Questionnaire rules
-
Keep the questions short
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Collect
precise measurements by collecting data to its rawest form.
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Ensure
the respondents fully understand the questions
-
It
would keep the interview brief and to the point and be so arranged that the
respondents remain interested throughout the interview.
-
Put
questions in a meaningful order
These are the rules I have found from reaserching how to create a questionnaire.
Horror Questionnaire
Thank you for completing this
questionnaire. The results will be used to inform the choices I make for my
practical A Level Media coursework. Although I will analyse and produce a
summary of the results, your individual response will be kept anonymous.
1.
What
gender are you?
•Female
• Male
2.
How old are you?
• 12-18
• 19-25
• 26-32
• 33-39
• 40+
3.
What’s your favourite aspect of a horror film?
(Please tick one)
•
Blood and gore
• Thrill/Adrenaline rush
• The chase
• The
resolution
4.
What scares you the most in a horror film?
(Please tick as many as is relevant)
• Psycho killers (e.g. the orphan)
•
Cannibals (e.g. Hannibal)
•
Real life situations (e.g. Jaws)
• Mysterious
creatures (e.g. Predator)
• Supernatural
(e.g. paranormal activity)
5.
Within a horror, what’s your favourite
genre?
(Please tick one)
•
Blood and gore slasher (e.g. Saw)
•
Psychological (e.g. Red Dragon)
•
Thriller (e.g. Se7en)
•
Monster based (e.g. Frankenstein)
•
Other (please specify below)
6.
What
puts you off watching a horror film the most?
(Please
tick as many as is relevant)
• Bad acting
• Not scary enough
•
Spoof
•
Too much realism
•
Not enough realism
•
Other (please specify below)
7.
Do you enjoy watching horrors?
• Yes
• No
8.
What’s your favourite location of a horror
setting?
(Please tick one)
• A domestic setting
• Isolated part of town or countryside
• Underwater
• Forests
• A haunted house
• Religious grounds
• Other (please specify below)
9.
How would you describe your horror habits?
(Please tick one)
• Always
• Occasionally
• Rare
• Never
10.
What monsters do you find the scariest?
(Please tick as many as is relevant)
• Zombies
(e.g. Dawn of the dead)
• Vampires (e.g. Dracula)
• aliens
(e.g. Alien)
• Evil humans (e.g. Silence of the lambs)
• Other (please specify below)
11.
What do you find the most frightening horror
prop?
(Please tick one)
• Weapons
(e.g. Candyman like the Hook)
• Masks (e.g. Nightmare on Elm Street)
• Possessed objects (e.g. exorcist, Chucky)
• Torture equipment (e.g. Saw like the
traps)
12.
What would you expect in the opening
sequence of a horror?
(Please tick one)
• Introduction of characters
•Switch from action to a flash back
•Aspects of the lives of ordinary people
•Shows past of villains
•Other (please specify below)
These
are the questions I created for my horror questionnaire to help me understand
what people enjoy and hate the most about horrors. These questions would be
helpful for us to when deciding on the plot of our horror as we would know what audiences want out of horror films.
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Horror questionnaire results and analysis
These are the pie charts I created form the data I collected from the my horror questionnaire.
This pie chart shows the results of my question “what gender are you?”
I tried to keep my data relatively even by asking the same amount of females
and males. I asked five females and five males to complete my questionnaire as
I wanted to try and keep my results unbiased so I could get a range of results
but from different genders. I felt that having an even amount of females and
males answering my questionnaire to make sure neither gender could gender
inflict the results. In addition is would give a broader and balanced view. I
choose ten people to answer my questionnaire as I felt this would produce a
smaller range of data however enough to be able to get an accurate conclusions
of what people expect from the genre of horror and what conventions are involved.
This pie chart presents the data received from my question “how old are
you?” the chart shows that the main age category who answered my questionnaire
was 12-18 year olds as four out of the ten people asked were in this age range.
