Analysis of Survey Monkey Questionnaire On the Horror Genre, focusing on the opening of Saw‌ By Sophie White
Question 1 • This question was to determine whether beginning titles bother the audience so I know to include them at the beginning or end of my horror film. From this I can see that not only do they not bother the audience, they can be also be used to add to the tension. In my own video I am going to make sure that the titles are more involved in the horror genre (dark, drawn in blood etc.) instead of the generic titles to immediately put the audience in suspense.
Question 2 This question highlights how important lighting can be in a horror. As I suspected, the low lighting induced fear to the audience as it shows a fear of the unknown. Having a single light source is something I want to include in my own horror as it confuses the audience as they don’t immediately get the bearings on a new location.
Question 3 Many horrors are set in low/dim lighting as it creates suspense so I wanted to make sure my target audience also agreed. These results show that most do think that dim lit scenes are better for horrors and reinforced my idea to set my opening of a horror in low lighting.
Question 4 As music is a key part in any genre of film, this question was to explore how the audience finds it in a horror. From this I can see that music is key for tension in a horror, in particular screechy music as this is commonly used in horrors as it mimics a scream. Used at tense moments to shock the audience like in this clip is effective and I will include that in my own clip.
Question 5 • This question focuses on the Mise-en-Scene aspects of a horror. Although 66% thought the grimy location was fear provoking, others thought that it could’ve been even more extreme, darker, smaller and dirtier. This highlights how the location can really go to extremes in a horror which is an aspect I can include in my own movie.
Question 6 These results surprised me, as many famous horror sequences have been without dialogue, hence why I thought I’d ask my audience what they thought. The Saw clip included a bit dialogue which most of the audience enjoyed, and even wanted more of. Perhaps this could be because the dialogue helps to set the scene which could aid in my film opening, as it will need to set the scene for the rest of the 'film’.
Question 7 After the body is shown the music gets louder and faster to increase tension. This is a key characteristic in a thriller, however I asked this question to see if this type of music is applicable to a horror. From these results it obviously is, and including this sound against dead silence as well is something I will do in my own clip.
Question 8 These results shocked me as jump cuts increase suspense and I thought that those camera movements would be the most popular in a horror and I had planned to include many in my movie. These results show that many wanted less jump cuts, or the same amount whereas I thought there should’ve been more. This highlights to me that when I shoot my own film I need to take notice of any jump cuts.
Question 9 I thought that the opening titles were quite boring and seemed out of place, especially the colour which was blue. This is because I feel that the titles didn’t effectively portray that the film was a horror, perhaps a sickly green colour would, and they seemed fairly simple. However, my target audience thought that the chosen font was fine. I think this is because it was clear and simple which I will include in my own opening.
Question 10 I asked this question to get an overview of how my target audience found this clip so I could take inspiration for it. Overall, my audience seemed to enjoy every aspect of this clip. The highest category they found fear provoking was the sound, as this clip included all the elements for a tense atmosphere; dead silence, harsh screechy noises and fast, loud music.