2. “1. What is your gender?”
This question was purely to determine if there was a divide
between the genders on film choice and if one favoured
psychological horror’s more than the other.
From our physical questionnaires
we found there were 15 female’s
and 16 male that answered. On our
Survey Monkey Questionnaire we
found that 9 female and 9 male
candidates answered. This means
that as it is an equal split, we can
get a good balance of male and
female answers.
3. “2. Which category below includes your
age?”
This question was to determine the age of the person answering to
match their views on the genre to what age group it is most popular
with. Our results suggest that the age group “16-30” answered more
than any other group maybe suggesting they enjoy films the most.
However, considering that the majority of people that we know and
therefore asked to fill in the questionnaire are our own age, this may
suggest that it could be a slightly unrealistic statistic.
With the age group “16-30” being
the obvious winner, “31-45” came
second, with “46-60” coming third.
We did not ask anyone younger than
16 as psychological horror films
rated a 12 or below are very limited.
4. “4. Please describe your race/ethnicity
(optional)”
This questions role was just to indicate if there was a particular
race/ethnicity more inclined towards the genre. We chose to put this option
down as “optional” as it may be sensitive to some. As we live in a rural area,
most people who answered tended to give an answer along the lines of
“white, British.” This suggests we haven’t had the opportunity to research if a
certain ethnicity or race are more interested as the people who answered
are mostly the same race or ethinicty.
Some exceptions where “English, Mixed-race” etc.
5. “4. On average, how many films do you
watch per month?”
This question was to identify if the people who were being
questioned where movie lovers and whether this would
influence there choice in genre (whether they enjoyed
psychological horror’s or not.)
We found from this question that
most people watched 3-4 movies
a month averaging at around 1 a
week. The fact that only one
person said they didn’t watch any
a month suggests that the
answers we received in this
questionnaire are from people
inclined to watching films, a good
thing as they are more likely to
have seen more psychological
horror films.
6. “5. What film title comes to your mind
when you say “psychological horror?”
This question was to establish what the most famous and well-known titles
are in the genre and whether the genre is well established with film
watchers. We found that some people couldn’t name a title or named a title
that wouldn’t be classed under this genre as they tended to not include the
“psychological” element in the film. However there was also a good number
of legitimate answers given showing the genre is known by a large amount
of film watchers.
The most popular film suggested was
“Paranormal Activity,” a modern twist on a
psychological horror film. This wasn't what we
expected as we predicted more of the classic
titles such as “The Shining” and “Silence of
the Lambs” to appear more popularly
however this shows that our audience know
more recent films better than the older ones.
7. “6. What do you like/dislike about
psychological horror films?”
This question was to try and find out what the general
feeling was about this genre and what makes them
enjoyable or not enjoyable. Obviously for this question we
received a massive variety of answers however the most
common answers where that a lot of people found the thing
they either disliked or liked the most was the thrill of being
scared or disturbed by it. Another common thing that was
liked about the genre was the build-up of suspense and the
unknown.
8. “7. What would expect to see in the
opening of a psychological horror film?”
This question was to see what would be expected from
audiences in the opening of this genre of film to see if it
matched our findings from our deconstructions and to maybe
take some ideas away from the suggestions made. The results
from this question where again, very varied, however the
overriding answer was an intense, disorientating beginning that
sets the scene and introduces the main characters. We also
had some suggestions that we felt didn’t suit the genre very
much at all such as “a fight between men and zombies.”
9. “9. Out of the following, which is the biggest factor
in building tension in a psychological horror film?”
This question was to try and identify what audiences felt the
main factor of building tension, something essential to this genre,
in psychological horror films. We expected a varied answer
however we came out with a clear winner with sound claiming
most people’s choice.
Sound was the clear winner with
camera work coming second and
the setting coming third. This
suggests that audiences notice
that music builds tension
dramatically and is used very
commonly in this genre. This
shows that when creating our
own first 2 minutes of a film in
this genre, sound is something
that we must focus on.