However, there is mainly an even spread
of age ranges. I did this so I could get a wide range of data from people of a
different age as people’s age can have an effect on the way they perceive
horror films. Nobody was 33-39 years old indicating my results could be more biased
towards other categories such as the teenage range who may want to see more
blood and gore than thrillers, therefore this could effectively have an effect
on my results. Linking back to question one “What gender are you?” because the
males and females who answered the questionnaire I made sure where a range of
ages so my results would create a fair result and unbiased towards different
genders and ages.
This pie chart formats
the data from the question “What’s your favourite aspect of a horror film?” the
chart shows that thrill/adrenaline rush was the most popular aspect of a horror
as seven out of the ten people asked voted for this. Whereas, in the other
categories only one person voted for that aspect as the scariest. This data can
be useful as I now know what I should maybe include thrill and adrenaline rush
more than other elements such as blood and gore. This links with question 5
“Within a horror, what’s your favourite genre?”, from the results of both
questions I can link together what aspects and genres the people expect and
want to see in a horror. These can then help me in what I should include in my
horror, such as the element of the thrill/adrenaline and a thriller genre.
This pie chart
represents the data from the question “what scares you in a horror film?” the
chart shows that the people asked find psycho killers in a horror film the
scariest as five out of ten choose it. Whereas, the supernatural element only
one person choose it as what they find the scariest. These results will help me
to decide what I should include in my horror it make it scary, it suggests that
I should include a psycho killer as opposed to the super natural element.
This pie chart
represents the data collect for the question “Within a horror, what’s your
favourite genre?” the pie chart clearly indicates that the genre of thriller is
the most popular with six out of ten votes. Whereas, blood and gore and another
genre was the least popular from the people I asked. This data will help when
producing our film as I have a good idea of what audiences want within a horror
as I know to use more of a thriller element as opposed to blood and gore.
This pie chart represents the data I collected for the question “What
puts you off watching a horror film the most?” The chart shows that bad acting
and too much realism was the two main causes that put people off watching
horror as they both received six ticks each. This data helps give me the
knowledge to know what not to include in my horror such as bad acting by making
sure the actors are believable and make the storyline not too realistic but
make sure it is still scary and believable. On this question the ten people asked were
allowed to tick more than one as I felt that it would expand my knowledge on
what people feel makes a bad horror so I know what I need to avoid when
producing my own.
This pie chart represents the data for the answers to the question “Do
you enjoy watching horror films?” the chart indicates that five out of the ten
people asked do enjoy watching horrors however three out of the ten do not.
This data is useful as it suggests to me that maybe I should do horror but with
a genre such as a thriller as the results for question five shows that it was
classed as their favourite genre of horror. Other questions provide more data
that can help me when deciding what aspect of horror I should do. Question six
suggests that too much realism puts some people of watching horrors so by not
using too much realism more people would enjoy watching horror films.
This pie chart represents the data collected for the question “What are
your favourite locations of a horror setting?” the pattern suggests that a
religious ground was the favourite location of a horror setting. Whereas,
underwater and a haunted house were the least favourite location settings of a
horror film. I can conclude from the data that a religious ground could be the
best place to film our horror as the most of the people asked indicate that’s
their preference of choice. The pie
chart shows more than ten pieces of data, because even though I only asked ten
people I gave them the option to tick as many as is relevant on this question as
in most horrors there isn’t just one setting so by giving them the option they
could choose the ones that they enjoy seeing in the horrors. I can link this
question with question three “What‘s your favourite aspect of a horror film?”
as both the location and aspect fit together as there can be a certain location
that fits the genre used in the horror which both complement each other and
both fit a certain film. These results can help me distinguish what categories
fit with other conventions such as forests and mysterious creatures.
This pie chart
represents the data I collected for the answers to the question “How often do
you what horror films?” The pie chart shows the data was quite evenly spread as
the categories always and rare both had three people choose each of them.
