Questionnaire

Summary of results for Research Questionnaire

My questionnaire, consisting of the following ten questions, was handed out amongst approximately five people of a variety of age-ranges and backgrounds:

1. Which is your favourite genre? (Horror, Thriller or Romantic-Comedy)
2. Why is this your favourite genre?
3. What is your favourite element to any Romantic-comedy?
4. Which sub-genre of Horror do you prefer? For example suspense horror, sci-fi horror, fantasy-horror etc.
5. What would you say the majority of Thriller films ought to improve upon?
6. Which Horror film scared you the most?
7. Which aspect of this film did you find most terrifying?
8. Respectively in Horrors, Thrillers, and Romantic-comedies, which would you expect to have a happy ending?
9. Which sub-genre of thriller do you prefer? For example action, psychological, science-fiction, etc.
10. Does music play an important part in films for you?

The age-ranges for this questionnaire spanned between fifteen to fifty years old, and gender specified. The majority of questionnaires were responded to by 15-25 year olds, nine out of thirty. Thirty questionnaires in total were completed.

Question One resulted in the majority of the public responding with the Horror option. There was a fluctuation of results between male and female participants - men who didn't choose Horror more commonly answering Thriller, and females who didn't choose Horror responding with Romantic-comedy. This was a result somewhat stereo-typically to be expected. This ratio also changed as the age of the participants increased - fewer and fewer people above the age of thirty said they preferred Horrors.

Question Two was responded to with a variety of somewhat detailed answers. For Romantic-Comedies, the answers were largely female and above the ages of 25. The particular element they generally preferred was the protagonist, and the quality of humour they delivered. Another favourite was the soundtrack. In Horrors, the younger audience generally preferred the more violent elements of scary than the psychological elements, and again, as the age of the participant increased, the results were vice-versa. Another particularly crucial element was shown to be a believable villain. In thrillers, almost all questionnaires resulted in the answer of the action sequences, although humour also became an inherent factor as the age of participant increased - the film not being taken too seriously.

Question Three (somewhat begrudgingly answered with "the end" by a number of male participants) was answered more enthusiastically by women. Unexpectedly, a younger audience were more drawn to the emotional content and romanticism in the films, whereas an older audience, again almost entirely female constructive responses, preferred to see a dashing male lead and the more believable, every-day aspects of the every-day heroine.

Question Four resulted in a younger audience preferring largely pain-related as opposed to psychologically related horrors. Participants under the age of 20, on average, preferred a balance between interesting plots and sadistic violence, the majority of results categorized as escape-based horror-thrillers such as Saw. An older audience agreed largely that psychological horrors were their preference, such as Silence of the Lambs, where any violence is a pre-requisite to a solid plot.

Question Five, throughout all age-ranges and gender varieties, was answered based upon the plots. Almost everyone agreed that Action movies have mastered the majority of stunt-based excitement, but an unbelievable array of characters and plot-twists often dampened the enjoyment of the chase-scene or final-fight.

Question Six. The Saw series, amongst both genders, was exceedingly popular amongst a younger audience (generally below 35). Another popular outcome for was Shaun of the Dead, although that would fall more under the category of horror-comedy or parody movie, although in terms of fear-factor, didn't rank particularly high. The scariest films comprised of The Others, the Blair Witch Project, The Ring and also the Grudge series, several of those receiving more than one vote. 28 Days Later was another popular result, giving the impression that a lot of the audience would prefer more Horrors set in Britain. This logically would make any surreality or feelings of alienation in a very American Horror seem more local, and thus scarier.

In Question Seven, the aspect of almost every single Horror that terrified the audience most universally was a moment of suspense, in which a single character is alone yet without any visible threat present. This suggests a masterful use of sound and lighting in the modern Horror to create suspense and a terrifying atmosphere. Another particularly scary Horror moment was the chase-scene, or panic-scene in which the protagonist and opposing forces eventually collide head on.

Question Eight was answered with relatively similarly. Action movies were expected, one-hundred percent to end happily, as were Romantic Comedies. Horrors on the other hand were fairly varied, resulting in an almost equal divide of opinions.

Question Nine was answered almost universally with Action-thriller - psychological-thriller was seen to be a generally weaker genre than the similar psychological-horror. The conventions of the action-thriller seem to be working continually well as cinema progresses over the years.

Question Ten. The majority of participants whole-heartedly agreed that, regardless of genre, the non-diagetic soundtrack of any film played an entirely crucial role, particularly for Horrors and Romantic-comedies. Without the soundtrack, many participants believed the most crucial moments of any film would go almost unnoticed and without anywhere near the same effect as with the perfect score or tune coinciding.