Conclusion Of Survey Results

After reading through the responses to my survey, I found that the majority of the individuals agreed with one another and therefore this has helped me greatly in forming a deeper insight into what type of features to use in my horror film and therefore also helped me in drafting my storyboard.

• With both my independent research on short horror films and the results gathered from the survey, I have come to the conclusion that my film should feature one-two characters. By having a small cast it makes the film more intimate for the audience as they can relate to the characters and put themselves in their shoes; which in turn should increase the horror. As well as this, the lack of people means that the characters are more vulnerable and helpless as there are less people to help them.

• Following on from this, the majority of the responses said that they would like to see a young cast; teenagers. This is very common for a horror film to have a younger cast as they are more vulnerable and innocent than maybe an adult would be and therefore more prone to being scared. My research on the horror films has further supported this idea of having a young cast, especially for the protagonist, some even use children as their protagonist which is something I will take into consideration when casting for my film. 

• When looking through the responses to what supernatural they would like to feature in the film, the idea of having dolls appeared multiple times, however, although this was the majority vote, I decided that this would be challenging to ‘control’ a doll and make it appear scary without it not looking like an amateur film. I therefore drafted many ideas and further broadened my research as to what supernatural to include, as well making sure to take into consideration of the survey results, and liked the idea of having someone in a mask. I think this would be very sinister as it is the fear of the unknown and also means that it will be more manageable to pull it off being frightening, especially if set in a forest or wood.

• I therefore decided to focus on other elements people have mentioned in the survey to create an eerie atmosphere such as closing doors and thunder and lightning. All of which are elements that will allow my film to conform to the stereotypical horror film and hopefully will enable my film to be as frightening as those I have researched.

• From the responses, I have gained a deeper understanding on what the stereotypical setting is and what type of setting people associate with horror films. Both abandoned houses/mansions and forests were the two popular settings and along with the results from independent research, I have decided to set the film in a forest. This setting will create an ominous atmosphere and will go particularly well with the idea of using thunder and lightning to further heighten the horror and tension. Setting the film in a large desolate space will increase both the horror and vulnerability of the character and conforms to the stereotypical horror film creating an intense atmosphere.

• When looking through the replies about what lighting to use, every response agreed that the film should feature low key lighting to create a darker tone for the film. This type of lighting will further convey the idea of the unknown. From one of the short horror films I have analysed they have used both low key lighting and high key lighting to exaggerate the difference between the two and heighten the low key lighting, creating a more intense atmosphere; this is something I will be taking into consideration when drawing up my storyboard.

• In regards to the music of my film, the responses show they would expect to hear the music gradually build up and become increasingly louder and high pitched as the scene becomes more frightening, this will increase the intensity and create a more uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience. However, some responses also show that minimal music can be just as frightening as the audience are not expecting anything and therefore will increase the tension.

• I have gained an insight from both the responses from the survey and also my independent research to understand that stereotypically horror films feature very little dialogue. This limited dialogue puts the audience on edge as it keeps them on guard as it is not made obvious as to what is going to happen next. Therefore this lack of dialogue will be substituted with plenty of piano type music.

From both of the individual responses from my survey and the analysis of the four short horror films, it has helped me to understand what people expect to see in a horror film and what some of the stereotypical features of a horror film are, helping me to design and produce a intense, uncomfortable horror film.