Evauation of my short horror film 6 O'clock

1. EVALUATION
Your name

2. PRODUCTION
PROCESS
EVALUATION

3.  I did two types of research for my short film 6 O’clock, primary and secondary. For my primary research I
made a survey and put it on survey monkey and it was answered by 26 people altogether and it had 7
questions. I think that my primary research has a lot of strengths as it was very specific about what I wanted to
know and therefore I could use all of the answers to my advantage. It was additionally helpful as the people
who answered my questionnaire were all in my target market and therefore they were valid views which would
impact the decisions that I made for my film. The questions that I asked were relative to my film and many of
the answers helped me to understand what would be in important when I edited my film for example the sound
and music. However it was only answered by a small amount of people and therefore it may be bias and so
unreliable. It was also answered by more males than females, this shows again that the results may bias an
therefore not as reliable as if it had been answered by larger more diverse amount of people. This research
help me a lot in the pre production of my film as it helped me to understand exactly what people find the most
important in a horror/thriller and that was the music. This meant that I could focus on the sound effects and
music that were in my film to give it the best effect possible. To improve my primary research I could have
asked more questions so that I had more data to look at, this would therefore have given me a wider amount of
opinions and thoughts about the basis of my film and other horror/thriller films. This would therefore have
helped to me appeal to a wider range of people as I would know what people like and dislike. I would have also
done more age groups so that I would know if all the people who answered were aged 16-24 or if they were
over that. This would have helped me to know if my idea was appealing to another market instead of the one
that I am targeting and therefore I would have to change my ideas slightly. These things would therefore make
my product more suitable for my audience and therefore better. I also did secondary research which involved
me searching the web and other websites such as Wikipedia, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes etc. to find out what
other people thought of other horror/thriller films and how they did in the cinema. In this research I looked at
films like Mama and The Woman in Black, these are horror films that were released within the last few years
and therefore they are modern and will have done their own research into other horror films alike. I do not
however feel as though this research helped me with my product at all as there was limited information
available and it wasn’t what would have helped me. Because my film is so low scale and small I don’t think that
knowing about big budget horror films would help me as they were unrelated. Despite that they did have one
thing in common which also helped me with my film and that was that the audience. The people who enjoyed
these 4 films that I researched the most were young girls. This helped me to gear my film more towards a
female point of view to therefore appeal to them more. This also meant that we shared a target market and that
meant that the reviews of these films may have helped me to make mine better by not making many of the
main mistakes that they did.

4.  I feel as though my planning was very successful throughout the whole production of my short film. I
successfully completed every part of the planning required from shot list to production schedule and I did it
all in time so that it was actually useful for me whilst I was filming. Because I had my planning I knew
exactly where I was filming and I knew that I had permission and therefore I knew that it wouldn’t be a
problem to my filming process. Other factors of planning which I completed that helped me immensely
were my shot list, which made sure I got every shot necessary for my film. My production schedule which
helped me to plan the days of production ahead of me so that I wouldn’t run out of time for my evaluation
and reflection. The call sheet was which was very useful because it showed me what time everyone was
coming to the location so that I could set up the scene and plan ahead for the days so that filming went
smoothly. Almost every single aspect of my planning helped me to create my final product successfully
because it helped me to organise the production and therefore everyone knew what they were doing it it all
went smoothly. However my planning did have some weaknesses, mainly my kit booking which went
wrong. I booked the kit 2 weeks earlier for the 11th at around 11am however when I went to pick it up it said
that I had booked it for a different day. Thankfully there was some kit available otherwise it would have
completed halted production and it could have ruined my film. I do have confirmation of my kit booking and
I am sure that I ordered it for the right dates however a lot of peoples bookings went wrong and so in future
I now know that I should email Josh to check whether or not it has been booked for the dates that I want.
This will therefore reduce the chance of booking my kit wrong and loosing the equipment on the dates that I
wanted. However there were certain aspects of my planning that I could also have improved and one
example would be the shot list. After watching my finished film I realise that I should have done a more
diverse range of shots as the majority of mine are mid shots (MS). This was decided in my planning and
therefore in the future I will try to use a different range of shots so that my film is more aesthetically
pleasing and tells a better story. Finally I think that the main weakness out of all of my planning would be
the mood boards/concept boards. This is because I find it really difficult to find the images that I have in my
head on the internet. The first mood board on the initial ideas PowerPoint is acceptable as at that point I
am still developing my ideas however at the pre production stage I feel as though it is a pointless exercise
as I already know what I want my film to look like and that is show in the planning and on the storyboards
that I made. Altogether though I feel as though my planning was very successful as I managed to complete
my film without any major difficulties.

