Research
SOURCES:
Articles:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/surrealism.htm - how surrealism works. Includes explanation of the main aspects; reasons for shock and other features. I used this to explain parts of the audience section in this research section, which was handy as a source of knowledge.
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/modern-surrealism-and-history/ - how surrealism was used in the past. I used extracts from this to explain the use of fonts in this section, which came in handy as I would have otherwise struggled with things to say about it.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-surrealism.htm - what surrealism is, summed up. Helped to explain parts of the ideas in my storyboard and dope sheets.
Books:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yNEfpTpoNukC&printsec=frontcover&dq=horror&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fuGgUIyFKsbL0AXZ9IDABA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=horror&f=false - Page 32 - 34. Classic horror. Helped to get my idea across, especially on subjects like previous idents. It also helped to describe the use of classic horror so that I could get my idea across.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-W12YorgGGsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=surrealism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9eKgUKWLHaqc0AXfgIHoCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=surrealism&f=false - Page 44 onwards. Essay on visual surrealism, which helped to explain the screenplay on my individually make ident, especially the use of my props. It also made sure that my costume fitted with the genre, as discussed in the section coming up.
Websites:
http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_Channel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_broadcast_by_Horror_Channel
http://www.freesat.co.uk/what-you-get/our-channels/horror-1/
Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQQRj8fW1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukAq6vYlA0A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZi9YBzl_B4
Font
Another thing I needed to research was the font of the logo. I could either use a fitting 'WordArt' font on Microsoft Word, or search and find a more suitable one online. I chose the latter, seeing as after a few minutes looking through the 20 odd fonts on offer none were acceptable. I came across a popular font called 'Bebas Neue' online, and decided to download it to see how it would look spelling the word 'Horror'. It actually looked surprisingly good, so I decided to keep it for the production.
Audience
Audience needed to be researched too. I needed to make sure that the ident was suitable for the viewers, otherwise a bunch of 30 year olds could be watching a short made for young teens. After hunting down a couple of polls on the internet, I found that the majority of the audience was male, and ranging widely in age, from 18 to 50 - adults, both young and old. As this audience is a fair section of society, I needed to make my ident generic, so I did. Inspired by David Lynch and Jan Svankmajer, I selected my ident genre as horror with a twist of surrealism.I am also going to target males over females - polls suggest that the majority of people who watch the Horror channel are men. Though I'm not completely sure how to address this, I realize that even though the audience is male based the ident won't really change - for non gender specific channels (such as the Horror channel) the key interests aren't too different; gore, fear and blood will all be something that a male horror fan will like as much as a female horror fan. This will mean that I won't take this into as much consideration, as my ident would still be similar after the change.
Previous idents
Before I started to plan my ident, I had to watch some previous Horror idents to base my own idea on. This was done in order to ensure that my own piece was suitable and similar to past ones. I realized that all Horror idents, recent or in the past, use stereotypical horror (gore, fear) for impact. I decided to follow in this trend and ended up with something along the same lines.
However, it seemed like idents for specifically the 'Horror Channel' did not overuse gore but instead played on psychological horror instead. Also, the colour red seemed to be the main aspect of each ident. A key example of this is one designed by Ben Broughton. Instead of a stereotypical mass murderer, the character in this is a girl similar to that of 'The Ring'. Though she doesn't actually do anything particular in the video, she simply adds atmosphere - she simply just makes the ident a lot more creepy.
Horror programmes
As research into my ident, I felt like I needed to browse the Horror Channel website to find out what sort of shows they air. Obviously horror ones, but I needed to see what sub-genre was mainly shown; slasher, psychological, perhaps stereotypical. This would allow me to form my ident around the main ideas of the channel -if stereotypical, I would shoot in mainly red. If slasher, I would have a key character in my ident, as slasher films do.
On first look, it seems as if a stereotypical horror channel. You can tell because of the standard red colouring, the simple red logo and the use of classic horror films in the thumnails - as seen, a zombie film is shown as the key image and not a sci-fi horror film. It seems to be a classic horror channel which is good, because it means that the preparation on my side is going to be a lot simpler than if it were a slasher or psychological horror themed channel.
Focus group feedback
As I could not film my focus group, I decided to take a survey in Wimbledon where I asked certain people a set list of questions to develop my idea. I did this by standing around and asking people if I caught their eye. I conducted this survey on a Saturday to ensure that I could have a hugely mixed crowd to interview - if I had done it during school hours, only people without jobs would be around for me to ask. This could mean that my results would be influenced by a set group of society and is therefore and unfair representation of the public.
As I did my feedback on paper instead of on camera, I have uploaded a video on YouTube explaining my results using text only. Linked also is an Imgur album of the questionnaire which is easier to see as data.
Text version: http://imgur.com/a/xoSj3
I have also concluded that the audience I will be aiming are adults, aged 18 to 50, and male. I had thought that I would've needed to put more gender neutral content into my ident, but, as outlined above, I won't - horror is not a gender based genre and therefore will not change the outcome of the final piece.
This information means that I can make my ident more effective - knowing the ins and outs of this genre will mean that, altogether, my ident will be better than if I did not research at all. Knowing the exact audience will let me focus on the specifics, too, making the ident more suitable for the crowd that I'm working with. The research here was definitely worth doing, based on the knowledge I've got out of it.
Text version: http://imgur.com/a/xoSj3
Conclusion
From this research, it has become apparent to me that making this ident will not be as hard as I'd originally thought. I had predicted that I would need to go into specific areas of horror, such as slasher and psychological, in order to make an effective ident for the Horror channel. However, the Horror channel is very broad, meaning that it would actually be better if I just went for a more general theme - the colour red, gore, and the element of surprise.I have also concluded that the audience I will be aiming are adults, aged 18 to 50, and male. I had thought that I would've needed to put more gender neutral content into my ident, but, as outlined above, I won't - horror is not a gender based genre and therefore will not change the outcome of the final piece.
This information means that I can make my ident more effective - knowing the ins and outs of this genre will mean that, altogether, my ident will be better than if I did not research at all. Knowing the exact audience will let me focus on the specifics, too, making the ident more suitable for the crowd that I'm working with. The research here was definitely worth doing, based on the knowledge I've got out of it.
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