Final Opening

Delusion

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1

Test Audience Feedback

Test Audience Feedback

SURVEY RESULTS

-The feedback from our audience survey gave us a number of ideas about what kind of things people would want to see in a horror film.

-Subsequently, we adapted our opening to this feedback, making sure to include certain elements, but not to conform to other conventions that would reduce the credibility of our film. 

The majority of people who answered our survey were 16-17 year olds, which is still in the bracket of our target audience. Our certificate rating is a 12, so we only sent to the survey to ages 12 and above. This made it easier to get an idea of what this teenage audience liked/disliked about horror films.

Although more people who answered this survey preferred not to watch horror films, they would still be useful in telling us what they disliked about them and what could be done to make them more appealing. 

The people in our survey watch horror films fairly regularly, giving us a good idea of the variety of these films they had watched, so as to pick out the kind of things that drew them to them. 

When asked 'What interests you about the horror genre?', the top two answers were suspense and clever plots. We also thought these were essential to have in our opening, prior to even developing a storyline.The supernatural and blood/gore were lower down on the list, and since we had decided to create a psychological horror film we were not planning on including these elements. 

We found that 71% of people who answered our survey preferred the psychological horror genre to the paranormal or graphical type. This was ideal as we wanted to create our opening fitted to this subgenre as it was the one that intrigued us the most. 

A number of responses to the question 'What is your favourite horror film?' resulted in many psychological horror films such as 'The Shining', 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Shutter Island'. This strengthened our motivation to create a psychological horror opening. 

When asked 'What do you like about this particular film?', many people referred to 'twisted plots', 'tension' and relating to 'reality'. We tried to incorpoate these elements in our opening, giving it an edge when compared to graphic films. 

73% of our surveyers thought that a 15 certificate would be best for a typical. However, we felt as our film does not contain anything violent or gory, and is more focused on psychological aspects, that a 12 would be more appropriate. 

The majority of people expected 'suspense', 'tension' and 'well thought out jumpscares'. Again, we made sure to include this in our opening. We created suspense and tension through long, drawn out silences with the faint murmur of eerie music over the top where nothing sinister happens, paired with unpredictable jump scares, created with glitches. 

When asked what they disliked about horror films, the response of our audience was 'bad story lines', 'predictable elements', 'tacky jump scares' and 'excessive gore'. We tried our best to avoid all of these elements, keeping the jump scares to a minimum, and not including any gore as it did not fit in with our genre. 

We found this survey incredibly useful with helping us to create our opening. We adapted many aspects from the audience's answers in order to help us achieve a successful and well-liked clip.

LUNCHTIME SHOWING

We showed our opening to a group of people that were aged 16-18. They completed a sheet that allowed us to understand what was considered effective and any areas that need improvement. 

Genre:	Effectiveness and what was done well:	Improvements:
Horror	Use of non-diegetic sound	Transitions Duller colour
Horror	The sound used; kettle and intense music The first appearance of masked lady	Transitions
Horror/thriller	Sound; kettle and phone call	Transition  Editing
Horror	Costume of masked figure Shot angles to show discomfort	Perhaps face on show instead of mask
Thriller/horror	The phone call voices Panning shot	Make it more jumpy Duller colour
Horror	The part where Evie is washing her face and the figure appears behind her	The sound; walking downstairs
Horror	Camera angles Sound effects	Abrupt ending Flow more Bit more jumpy

Difficulties When Editing

Difficulties When Editing

We used iMovie to edit our opening. An issue we found with editing was creating a glitch in the bathroom scene. We tried to resolve it by looking at tutorials on YouTube, however we found them difficult to follow. We eventually managed to create a glitch, switching between two images on screen, by quickly alternating between the masked lady and a shot of Evie with her head down.

Another issue we found with editing was our timing as we had filmed a lot so we needed to spend a long time selecting the best ones. After we had selected our clips we then needed to cut them down so that our clip was not over two minutes. This slowed the editing process down because we had to make sure the continuity was in order to make the images flow, and to insure there were no jumps.

