Section 4 - Audience Research

      This is the questionnaire given to members of the general public to find out what the viewers believe to be most effective representations of the thriller genre when incorporated into films. Thirty questionnaires were distributed and filled in. The results are all shown below.

1.       Gender?

□ Male    □ Female

2. What makes you scared?

□ Spiders     □ The Dark          □ Heights            □ Tight Spaces   □Blood

3. Whats your favourite thriller?

□ Seven       □ Jaws  □ Silence of the Lambs  □ Red Eye            □ other……………………………

4. Do you like having mystery in thrillers?

□ Yes             □ No

5. What’s you opinion on Blood/Gore?

□ Love it      □ its ok                 □Don’t Like it    □ I detest it

6. What type of font do you think best suits the thriller genre?

□ Thriller    □ thriller       □ thriller      □ thriller □thriller

7. Do you like having some humour in thrillers?

□ Yes             □ sometimes     □No

8. What colour do you think best suits a thriller?

□ Red            □ white                                □Yellow               □ Black                 □Pink                    □Blue

9. What type of music do you think would best represent a thriller?

□Rock           □Orchestral        □Fast Pace         □Slow Pace        □eerie

10. How would you like a thriller to start?

□introduction before the credits     □straight into the action              □ credits before the film

11. What kind of killer would be most affective?

□calm and collected               □psycho               □ monster        □older person    □other?.....................

12. Whats you favourite kind of thriller?

□physiological          □ horror               □action                                □dark humour   □ gore

13. Would you prefer the killer to be:

□male           □Female              □either

14. What would the ideal location be for a thriller?

□Forest        □ city     □castle                 □house                                □beach                 □airport

15. What ingredients best suit a thriller?

□cliff hanger              □paranormal     □hidden messages         □gore

16. What noises do you find scary? 

□ Screaming               □footsteps         □heavy breathing            □laughter

17.what kind of lighting would best create a scary atmosphere?      

□pitch black               □dark                    □normal              □really light

18. What do you look for in a thriller?

□something scary    □makes you think           □makes you want to watch it again         □makes you jump

19. What’s your age range?

□15-20          □21-30                  □31-40                  □40+

20. What do you dislike about a thriller?

□boring endings      □bad acting        □bad storyline  □bad editing

Conclusion: I have collected results from exactly the same number of males and females, therefore the other results of the questionnaire are representative of both genders and so are not biased towards one or the other.

Conclusion: The things which most make people scared are spiders, therefore spiders should be included subtly in my thriller to bring the edge of the seat tension from the audience. Moreover, a lot of people are afraid of tight spaces, so claustrophobic situations should be used.

Conclusion: Most people's favourite thriller is Se7en, therefore features of Se7en should be incorporated into my own thriller to make it more effective and pleasing to the audience, e.g. constant rain and a very interesting theme within the story. People's 'other' favourite thrillers were House of Wax, Saw, Misery, Blade and Paranormal Activity.

Conclusion: 87% of people said they like having mystery in thrillers, therefore I should should use partial vision, concealment and a range of other different features in my own to create a sense of mystery and unknown.

Conclusion: Most people asked consider blood/gore to be "okay" and more love than hate it. For this reason I shall include mild blood/gore in my thriller (which moreover coincides with the certificate I am giving my film).

Conclusion: Most people think that thriller is the font which best represents a thriller, but a considerable amount of people also think the bolder fonts are better, therefore I shall use thriller with a bold theme (which furthermore follows the codes and conventions of thriller graphics).

Conclusion: Most people say that they like humour in thrillers sometimes, so I may include mild humour in parts but concentrate more on the codes, conventions and editing of my thriller.

Conclusion: Most people said that black is the coloured best representative of a thriller, therefore black shall be primarily evident in my thriller's editing, graphics and overall theme, as well as red because that was also considered a highly representative colour. I may moreover use white, because red and white stand out boldly against black which is a convention of thriller graphics.

Conclusion: For the theme music of the thriller, I shall use orchestral music which is fact paced and eerie, as they were voted for as most representative of a thriller and what features make the most effective opening for the genre. Following the codes and conventions the music shall be in a minor key, being oppressive and sinister.

Conclusion: To start my thriller, I shall use an introduction before the credits because people have voted that the most effective way to begin a thriller. This also relates to thrillers such as Se7en because that had a brief introduction before the credits in which the characters were introduced and slightly developed.

Conclusion: Most people surveryed said that the most effective killer in thrillers is the 'calm and collected' kind (50% said that is the most successful type of killer), therefore in my thriller I shall have a calm and collected killer/villain with a motive.

Conclusion: This graph shows that people think the most successful type of thriller is psychological, which makes my decision of creating a psychological thriller effective. In a psychological thriller twists, turns and an ending that the audience was not expecting is incorporated, thus I shall make sure that I include all of these aspects into my own thriller to suit the genre.

Conclusion: Most people said either gender would make an effective killer, but more said that a female killer would be better than a male, therefore I shall use a female villain in my thriller. This will furthermore follow the feature of Silence of the Lambs and Red Eye which deviates from the idea of a vulnerable woman in thrillers, and puts a female in control and power.

Conclusion: Most people said that a house is the ideal location for a thriller, possibly because it is the normal place of safety and security which is transformed into a place of extraordinary and tension (which furthermore follows the idea of transformed city). Because of this I shall use a house as my main setting.

Conclusion: Since people think that all of these ingredients suit a thriller, I shall use all of these themes subtly in my thriller at some point, though I will keep the paranormal and gore subtle to make the film more realistic and keep to the 15 certificate respectively. I shall incorporate hidden messages relating to life into my film, and also end both my opening scene and film on a cliff hanger, as that was moreover voted an effective ingredient in thrillers.

Conclusion: The noise that people find most scary is heavy breathing, therefore this shall be included in my thriller at some point, following the codes and conventions of creating suspense. Screaming may also be used, as many people also said that sound is scary, also.

Conclusion: Most people said that the best lighting for a thriller is dark, but not pitch black. This is effective because some features of the surroundings can still be seen while keeping the audience guessing what is happening and where the setting it, exaggerating the theme of partial vision and concealment.

Conclusion: People look for a number of things in thrillers, most notably the thriller being scary, thought-provoking and contains scenes which makes the viewer jump. For this reason I shall incorporate all of these things into my own thriller, making sure I use things that people think most effective for a thriller and people's fears (dark lighting, spiders etc) to create suspense and play on the idea of making the audience jump.

Conclusion: This shows that most of the people asked were in my target audience age range of 15-24, the age group which most often goes to the cinema. This is effective because I can analyse the results and assume that most of them are representative of my target audience, therefore the features I include in my thriller will appeal to them.

Conclusion: Since this graph shows that people most dislike bad acting in thrillers, I shall try to avoid that at all costs, still trying to create an ending, storyline and editing which engages the audience and is visually pleasing to the viewer.