Research: Horror film target audiences

Survey

• I conducted a survey of 50 horror film audience goers ages ranging from 14 to 60

• The results gathered helped me gather information about the typical horror film audience goer and allowed me to create a profile for them

• The research also gave me insight into what audiences are looking for and how to satisfy these needs and wants whilst still working within the constraints of the horror film genre.

Audience profile

• The UKFC conducted research showing that a typical horror viewer is male, aged 15-24. this can be explained, as males usually enjoy thrill from action films. Whereas females prefer lighter forms of entertainment, such as comedy or romance.

• However this extract from the UKFC website suggests that this has changed, since figures show that there is an increase in female viewers of horrors, and they have now exceeded the attendance figures of men.

Horror film sales

malefemale

Audience profile

54% male 46% female

Are you male or female?

London: 79%Greater London: 21%

Are you currently employed?:

Employed-25%

Student-75%

How often to you attend the cinema?

Once a week: 14% Once a month: 36%Everyday: 15%One every few months:30%Other: 5%

What days do you most frequently attend the cinema?

Monday: 5% Tuesday: 3.3%

Wednesday: 6%

Thursday: 5%

Friday: 20.7%

Sunday: 25% Saturday: 35%

Where do you reside?

Audience profile

14-17

18-24

25-34

36-49

50+0

204060

Audience %

Audience %

The bar graph displays figures from the UKFC, that shows the percentage of each audience grouped into age groups. The 18-24 had the highest volume of audience viewership although we cannot discount the large proportion of people at 14-17 so we expand our target audience to 15-24 as to get the biggest segment of the population.

We asked horror film audience goers and calculated how the average age.

What do you enjoy most in a opening sequence?

narration

action sequence

estabilishing shot

other

0 1 2 3 4 5

The graph represents what our focus group enjoys most in an opening sequence, split into percentages as displayed. We asked our focus group what they look for most in the opening of a horror film sequence. The majority expected to see at least two of the 4 options. some horror films follow this convention of cutting straight to the action and it is clear it has a positive response with audiences, this is very helpful to know what to put into our opening sequence to satisfy audience needs.

Audience profile

• Name: Michael Richardson• Age: 19• Date of birth: 10th of April 1995• Location: London• Interests and hobbies: football, rugby , art and film

aficionado. • occupation: student, part time employment at

Topshop

Audience profile

• Name: Natalia Brown• Age:18• Date of birth : 1996 30th of october• Location: Newcastle• Interests/hobbies: film buff, long walks,

jogging and watching TV.• Occupation: student

Scream opening analysis

The first thing you see in the opening of Scream (1996) is the title transition from white to red. Red is a common theme in horror films it is used to emphasise danger, Fear and also the colour of blood. This shows the audience that it is going to be a horror film and most likely have slasher elements with high use blood.

Scream opening analysis

This still taken from the opening sequence of Scream (1996) displays the technique of a film cutting straight to a action sequence. The use of a medium close up shots allows the audience to see the emotion in the characters face and transfer the fear onto the audience, this paralleled with intense non diegetic music makes the audience feel uneasy and establishes the tone of the film that will be present throughout.

Scream opening analysis

An establishing shot of a house at night used in the opening sequence of scream. The use of the establishing shot is to show where the action is going to take place, Inside of the house. It also helps set the scene for the action to take place. Only the house is illuminated with a dark background to show it is at night and to build suspense and mystery.

Scream opening analysis

The use of the crackling popcorn is pivotal in the opening sequence of scream. The loud unsettling diegetic sound emitting from the popcorn creates tension in the scene, it keeps the audience on edge. The loud ‘pop’ noises from the popcorn almost overwhelm the sound of the scene and bring it to a climatic end.

Scream opening analysis

The use of tracking shots in the opening sequence of scream place the audience in the scene, you feel that you are standing behind the character, this creates tension. Placing the audience within in the scene gives the audience a sense of perspective and builds atmosphere of tension.

