R9: Textual analysis of a short horror film

I am going to be analysing the short horror film "The moonlight man", which was uploaded onto YouTube in October 2015.



Firstly, mis en scene in this short horror film is used to create the stereotypical horror film setting and the produce the conventional effects on the audience. For example, the film is set in the dark, with the sky being black and the street lights being switched on. This is a very stereotypical setting of horror films, especially used to foreshadow that something bad will happen and the use of the dark setting in this short film does this effectively. This is because, the colour black and darkness in general, symbolises evil, fear and mystery. As a result, tension is conventionally likely to build within the audience, simply due to the use of the dark settings, as the audience may begin with to infer that something will happen to the female lead. However, more academically mature individuals in the audience may read the text in an op-positional manner, as they may point out that it is not the dark settings that connotes that evil is around, it is the use a female lead, who through her fearful facial expressions and panic expressing actions, connotes that there is an evil force out there, because of the fact both the female protagonists expressions and action,represents her as being a stereotypical weak woman, who is desperate to run away.

The use of sound in this short horror film, varies between adhering to conventions and developing the conventions. For example, in the scene in the car, the female protagonist pants and hyperventilates, which symbolises panic and fear, which is very conventional in horror films where there is minimal to no dialogue and through this human sound, the audience are more likely to empathise with the female protagonist, in the sense of feeling alone and scared, as a result this may build stress and fear within the audience. However, when the female protagonist steps out of the car with a torch in her hand, non diejetic sound of the plucking of base guitar begins, This sound is conventional in the sense that it is of a low key, but this convention is developed, as often this sound is used to connote courage and heroism in action adventure films. As a result, the female protagonist becomes a counter-type, as she is represented as being brave by attempting to face this monster haunting her and represented as being  resourceful, as the female protagonist uses a torch as a weapon to defend herself. This may create enigma codes (Barthes), such as will the woman beat the evil force (The Moonlight man) or will she be beaten, thus this may help to build anxiety within the audience in response to the enigma code.

The use of editing in this short horror film is very conventional, as fast paced editing is used when the horror element arrives and slow paced editing is used to build up to the arrival and end of the horror element. For example, in the car scene, fast paced editing is used, through the quick cuts, to show the female protagonist get up from searching for her phone, re-locking the right car door then re- locking the left car door. This fast paced editing works to connote the distraught and hysteria of the female character, which helps to also create a jump scare within the audience. Moreover, after the fast paced editing, in the same car scene, slow paced editing begins, when the female character sits in her seat in alarm looking around for the monster. As a result, the tension within the audience continues to remain, as the slow paced editing, does not signify the end of the horror element, but connotes that there is more to come from The Moonlight Man.

At the end of this short horror film, the use of camera is important in creating the finale horror scene with The Moonlight Man and female protagonist. For example, point of view shot is used, when the car boot opens on its own and the woman turns to see an empty, dark and confined space. The camera also slowly zooms in slightly in the point of view shot, This type of camera shot is conventional in short horror films, as it is an easy way of putting the audience in the position of the protagonists in the horror scene. In this particular scene, the use of the point of view and slow zoom in, may induce alarm in the audience, as it may trigger claustrophobia due to the dark, confined view of the car boot. Furthermore, the use of a car boot may connote to being trapped and stuck, thus the audience may begin to infer that this car boot is significant and the audience may predict that the female protagonist and this car boot are linked to each other, which helps to maintain the fear within the audience, as the audience may predict that the female protagonist will die in her own car boot.

R9: Textual analysis of short horror film

In the short film ABE, the horror genre is represented through the use of camera work, mis en scene, editing and sound.  I will be analyzing this text using each of the categories of analysis and explain how they create representations of the horror genre using evidence from the text, as well as explaining the effect each has, on the audience. 

To begin with, sound in the short horror film ABE is used to create a stereotypical representation of the horror genre, as the horror genre is represented as highlighting death and despair. For example, in the beginning of the extract the non-diegetic instrumental of rumbling sounds and low mumbling fades in as the first few cuts of the film (showing the setting of the film) is shown.  The use of such sound sets an eerie tone for the start of the film and helps to create tension for the audience, as the audience becomes aware of the mysterious setting of the film. Moreover, the use of low rumbling and mumbling sounds is conventional in the horror genre and is perhaps used to foreshadow death, which may build tension for the audience, as rumbling sounds may connote to danger and hazard. As a result, a stereotypical representation for the horror genre is created.

