Evaluation and peer feedback for my FMP

1. Evaluation
FMP EVALUATION

2. Research
 For my research I looked into different film posters and film trailers alongside conducting surveys and
interviews in order to learn more about my audience. I focused on films in the horror genre as in my initial
ideas I had decided to a horror film project. The strengths of my research were that I looked directly into the
media from the genre I wanted to base my FMP on. I was able to make lots of comparisons and look at
products analytically and in lots of detail. This helped me establish horror genre conventions and techniques
that I can implement into my own products. For example, things such as dark desaturated colours, serif fonts,
reds and usage of cold colours are all common conventions within the horror genre. They carry across to both
posters and trailers. This was very useful for me when producing and planning my products as I could refer to
my research as a reference in order to make my products feel more professional. A weakness of my research is
that I could've looked into more diverse sources such as articles. Looking into a variety of sources such as
articles could have bettered my product as I could have looked into analysis about what people find most
entertaining in horror film or other papers that outline why people want to watch horror films, incorporating
this into my own work. I also could have made more comparisons to better my understanding of the genre and
therefore better my products. I could have researched more into shot types so that I could apply them in my
film trailer/poster.

3. Planning
 The strengths of my planning is that I tried to be as specific as possible and
plan all the aspects that would help me in production. This is so I could use it
as a reference for my production and follow it closely for ease. I believe this
was a big strength of my plans as having lots to go off allows for a much
easier and smoother production. However, I believe I should have thought
more about my storyboard or could have developed it more as I ended up
straying away from my original plans for a more effective production. Same for
my choice in colour scheme for my film poster, I ended up changing it as it
didn't look like a horror film poster. I believe if I thought about these things
beforehand and planned more effectively with this in mind I may have been
able to avoid this in production and would have saved me some time. Despite
this I put a lot of detail into things like my shot list, I included details of the
shot as well as what type of shot it is. I believe detailing this heavily impacts
my project as I know exactly what I need to do in my production. I
accompanied my shot list with a floor plan including where all of my stationary
cameras would be placed, yet again reinforcing my plans when I go into the
production phase.

4. Time Management
 My time management has improved since my last 2 projects. I did better on staying on track
and sticking to my plan. Despite this there were some deviations as sometimes my plans for a
week went into the week after or I changed around my plans. I feel I could've had better time
management if I stuck as close to my plan as possible, however this may also be a fault in my
planning. With additonal time I could have made more film posters to support my film trailer or
make more improvements to my project. Despite this I was able to complete all my products
and my time management overall has improved a lot! Being back in college full time was
helpful as it was easier to focus and stick to a schedule in college, helping me stay on task and
stick to my plans. I technique I used to stay on track was a checklist for the week, making sure I
knew my progress and also so I could aim for having everything ticked off by the end of the
week.

5. Film Poster

6. Aesthetic Qualities
 I believe my film poster is aesthetically pleasing and looks quite good, the colour scheme works well as it uses
complementary colours. I tried to give an almost glowing effect to the light coming through the window which in turn
makes my film poster quite eerie or unnatural. The colour of the lighting is also red which signifies danger or anger.
Something else important is that my film poster doesn't reveal the thing haunting the character which adds to the fear of
the unknown that I am trying to portray. It also leaves the audience with lots of questions as the poster itself doesn't
reveal a lot about the film. Another aspect that is effective about my film poster is the glitch effects and typography. It
clearly connotes an idea of footage or technology in my film and establishes the theme/aesthetic. It links directly to my
film concept of 'found footage' so the audience can get an idea of what to expect. I also feel this was quite creative and
gives a unique take on the horror genre. Giving clues to what's going on rather than painting a clear image leaves the
audience with questions and a desire to know more. I effectively portrayed this with the mysterious nature of my film
poster, it doesn't show exactly what is happening which leaves the audience with questions. Another thing of note is the
usage of a female character, when looking at Propp's character theory the female character often connotes the 'damsel in
distress', so when applying it to my poster there is a link between the main character and the fact that they are being
hunted or a victim of the horror story. I believe the imagery could have been more conventionally horror as when I as
editing I had difficulty making it look like a horror film poster at first. If I used more disturbing imagery I may have been
able to get the genre across more effectively. Also, the text at the top is a little dark and difficult to read and could've
done with being brighter, though it being coloured in red and being a serif font helps amplify the horror feeling. In terms
of composition, I kept my main focus, the main character, central in my film poster. The title is the larget and placed at
the top, whilst the tagline is the second largest and is placed just above the title. Finally, the billing block is at the very
bottom. I followed quite a common composition for the film poster.