Saw opening analysis

The very first thing you see in the opening of saw is a man’s face in an extreme close up, struggling to breath. The dark colour palate is used to emphasise the mystery of the scene and creates enigma codes for the rest of the film. The use of bubbles has a rich history in the film it is typically used to portray fear and distress, it is used this way in saw.

Saw opening analysis

The following shot is a montage of shots between the mans face ascending from the bath and the mysterious object descending down the plunge hole, this could be symbolic as it represents the characters chance of survival has also disappeared. Yet again this is an example of enigma codes being set up already the audience has many questions that will be answered throughout the film.

Saw opening analysis

The use of this POV blurred focus shot of the light gives the audience a sense of disorientation and confusion like the characters themselves are experiencing. The lights slowly transition into focus this tells the audience the characters have been in the dark for a long period of time and unaware of where they are, this creates enigma codes for the rest of the film as to who is keeping them prisoner and why.

Saw opening analysis

The next shot is a close up of a mans concaved head, this is very unsettling image designed to shock audiences and bring them out of their comfort zone. The single shot of this disfigured figure also links to the previous enigma codes set up. The shot raises more questions then it answers as to what has happened to this man.

Response to brief

The creative brief I have been given is to create a two minute film opening, the genre I have selected is horror. Production company is called moonlight studios, as moonlight is a convention of horror film genre. From my research I have concluded that our ideal target audience are 15-17 year olds, male and female. However the more expected target audience is 15-25 but for our specific piece and research our ideal target audience is a smaller segment of the generic horror film audience.I also concluded that cutting straight into action excites the majority of my subjects and that its what audiences look most for in an opening sequence, rather then being bored by endless amounts of logos. I have gathered this not only from my survey results but also from further reading, as during young adulthood humans are in the key stages of developing themselves and learning about the surrounding world. They want to experience new things and experiment with different emotions and feelings. They want to rush into life without being guided and therefore seek all thrill they can revive and this can be argued that horror films satisfy this need. Horror films provide this thrill and can excite the young audience easier than an older one. The younger audience are also less susceptible to being put off the film by violence or unnatural images which may make older audiences feel negative towards the film.

In our film sequence we will not conform to the typical horror convention of the overuse of blood sometimes referred to as a segment of the horror genre called ‘slasher’, as we are targeting a more intelligent audience given by the title of our film ‘Peripheral vision. The class of our target audience subverts the norm by not aiming our film at the working class community but at the middle and higher classes, as they require more than cheap thrills, and a higher level of satisfaction, we would achieve this by our sequence crossing several sub genres of horror such a comedy. Our production company would most likely be an independent publishing companies such as fox searchlight or Miramax. An example of this is the film se7en (1995, Dir. Fincher) although not classified as purely a horror film it combines many horror elements as well as incorporating genres such as thriller, crime. The conventions of horror we will follow is the element of mystery arising from the killer and the questions he raises such as his motives, intentions and overall purpose of his actions.

My market research came to the conclusion that the product we would be most satisfied with ours replicating in certain aspects is The Cabin in the Woods ( 2012, Dir. Goddard) being a parody of horror film conventions and completely conforming to almost every horror cliché, ( teens in a cabin being murdered, old man giving mysterious advice, explicit mutilation scenes, typical characters such as jock, cheerleader, stoner) It provides a fresh breath in the contaminated over congested smog that is most contemporary horror films. By giving the audience everything they are expecting they are allowed to explore the reasons for horror films as later revealed in the film, another example of this is the scary movie franchise again being classified as horror but incorporating a vast array of comedic elements. The cabin in the woods however is much more horror orientated and even though the audience knows they are mocking the horror genre by freakishly exaggerating the stereotypical elements of it, it still allows the audience to experience the thrill and fear from the more horror centric scenes. This strong combination of both excitement and comedic relief give the audience something they wouldn’t usually expect from a generic horror film. The use of seamlessly combining two or more genres is what I hope to achieve in my film sequence. Also these films show that a horror film doesn’t necessarily have to be constrained into one genre.