5.  I definitely feel as though I managed my time well during the production of my short film. Since I
completed all of my planning relatively quickly I managed to finishing filming and editing before
most people had even begun filming. This is because I planned in advance with the cast and crew
of my film so that I knew they were all free and available. I also planned what equipment I would
need and when I would need it weeks before I filmed and this therefore meant that I could film as
soon as possible. The fact that I completed my initial ideas, research and pre production before
week 4 meant that I was ready to film and edit with plenty of time left. I completed all of my pre
production within the week that we had assigned to it which is positive as it meant that I wouldn’t
be held back by needing to do work that was necessary to the actual filmmaking for example the
shot list. I then managed to film all of my content within one day as everyone was available at the
same time because I had contacted them so early in the process. I also edited the entire film and
music within 1 day too, therefore from the 13th I had finished the whole film and I was ready to do
my reflection and evaluation. I then used the rest of week 4 to do my reflection and finish any little
parts of my overall planning like the bibliography which I couldn’t have completed any sooner as I
hadn’t finished using different websites at that point. That then left me with week 5 to do this
evaluation and put everything on Blogger and YouTube. This was the perfect amount of time and I
think that I completed every task properly without rushing or doing too much. If I had had more
time I would first definitely have re-shot some of the scenes and filmed more close ups so that my
films shots were more diverse. To do this I would have had to change my production schedule and
shot list but if I had had an extra week then I would definitely have done this so that my film was
better and more aesthetically pleasing for the audience. I would also have spent more time
researching and listening to music. I would liked to have found a backing track that could play
throughout the film that was creepy and then have at least two shocking moments shown by the
music however I feel as though one of the points of the film, that was scary, wasn’t actually as
scary as it should have been as the music didn’t match up with it. If I had more time I would
definitely change that as the music is a major part of horror and thriller films as it creates tension
and horror.

6. • The technical qualities of the camera movement in my film were limited however, I believe, effective. I
think that the camera work was good throughout the whole film, steady and focused on what was
happening in each shot. I also think that the places were accurately chosen so that you could get
context of the roman how empty the place was. I also believe that the panning of the camera helped
to show the audience that you were literally ‘following’ the girl round the house. In the bathroom when
it pans over to the mother I think that it is really effective as it shows the line of sight that the girls
character would have. This is because she would see what’s in front of her them pan left behind the
door ad this is exactly what the camera itself did.
The shot above to the left is the bathroom scene that I was talking about earlier and the one to the right
is one from a short horror film called ‘Cam Closer’. The reason I chose the screenshot from the other
film because it was also using two things that my shot contained effectively. Firstly was tht it was in the
persons perspective, mine was the girls perspective seeing the mother and the other film was what the
woman was looking at through her phone. I think that this effect helps to engage people in the film as
they re also experiencing it or themselves as it is also in their perspective and therefore creating tension
and worry. Additionally I think that the panning was effective at is used in both shots is very effective in
creating tension as at first you don’t see anything and yet you expect something bad and them
suddenly you see something and it is a smooth transition rather than a jump straight to a dead body.
Overall I think that the technical work in my film was of a decent quality especially since it was the first
real film I have made as it told the story well and was clear.