Rough Cuts

Rough Cuts

Here are some of our rough cuts from our first and second days filming.

We decided not to use them for various reasons. 

• Firstly, if we kept all of the shots our opening would be too long. 
• Secondly, the framing of the shots and the lighting was off, especially when filming Evie getting up from the table and the top of her head is out of the shot. 
• Thirdly, the mise-en-scene wasn't good enough, specifically the 'Malt Wheaties' and the car and wheelie bins at the end of the video.

Editing Schedule

Date:	What to do:	Who?	Completed?
8/2/2016 9/2/2016	Sort the clips to get the best ones that aren’t shaky and are of good quality and appropriate to use	Annabel and Jasmine	No Yes
12/2/2016 23/2/2016	Order the clips, so that the make sense to the audience	George and Anna	No Yes
29/2/2016 1/3/2016	Cutting clips to remove any unnecessary parts that make the final opening too long	George and Anna	No Yes
4/3/2016 7/3/2016	Making the transitions smooth, so they are not jumpy	George and Anna	No Yes
8/3/2016 11/3/2016	Choosing a suitable text and positioning the text	George Anna	No Yes

Technologies used and how they were mastered

Technologies used and how they were mastered

iPhone - we were all familiar with using an iPhone as we all owned one and were aware of how to use the camera and settings. We used an iPhone 6s to film, which gave us a clear HD picture in 4K.

We did not use any other technology to film, as we had a tripod to position the shots and we mainly used natural lighting so didn't need to get it artificially. We wanted the mis-en-scene to be naturalistic as possible so all we needed to do was film in the light of day and use the iPhone. 

We used iMovie to edit our opening. This gave us the ability to use the automatic file types that our clips were filmed in and have an easy transition when exporting them onto the Mac. The main effects that we used were the match colour setting, adjusting the colour and speed. We also learnt how to put a glitch overlay over the top of some of our clips by using the glitch video as a cutaway clip and changing the opacity of it so that you could see the main video underneath it. Importing sound was easy as we were able to use iTunes to find any copyright free music or effects that we needed.

Pixlr.com was used to create our logo. We mainly used the pencil and pen tools to create the tree. We also had to use the wand tool to invert the image from a white background with a black tree to a black background and a white tree so that it would blend in more with the opening. Finally, we used the text tool to add in 'Fatal Films' at the bottom.

We predominantly used Facebook to communicate with each other. We created a group chat in order to share our ideas and post visuals of the work we'd done. We felt this was on easy way to keep up to date with the progress we'd been making with our blog and opening. 

Certificate Ratings Using the BBFC

Certificate Ratings

PG stands for Parental Guidance suggesting the film is appropriate for general viewing but there are moments which are unsuitable for younger viewers. It should not be upsetting or unsettling for a child aged eight or over. Parents need to be able to establish whether it will affect younger children or those children who are more sensitive. 

12A and 12 are films which are generally not suitable for those under 12. A 12A requires an adult to accompany a child who is younger than 12. Cinemas are likely to lose their license if a child under 12 goes to a 12A film unaccompanied. An adult who is considering to take a 12 year old to a 12A needs to decide whether it is suitable and possible should look at the BBFC insight for the film in advance. A 12 film is part of a lot simpler system for retailers and it means they cannot sell it or rent it out to someone unless they are over the age of 12. Our opening is part of a psychological film and the BBFC states “Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12 or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing.”

A 15 cannot be watched by anyone under 15 at a cinema or buy/rent a 15. These rated films may include strong violence, frequent strong language, sexual references or maybe drug taking. In a 15 there can be strong threat and horror but there can be no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

Why did we choose a certificate rating of 12?

