Saturday, 20 February 2021

Final Setting (Post 9)

Final setting for my short film

Due to my film being a horror, my film will need to incorporate a setting isolated from society. I don't want any houses to be around the area except for the one house as this will help to give more of a desolate feel, which will help to give more suspense and isolation to the film. The house I will be using is mine as I live in the countryside with no other housing around. This also makes it easier for me to choose a time for when I record as I want to do it when it starts to get dark. Not too dark though, otherwise the camera will not be able to pick up the character's and the picture quality will be poor. To also help with the lighting there are lamps that are placed around the area, so it will help to give some light for the camera. The time of year is also an important factor to help with the aesthetics as I want a feel of slight coldness and dampness. The season for this would be more spring time that I would film as the weather isn't warm and isn't too cold for filming, however, at night you can still get a slight frostiness to the air. This would be the perfect time of year! The ear of the film will be modern and therefore will be easier to create realism. I chose to do it like this as darkness, isolation and rural areas are key features in creating horror genres. This mise en scene will help to create the idea of unknowing which will capture the audiences attention. 
 
The main setting will be performed in a lounge as this is where the scene starts and it will be where the film will finish. I feel like this would be a good setting as the lounge is big and has more than one access. Therefore, it will make it more tense when doing the final scene when the power cuts out. The uncertaintly of where the attack will come from will help to give more of a reaction from the audience.
I considered doing the short film in this house as the house is old and give more of a creepy atmosphere in the hone as the floor boards creek a lot, which will help me to create more sound effects within the house. I will be able to use this to my advantage. I thought this room also helped with the mise en scene as the windows will help to show a shadow or reflection of figures which will help to create more fear among the audience.

Thursday, 11 February 2021

Audience Research (post 7)

 Audience Research

The summary of my short film:
The introduction of my film will be an important part to understand a bit more of the character's personality. This will help the audience to gain a bit more of a relationship with the characters. It will start off with four of them in the house talking and then someone knocks at the door. They all go into the hall to answer the door and find it is one of the girls from school, Hannah. This was a shock to them as the group didn't actually like this girl and made fun of her behind her back and bullied her. However, Hannah put up with the bullying as she had no one else. One of the girls from inside, Emily, told the girl to come in and join them, but this causes the other girls and the boy to be dismissive. The 'main girl' of the group steps in Hannah's way to block her and tells her 'to go home as she was not invited'. Hannah looks at Emily as she told her that she could come, but instead of supporting she hangs her head down and keeps quiet. This humiliates the girl and she walks off. They all glare at Emily in a spiteful way. As the evening passes the camera will shoot from outside seeing someone watching the girls through the window. The film will include the terror and horror elements when one of the girls, Naomi, is forced to take the rubbish out for Halle. This will be where the first murder is committed, someone dressed in black will come from behind and strangle her. (this will be a jump scare). Meanwhile, back in the house Emily is upstairs in the bathroom and the other two are downstairs chatting. After a while the two make their way to the hall as Naomi has been gone for quite a long time, which is also the same time that Emily comes downstairs from the bathroom. They are all suspicious and go outside to see if she is there, but she isn't. They all go back in as it's night and they cant see very well. They decide to go outside to find her using torches, this will be a good way to incorporate suspense. When they can't find her they head back to the house, which is when the power cuts out. Emily goes outside to check the fuse, which is when the boy, Aaron, will be killed in the dark. The power will turn back on and Halle will see his body. She will call out for Emily, but when Emily turns up the hooded figure is also standing behind her. When releasing the hood it will be revealed that it is Hannah. Emily and Hannah will then stab Halle for revenge of how she had treated everyone.

To get a better understanding of who my film is more adequate for I spoke to a few groups of different ages to gather data on who my film should be aimed at and whether I needed to edit and adapt my idea to make sure that it captivates an audience. My film is more aimed at teen girls as my film is focused around teenagers. 

Male adult group:
When talking to a group of adults, who were aged 30+, I found that the men were not interested and said they wouldn't watch it if they saw it on their TV. They said that this was because they were unable to relate to it as they were a bunch of teenage girls and were more interested in films that were about action and people who were more their age group. But overall, they provided the support and the men who have teenage daughters explained that the could imagine their daughters watching it. 
I gave a survey to 25 men and this was the outcome:
24% of adult males that would watch it and 76% said they would not watch it. 
78% of the male adults said that they thought it was a good idea 
68% of the men that said that they enjoyed watching horror/ suspense films

Female adult group:
However, when speaking to the women, they had a different opinion on the short film as some thought that it was a good idea and that they would in fact watch it as even tho they were teenage girls they could still relate to them in some sort of way. For example, they know what its like being in a group of girls when someone tries to 'lead' the group. Therefore, this can incorporate Blulmer and Katz as the audience are able to relate to the characters. 
Survey that I gave to 25 women outcome:
60% said that they would watch the film, but the other 36% said they wouldn't
84% of the women supported the film and said it was a good idea.
63% of the women said that they enjoyed watching horror/ suspense films

Male teenagers:
When discussing the film with teenage boys, they said they would have been more inclined to watch it if there were more boys in it. But as it was female dominated casting, they were not as enticed to watch it. A few of them also agreed that it wasn't something they would have particularly chosen to watch due to it not being there type of film.
25 boys answers when doing the survey:
68% of them said they would choose to watch it, but 44% said that they wouldn't
88% of the boys said that they thought that my idea was good
92% of the boys said that they enjoyed watching horror/ suspense films

Female teenagers:
When discussing the film with female teenagers, I thought that it gave me a better idea of whether my short film will be successful from their perspective as this was the audience that I wanted to attract. When explaining 
Questions that 25 of them answered:
92% of them said that they wanted to watch it
96% of them however said they thought it was a good short film idea
88% of them said that they enjoyed watching horror/ suspense films

Narnia

Narnia Recreation Scene