Questionnaire

I decided that in order for me to gather more information on thriller genre and what people look for in a thriller movie and trailer, I should hand out a questionnaire based on the genre to 10 willing participants.

I began my questionnaire by asking each participant their age and gender. The reason I asked these two personal questions is because I wanted to determine the target audience that thriller genre appeals to most, therefore allowing us to decide what age group we should aim our movie towards. From my ten participants 50% were male and 50% were female, I purposely did this so that I could determine my results fairly. From these ten participants 5/10 were aged 17 and 5/10 were aged 18. The reason I kept the ages in the same region was because this is the target audience we want to focus on, so its there opinions and views that I want to take into account.

My next question was a basic question asking what type of thriller movie they prefer with four possible answers to chose from (action, supernatural, paranormal and sci-fi). The reason I asked this particular question first was because I wanted to get an idea of what type of thriller is most popular and which is least popular. My results are as followed:

From looking at the bar chart above I can see clearly that the two most popular types of thriller were paranormal which 40% put as their favourite and action which 30% put it as their favourite. I can also determine the least popular thriller genre which in this case was science-fiction were only 1/10 people put it as their favourite.

The next two questions were open questions; this means that they allowed the participants to write their own answers without any options. The two questions consisted of asking what you expect to see in a film trailer and what they expect to see in a film poster. Some of the answers I received consisted of immediately knowing the genre, star appeal, short, fast, intense clips, release dates, action shot from movie and gradually building intense music.

I followed this by asking what attracts them to see a film, with four possible options (word of mouth, trailer, star appeal and box office draw). The reason I asked this question is because it is important that I know what attracts an audience to see a film, so that I can include this in my trailer, poster and magazine front cover. The results are as followed:


From the results it is obvious that trailers are what attracts the majority the people to see a movie, with half of the participants choosing this option. This is important to know because it shows me that our trailer has to be good enough to make the audience want to see the actual film, as this is what acts as the main form of advertising for the movie itselfs.

My next question was another open answer question asking the participants to write 2 things that make a good thriller movie. The reason i chose to ask this question is because it will allow me to gather a few initial ideas of what people in our target audience look for in a thriller and what makes a good thriller. Some of the feedback given including things such as a good majority of suspense, the unknown and even a unexpected twist.

I bought my questionnaire to a conclusion by asking for a final question "name two of your favourite thriller movies". The reason i asked this question is because i wanted to find out what thriller movies have done well, whether there is common occuring favourite thriller and what genre of thriller was most popular. Some of the movies people wrote down included films such as paranormal activity, the shining, the unborn and pyscho.

Initial Ideas

I have decided that for my trailer I am going to focus on the genre thriller. But before continuing any further I wanted to ensure that I had a detailed idea on the genre thriller and what makes a thriller film, so I began by researching the term "thriller".
A geniune thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single minded goal, which is to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff hanging as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension of a thriller usually arises when the main character is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces- the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

However at this point in time I am still unsure on what side of thriller I want to take further with my trailer. My main sub-genres to chose from consist of suspense thrillers or supernatural thrillers. Before making a final decision I decided to explore both aspects in order to help make my ultimate decision.

I began my research by focusing solely on suspense thrillers and my findings are as followed:
Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features. A good thriller suspense film should be able to promote:
- Excitement
- Suspense
- High level of anticipation
- Uncertainty
- Nerve wraking tension

Early suspense thrillers:
Alfred Hitchcock:
Afred Hitchcock is considered the acknowledged master of the thriller or suspense genre, manipulating his audiences fears and desires, and taking viewers into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the character.
Notable examples of Hitchcock's early British suspense-thriller films include:
- The man who knew too much (1993)
- The 39 steps (1935)
- The lady vanishes (1938)
One of Hitchock's most iconic thriller movies was the powerful, complex psychological thriller "Psycho" (1960) which is today known as the "mother" of all modern suspense films. The film was a low budget, brillantly edited, stark black and white film which came after Hitchcocks earlier technicoloured hits.

To gather more of insight into suspense thrillers, i decided to research previous ones to give me a brief outline on what a sort of films are classified as a "suspense thriller". Below is a list of several examples of suspense thrillers:
- The Exorcist
- The Ring
- The Omen
- Fatal Attraction
- Inception
- The Shining
- Die Hard

After looking into detail at suspense thrillers, I wanted to take a closer look at a different side of thrillers, in this case "supernatural".
Supernatural thrillers are films that have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts, spirits, miracles and other similar ideas or depications of extrodinary phenomena.

However, the element of a supernatural thriller that seems most appealing to us, is the common use of a style of filming called "found footage". This is a certain genre of film making in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as an edit of recovered footage. This style of filming shows events that are seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved. An example of this technique, would be shown in supernatural thrillers such as, "Paranormal Activity" or "The Blair Witch Project".

Rating:

We have also decided that we want to rate our film as a "15", this is because we know that thriller films are extremely popular around this age group and it will be easy for us to get audience feedback.

Below is the guidelines for a "15" rating, taken from the BBFC website:
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Genre Research

Before continuing any further with my coursework, I first had to decide on what genre I wanted to focus on for my own trailer. I wanted to ensure that I knew as much as I possibly could about different genres to make it easier to make our final decision.

Action:

• High energy, big-budget films with stunts and chases




• Usually include rescues, battles, fights, escapes and destructive crises




• Two dimensional: heroes and villains




• Examples include; James Bond, The Terminator, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Predator and Batman

Adventure:

• Exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales
  


• Similar to action films, in that they are designed to provide an action filled, energetic experience for the audience



• Can include searches, expeditions for lost continents, deserts or jungles, treasure hunts or searches for the unknown
  


• Examples include; King Kong, National Treasure, Brave Heart and Robin Hood

Comedy:

• Light-hearted, deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter from the audience



• Achieved through exaggeration of the situation, language, action or relationship



• Types of comedy include spoofs, screwball, slapstick, parodise, black comedy to the recent favourite romantic comedy



• Examples include; The Hangover, Step Brothers and Four Weddings and a funeral.

Horror:

• Unsettling films designed to frighten and panic
  

• Cause dread and alarm, center on the dark side of life, the forbidden and alarming events

• Invoke our hidden fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale

• Examples include: The Ring, Shrooms, Creep, Sorority Row and Case 39

Coursework Brief

Before starting any of my coursework I have decided to work in a group with two other students in my class Beth Kavanagh and Charlotte Oxford. There were two possible coursework briefs that i could have developed further for my coursework and i decided that the most appealing one for me would be the film trailer brief, this consist of designing:

A promotion package for a new feature film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following options:

• A website homepage for the film
• A film magazine front cover, featuring the film
• A poster for the film

From the three options above we have decided to do the film magazine front covering featuring the film and the film poster. We have chosen to do these two options because they are the two that we feel personally we will be able to achieve the highest mark in.

Now that we have decided on the coursework that we are going to proceed with, we have decided to independently research different film genres and existing film trailers and posters, so that once all information has been gathered we can collaborate all of our research and ideas and come to a final conclusion