these two characters from seeing them in other films such as The Grudge which features a young girl and also The Visit who features an old women. Firstly, the idea of having a young child as the main character is likely to be more appealing to the audience and would have more success in scaring them.The typical expectations of a young child are them being quite innocent and vulnerable however in the case of a horror film, these stereotypes are totally subverted and therefore are unexpected by the audience. The second idea of using an old women as the antagonist is effective as again, typical expectations are that they are quite vulnerable and kind and generous people; in the case of a horror film, however, there personalities are flipped around and they actually become quite an eerie character to the audience. By asking this question, we will make the decision on which character to use as our antagonist and which one will have more success in scaring the audience.

Question 2
The second question is a kind of when and where question, and this is important to think about in film. The 4 ideas we had were; in the daytime, at night, in a house or in an abandoned/derelict area. All primal locations and times that we have seen and been influenced by in other horror films. As a result of actually asking this question, we may actually use all 4 location/times however we feel it is important to ask the question so we know where to base most of the trailer.

Question 3
The third question involves the conventions that we aim to include in our trailer. In many trailers, there is usually a combined genre; for example, the film 'Saw' which is a horror, thriller. This is an important thing to consider when thinking about conventions that we are going to use. For example, we may use a car as a prop (action convention) and somehow turn that into a prop used for murder (horror convention), which involves the horror aspect.

Question 4
This question, again, involves the genre of our trailer. There are many different genres of horror being: Action, Gothic, Psychological and Mainstream. For this question, we have given examples of films of the specific genre to ensure that the people answering have an idea of which each genre actually is. Once we have got an overall percentage for this question, we will be able to focus on the specific conventions of the horror genre.

Question 5
This next question is regarding the diegetic/non diegetic sounds which are a part of mis-en-scene; a key area to focus on in film. The three different options are, again, sounds that we have been influenced by through other films. The first sound we were considering is of young children children singing. The reason for this choice of sound is because, firstly we are considering having a child as our antagonist/main character and therefore felt like it would make sense and relate for this sound to be used. Another reason is that the sound is quite eerie and therefore may be likely to scare the audience; and for this reason we are asking the question. The second option is fast paced, heavy breathing/pulse which could be significant in creating a kind of panicking/tense atmosphere for the audience. The third is a high pitch scream, which is the typical sound you hear from someone who may have been hurt or are scared. All of these sounds that we are considering are most likely to be non-diegetic for the reason that you wont know who/where it is coming from and would therefore be more intense for the audience.

Question 6
The last question we are asking is based on the camera and the pace at which we film. In many trailers, the camera movement is fast-paced for the reason that it is a trailer, and trailers do consist of short clips which tend to be quite fast in switching between each one. However it can also be effective using slow-paced shots, as it is more intense and entices the audience much more as they aren't sure what to expect.