Questionnaire evaluation.

In total, we gave our questionnaire to 10 participants, aged between 16-18, which was the age of our target audience.
Here are the results that I have complied from the completed questionnaires.

For question 1: 8 out of 10 people preferred to watch a horror more than a thriller genre film, there reasons for this choice is that they find horror films more excited and interesting than thrillers, which can sometimes be mainly action scenes.

For question 2: 6 out of 10 people chose their ideal settings to be dark, isolated, abandoned places, some examples included graveyards or woods at night. The other 4 participants chose familiar everyday settings, such as homes or parks, their reasons for this is that they relate to areas that viewers see everyday, proposing that these events could happen to them, making the film seem more frightening.

For question 3: A overall majority of participants, 8 out of 10, preferred the serial killer genre films rather than the monster type. I believe this is because serial killers can occur in the real world, making it a more plausible scary thought for the audience, seeing as monsters are often fictional.

For question 4: All of our participants preferred a psychological twist in a film over a simple storyline. I believe this is because simple storylines are very genetic and audiences are used to guessing the endings, but with a twist, it can leave the audience in suspense or surprise and often make films memorable.

For question 5: 8 out of 10 people chose the option of having a cliffhanger ending. I believe this is because cliff hangers often leave the events outcomes to the audiences imagination, making it as excited as they wish, it also presents an opportunity for a sequel to the film to be made.

For question 6: 5 out of 10 people thought that the antagonist should win, resulting in the protagonist side losing and evil reigning over good. I believe this is because horror films are often focused on the antagonist side, as they provide the action that starts the film and continues it onward. And protagonist victories are very rare in horror films, as happy endings seem out of place in horrors. One person also preferred that both sides come to a truce and that there is no overall winning side in the end of the film.

For question 7: 3 out of 10 participants chose their favourite film to be Saw, due to the extreme plot twists and use of goreography. 2 out of 10 participants chose Final Destination to be their favourite, because of the plot twists and varied methods of extermination in the film. 2 out of 10 people also chose Paranormal Activity as their favourite, due to the paranormal theme running through the film and the real life settings,

For question 8: 8 out of 10 people preferred paranormal themes over religious, because paranormal is out of our understanding and control, meaning that humans in the films are out of control and subjective, adding a greater sense of horror.

For question 9: 4 of our participants found comedy inappropriate in a horror film because it does not fit in with the conventions of the horror genre. Another 4 people found romance inappropriate, because again it doesn't fit in with the horror genre conventions, and also if there's romance, it distracts from the horror storyline and becomes a different story about a romance.

For question 10: 4 out of 10 people told us that long dramatic pauses are boring in a horror film, as audiences become distracted  and uninterested, wanting to move onto the next event in the script. 1 person said repetition was boring, because it takes up time and means that same information might be heard multiple times by the audience, who become disinterested.
Another person said a lack of blood and gore was boring, because it is expected of a horror film to contain some blood / death in the film and if there's only one death,that non of the audience is exposed to, it becomes more of a thriller. Another person said romance, this is because it drifts away from the horror theme and romance themes often contain happiness and distract from dark themes totally.
Another person said that cheesiness and predictability is boring, as it doesn't make the film exciting, so it will fade into the background and it will never stand out to them.
Another participant stated that long complicated storylines become boring, due to there being too much to understand and once a viewer gets lost in a plot, they become disinterested.
Our final participant said that too much dialogue is boring, as it becomes too much to follow or think about.

To conclude, I found that my chosen target audience preferred films set in ordinary settings, meaning it could apply to them, with real characters like serial killers over fictional monsters, who believe that there should be no romance, happy endings, comedy or cheesiness and that films should center around, death, murder, blood and gore so it will fit the horror genre conventions. Finally, my audience is interested in psychological twists and cliff hangers, adding constant suspense to keep them interested and leaving the endings to their imaginations.