The use of camera work in the short film ABE is significant in drawing in the audience and is stereotypical of the representation of the horror genre, as the horror genre is represented as building curiosity and ambiguity. For example, in the beginning of the extract slow, short panning movement of the camera is used to show, translucent curtains with a ball of white light behind it, in the left of the screen and rule of thirds. Furthermore, the use of slow movement is conventional in films of the horror genre, as it is great in drawing in the attention for the audience and keeping the focus of the audience on particular scenes. Perhaps, in this extract, the use of slow and short pans in the beginning of the film was to connote the significance of these curtains and what is behind these curtains. In addition, the fact that these curtains are translucent, nothing clear behind the curtains is shown; as a result this may connote to ambiguity and thus draws in the audience through their curiosity. In addition, the use of a wide shot to show blood on the curtains of the robot is inter textual to the horror film Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, this further draws in the audience of those who have watches the particular horror classic and blood is an iconic convention in the horror genre.

Furthermore, editing is also used in the short horror film to also represent the horror genre in a stereotypical light, as it is represented as creating inner conflict within the audience. For example, throughout the entire extract there, were many long cuts that were spent on the robot, the supposed antagonist. These long takes draws in the audience, but more importantly create a tense atmosphere, as these long takes allow the audience to take a closer look at the antagonist and hear his dialogue. As a result, the use of these long takes create stereotypical representations of the horror genre, as conventionally films under the horror genre have more long takes than short takes. In this extract, the use of long takes on the robot, perhaps have been used to create conflict within the audience, as the long takes allow the audience to sympathize with the robot (antagonist or villain), but because he is the villain it may not be morally right to sympathize with him. As a result, conflict of morality is creates, in doing, so this creates a tense atmosphere. 

Mis en scene is also used to represent the horror genre in a stereotypical way, because through mis en scene the horror genre is represented as creating symbolism. For example, in the middle of the extract a moth is shown several times fluttering around and being attracted to white light. The use of the moth creates symbolism of the life and death in this extract, because butterfly’s’ connote life, death and reincarnation. This creates the symbolic code and is a code part of the enigma code explained by Barthes and through this the conflict of life and death is highlighted. Thus, the use of nature within this extract connotes the fragility of life and the prominence of death. As a result, the horror genre is represented as playing with meanings and using symbolism to foreshadow events, as the use of the moth may show that life is ending and as a result creates fear within the audience, as generally humans fear death. Lastly, conventionally films in the horror genre play on human fears to create that scare factor.

In addition, editing is used to create a non-stereotypical representation of the horror genre. For example, throughout the entire extract VFX and CGI is used to create and show the audience the robot antagonist. The use of the robot is significant, as it creates the binary opposition of humans verses robots and thus good versus evil. Moreover, the use of the robot does not create verisimilitude and thus allows this particular film to be a counter-type to stereotypes in the horror genre, as stereo-typically verisimilitude in the horror genre is created by the intelligence of human characters not robots. As a result, the use of the robot creates instability for the audience, as robots connote to high intelligence, power and strength, thus this threatens the dominance of human intelligence over other kinds, such as animals, in real life.   

Furthermore, sound is also used in ABE to represent the horror genre in a stereotypical way, as sound is represented as creating panic within the audience through intertextuality. For example, in the middle of the extract the robot antagonist uses a scalpel to cut a flying butterfly in half. At the point the robot strikes the butterfly, a sting is used of a rapid whip sound. The use of the sting is important, because the sudden noise of the whip creates a jump scare for the audience and creates panic within the audience, as the death of the butterfly, is the first death that the audience come across in the horror film. Moreover, the use of the butterfly is intertextual to the horror film The Silence of the Lambs (TSOTL) (1991) by Jonathan Demme and the use of a silence following the sting also allows the audiences who have watched TSOTL, to acknowledge this intertextual link, which creates further panic as the audience know that the butterfly does not mean good. As a result, the death of moth connotes nearing death and death is a convention of the horror genre. Thus, this particular short film can be considered and archetype to the horror genre.