7. When I started the planning for my short film and I knew what idea I was going to try to create, I knew that the
sound and music was going to be a major part of it and that I had to find something tat really helped to create
tension. This thought was reinforced when I did my questionnaire as the people who answered it said that the
most important and influencing part of a horror film was the music. Therefore when I started planning I
researched and found lots of sound s that I thought would fit in with the videos to create the most effect and
scary film. However it is hard to find music that will fit before you have filmed as you don’t now how they are
going to fit together and if they will work or not. I did try a few of them out before I settled on the waterhen
soundtrack as I thought that it was the most uncommon and creepy instrument and hat it was very good at
building tension. When I researched technical products as a part of my panning I researched ‘Blade Runner’
and they used waterphone in their music collection and I wanted a similar sound. I am very happy with that
part of the audio however feel as though there sound have been more tense moments. I thought that I should
have a sound/beat when something happened for example she opened that door or found her mother
however it ended up being too much and I just left one of those when se found her mother. In hinds sight what
I should have done is have that same sound in different places however build it up from a higher pitched
lower sound to a high sounding lower pitch note to create tension at the right moments. If I could edit it again I
would definitely do that however I will just have to use that technique when I make a new film whist also using
the knowledge I learnt on this one.
Another part of my film which I planned for yet didn’t really use was foley. I did create a list of things that I was
going to film foley for however most of them were captured accurately by the camera and therefore I didn’t
need to record them myself. I did however record a scream yet I didn’t put it in my final cut as I felt as though
it didn’t fit in, this means that I didn’t record any foley my self and only used what was attached to the videos.
However on the other hand I wish that I had included a clock ticking when the cock was shown or at the
end/beginning of my film because it is called 6 O'clock and the title had a clock in it. Over all I am happy with
the way it turned out and I will definitely use the skills that I developed when making this film in my next
project and I shall also make sure I plan intricately for the sound on my next film.

8. The editing in my film was not extensive as it was a relatively easy story to tell. Despite that I still did a lot of
colour grading on all the videos; and it contained a lot of shots and scenes. The colour in my film was slightly
blue and dark to signify that it was sad and also that it was creepy and that there was something else going on. I
changed this by altering the RGB curves on the effects on PremierPro and then I copied and pasted most of the
effects onto each shot however I had to change them depending on how light the original colour was. This is
slightly darker and more complex than the other film ‘Lights Out’ as their set was already only a few colours and
it was very much dependant on light. Despite that however both my film 6 O’clock and ‘Lights Out’ contained
mainly dark and Blue tones throughout the film.
The post production and editing took me around a day to complete and finish. This includes deciding which shot
to use, cutting each clip down and then changing the sequencing of it all. I think that the film followed a very
good path as it made sense the whole way throughout, the shots that I chose were effective and they all followed
on well from each other. One main part of my editing process was choosing which shots that I filmed to go in my
final submission. In the end I had to cut some scenes which I really liked however due to time constrains I
couldn’t include them. I feel as though this may not have happened in the ‘Lights Out’ film as the storyline was
much simpler and shorter than mine was. Because mine was much more complex I could only include the main
bits and if I could edit again, I would definitely try to cut down the content that it already contains so tat I have
time to add some extra shots. This is because it would add extra drama and tension and create a better, more
complex film altogether. Additionally after seeing other people’s films I wished that I had added some extra
editing work however as m film was rather normal there was no need yet it is definitely something I will do on my
next film.

