Target Audience Research Conclusions...

We wanted to ask people form our target audience questions with the main aim of having their answers influence the way we went about creating our horror teaser trailer.

• Everyone we asked said they would want a horror teaser trailer to scare them, as without being able to scare its audience, no film can truly be considered a horror. To try and take into account this response, we hope that we can scare people in the way that paranormal activity scares audiences, in that it makes people fear that a similar event could happen to them. Teaser trailers themselves tend not to make audiences jump, as it is just a foundation for attracting people to go and watch the film, so what we want to do is to make our teaser trailer scary in terms of making them think that this is something which could happen to them.
• A mixture of pace was something that our target audience felt was important in a good teaser trailer, as the contrast between slow paced and fast paced keeps the audiences interest. This was something we had initially wanted to do, but the feedback we recieved confirmed in our minds that we wanted to mix both slow and fast paced shots to make viewers hearts race, and intrigue them.
• Flashbacks were something that everyone we asked liked, as they felt it gave them more information about the background of the film, and also helps explain some of the confusing aspects of a film. Using flashbacks is something we definately want to do in our teaser trailer, to add an interesting aspect to the trailer.
• Our target audience told us that they prefer a teaser trailer to only show a little bit of footage of the film, as it means that less is given away. We respect this view and in some ways agree with it, but we feel that we want to use a good amount of footage, just to give the audience a chance to get a feeling for what the film is about, and hopefully want to go and see it. To try and meet in the middle on what the target audience told us and our personal wants, we know that we dont want to give away anything to do with the ending of the film, so that the conclusion of the story is kept a secret.
• There was mixed response to the usage of cliffhangers, some saying theyt didnt like not knowing all the facts, and some saying they liked being able to decide what for themselves what they think has happened. We want our trailer to have cliffhanger ending, mainly to give viewers that extra push to go and watch the film, as cliffhangers often leave audiences dyeing to know more.