In conclusion, the short horror film ABE contains many conventions that are found in the horror genre and these are highlighted through the use of camera work, sound, editing and mis en scene, therefore over all the short horror film ABE represents the horror in a stereotypical light.

ABE (2013)

R9: Textual analysis of short horror film

Textual analysis of short horror film

Short Film: Night Night Nancy (2015)

The very first scene of this short horror film began unconventionally, because the first scene was a mobile text message that red “Night night Nancy”, which happens to be the name of the horror film. This was followed be a notification tone, indicating the arrival of a new message. This I believe was a smart way of beginning a horror film, because it establishes the importance of a smartphone in the narrative. The following scene, began with a wide shot of a woman sleeping, with ambient sound in the background, such as the sound of friction off a pillow. Immediately, Todorovs narrative theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium can be applied, because the scene of woman sleeping connotes the idea of peace and tranquility, thus emphasizing a sense of equilibrium. Moreover, the mis en scene of this very scene supports the theory of the male gaze by Laura Mulvey, because the costume of female protagonist (Nancy, appears to outline her figure and thus women are represented as being promiscuous, because her costume could encourage voyeurism (Sigmund Freud). However, it could be argued that, the female character is in her own personal space, thus she does not have any need to be promiscuous, therefore she may be represented as dominant in her own personal space (her bedroom in other words). Furthermore, the editing in this scene is very slow, with the long duration of a wide shot, which may also contribute to the tranquility and the equilibrium of the beginning scene. Moreover, in the same scene, words are overlaid over the image, which I think is an efficient way of connoting the text message conversation without using a camera shot of the mobile phone screen. In the beginning seen, it seems that the victim is the female protagonist, which is a conventional element of horror films.

R8: Case Study of a production company that produces horror films

Blum House productions

Blum House productions are an American production company, producing mainly horror movies. Founded by Jason Blum in the year 2000, it is a modern horror movie production company that produces low budget movies in the horror genre.

Some notable work of Blum House productions includes the Paranormal Activity, Sinister and Insidious Franchises. However, despite producing mainly movies in the horror genre, Blum House Productions also dip their feet in producing movies in various other genres. For example, The Reader (2008) which is a German-American romantic drama film based on a German 1995 novel with the same name.  

Blum House productions began drawing in large profits with the horror movie franchise Paranormal Activity (2007) in 2009. Paranormal Activity is an American independent found footage supernatural horror film, which was produced independently for $15,000 by Oren Peli and Jason Blum (founder of Blum House Productions). However, this film was bought by Paramount Pictures, who made some modifications to the film and the film was released once again in 2009. Despite, being originally made with $15,000, it engrossed a total of $193 million worldwide. The success of Paranormal Activity (2007) marked the beginning of success for Blum House Productions, who continued to produce further horror movie successes, such as Sinister (2012) that engrossed a worldwide gross profit over $77 million, with a budget of only $3 million.

Blum House productions model is said to produce movies independently and release them wide via the studio system, according to many stories.  However, currently Blum House Productions have a first look deal with Universal Pictures and have produced together The Purge (2013), The Purge: Anarchy (2014) and more. Within the television medium, Blum House Productions have a first look deal also with Lionsgate and also opened the Blum House of Horrors interactive haunted house experience in 2012 for Halloween.

In May 2016 it was announced that Blum House productions including Miramax and Trancas would be co-financing the production of the new 10th Halloween film in the popular horror Halloween franchise. 

R7: Research into a controversial film the horror genre and mystery sub genre

Controversial film rated by the BBFC

The Woman in Black:

Year of release: 2011

Director: James Watkins

Genre(s): Horror, mystery, Thriller

Classification/status: 12A with cuts (No one under the age of 12 can see a 12A rated film in cinema unless accompanied by an adult)

The Woman in Black is the film adaption of the book with the same title by Susan Hill. The film and book tell the story of a widowed lawyer who travels to a remote town, where he comes across a revengeful ghost who’s responsible for the deaths of children within the town.