9. There were many different aspects of the visuals and mis-en-scene in my short film. Firstly I think that the costumes
worn by the actors were perfect for their characters. Even though they were plain and simple they definitely reflected
the personalities and lives of the characters of my film. The father wore a plain button up shirt, this shows how normal
he is and how he would blend in to every day life and the mother wore flowery clothes which showed that she was a
stereotypical woman and that she lived a very normal life. The daughter wears normal, plain clothes which would
blend in, portraying her character as someone who would easily blend in and who’s life is completely average. If I
could change anything about the costumes then I would rather the father war a long sleeved shirt as that is more
common for a man to wear especially in winter however one wasn’t available and it didn’t necessarily make the film
worse. The location was my house, a family home, which was perfect for my film as they were a portraying a happy
and normal family. I think that my house was just right for this as it seemed to flow and it worked really well with my
films path and course. However I wish there was a longer corridor so that she could have walked down it to find her
mother but In addition to that all of the props used in the film were ones that were already in the house this meant that
they fitted in well and you would expect them to be there. For example the murder weapon was a kitchen knife and
therefore it doesn’t seem unreasonable that he would have that with him. I think this showed how any family could be
this one, murderous and dysfunctional, because everything in their life was so normal. The lighting in my film was
important because it was meant to be set at 6pm in winter and that means that it should be pitch black outside
however we filmed 2pm and therefore it was light out. To create an effect that showed it was later we had to shut all of
the blinds and curtains in the whole house so that no light could get in and then turn on lamps and inside lights to
create a warm light that you would normally see in a cottage at night. In once scene when she walks past the front
door I had to get someone to hold a jacket over the glass in the door so it seemed dark outside. And this worked really
well. Almost every scene apart had appropriate lighting about from one or two shots where you can see some light
coming from behind a curtain. In the future I would have someone behind each window in the shot at that time so that
it seems darker. On the other hand if I was to film something that was set at night I could just film it at night and
therefore I wouldn’t have to worry about light and I could concentrate on filming. Finally the colour overlay in my film
was important because it set the tone and mood for the entirety of my film. I changed the RGB curves so that
my film had more blue tones in it and less red ones as I wanted it to show that this family was depressing and
sad. I think that this worked really well as it also looked creepy in the second scene when n one was at dinner.

10. I think that my short film, 6 O’clock, definitely appeals to my target audience. Firstly, according
to my secondary research women enjoy horror films more than men do and therefore I feel
that the audience of my film will definitely relate to mine as the protagonist is a female and
therefore they should feel more empathy for her and enjoy the film more. Another way that my
film will appeal to the target audience is because the age of the character in my film is 17 and
that is the same age group of my target audience which is 16-24 year olds. This means that
they will relate as they are a similar age and the vast majority of people who answered my
questionnaire were in that age group and they said that the film seemed like a great idea and
that they would be very interested to watch it. In addition to that the girl in the film I of a middle-
class background and all of the people who answered my primary research questionnaire are
from that background too, this again, mean that the audience should relate to her more as the
could see themselves in her shoes. The main way in which the film would appeal audience
who watch it I because of the shared day to day life. Whether they are at school, college or
university 16-24year olds of a middle class background, whether male or female, will relate to
going to class everyday and them coming back to their family for a meal everyday for many
many years. They will therefore relate to this as the girl in my film does that everyday of her
life. This additionally makes it worse and ore tense for the audience because they will be
expecting her to have a boring life where the same thing happens every time only something
bad happens and it should therefore create tension and horror. Finally the way in which I
would appeal to my audience is by the length of my movie. In this day and age people are very
busy and technology has increased massively over the last few years. The average 16-24 year
old is on their phone a lot and it will therefore increase the chance that they will watch my film.
This chance is also increase by the fact that it is only around 60 seconds and therefore doesn’t
take up much time out of their busy lives.

11. PEER
FEEDBACK

12.  What did you like about the product?
 The film was fantastic, it was really weird and unexpected! I loved the
ending if left you wanted to know more about what happened to the
daughter and about the father. I also really liked the shot in the bathroom
that panned towards the dead mother as it was surprise and worked really
well.
 I also like how consistent and smooth the editing and shots were, they all
worked well together. The acting was also very smooth and you could tell
it wasn’t forced or unpractised.
 What improvements could have been made to the product?
 I think that the music should have been more creepy and have a backing
track throughout and then different notes when there is tension or when
they see the mother.

