. RESEARCH RATIONALE

Due to the fact that I am an A level student, in a sixth form with ages ranging from 11-19, I have access to a wide target audience however because a number of horror films are rated with 15 or 18 certification by the BBFC (an independent media content regulator that acts to protect the public, and especially children from content that could be harmful). I will ensure my target audience ranges from 15 – 18 because I want to produce an age appropriate trailer, and also because this is the age range I come into contact with the most as these people are peers of mine.
I am interested in exploring the different and opposing views people have of horror in order to get a range of opinions of what people find scary; where possible I want to consider the fears of both people that enjoy horror and those that don't. This means I am better able to gauge what frightens both ends of the spectrum and be able to feed this in my trailer to ensure it is successful at frightening as large a target group as possible.
Initially, I will begin my research by conducting two focus groups where I will show them a number of horror clips. Both groups will see the same clips to judge how to tolerant they are of the different sub-genres and special effects. Following filming and editing of these I will identify what they find most shocking and will consider incorporating these features into my own narrative and trailer. 
The equipment I am going to use for this will be camera, recording space, Macs and editing software.Following this, I will also conduct one-to-one interviews with those that do enjoy the genre. To gauge who those people are, I will use form time to survey interest and create a list of potential participants. In the interview we will discuss the clips that were used in the focus group, and what areas they found effective. This may give me new insight into what it is that my trailer will need to be successful.

In terms of market research I intend to find out how much revenue 2014 horror releases made and also read recent reviews of contemporary horrors and then present this as a mood board of Horror successes. I may also decide to deconstruct a few horror trailers (maybe 2) and identify their conventions.

I intend to do these things throughout the creative making process so that I can make the necessary changes to make the trailer more effective and realistic. I may also decide to use a questionnaire to conduct some research as these are a great way to collate information and gather opinions from peers if they are not available for face-to-face interviews or are camera shy; however I believe that direct opinions are a lot more important. I will then be able to judge on how realistic my trailer is in comparison to a clip from this genre.