The film was first submitted to the BBFC in 2011 for the 12A category request, but examiners at the BBFC argued that the film should be classified as 15 (No one younger than 15 can see a 15 rated film in cinema). Reasons for the examiner’s decision were based on particular facts about the film. For example, examiners at the BBFC in favor of the 15 classification argued that the film was bleak and the idea of ghosts being able to influence children to commit self-harm, was a “potentially disturbing feature for young children”. Another reason that was suggest by examiners in favor of the 15 classification was the idea that, Daniel Radcliffe was starring in The Woman in Black and this creates a potential problem, because this role was one of his first major roles after the Harry Potter series, thus this film may attract a younger audience, who may not typically watch horror films, so a higher rating was suggested to protect such an audience.

 However, some examiners argued that a 12A rating would be fitting for the film, because the book is seen on the national curriculum and schools often take students to watch the stage version of the book. Thus, it was argued that a 15 rating would prevent 12 to 14 year old to experience the theatrical adaption of this bestselling book and this would be particularly unfair of the BBFC.

The BBFC also considered the historical context of the film, which they argue provides a certain distance between the film and modern reality. In addition, examiners have also pointed out that the film contained notable strong scenes, such as the ghost “The Woman in Black appears to hang herself from a noose”. As a result, it was decided by the BBFC that in order to make the film a 12A rating strong scenes like the scene mentioned earlier would need to be cut along with other adjustments. A total of 6 seconds was cut from the film (all of which was considered strong horror) some shots were darkened and sound effects were reduced to decrease the impact of the jump fright in these shots. The film then was rated 12A by BBFC according to their guidelines which notes that 'Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, providing disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained'. 

Source: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/woman-black

R6: An Introduction to genre Summary

The Taxonomy of Genre:
The question often asked is that, is there really a finite taxonomy of genre. The broadest division of classification would be poetry, prose, drama and etc, but within these divisions there are even smaller divisions, such as tragedy and comedy within drama. Nowadays, films are classified to genres that every adult in modern society are familiar with, but some theorists argue many genres and sub genres are nameless.

Defining Genre: 
There is theoretical dispute about the definition of certain genres, for some, such as Jane Feuer, genre is "not something that exists empirically in the world, as it is an abstract concept. Themes are seen as an inadequate base to define genre, as David Bordwell argues "any themes can appear in any genre". Conventions are now used to define a genre, such as conventional themes, settings and form, but one film may be categorised as one genre due to its context, but could also be considered a different genre due to its form. We should also take note of hybrid genres and the difficulty in categorising them. Therefore, Andrew Tudor argues, this is an "empiricist dilemma".

Genre:
Most of our genre knowledge is tacit, so Andrew Tudor adds " genre is what we collectively believe it to  be", Secondly, Steave Neale stresses "genres are not systems, they are processes of systematisation". Genre enables producers to predict audience expectations, due to the relative stability in the understanding of genres. Elitists reject mass media "generic fiction", which are products of popular culture than high art. Instead they hold an argued romantic ideology of originality and vision, that emphasise individual style and "artistic self impression", Thus, the belief in auteurism which is the belief that a film should first and foremost reveal the directors beliefs and feelings, like they had written it themselves.

Function and purpose of genre:
Uses and gratification (Bulmer and Katz) researchers, such as Miller, argue that "particular genres develop, frame and legitimise  particular concerns, questions and pleasures". While, Horace Newcrombie and Paul Hirsch, argue genres negotiate shared beliefs and values that helps to maintain social order and help us to adapt to change.There is a triangular relationship between texts, its producers and its interpreters. This is because, semiotic-ally genre can be seen as a shared code between the producers and the interpreters.

Working with genres:
Genres can be seen as an unspoken contact between authors and readers. Traditional and romantic perspective argues that genres are constraining and inhibiting authorial creativity, but contemporary theorists reject this, as Gledhill argues, that those who work in genre, work in a creative "tension". Thus, Folwer sees genre are an efficient way of communicating to audience. Any text requires cultural capital (audience position), for exmaple generic knowledge to help them make sense of the text. Identification of texts allows an audience to judge if its appealing to them or not.

Construction of an audience:
John Fisel found that genre is seen to be involved in the construction of their readers. This is supported by Steve Neal who argues in relation to cinema "genre contribution to regulation of desire, memory and expectations" Mass media genres play a role in the construction of difference and identity, for example some TV and film genres have been aimed primarily at and stereotypically favoured by male or female audiences, e.g war films, which westerners tend to regard as being "masculine"

Advantages of generic analysis:
Genre analysis positions texts within textual and social contexts, to underline the socila nature of the text. Moreover, genre analysis also serves to locate texts within a specific cultural context as well as historical perspective.

