Final Justification

Final Target Market Justification

My primary and secondary research shows me that I believe that  my chosen audience is right for my chosen horror genre. From my research, I have concluded that my horror film wont include stereotypical predictable features.

How I am going to target my audience

I will use advertising on social media sites as my target audience are teens/young adults. From my questionnaire results my audience said they are influenced to watch new films from trailers, this tells me that I will advertise my films using film trailers.

Audience Profile

Demographics

Age: My chosen age group are aged 15-22. I concluded this from my primary and secondary research as they showed that this was the age range that horrors were targeted at and most appeal to.

Gender: I am targeting both male and females as my research showed that horrors appeal to both gender.

Employment Status: From my primary research it has revealed that the group of people that I am aiming at are teenagers that are in the category ‘D’. This is classes as Working class, I've chosen this because my target audience are mostly students that have part-time jobs or full time that are able to afford trips to the cinema or buying DVD’s.

Psychographics

Lifestyle and Interests: My audience will be living at home as they are students, so wont pay rent or housing money which means they will have money to spend on their self. Their interest are watching films especially horror and this was concluded from my primary research.

They will be people who are open to new fresh ideas and like to try something new when it comes to films and TV. They should relate to existing horror films that makes them attracted to my product.

Personal Media Choices

My audience will enjoy an element of surprise and jumpy films that puts them on edge when watching horrors. They also like films with gore in and like unexpected plot twists that creates tension with the help of sound, they also prefer to watch films in the cinema but are unable to afford it every month due to my audience being students.

Focus Group

Anaylising my research

Here I found that question 1 was how I expected, I aimed my questionnaire at people aged 13-15 as I knew that teenagers were the typical audience for horrors and this is reflected in my results. This has allowed me to gain a good understanding of my target audience as I will now aim my opening to teenagers.

Question two was to help me understand the types of people who are able to buy or watch movies, from my evidence it is clear to see that the majority of people who I asked were a student and employed meaning they have more social time and money to spend watching horrors. This has allowed me to understand who my audience is targeted at.



To gain an understanding of the audiences interest in horrors and overall genres. From my evidence I can understand that males have more of an interest in horror films, which helps enhance the stereotype of males being brave and watch to help increase masculinity. However the female audience prefer to watch 'safe' films where they don't have an aspect of fear.

Both genders are influenced by trailers which suggests that when I promote my film that a trailer will gather more attention from both male and female audiences. Word of mouth is also popular and this will help my film because if it is a good film it will allow free advertisement which benefits me and my movie.



This evidence will help me when I start production because it shows that both male and female audiences are attracted to horror films that use tension and gore. From this I can include tension and gore to attract audiences to watch my film.



I asked the audience where they watch horrors and from my evidence it shows that most audiences watch in the cinema and TV, this suggests that they enjoy having the home comfort, enhancing Maslow's Hierarchy of safety.



For this question I have found the average answer, the majority of my audience said that the opening is very important which helps as my final piece is an opening to a horror. This also implies that the opening sets up the rest of the film which attracts audiences.

I asked my audience what kind of setting do they prefer and the outcome shows that males and females prefer an isolated outdoor location which suggests that my location should be places outdoors as that is what my target audience wants.

 The majority of my audience said that they either watch horror films every month or two months, this suggests that I should look for a gap in the market before publishing my film as I will target more audiences.

 I asked my audience how horrors make them feel, my response was varied but more emotion was showed by the females implying that they have more fear from horrors compared to male audiences. However, the majority of votes from males was scared and excited suggesting that they like horrors with a build up of tension to get them excited.

I asked my audience if gruesome aspects frightened them, from my evidence it shows me that females are more frightened by gruesome aspects compared to males which suggests that when targeting my audience I should involve some gruesomeness to attract a wide range.

On this question, I found the average of all answers and this shows me the important of each aspect towards a horror. This shows me that the most important aspects that I must include are suspense and goriness. However the setting and chosen musics are also important to a horror film, so this confirms what I must include when making my horror opening.

What do you expect to see in an opening to a horror?
- Introduction to setting
- Introduction to characters
- High level of suspense
- Something that will engage the audience; eg death, killer, crime ect.

 In my last question I asked an open question, for this I wrote the average answered from all questionnaires. This shows that these are the expectations from the audience that I should include in my opening sequence.

Popular insitutions

Dark Castle Entertainment

Dark Castle Entertainment was formed in 1999 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis and Gilbert Adler. When it was first formed, their goal was to remake Castles horror films but after 2 remakes they produced original material. Dark castle entertainment was named after the 1050's and 60's horror film-maker, William Castle.