We chose this certificate rating because our film contains only a small amount of horror which is not gruesome nor exposed to the viewer for a long period of time. Also we believe some viewers may find it unsettling as it is a psychological thriller so is potentially more realistic than other genres because it is based on a girl who has schizophrenia, so many members of the audience may be able to relate to it.

Test Shots and Initial Filming

Test Shots and Initial Filming

George took test shots of her house as this was the location we picked for our filming. This gave us an idea of the shots and angles we wanted to use in order to enhance our psychological horror genre. 

We wanted to use the lake as we felt this added a sense of eeriness. This shot also allowed us a good view of the tree which would be able to hang a noose from.

We planned to use the gate as the point where the protagonist would turn round and see the masked woman, as well as watch the main character run away from the house. This high angle also gives the idea of a sense of superiority from the point of view of the masked woman.

We felt this would be a good shot to use as it incorporated the interior of the house with the exterior of the lake and possibly the glitching of the masked woman and the noose.

This was another possible angle we could use to show the masked woman appearing behind the door, which would create the common convention of home invasion.

This shot would be good to use in order to create a close up of the masked woman as a point of view shot, as well as creating an unnerving feeling from the use of shadows.

This shot gave us an idea of the points around the house that we could use to film from which would give us both a view of the lake and the noose. 

We experimented with various different shots and angles around and outside the house. We tried filming a shot which framed both the protagonist and the masked woman outside, however this made the lighting difficult to control. We then changed this to filming point of view and reaction shots.

We found that filming outside was easier as the lighting was incredibly bright, making it easier to see the masked woman and shadows. Various outside noises sometimes made it more difficult to film, but also added to the natural mise-en-scene.

Health and Safety Concerns

Health and Safety

• George was the owner of the house at the location we were shooting, so we were granted permission to take photographs and film there

• All of our equipment will be safe as we have all used tripods and cameras before and have practised using them. The equipment we will use is not heavy so will not cause any damage. We also will mainly use natural lighting so there will be little need for electricals, except perhaps a single mains light over the table

• Using a lot of DSE (display screen equipment), we have to be careful not to use them for long periods of time as this can lead to the possibility of wrist and eye strain.

• We also need to be aware of the Lake which we are shooting at, which could be dangerous as we filming in close proximity to it, so will need to be wary of falling in.

• When hanging the noose in the right position we will need to use a platform to reach the height of the branch that we need, so it is important to avoid any back strain, and be aware of our balance. We will have several people surrounding the person who is positioning the noose.

Scripting and Shooting Scripts

Scripting and Shooting Scripts

Scene/Content	Shots	Time
Waking up in bedroom	POV: Eyes open from black screen POV: Eyes close and production logo comes on POV: Eyes open again and film title appears on screen	3.0 secs 2.0 secs 1.5 secs
Getting dressed	CU: Feet coming down from bed MS: Shirt put on from behind CU: Skirt zipped up CU: Buttons done up CU: Feet walking to bathroom	1.7 secs 2.8 secs 1.8 secs 3.1 secs 2.9 secs
Bathroom	CU: Tap on CU: Face down to sink CU: Face back up, woman in mirror, turn around and leave	1.5 secs 0.7 secs 8.8 secs
Kitchen	CU: Comes down stairs Tracking: Enters kitchen and puts kettle on Mid-CU/SRS: Eating breakfast LS/SRS: Masked woman MC/SRS: Reaction, phone rings and answer	2.5 secs 15 secs 3.1secs 0.7 secs 14.2 secs
Phone call	ECU: Mouth shot (psycho) Mid-CU: Conversation with mum SRS/LS: Masked woman SRS/MS/DA: Gets up and picks up bag SRS/LS: No woman, noose DA: Opens door	1.8 secs 12 secs 1.2 secs 2.8 secs 1.9 secs 4.7 secs
Outside	ECU: Door close and lock LS: Walks to gate, opens as door opens with Masked Woman in house, turns and runs Establishing: Running to camera	7.6 secs 11.3 secs 4.0 secs