7. Technical Qualities
 My film poster uses several techniques. I used masking and smoke brushes to amplify the
lighting, layering different colours to create mysterious lighting effect in my poster. I used
a brightness mask to 'create' the lighting, colouring it afterwards. I paid attention to where
the light hits, making sure the red is in those areas to give the effect I am going for and
make the image overall a somewhat believable one. I masked the character, so I was able
to work on background and foreground seperately. This helped differentiate them as
working on each layer seperately allowed me to apply individual effects to the background
and character. I also added abberation and glitch effects to my film poster yet again to fit
in with my theme of found footage. I did this by only selecting blues, reds etc. Duplicating
these then moving them each to the side to give the abberation effect on my film poster.
The glitches were done by selecting squares on a duplicated layer, moving them to around
to make the poster appear distorted. When comparing my technical qualities with the
CAM film poster, a source I looked into for my research, you can see much like my own
film poster it used the abberation glitch effect that gives a very VHS footage feeling to it.
The typography is similar also as both mine and the CAM poster use an outer glow to
reinforce the VHS/footage effect. However, unlike the CAM film poster mine does not
include the smear/distortion between the 2 faces. Rather instead to create a distortion
effect I move around selected areas to look 'split' and glitchy.

8. Audience Appeal
 The target audience for my products is men aged 16 – 25, working class, active audience/‘Socially
Conscious Type A’.
 My film poster does well appealing, to my target audience. I used the conventions commonly
enjoyed by my target audience (from my horror survey), mainly the fear of the unknown and
psychological horror. I tried to follow genre convention with creepy/serif font usage, usage of reds,
dark atmosphere etc. I also attempted to put a unique twist on it with glitch effects and a VHS vibe
to it. This makes my film poster stand out from others as it subverts convention in that manner. I
also took my interviews into account as its stated that mysterious posters that leave you with
questions are most favoured among members of my target audience. I also believe by using red and
dark destaurated colours signifies danger, therefore connoting that the film is targeted at a more
mature audience. The imagery is also oddly disturbing which reinforces this fact.

9. Film Trailer
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm8wYKKThvM

10. Aesthetic Qualities
 I feel in terms of aesthetic my film trailer looks nice, there is a clear theme that it stuck to throughout the trailer,
and it fits well with my projects concept. The usage of the security camera footage effects alongside the glitch
transitions immidiately established the idea that we as the audience are watching footage. The overlays and
effects also help the footage seem more realisitc and belivable, for example I used a time code effect in the
corner to build immersion and make it seem more realistic to the audience. Also, the night vision camera effects
adds to the creepy factor. Another part of my film trailer which I think looks nice is the typography and text, I
managed to make it look similar to my film poster in terms of colour scheme. It has the complemntary colours
and also glitch effects layered on top to add to the VHS feeling of my film trailer. The usage of serif fonts also
helps my film seem more horror like as serif fonts are a common convention in the genre. For my hand recorded
footage, I gave it a faded look as well as a camcorder overlay. The 'bad quality' is a purposeful effect to help build
immersion and I believe it looks quite nice and fits my aesthetic nicely. I feel maybe I could have included more
glitches or overlays on my clips to help amplify this effect. Another thing I could have improved is the cam corder
overlay, I could have used a time stamp or date for the overlay also to make it more realisitc. The pacing worked
quite well in my film trailer as things went from relatively normal and slowly built up to an exciting and
interesting climax with lots going on. This makes for a fun to watch trailer that allows the audience to stay
interested in whats happening. The pacing follows a common one used in horror film trailers of showing the
contrast between normality and the disruption of the equilibrium. However, the resolution is not shown allowing
the audience to ask questions and possibly be interested in watching more.

11. Technical Qualities
 For my film trailer I used several camera techniques to give my film trailer variety and also to act as
security camera angles. The high up angles I achieved with a tripod makes my recordings quite
believable as security camera footage. I reinforced my camera angles with my editing as I added
effects onto my clips to further the immersion of watching genuine footage. To do this I lowered the
frame rate and completely desaturated my clips as well as adding a time code into the corner to
signify which camera is active and the current time. As final details I added TV lines, a warping effect
and noise effect to give that security camera feeling. For my night vision cameras, I added a green
tint in order to clearly connote the shot was in the dark. Something else I used in my film trailer is
glitch effects and overlays. I found royalty free glitch overlays and blended them over the top (using
'overlay') on my text to amplify the VHS feeling. Much like my film poster, I also used an outer glow
on my text in order to add to the techy/footage theme. Finally, alongside this I used a wave effect on
my text to act as video footage distortion. With my glitch effects, I used VR effects like sharpen,
abberation and distortion in order to create it. When comparing my product to Paranormal Activity, a
key influence for my project, it shares similar video footage effects with purposeful 'lacking quality' as
well as the time code in the corner. For the text, Paranormal Activity also includes glitch overlays
much like my film trailer, this is done in the same manner of overlaying! The camera techniques are
also similar with high angles to connote security footage, shakey camera to signify handheld
recording etc. Although my film trailer shares many similarities with Paranormal Activity in terms of
technical qualities, there are some differences also. The Paranormal Activity trailer doesn't have glitch
effects like my own and instead uses quick cuts and sound to act as jump scares.