From this reading, I learnt that it is important to convey the horror genre to my audience through my film, poster and radio trailer, because essentially it is the genre that creates the contract between me and audience. In addition, I have also learnt that it is not wrong to mix genres and create a hybrid genre or include several sub-genres, because there is dispute in the definition of genre and in my opinion after this reading, the attraction to defining genre exists, because it makes it easier to produce a text, as defining a genre means laying out the rules of what to include and what not to include. Therefore, in my horror film I will attempt to incorporate and a sub genre that is not very common to pair with the horror genre and this is the mystery genre.

R5: Roles with development, pre-production,production and post-production in filmmaking

Roles in Filmmaking

Film making (Film Production) refers to the process involved in making a film and it involves a series of discreet steps that in the end may result in the exhibition of a film.  Each step can require huge number of people who work collectively as well as individually to complete the steps and it can take several months to several years to complete Film making. For example, horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999) was produced over 6 years (From its development in 1993 to its release in 1999).

Stages of film making include development, pre-production, production and post-production.

Development:

Within the development stage of a film, a producer(s) selects a story (that may come from a book, play or an original idea).  The producer(s) then work with writers to create a synopsis and a step outline (which is a thorough telling of story that is intended to be developed into a screenplay for a film). The step outline goes through treatment.

A screenwriter then writes a screen play (which is piece of writing that contains the dialogues, movement, actions and expressions of characters) over a period of several months. At this point a film distributor may be contacted, to discuss potential distribution of a film.

The producer(s) and screenwriter then prepare a film pitch or treatment, which is presented to potential financial investors. If a pitch receives a “green light”, it often means financial backing of the production of a film has been found (generally a film studio, film council or independent investor) and the film could continue in its development.   

Pre-production: 

In the pre-production stage of a film, every step on the actual creation of a film is designed and planned carefully. Once a production office has been established and a production company is created, the production of a film is story boarded with the help of illustrators and concept artists. A production budget is also drawn up.

The producer then hires a crew and the scale of this crew is dependent on the nature of the film (for example mainstream films with large budgets will have crew of hundreds, while independent films will have a skeleton crew consisting of around 10 or less people)

General crew positions include:

The Director: is responsible for the story telling, acting of the characters and creative decisions.

The Unit production manager: is responsible for the production budget, production schedule and report on behalf of the production office to the financiers of the film.

The assistant director (AD): is responsible for the shooting schedule and logistics of production. There are many types of assistant directors each with different roles.

The casting director: is responsible for finding actors to play characters of the script, which is generally completed through auditions.

The location manager: is responsible for finding and managing locations for filming in. Most films are shot in controlled environments, such as a studio, but some scenes may require outdoor filming.

The director of photography (DOP): is the cinematographer who is responsible for the photography of the entire film.

The director of audiography (DOA): is the audiographer who is responsible for the audiography of the entire film. This role is also known as the sound designer or supervising sound editor.

The production sound mixer: are the head of entire sound department and have many responsibilities. For example, recording and mixing of dialogue, presence (silence) sound effects in monaural (sound coming from one position and ambiance. They work together with the Director, First AD, DOA, DOP and boom operator.

The sound designer: is responsible for creating the aural formation of the film and work with the DOA or may take the role of DOA.

The composer: is responsible for creating new music for the film, which usually is not performed until post-production.

The production designer: is responsible for creating the visual formation of the film and work with the art director to do so.

The art director: is responsible for managing the art department (who make the production sets)

The costume designer: is responsible for creating the costumes for the characters and they work together with the actors as well as the makeup and hair designers.

The makeup and hair designer(s): are responsible for creating the required look for a character and work closely with the costume designer

The storyboard artist: is responsible for creating the visual images that aim to aid the director and production designer explain their ideas to the production team.

The choreographer: is responsible for creating and coordinate movement and dance for the film (generally for musicals). Some films may also have a fight choreographer, who creates and coordinates fight scenes. 

