Research and Planning: Target Research Audience Interviews

After coming up with our groups interview questions, we went around college and asked the students the questions about what they expect from this genre of film; horror. This was ideal as the students are aged 15 to 18 years old which is what rating our film will be therefore they are our perfect target audience. Their feedback will help us when producing the film trailer and the comments made will be taken into consideration when making decisions.

When asked about what sound effects would be most suitable for a stalker film, he replied 'footsteps and breathing' I think this is a good idea as it helps to create an eerie atmosphere so not only is the person being stalked scared, the audience will also feel what it is liked to be stalked and will prey on their fears. For Mise en Scene purposes we asked what colours are most suitable for a horror and he responded with 'Red and Black' this was said by three of our interviewees which shows they expect a certain colour scheme for this genre therefore I think when thinking about props, setting, costume we should include dark colours as it is more creepy.

Our second interviewee said the best horror films were the ones that created suspense which I agree is an important feature within this genre, by thinking about sound and character for the trailer I think we can create suspense. Interestingly, she feels that the villain/killer in the film should be a female as it would be more twisted, I think in films the majority of villains are males so it would be a different to have a female as the villain in our horror.

When asked about what makes the best horror films, he said 'violence' I think this is an important part in horror as sometimes it can help to pick up the pace of the film and enables action rather than it being suspense and the same pace throughout. I think we need to include action in our trailer as it intrigued the audience and makes them want to know what happens after the encounter between victim and villain/killer. 

This interviewee thinks that there should be a twist at the end of the film which is a good idea as the audience are lulled into a false sense of security which is then taken away at the end and shocks them however as we are just making a trailer this isn't as much as an issue. She thought that the villain should be male which differs from our other females response therefore she may expect the typical villain. When asked about location she replied 'a shed' I don't think this an appropriate main setting for a film however I think it could be an interesting side setting e.g. the stalker could be shown in his normal life but then we film his private shed where we find abnormal things about him e.g. he could have walls full of pictures of the person he stalks.