My focus group

When analysing my results for my focus group I found out that many of the answers were conclusive as a whole group, it showed that this age range all shared similar opinions. This is why I picked the group specific to my target audience and who I was aiming my horror trailer at.

From the first question, which asked about the type of horror genre that they preferred, the overall attitude of my target group went towards the idea of psychological horror. They chose this as the impression of the film will last with you for longer, they implied that many of them have had moments of the film staying with them after watching the horror such as being scared of the dark.  

I can achieve this within my trailer by using influential lighting and suspense, by making the audience feel like something bad is about to happen (fake scare). I can also use fast pace shots that can have certain images that flicker but not fully reveal what is in the shot, this will then make the audience start to question what the thing might be.

Furthermore, when thinking about the content of my trailer, I noticed that it was more appropriate to look at showing less of the plot line. By only revealing a little bit it will make the audience start to enquire about the film more as it makes them drawn to having their questions being answered. However I know that when doing this I need to keep the balance between revealing too little and revealing too much about the plotline. I can make this happen by using lots of jump cuts and fast pace editing, also I shall use a non-linier/ non-chronological order, to mix the events up that happen. When doing this I also need to make sure that the contents I use still fits together and makes sense which will also entice my target audience.

The stereotypical characters that are commonly used in horror films are either liked in trailers due to both their appearances and personalities; they indicate to the audience what is going to happen to them in the film. On the other hand, this, to some people in my focus group, is seen as boring and predictable. I have decided to go along with some stereotypical aspects, such as my main character being blonde, she will be being haunted and at the focus of the horror, however I shall use suggestion that she does survive in end, which goes against what happens to the blonde character in most horror films and again going against convention.

Due to the attention of my focus group, I have decided that the story line of my trailer shall be non-linier, I feel that this will be my better option as it will mean that my audience will be interested it throughout its entirety. However I shall be using some conventional aspects of a horror film as this will make the audience feel familiar and can follow the plot line with ease.