Whereas, occasionally and never was chosen by two people suggesting the data is
not conclusive. This data will be helpful to me as it implies that maybe I
shouldn’t make my horror too scary and maybe include some elements of other
genres as not many people watch them. However the data collected was from a
wide range of age categories so that could affect the answers as maybe not as
many older people may watch the horrors compared to teenagers. Linking back to question five “Within a
horror, what’s your favourite genre?” the data implied that a Thriller was
considered the best as it revived the majority vote of six. This question is
useful when looking at question nine as it indicates that I should make my
horror with a thriller element to capture the attention of the audience.
This pie chart shows
the results to the question “What monsters do you find the scariest?” the pie
charts shows conclusive results that evil humans are found to be the most
scariest retaining eight votes compared to vampires only receiving one. This question has more than ten response’s as
the ten people asked were allowed to choose as many as is relevant as they may
find more than one thing scary within a horror and it also helps me as it
creates more solid evidence as to what they find scariest and which ones they
do not. Referring back to question 4 “What scares you the most in horrors?”
psychotic killers and cannibals were found to be the most scary, this
corresponds with this question as it shows a pattern in what they like to see
in their horrors which helps me in my understanding of what I should and
shouldn’t put in my film.
This pie chart represents the data for the question “What do you find
the most frightening horror prop?” the pie chart shows that masks where classed
as the most scary as six people asked choose this prop as opposed to the other
props. These results will help in deciding on what props to use, it suggests to
me that I should use masks in the film and could even cooperate other props
such as possessed objects.
This pie chart represents the data collected for the question “What
would you expect in the opening sequence of a horror film?” The pie chart
implies that aspects of the lives of ordinary people followed closely by switch
from action to a flash back. This data will be helpful as I know now what to
include in my opening sequence such as showing the aspects of the characters
involved as opposed to show the past of the villains.
Summary of the horror pie
charts
I made a twelve question questionnaire based on the genre of a horror
film. The questionnaire has produced data that will help me with the decisions
I have to make when plotting and producing my horror opening sequence.
The questions link together by following
the same pattern of a certain genre of film which is horror, I did this as it
was the area me and my group are interested in making so felt if we gathered
data on horror films it would broaden our knowledge and expertise. In addition
we felt it would make it easier to distinguish what patterns the data show and
provide strong evidence as to what the best convections of horror are.
The twelve pie charts I created are a
useful way to present my data as they were quick and easy to do and an accurate
way to present my findings as they are labelled so easy to read and distinguish
what patterns each of the questions shows.
The data has enabled me to
come to conclusions of what to include in my horror such as elements of a
thriller genre as question five provides evidence to suggest that the majority
of people asked class thriller as their favourite genre of a horror film. The pie charts have also helped in deciding
what conventions to include such as props, locations and the killer. The pie
charts suggest that the scariest prop chosen by the ten people asked was masks;
this has suggested to our group that our killer should have the element of a
mask as it will portray a scary mysterious villain. Question eight on locations
has helped us in narrowing down the locations where our film should be set. The
data suggests that we don’t have to stick to just one location we could do a
combination as most horrors don’t just have one location.
The data I collected is
sufficient enough evidence for me and my group to be able achieve a good
understanding of horror films and get an idea of what people consider their
best and worse points from different audience perspectives. The amount of people I asked was enough to
receive an accurate conclusion for each question. The wide age range makes the
data unbiased and produces a clearer outlook as the results aren’t basely
leaning towards a certain age group. Even though the data acts as a useful tool
I will also use the internet to find more research on horrors to broaden my
results from my questionnaire and also get more data so I can compare and
contrast the two.
As a group we have decided our
opening sequence will be a horror. By producing three separate questionnaires
one by each of us and distributing the
to a wide range of genders and age ranges we have a large amount of data
that we can then use to compare and see whether there are any patterns evident,
which will help us when deciding what to include within our horror.
The images above are screen shots I took of what one of our
group members tweeted our sixth forms twitter page of the three different genre
film storylines.
