Research Rationale

For my research I have chosen to target people aged 15-19 because this is the age range I have access to the most and will be seeing on a daily basis as the majority of that age range attends my college or high-school so this will make it much easier to carry out my research. This will also mean that my target audience will be aged between those ages when producing my horror trailer. The resources I would be needing to conduct my audience research would be a tape recorder so I can record my research questions about contemporary horror posters to my target group then make a video of all the different responses I get back, so I can compare the contrast of answers that I get. Afterwards I will need a computer so I can use editing software to cut out any bits of the video that is not needed and have a flowing video.

I will also conduct an online survey using the programme ‘Survey Monkey’ as it’s a quicker and more efficient way to send out the surveys as I can email my target group or send a link through text, I believe that this will be useful as I will be able to find out people’s interest in horror. One thing I think is important is to find out first of all if my target audience enjoys horror and If not, I will not be using the ones who don’t enjoy it to receive feedback from because it wont be useful compared to people that watch horrors frequently.

In the Survey I will include questions such as What sub-genre do you find most enjoyable? When watching a horror trailer what key features entice you to go and see the film? Which gender portrays the role of a villain best in your opinion? Etc. From that I will listen to information they have given me and keep it in mind so it’s a clear view of what my target group expects to see in a horror trailer which will help me when it comes creating my own.

I’ll be doing market research as well, I plan on finding an article to do with contemporary horror films and what makes a horror film successful or what conventions they often use and from that research I’ll be able to apply what I find out to my own horror trailer. Awhile go I already deconstructed several horror posters to see what elements of horror tend to frequently be on posters, so now ill move on to analyzing and deconstructing different horror trailers, and from this research I will be able to find a pattern in the majority of them and from this I can create my own successful horror trailer.  I’ll be observing best selling horror films which will give me a rough idea of what my target audience would like in a horror trailer. Once I have completed the market research I will have a better understanding of what to include in my horror trailer and I will try to make my horror trailer different and exciting to captivate my target audiences attention.