Popular films made:
2009 - Orphan
2010 - Splice
2011 - Unknown
2013 - Getaway

 Ghost House Pictures

A popular horror film institute is Ghost House Pictures who was founded by Robert Tapert.

Popular films made:
The Grudge series
2008- The Children
2012- The Possession
2013 - Evil Dead

Lionsgate Entertainment

Lionsgate is a Canadian-American company formed in 1997 by Frank Giustra it is the most commercially successful film and television company.

Popular films made:

Saw series

2005 - Hostel

2013 - Texas Chainsaw 3D

2014 - Jessabelle

Secondary Research

Gender Representation
 

 

 

'The Horror Film by Peter Hutchings'

 

This extract shows me that the modernised women in horror films have been subverted from the princess into the hero as they are able to fight for their vulnerability and have become independent. This implies that the lead in horrors are becoming more gender equal, allowing females to take responsibility for their own living.

 

 

'Horror, The Film Reader by Mark Jancovich'

 

This extract suggests to me that the stereotypical gender dynamics are that horrors are addressed to the male audiences and relies on traditional gender dynamics. Women were stereotypes to be terrified and innocent while men were the brave but also the villains. The media played a part in encouraging male attention by screening the females to cling to males which later on encouraged male audiences to watch by using female fear, which was displayed to enhance male bravery and behaviours.

 

 

Make up and costume

 

 

'Horror, by Brigid Cherry'

 

This extract shows me that costume plays a big role in horror, cinemas are motivated by costume which help create the realistic feel for the audience. Costume and effects help enhance the atmosphere of a horror and can be used to enhance the films tension.

 

 

(Extract unknown)

 



 

Questionnaire

My Chosen Genre and Sub-Genre

I have chosen to create an opening based on the horror genre. I decided to do this because horrors include a range of features to create tension and suspense. The horror genre will be fun to produce because I am able to use a sub-genre to expand my horror.

Sub-Genres:

Action Horror: Combines evil with an event, they normally involve gun fights or chases. Themes that are often used in action-horror include zombies, demons, gore, vicious animals and vampires. 

Examples: Blade and Shaun of the dead

Comedy Horror: Have elements of comedy that normally crosses with black comedy.

Examples: Scary Movie and Gremlins

Gothic Horror: Contains features such as castles, dungeons, ruined landscapes, the supernatural.

Examples: Dracula, The Woman in Black

Psychological Horror:  This sub-genre relies on characters fears and belief and includes emotional instability. Tension is key to psychological horrors.

Examples: The exorcist and The shining.

Slasher Horrors:  This Sub-Genre includes high levels of violence which normally revolves around a psychopathic serial killer. The killer normally has a continuous weapon to kill his victims and the killer is male. They also build up on a lot of mystery and suspense.

Examples: PSYCHO and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Zombie Horrors: These films portray reliving corpse that feed of the living. 

Examples: Dawn of the dead

Horror Genre

Horror Genre

The usual age that horrors target for their audience are between 15 and 25. This is due to the fact young adults like to try new things and experiment with different emotions and from horrors they seek thrill as it excites them! Both genders do watch horror films however males are more likely to watch them due to the stereotype of thrill seeker which is portrayed by males. Also males like to think of themselves as the hero in real life situations and with the violence that is included in horrors males like to believe that they can help the innocent/vulnerable female.

Why do people enjoy horror films?

 Gore watching – characterized by low empathy, high sensation seeking, and in males a strong identification with the killer

Thrill watching – high empathy and high sensation seeking – motivated by the suspense of the film and more identification with the victims.

Independent Watching – high empathy for the victim with a high positive effect of overcoming fear

Problem Watching – high empathy for the victim but characterized by negative effect – sense of helplessness.

(Found at Filmmaker iq)

 History of Horrors:

- In the early 19th century, writers started to experiment with the darker form of literature and in 1818 the first recognisable horror 'Frankenstein' was published. In the 1830's Edgar Allan Poe began to experiment with the gothic genre.

- Frankenstein and Dracula were brought out in 1930 and is argued that they are the first films that created many of the conventions of the horror genre that we use in modern filming.

- In the 1940's, the second world war created problems and cinema and films were put on hold which caused a huge decline in horror production. 

- After the war ended in 1950's, horror films created a new bread of antagonist as they introduced the mutant character like Godzilla.

- Originating from the horror genre, the 60's saw the introduction of 'Thriller' This stemmed from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' which was considered to be one of the best of its kind to the modern day.