 Production:  

In the production stage of a film, the actual film is shot and at this stage more members of the crew are employed, for example, more assistant directors, script supervisor, picture editors and sound editors.

The construction of a set, lighting and dressing can take a lot of time to be completed, so these are typically set up beforehand.

Actors arrive at the set by their call time they are wardrobed into their costume as well as get their hair and makeup done. The actors also rehearse the script and blocking (movement) with the director, the sound crew and camera crew.

American productions typically follow a particular procedure starting the assistant director (AD) calling “picture is up” to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded. The AD then calls “quiet everyone”, “roll sound” (if there is sound in the take) and at this moment the production sound mixer will start up their equipment and call “sound speed”. The AD then calls “roll camera”, which is answered by the camera operators “speed”, once the camera starts rolling. The clapper who is in front of the camera will call “marker” and slap the clapperboard shut, if there are background action or extras, the AD will call “action background”. The director then calls “action”, which may be repeated by the AD in larger sets and once a take is over the director will call “cut”.

The script supervisor takes notes of continuity issues, the sound and camera departments also take note of any technical issues. 

Post production:

The post production stage of film making is the end of film making and consists of many different processes that are performed by many more members of the crew. Typically the post production stage of film making takes longer than the actual shooting of a film, because it involves the complete editing, color correction and the inclusion of music and sound to the raw copy of a film.

Typical roles within post production include:

The colorist: is responsible for adjusting the colors of a film by playing with contrast, saturation and light to create the desired effect.

The rotoscopist: is responsible for going through each film frame to remove any wires and logos, so that no copy right issues are charged.

The Compositor: is a visual effects artist, who is responsible for compositing images from different sources, such as digital effects, 3D imagery and 2D animation.

Visual FX supervisor: is responsible for all the visual effects used in a film.

Editor: is responsible for putting all the camera shots together once they have been filmed. The editor(s) work closely with the director and create the overall narrative of the film using the camera shots.  

Assistant Editor: is responsible for helping the editor with for example decision making, as this is the last stage of film making as a result there is a lot of pressure on the editor, thus the assistant editor is there to ease off some pressure on the editor.

It is evident that each stage of film making require a lot of people, each focusing on a different aspect of film making, but despite them focusing on different aspects they are all indirectly collectively working to produce the same film. The research I have conducted clearly shows me that, I and my partner have a lot of shoes to fill, thus we need to be very organised and have consistent communication, so that we produce a successful short horror film. Moreover, I think the stage of film production that suits me the most would be the post production, because I like the idea of being able to create a certain effect through the use of technology, such as editing software. I also think my editing skills are quite good and I enjoy editing moving images. 

sources:
http://www.slideshare.net/js21942/pre-production-production-and-post-production-roles-within-a-music-video

http://www.slideshare.net/MissConnell/film-development-pre-production-production

R4: How are films certified in the UK?

How are films in the UK certified?

Films in the UK are certified through the BBFC, who classify them into different categories of age audiences, in other terms age ratings.

Classifications of all films in the UK are based on the guidelines published by the British Board of film classification. All films set for theatrical release go through thorough examination generally by at least two examiners, the films are classified by these two examiners and their decisions are authorized by the senior examiner. If however there happens to be doubt or disagreement, then the classification of films are dealt by other associates of the Board.

Examiners highlight and discuss issues of discrimination, horror, language, drugs, violence, imitable behavior, nudity, sex, sexual violence and theme, when deciding the age rating. Examiners also look at the tone, impact (for example how the audience may feel after viewing the film) and context of the film. The release format is also considered when making a decision, as there may be a higher risk of underage viewing, such as DVD (that is often watched at home)

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification                                     

Classification guidelines for example for Violence:

“Classification decisions will take account of the degree and nature of violence in a work.

Works which feature the following are likely to receive higher classifications:

• Portrayal of violence as a normal solution to problems

• Heroes who inflict pain and injury

• Callousness towards victims

• The encouragement of aggressive attitudes”

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202014_0.pdf

The BBFC insight:

The BBFC insight publishes a summary of why a film was rated at a certain category. It offers an insight into the issues examiners have highlighted in a film or work and is aimed at adults want to understand issues raised in a film before allowing their children to view a film, DVD or work.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/what-bbfc-insight

R3: Fahmida's analysis of question 6 to 10 of audience survey

Audience survey analysis

Question 6: What is your favourite horror movie and why?

