Free Online Survey
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=0nifdxpw01gnzo7328623
I have asked a variety of students and family members to take a look at my online survey and help me conclude my trailer to see what i need to involve to create a successful trailer.
My first question that i asked my audience was whether the genre appealed to them or not. My results came back 60%-40% 5 people saying they enjoyed watching horrors and 4 people not to keen on the genre. This hasn't effected my choice of genre due to more people wanting to watch a horror, nevertheless, i may have to focus on making it a worthwhile horror to encourage other viewers to watch my style of horror.
My second question was concentrated on which sub genre they may prefer when watching horrors such as the examples i gave, this allows me to see whether my choice would be acceptable for my viewers. From my survey the choice i am wanting to film is the most popular - paranormal. I believe this became a sudden popular choice due to the many films such as The Conjuring, Insideous 2 and The Paranormal Activity 5 either being released or showing new teaser trailers. Therefore, i will have competition to keep an eye on and to prove that my trailer will be more successful compared to the rest of the new films. It will also let me do my own research to see what they involve within there trailers/movies and allow me to improve it in my own trailer.
My following question asked about which representation they would like to see follow through the trailer. I had the final girl theme in idea which i believe would give my trailer a modern twist due to various successful themes involving a final girl showing her power and masculinity. Nevertheless, my other representations were as equally as popular such as overtaking youths, this was another idea i was going to focus on due to it being a good narrative to go by because of the main target audience being based on ages between 15-35 years. The other popular representation was having a stereotypical masculine and powerful man being the main focus and story behind the movie which could be easily done and used due to many horrors being based on narratives such as this, nevertheless, due to the society that we now live in various views and opinions are took into consideration this is why i was interested in using the 'last woman' as a way of showing the modern up date to my movie.
Another question i asked was based upon the soundtrach that would be best suitable for my trailer, i had an idea in mind of using quiet eerie sounds to create a abandoned atmosphere for my viewers. However, as seen from my results noone would enjoy hearing this partiular behinf my movie trailer, which has lead me to go into more music depth to see if i can create a new sound track for my trailer. The most popular sound to hear is dark due to it being a perfect link with the horror theme, nevertheless that doesnt give me a great in sight to what sounds this could be. I have decided to create a new survey just based on music so i can get the correct sound and atmosphere for my trailer which my audience will enjoy. Music and sound is important to the trailer due to it being the main way to create a build up and atmosphere. Therefore i must get this part of my process correct to create a successful trailer.
I have based one of my questions on my location which is an important aspect to take into consideration due to the the location having a large impact onto the fear. This is because when paranoramal activity was released it was based on a nuclear household where you are meant to feel safe and comfortable and many disruptions and terrifying scenes were used which creates fears for the audience beliveing that they could have a spirit based within their houses. This i belive is a clever technique to use and was a main idea for me to use however, with a twist so its not taking paranormals idea and people will see my trailer and belive its different and something new to the horror style. I was thinking of using a old fashioned house/ abondended house to focus my trailer on due to it being a stereotypical horror location which will always create an impact on audiences and from my research Family Household and Haunted House are where my viewers would like to see the movie based, which is useful due to my narrative being based round these locations.
My follwoing question is asking how my audience would like to see my poster portrayed whether its with the trailer having a link involved or as seen to be different to the trailer, adding extra details without the audince knowing. I belive i will use the stereotypical approach to the trailer and poster due to it giving consistency and a proffesional image for my viewers. Having the link will also be rememberable and easily understood to the audience, creating more of a confusion wont help and could potentionally put viewes off watching my trailer.
An important question i asked within the survey was based on the cover of my magazine and my poster due to this being a big help to promoting my trailer therefore using the correct background and props is a must due to it being the best way of giving sneak peaks of what my trailer and movie will consist of. Thats why finidng out this questions feedback will help me come to a decion. From the statistics there are mixed views, Characters being the most popular choice however, location also being a favourite - which is what i would of like to base my cover and poster on, similar to The Conjuring nevertheless, i could look into involving both aspects to my medias i would have to take test shots to see what i could make and see whether they will blend well together.
The last question i asked within my survey was based on expectations from the viewers which is another section i believe i will need to do my reserch into due to it being the main attention throught out my trailer. I will need to focus on watching trailers to see what jumps out at me and makes me think wow and then create another survey for my audience to do so i can give them what they want to see. My most popular choice within this question however, is having random sudden movemnets involved within my trailer, this was a main choice of mine due to it being an obvious fright to most people, i think its also clever and easily placed into a trailer blending the rest of the scenes well with one another.
Spirit: I used an old hospital ward cloak as my spiritual characters form of dress, this was due to it fitting well into the horror criteria and the whole illusion of a corpses spirit haunting the main victim within the movie. The colour of the cloak is white, this is a huge contrast to my characters outlook of being dark, deadly, evil etc. The white cloak emphasises there was once innocence within the spirit and the this enforces the questioning the audience will do whilst watching the movie.
Victim: For my victim i thought allowing to be dressed in her casual jogger clothes would be appropriate due to it emphasising that even in your own home and comfort your not safe, this would add more of a fear twist to my trailer. I dressed her in a baggy jersey top and leggings to show that she should be settled and comfortable having her tea, in bed, on the laptop etc. I believe i should of chose a better colour top than blue, due to it not being a good connotation to my horror genre.
Hair: For my spirit character i back combed her hair so it looked wild, brittle and unattractive. The main reason for this is to reinforce what she actually is, and to show to the audience she is in fact a spirit and she doesn't look after herself. There are other main priorities to sort out. Her hair also covered partly over her face, closing her identity and making the characters past more of mystery for my audience by not getting a full image of the antagonist. The Grudge was my inspiration for this look. On the other hand, i dressed my victims hair, tied back and loose up showing she's relaxed and at home. I thought this would add to her dress sense of the night making it clear she's getting disturbed in her own chill time.
Make-up: I made both of my characters make up simple and not to much in the audiences face, due to wanting to focus on the actual narrative than there make up. I chose this route due to my spirit not needing much make up due to having a large chunk of her hair over her face, if i was to change this i would of added black eye shadow round her eyes to create a more serious and deathly ill look for her. However, for my victim i used simple make up due to it being set at night time mainly and my victim was all dressed for chill/bed time. Therefore, make up wasn't a necessary big part for my characters identity.
