Analysis of Questionnaire Results

We have used a questionnaire to receive a better understanding of the target audience’s response to our trailer idea/s. We will be able to conclude which aspects are most important to our target audience to ensure our trailer is effective whilst also fits the important codes and conventions.The first question within my survey was ‘How often do you watch horror films?’. I asked this question to gather an idea of how popular the genre of horror is within our target audience. Our target audience for our trailer is young adults aged 17-20, and this is the age of our respondents to the survey. I found that the majority of the people who we asked said ‘monthly’ this suggests that although horror may not be the most popular genre which is watched by our target audience, they will still enjoy the occasional horror film.‘What horror film is your favourite?’ was the second question which I asked within my primary data. This was asked in order to select the most favourable sub-genre within horror films. The most popular answers included insidious which is in the paranormal subgenre and the shining which is a psychological horror. We asked this question to see which film is most preferred within our target audience. Our idea for horror trailer involves aspects of a psychological horror including a character who is emotionally and mentally unstable. After gathering this data, I can conclude that our chosen sub-genre for our trailer will be successful within our target audience.The next question regarded where our target audience usually watched horror films. This is important when considering the marketing. This includes distribution onto services to watch at home, e.g. Netflix. However, since our data concluded that the cinema market was still in action within the target audience we can consider this when it comes to making the trailer, and also the advertisement through the poster and magazine cover.The next question which I asked was ‘Do you watch the trailer before watching the film?’ which was also followed by a question which confirmed that this was something that influenced the audience’s decision to watch/ purchase a ticket for the film. This was asked to gain an understanding of the importance of the trailer when it comes to marketing. If the trailer fails to deliver some of the key elements of an exciting horror which will include, jump scares, fear, excitement,

suspense, then our overall trailer will be unsuccessful towards the audience.To build upon the key elements we then asked what our target audience likes most about a horror film. The highest scoring factors included the suspense, characters and the story. Using this informed me that our target audience will be most impressed with our idea, as we see suspense as a key selling point within our story. We have developed our characters in detail and have a strong and interesting narrative.The marketing for this trailer will also have to be considered carefully. Within our questionnaire the importance of marketing to our target audience was asked and the majority concluded that it was very important how the film is marketed, this will allow me to have a more critical view when it comes to the marketing of my trailer through the poster and the magazine cover.

The most important question within the questionnaire included explaining the plot to our target audience and engaging a yes or no response to their liking of it. I can conclude it was 100% success with all respondents agreeing that this narrative would be something they would like. In relation to a previous question on key features being the narrative this is a confirmation that we have a successful idea. We asked our audience to elaborate on what they liked about the trailer idea to allow us to be aware of what to show and to know what to leave a mystery. The answers included: the

shocking discovery, wanting to know more, interesting plot and story, unexpected twists and turns.

From this data I can conclude that our idea fits within our target audience’s preferences for sub-genre, they are interested and engaged within our idea of narrative and characters which is all important when creating a successful trailer. I now also have engaged clearer understanding of marketing for the trailer, using the film cover and magazine cover considering our target audience and key codes and conventions whenever possible.