Questionnaire Results

Results from questionnaire.

I created 10 questionnaires of the horror genre. I then asked 10 people to fill in my questionnaire, after I had collected all of them in, I then made a tally chart for my results, then proceeded to make pie charts for the answers. The reasons for creating a questionnaire were so that i could get different preferences of what people like to see in a horror film. The results are shown below:

 Question 6 is not in a pie chart as there was no other answers given on this question.

Research into the Thriller Genre

Research on the Thriller Genre

Thriller and suspense films: These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, and nerve wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.

A Genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal- to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the ‘edge of their seats’ as the plot builds to a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principle character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces – the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

Thrillers are often Hybrids – there are lots of varieties of suspense-thrillers:

• ·         Action or adventure thrillers
• ·         Sci-fi thrillers (Alien 1979)
• ·         Crime–caper thriller (The French Connection 1971)
• ·         Western thrillers (High Noon 1952)
• ·         Film Noir thrillers (Double Indemnity 1994)
• ·         Romantic Comedy thrillers (Safety Last 1923)

Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre (E.g. Halloween 1978), also designed to elicit tension and suspense, taking the viewer through agony and fear. Suspense-thrillers come in all shapes and forms: there are murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers, women-in-danger films, courtroom and legal thrillers, erotic thrillers surreal cult-film soap operas, and atmospheric, plot-twisting psychodramas. Thrillers keep the emphasis away from the gangster, crime, or the detective in the crime related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is generated.

Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims (often on the run), prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, duplicitous individuals, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

Reference: http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html 

Research into the Horror Genre

Research for the Horror Genre

Horror films go back as far as the onset films themselves. From the earliest days people use their vivid imaginations to see ghosts in shadowy shapes, to be emotionally connected to the unknown and to fear things that are improbable. Watching a horror film gives an opening into scary world, into an outlet for the essence of fear itself, without actually being in danger. There is a very real thrill and fun factor in being scared or watching disturbing, horrific images.

Horror films, when well done and with less reliance on horrifying special effects, can be extremely potent film forums, tapping into peoples dream states and the horror of the irrational and unknown, and the horror within man himself. In horror films, the irrational forces of chaos or horror invariably need to be defeated, and often these films end with a return to normalcy and victory over the monstrous.

The earliest horror films were Gothic in style- meaning that they were usually set in spooky old mansions, castles, or fog-shrouded, dark and shadowy locales. Their main characters have included “unknown” human, supernatural or grotesque creatures, ranging from vampires, demented madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, “Frankensteins” “Jekyll/Hyde” dualities (good against evil), demons, zombies, evil spirits, arch fiends, Satanic , villains, the “possessed”, werewolves and freaks to even the unseen, diabolical presence of evil.

Horror films developed out of a number or sources: folktales with devil characters, witchcraft, fables, myths, ghost stories, melodramas, and Gothic or Victorian novels. In many ways, the expressionistic German silent camera led the world in films or horror and the supernatural, the established its cinematic vocabulary and style. Many of the early silent classics would be remade during the talkies era.

Reference: http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html