Research into audience

Report ;The strangers

We created a questionnaire to investigate the different types of horror films and how people reacted to them, extracted from a series of questions which were asked to them. We will then use this feedback, given by others to create our 2 minute opening based on people’s responses of the effects of certain aspects of the extracts shown to them.

We focused on three films which shared the same plot as well as the same aspects like costumes and shots. The first film was ‘The purge’, the second film was ‘Wrong turn six’ and the third film was the opening titles to ‘The Strangers’. We want to base our film on these as firstly, we want to use masks on our killers which is similar to ‘The purge’ and ‘The strangers’ as well as using similar shots as ‘Wrong turn six’ when being chased like extreme close ups of people’s face.

The questions which were asked to our focus group was:

1.     1.   What effect does the music have? How does it make you feel?

Overall people felt as if the music was intense and created tension as well as engaging them and foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen.

2.    2.   Are there any shots in particular that make you feel tense? How?

The two main shots which people particularly felt tense watching was the shot with the bloodied knife as it was very unexpected and the shot of the car window with a bullet hole in as it foreshadowed the events that are going to occur.

3.      3.  Are there any colours within the scene continuously used that draw you into the scene?

Most people stated the colour red was used continuously, this is because it is a bold colour which people associate with blood as well as danger which is common throughout many horror films. The other colours mentioned were the more dark colours used in the actual opening credits like the colour black, this is because it made it much tenser and created an eerie atmosphere.

4.      4.  What lighting was used? (light or dark) How did it make you feel?

The lighting which most people commented on was the light colours, for example the beginning of the film is based in the daytime so it makes it much more realistic to the viewers. It also contrasted with the opening credits which were very dark which could portray conflict throughout the film.

5.      5.  What do you notice about the costumes? Do they intimidate you? Why?

The costumes most noticed were the boys school clothes which show they was maybe on their way to or from school and showed that they were young and innocent.

6.      6. How is the editing with the open titles effective? Does it fit the styles of the film?

The titles were picked up on with them being yellow and red, two colours that contrast. The titles faded in and out showing intensity and the titles were bold.