The same as all of our other surveys the first question asked was "What is your age?" we asked this because it helps us identify what our target audience wants compared to other age groups. We didn't have as many responses as we did in the pilot survey however, we still have good amount to have some satisfying results. Just like last time the majority of the responses came from the age group 15 to 20 which I was not surprised about as I sent the survey out through social media which is more popular with that age group with the exception of a couple of other age groups and also to my peers.

For question two we asked “What do you think is the best colour scheme for a Horror Film poster? There were five options for the participants to chose from but also an ‘other’ section for any additional answers. I was not at all surprised by the response for this question as both answers voted are the conventional colour schemes for a horror film and the poster. In the ‘other’ option there were responses such as, “Dark colours and one bright colour to contrast and stand out” this is something I hadn’t thought about yet really like the idea even though it goes again the

codes and conventions, it could help emphasis a certain section making it more powerful, something I’m going to consider when drafting and planning the poster for our production.

Will doing my ancillary research into film posters I saw that it was very conventional for either one main character or multiple to be on the poster so, I wanted to see what our target audience thought about it provoking the third question of “Do you think it’s better to have the main characters on the poster and why?” The most voted was ‘yes’ standing by it being conventional and popular however, there were a lot of ‘maybe’ responses and I believe this is because it can really depend on how it’s done and the appearance of the main character because if they appears all bloody on the poster then it gives the storyline away slightly which can be displeasing for some audiences.

Looking at the reason why people selected the response they did I saw that most of them where for ‘yes’ which reasons such as, “selling point if they are popular” “to provide better advertisement”. A poster is initially part of the marketing campaign and you want to sell the film to the audience as best as possible and showing through these responses is that the best way to do that is to have the main character(s) on the poster therefore, when it comes to drafting our poster I’m definitely going to consider this but also consider how if it’s not done well and in a subtle way it can give away parts of the storyline and possibly ruin the horror atmosphere of the short film. Another reason I asked this question is because seeing the main characters before hand can help introduces them and help the audience connect with them instantly and seeming through the responses this is something the audience agree with.

Previously I mentioned how some participants feel it could give away some of what the film is about which could spoil the film for them and this is something I 100% want to avoid and I feel that this is done by not having the Antagonist on the poster to keep the mystery behind them but also seeming as we’re thinking of using symbolism within our short film I think it would be a good idea to use symbolism on the poster as well so that the audience really have to look at the poster and make up their own scenarios of the storyline yet still have to go and watch our short film to see what actually happens. Someone said that having the main character(s) on the poster is less horror like which is both correct but also challenged by some films such as,

These two films don’t have many of the characters on the poster which is effective yet involves more of the elements involved in the themes/sub-genre.

Friday The 13th does the opposite of what I was thinking of doing, they have the antagonist of full show instead of the protagonists leaving them a mystery and almost the motive of the antagonist a mystery too.

I wasn’t surprised by the results for this question with ‘the image’ being voted the most important aspect, mainly due to the fact that the image is supposed to be the first thing people see and the most dominant part of the poster. I also wasn’t surprised that the credits was coted least important, I believe that this is because they’re the last thing people usually look at but also it’s put right at the bottom of a bottom in small font which almost emphasizes that it’s not important to the audience so they don’t read it.

I was unsure what response ‘a good catchphrase’ would receive but looking at the survey it shows that our target audience don’t see it as the most important aspect and looking at other horror film posters it’s not conventional aspect however, during planning if we can come up with a good catchphrase that fits nicely with the storyline without giving anything away I would considering going against the codes and conventions and have it as part of our poster as I feel that something like that can have an influence on how the audience see the poster and the film, helping them make an impression.

For the last question I wanted to ask a general question because I know due to my pilot survey and my own knowledge that horror films aren’t the most popular genre and therefore, I wanted to ask a question tailored to all aspects of my target audience, .

In the this poster the thing is an image showing the setting/location, the majority of the main characters, along with all the conventional text etc. While during my research I found that for horror it’s more conventional to have a simple image however, in this image it’s very complex with a lot going on which I believe is what this participant found interest but it also let’s the audience look deeper into the poster to make sure they don’t miss anything, something which could be good to use with our idea of symbolism for our poster.

I hadn’t seen this poster until now however, looking at the participant’s reasons for liking it I can completely understand, with having the character looking into the camera it will give the impression that they are looking at the audience almost addressing them, making it more personal to them but also the colour scheme is a majority of red which has been done with all different shades so that they don’t blend together but going back to a comment someone made in my colour scheme question about having one colours different to the rest in this case blue making it more striking and stand out more it something that I would like to incorporate into my poster as it acts as a message without having to say anything, fitting in again with the idea of symbolism.

The Pulp Fiction posters layout is closer to a magazine due to that being it’s theme however, with the conventional credits at the bottom you can recognize it as a film poster. This does a similar thing to ‘her’ by having the character look directly into the camera/at the audience also helping to grab their attention, especially in this poster the male gaze theory is in play with having the women being the dominate part of the image and also showing some of her cleavage which is where the male gaze theory is as this is aimed more at men. This is something I don’t want to involve in our poster due to our film not having any lust or romance within it.