- Films became to improve during the 1970's and the trend in this decade were children becoming the antagonists for example 'The Exorcist' Some of the most iconic films were produced for example:

Jaws, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, Halloween and The Last House on the Left.

- The horror industry began to try new things as the 80's went by and visual effects were introduced. This was the first time that there was much experimentation with costume, character and setting and the trend became more explicit.

- 'The Birth of the Serial Killer' Film makers ended the days of monsters and focused on using serial killers as the antagonist. Although many were thrillers they still followed horror conventions and by now film making was more advanced and technology was increasing with effects and camera techniques. 

- 2000 and modern day has seen that teenage horror has been a popular choice and this was due to the 90's hit 'Scream' where the lead characters were teenagers. This changed the way horrors were viewed as they were more accepted and common. Because technology is more advanced than ever we are currently at the peak of movie production as filming is more advanced with bigger and better effects.

Setting:

Horrors are commonly set in small isolated places in urban environments with dark streets. They can also be set in large cities or a run down ghost town - anything that can connote isolation. Often they are set in places with dark history with abandoned houses, hotels and insane asylums.

Iconography:

Visuals like dark reds and blacks are used as they link to death, anger, danger, blood ect. Lighting is important ad low-key lighting can help create dark shadows and tension with unfamiliar shapes. 

Props help identify the horror genre or a specific villain/character. (Chainsaw, knife, Gun, Machetes ect)

Character Types:

The main protagonist often the victim/hero

1. The Villain, often a monster, a freak, alien or serial killer.
2. Creepy children
3. Police officers - both good and bad
4. The princess

Scream Analysis

The title of the film "Scream" refers to first reaction from the female victim when the doorbell rings as her initial reaction was to scream when she is in danger. This suggests that this could be a on-going theme during the film as all vulnerable victims scream when in danger.

The title 'Scream' links with the main female victim as her instant reaction when in danger is to scream. This makes it clear that this could be a continuous theme throughout the film. The title is also written in red which connotes death and danger which implies that this film will include horrific deaths. It also connotes determination and strength which could symbolise the killers power in the film. The first noise that audience hear when watching the opening is a high - pitched screech from a girl. This represents the title of the film and this also creates suspension and ask's an enigma code which gets the audience thinking what is going to happen and why a girl is screaming. 

This also introduces us to the main character, the female victim which suggests vulnerability and innocence as she is wearing a white jumper. This automatically stereotypes her as we see her as weak meaning she is unable to fight for herself. We are introduced to the scene by a phone ringing, this is an action code as we understand as an audience that something bad is going to happen.

When she picks up the phone the audience are introduced to the phone we are introduced to the possible villain of the film, a close up of her face showing her emotion, this also allows the audience to see that she is relaxed and confident while on the phone. Her calm tone when talking also implied that nothing bad is happening. The camera zooms out and zooms back onto Drew Barrymore's face when the phone rings to show confusion and to increase the tension. 

When the phone rings the audience are able to see that this isn't a normal cold call and this is due to the 'villains' ring back to apologise. The camera is still using a close up to pan Drew's face and then a shot is shown of the outside. We are shown a dark forest, a typical scary location as it is isolated and sets the mood for the film as spooky and mysterious.

The film then goes on to show more of the location after the second call, and a long shot is used and the audience are then able to clearly see the big house and the outside garden area. It includes large trees and a swinging chair which makes a squeaky noise, the noise effect suggests to the audience that maybe a child or a young person is involved. This makes it much more frightening to the audience because of the thought of a child being involved in socially unacceptable and terrifying.

As the person rings more, the audience see that Drew Barrymore's voice gets more distressed. She also plays with the knives which are in the knife rack, this is relevant because it represents murder and pain, which may make the audience think that might happen to her. It also implies an action code as the audience wonders if a knife will be used in the victim’s killings. The reference to her favourite movie being about a guy whole "walks round in a white mask and stalks babysitters," contrasts with the theme of this film and the image of which may be seen on some film posters.

The camera then focuses on her popcorn on the oven which looks like it is done; this could imply that Drew Barrymore’s character will die soon as it reflects her last moments. The mood is instantly changed once the caller says "I want to know who I am looking at," this is known to the audience through the female’s facial expression of shock and the background noise which suggests danger. From this her actions are become more aware and after she hangs up we hear the phone ring again, and from her hesitation we understand that she knows she is in danger. The mood of the caller also changes and he starts to snap at her on the phone, the background noise starts to rise and get louder which increases the tension.