The 2 most common horror movies chosen was The Conjuring franchise being first, then The Woman in Black and lastly, Sinister.

All 3 horror movie chosen are modern horror movies and both The Conjuring franchise and sinister franchise are American horror movies, while The Woman in Black is collaboration between the British and American film industry.

Both The Conjuring franchise and The Woman in Black are horror movies set in the past; this perhaps shows that our target audience would like to watch period horror movies, thus me and my partner should consider researching more on period horror movies and add elements of history to our horror movie.

This is evident in the reasons why our target audience chose these films, for example, a respondent who chose The Conjuring argued that “it is based upon a true story and there are true historical facts”

Another respondent who chose The Woman in Black argued that “it has Daniel Radcliffe and it is a period horror film”

Question 7: Rank what elements of a horror movie poster attracts you the most the watch the film?

The element that was most commonly ranked first is iconography, then colour scheme and lastly text.  This clearly tells us our target audience favour images and symbols over other elements of a horror movie poster. This means that we need to ensure the images that we use in our horror movie poster make a great impact. However, a conventional horror movie poster does not exclude text, thus, although text was ranked 3^rd the most, we still will add text especially since we need to inform the audience the name of our horror movie.

Question 8: Within horror movie trailers, do you think it is important to…

The top 3 most important element of a horror movie trailer that our target audience chose was to drop plot hints first, extreme close ups next and thirdly loud sound effects. This tells us that our target audience would like us to provide them with hints of the plot of our movie. We agree with their decision, because plot hints stimulate curiosity and thus may be the factor that encourages them to watch our horror movie.

Extreme close-ups of characters are conventional horror movie camera shots, as extreme close-ups may be used to show fear in characters and this perhaps induces fear in the audience viewing the film.

Loud sound effects was also a popular choice of our target audience and perhaps may have been chosen, because loud sound effects can be used to create jump scares and conventionally used in horror movies to create that jump scare. Thus, this shows our audience really do enjoy the thrill of being scared.

Question 9: What social groups are conventionally found in horror movies?

The most common social group in ability chosen by our audience was abled people (33.33% over 14.29%).

The most common social group in regional identity chosen by our audience was city residents over country side residents (42.86% over 19.05%)

The 2 most common social groups in age chosen by our audience were children and adults (children: 61.90% and adults: 66.67%)

The most common social group in gender chosen by our audience was women (57.14% over 38.10%)

The most common social group in sexuality chosen by our audience was heterosexual (33.33%)

Lastly, the most common social group in ethnicity chosen by our audience was white (47.62%)

All these social groups have been chosen as the conventional social groups appearing in horror movies.

Question 10: What representations are shown in horror movies of the social groups you selected in question 9?

Respondents argued that teenagers are represented as “not being careful or being too adventurous that leads to bad things happening”, we also agree with this respondent and think this is a stereotypical representation of teenagers. This is because there are a lot of horror movies, whereby teenagers are the victims, such as Jennifer’s Body (2009).

Another respondent argued that city residents are represented as “to not believe in ghosts or monsters, but believe in them in the end to become saviour or die just after realising”. We agree to with this respondent, as we also think that city residents are represented as being more sceptical to supernatural events. We also agree with the representation that once characters that live in the city begin to believe in supernatural events, they are given two paths. The first being death straight away, such as in the franchise Final destination or become heroes of the film, such as World War Z (2013)

R3: Shakiena's anaylsis of question 1 to 5 of audience survey

Audience survey analysis 

Q1: What is your age?

·
           We had 21/21 responses in this question

·         5/21 are aged 16

·         9/21 are aged 17

·         2/21 are aged 18

·         2/21 are aged 19

·         1/21 is aged 21

·         1/21 is aged 22

·         1/21 is aged 26

·         This shows that our respondents are predominately 17 years old in which we may consider creating them us our target audience.

Q2: Do you like watching horror movies?

It seems that more than half of our responses (62%) like watching horror movies and around 33% do not like watching horror movies, with around 5% who are not sure. This result will give us well-rounded answers ensuring that our answers are not bias.

