WHAT DO AUDIENCES EXPECT FROM HORROR?
Why do people watch Horror films?
What do they expect to see?
I decided to do my research by asking people up front what they expect to see when watching a Horror.
From looking at the answers they gave, I know that the main purpose of a Horror is to potentially scare the audience.
Below are some responses I received when asking what each person expects from the Horror Genre.
Shirley Smith, 50 - ' To be scared and on the edge of my seat.'
Harry Demetriou, 17 - 'A predictable story line.'
Adam Ward, 15 - 'a big monster.'
Katie Jones, 17 - 'I expect the setting to be really dark and dismal.'
Rebecca Demetriou, 18 - 'To be scary and thrilling.'
I then went on to further research what an audience expects from a Horror by going more in depth through a series of questions.
I asked people ranging in age from 12 - 60 to give different opinions. Half male and half female to give a fair outcome.
Each smiley face represents the answer of one individual person.
Results:
- The majority of the audience expect the Villain to be cunning. They also expect them to be in control.
- The Hero is expected to be handsome and also in control.
- Almost all of the people I surveyed expect both the Villain and Hero to be played by a male.
- It is expected to that a horror consists of either killings of a monster of some kind.
- It is also expected that the film will be set in a haunted house.
CONCLUSION:
After looking through all the results I think that it isn't necessarily important for the audience expectations to be met. As Harry stated he expects the film to be predictable. In horror it is better to go against this and to form a surprise. This will engage the audience as its someone they haven't seen before.
In all other areas it is more important to follow the audiences expectations. The Hero/Heroin is almost always good looking and intelligent. If we were to do this differently out character may be perceived as the Villain and confuse our audience.
- The majority of the audience expect the Villain to be cunning. They also expect them to be in control.
- The Hero is expected to be handsome and also in control.
- Almost all of the people I surveyed expect both the Villain and Hero to be played by a male.
- It is expected to that a horror consists of either killings of a monster of some kind.
- It is also expected that the film will be set in a haunted house.
CONCLUSION:
After looking through all the results I think that it isn't necessarily important for the audience expectations to be met. As Harry stated he expects the film to be predictable. In horror it is better to go against this and to form a surprise. This will engage the audience as its someone they haven't seen before.
In all other areas it is more important to follow the audiences expectations. The Hero/Heroin is almost always good looking and intelligent. If we were to do this differently out character may be perceived as the Villain and confuse our audience.