13.  What did you like about the product?
It was so good! Filming, camera angles and movements –follows the story very
well, helps it move smoothly from scene to scene.
Sound effects, music – makes the story tense and moves the story along,
intensifying the mood. Perfect timing!
I loved the effect of the blood! She really looks dead! It’s a great effect and
makes the story more convincing.
The shots were so well edited and well timed, each shot was important to the
film, there was nothing wasting your time all of it was gripping!
 What improvements could have been made to the product?
There are some consistency errors in the light outside in one window it was dark
in the other it was light. It isn't very noticeable and you have to point it out to
notice it.

14.  What did you like about the product?
Very tense from the moment the music switched from nice to scary. The
film was very dark and a good horror/thriller as the ending was freaky.
I liked the ending best as it left you thinking about what happened to her
and why he did it.
 What improvements could have been made to the product?
I think that the ending could have been longer and it could have zoomed
out from his face.
There could have been more extreme close up (ECU) shots of things like
candles, shadows to give context, emotion and create tension.

15.  What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
I agree that the ending was a good addition to the film as I only decided to film that a
couple of days prior to actually shooting the film. I thought that it would tie up the ending
as it shows that he now has no family left and it insinuates that the daughter ended up
having the same fate as the mother. I also feel as though the shots run smoothly
throughout the film especially as there are shots from lots of different locations and view
points. Especially as she walks from room to room and up the stairs I think I flows and
doesn’t feel choppy at all. Additionally I agree that the acting was very good, unlike
previous things that I have filmed where the acting was stiff and terrible this worked well
as the main actress paid a lot of attention to her facial details and movements. She also
followed instruction well meaning the films overall tone and meaning was obvious. I also
agree that there are no wasted shots that weren’t necessary, I tried to keep the film as
short as possible and even whilst doing that I went over by around 10 seconds not
including credits and therefore I think every shot in my film is key towards telling the
story. An additional part of the peer feedback which I agree with is that there was
inconsistency with the lighting outside coming through the curtains in some of the shots.
Even though I did my best at covering up the windows from the outside I couldn’t
completely stop the light from coming in and in the future, to combat that problem, I
would arrange to film at a darker time r have more crew so that they could help to block
the light. Finally I agree strongly that there should have been more tense moments
created by the music as that was my original goal. I should have had jumpy notes when
he opened the door and when she saw the candle light. This would have given it a more
tense affect and made the film scarier and therefore better and more successful as that
was the objective.

16.  What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
 I agree with most of my peer feedback however there are a few points which I feel
are not quite right. Firstly I don’t think that ending could have been any longer as the
film was only 60 seconds and therefore it would have wasted time from other parts of
the film. I think that it stayed on him for a significant mount of time compared to other
parts of the film and the length and therefore I believe that it was just right as it is in
the film. Another part of the peer feedback which I disagree with is the thought that
the fake blood looked really good and real. I think that since we had very little time
and no budget and the fact that these weren’t real actors the blend of ketchup and
syrup was was sufficient. However if I were to film again I would like to use a
substance that is more red and more realistic so that it convinces everyone in the
audience and looks real. I think that all of the props need to be consistently good so
that the film looks professional and creative. I also disagree with the fact tat someone
said it went from nice to scary obviously however don’t think that it did. When the girl
stopped because her parents weren’t there I didn’t film the empty table and therefore
it wasn’t obvious at all that her family weren’t sat at the table like they are ever day.
This mean that it didn’t go straight from nice to scary a it wasn’t obvious enough and
If I made it again I would definitely do a shot showing the empty table. I also wanted
to show jump cuts of the girl coming home everyday in different clothes to signify that
she did the same thing everyday however I didn’t have enough time to show that and
it wasn’t as obvious in editing however I think that that would have been a good tool
to use to show that her normal life had changed in that shot.