Q3: What elements of the horror genre is appealing to you and why?

·         

      we had a total of 20/21 responses for this question

·         4/20 0f our responses did not suggest anything.

·         2/20 of our responses enjoyed the suspense and tension of the story

·         3/20 of our responses enjoyed the jump scares and unexpected parts.

·         3/20 of our responses enjoy the suspicious and suspenseful music that we hear in horror movies

·         9/20 of our responses gave individual responses which included very unique ideas compared from the above responses:

“The realism of the gory parts”

“Suspense and mystery”

“The fact that you won’t ever get bored”

“The terror”

“I like it when the characters figure out something, for example what the monster is or who the ghost is, because to me the film has meaning when the characters have to figure something out”

“I like the graphics and the thrill of the jump scares, because to me that is experiencing horror”

“The thrill and the plot twist”

“The idea of suing fear and presenting fear to entertain people”

“The in cooperation of the supernatural and beyond life, because that kind of stuff fascinate me”

A few responses stood out to us in particular. For example, when “characters figure out something” is an excellent idea to create a plot around as it doesn’t leave the audience hanging given that this is common for many horror movies to do so. Moreover, a respondent commented on the graphics of a horror movie which is important and means that we must ensure that the graphics of our products are realistic looking.

4) If there was one way in which the horror genre in movies can be developed to you as an audience, what would you suggest and why?

·        

      From my analysis, it seems that we have 20/21 responses in which 3/20 are answered “N/A”.

·         3 respondents commented saying that the concept of a horror movie should be realistic mentioning the movie Carrie or Child’s play.

·         2 respondents commented saying that the concept shouldn’t be predictable, as it tends to be cliché and less appealing to watch. They suggested that there should be a good element of fear to overrun the predictability. Moreover, a horror movie shouldn’t end in a cliff hanger as it is regarded as being to “boring” and “predictable”.

·         An important result we received from one respondent mention saying that the storyline of a horror movie should make sense and it shouldn’t simply jump onto scary elements.

·         There had been 2 respondents commented on music & sound. One suggested that music shouldn’t be the only element that creates horror however another comment suggested that there should be more scary sounds.

·         We had one respondent commenting on the fact that there is not any room for developments in horror movies as each horror movie impacts on a wide range of audiences differently.

·         We also gained  many more individual responses with more uniqueness and ideas in their answer like so:

“Improve lighting so we can actually see what's going on, as although the dark creates a more fearful atmosphere it's ruined by the viewers’ annoyance that they can't actually see what's going on”

“I think if there was less of a 'tension' filled atmosphere and the surprised coming randomly, it would appeal to me even more than it already does”

“Perhaps the horror genre should have more elements where the characters reach a solution not a cliff hanger, because it is to cliché to have a cliff hanger”

“There needs to be more period horror films, because i feel like it provides a further scare factor, as I think we view people in the past weaker than people now”

“Many times the ending of horror movies disappoint me, as they tend to either end extremely ambiguously (where i am left feeling confused) or flat out obvious, such as showing the ghost right in front of the camera”

“The storyline is dragged on too much and the climax is finished too quickly”

“There should be more comedy”

There were some comments that stood out to us the most which were the lighting that can be improved in horror movies. We think this is extremely important as a lot of the time, the theme of a horror movie is dark colors. It is often hard to work with the lighting of a dark themed movie as we need to adjust the lighting to a perfect density ensuring that it is not to bright but bright enough for the audience to see what’s going on.

There was another comment suggesting that rather than building up the tension to a suspenseful moment, the suspenseful moment should just happen randomly as it thrills the audience

One comment that stood out the most to us was that a commenting suggesting that there should be “more period horror films” as it seems that it is not as often we get a good historical horror film.

All of these suggestions are things we have taken into consideration to create a good 

5) Along with the horror genre, what sub-genre would you prefer to watch in a movie?

It seems that there have been 57% of people who prefer mystery as the sub-genre of our movie which has been the most voted.  The second sub-genre that was voted as one of the popular choices was comedy. Our third popular choice that was voted was having drama as our sub-genre. From this we now have a stronger idea for what our possible sub-genre and plot of our movie can be.

R3: Audience survey: why are we choosing these questions?