12. Aural Qualities
 The music I used was cropped down to match my storyboard, it builds up in intensity, so I edited
my film trailer to match this. This works quite well as the music and editing complement each other, and
everything is very cut to the beat. I also included sound effects, some of which I produced myself and
others which are royalty free. For the sounds I produced myself I feel I did well foleying the sound
effects I needed and created believable sound effects that accompany my trailer well. For some sound
effects like the door slamming, I added an echo effect to the sound effect in order to amplify it as it
carries across into the next scene. I did this by using a reverb effect in premiere. I also recorded the
voice overs in my film trailer also, I upped the volume on most of these as it was too quiet in
comparison to the music. My audio was quite good however a weakness of it was the quality. I used a
phone microphone in order to record my sound effects which resulted in some audio noise as well as
occaisonal background noise too. Despite the quality being bad at times, more noticeably with my voice
overs, it actually works quite well considering it isn't supposed to sound professional. My film trailer's
purpose is to feel like watching found footage, so my voice over recordings not being perfect in a way
adds to the realism and immersion provided by my film trailer. I could have however used a denoise
effect to cancel it out as it is more important that the voice overs were clear and easy to understand.

13. Audience Appeal
 The target audience for my products is men aged 16 – 25, working class, active audience/‘Socially
Conscious Type A’.
 My film trailer appeals to my target audience as much like my film poster as it includes aspects of
psychological horror, jumpscares, and fear of the unknown (which is the most enjoyed from my
audience when looking at my survey results). You never see the thing haunting the protagonist, so it
allows for a lot of mystery and taps into the genre convention of the fear of the unknown. As my target
audience enjoy this horror trope a lot, I made sure to incorporate it into my product in order to appeal
to them. Having many aspects of mystery and leaving lots of unanswered questions directly targets an
active audience, meaning those who think and question what they are consuming in media in contrast
to a passive audience who do not. Following a narrative of paranormal beings/hauntings also allows for
a sense of escapism which may appeal to the working class. This is as it allows for something you do not
experience in reality, escapism from the monotonous routine of each day in the working class. My
recording style also appeals to the working class as it's supposed to immerse the audience as if it
actually happened and could also happen to them. The colours are also quite desaturated
with disturbing imagery, clearly targetting a more mature audience.

14. Peer Feedback

15. Peer Feedback 1 – Film Poster
What did you like about the
product?
 I like the colours, the textures used,
the distorted look, and the fact that I'm
trying to see what's out of the window
but can't. I also like the title as it's gives off
lots of intriguing ideas into how scary
this could be.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I think it would be better if you could see
a bit of your face as I think see the
expression would be an advantage, as fear
sparks fear. I also think having a scary or
frightening image looking back through
the window that it would be better as you
wouldn't know if it was her reflection, or
someone stood behind her.

16. Peer Feedback 2 – Film Poster
What did you like about the
product?
 I like the thought that has been taken in
trying to make the image more chilling.
 I think the colour choices complement
each other and it gives you a feeling of
suspense.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I think the distortion on the side would
maybe look better if it were more spread
out, rather than being quite clumped at
the top.
 Also, if the window was
completely blanked out i.e. all white, so
you couldn’t see the landscape outside, I
think it would make it creepier.

17. Peer Feedback 3 – Film Poster
What did you like about the
product?
 I really like the dark theme of the poster. It
really sets the tone for what I’m supposed
to feel while seeing it. The color theme is
really ominous and I would’ve liked to
watch the film the poster is for.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I would have wanted to be able to see
what I am supposed to be scared of. You
could argue that the unknown is what’s
scary like in the Blair witch project as an
example, but I don’t buy it. I would have at
the very least wanted to see how the
antagonist affects the protagonist, so I am
aware that the antagonist has a negative
effect. While having the right tone, it isn’t
intimidating.

18. Peer Feedback 4 – Film Poster
What did you like about the
product?
 The glitch effect really works for this idea
and it’s consistent with the style of the
trailer. It’s clean and more minimalist,
which I think looks more professional than
a design that is overloaded with
information.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I think the only thing I’d change is the
strap line at the top. It’s a little cheesy and
the style of the text feels very different
from everything else. I’d maybe just have
the cast names at the top rather than a
strapline and let the word “Nemesis”
speak for itself :)

19. Peer Feedback 1 – Film Trailer
What did you like about the
product?
 I was intrigued throughout and left me
wanting to watch the actual film. I like the
home filming style because it feels more
realistic, and you can relate to it. The jump
scares were good as well. I also liked the
flicking of scenes was good as you don't
see enough which makes you guess about
what is happening.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 The bit where you said you were going to
die didn't seem very believable. The
editing was good, but the acting wasn't as
believable s it could've been, I feel there
needed to be more fear in the actor's
eyes.

20. Peer Feedback 2 – Film Trailer
What did you like about the
product?
 I'd watch that film, I thought it was as
good as trailers you see being released. It
was just enough to make you want to
know what was going to happen next!
When's the film out??
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I honestly can't see where any
improvements could be made here, I felt it
transitioned well and a good job done.

21. Peer Feedback 3 – Film Trailer
What did you like about the
product?
 The overall composition of the trailer is really
engaging. The visual effects are professional
looking, and it doesn’t feel like there’s too
much going on at once. Overall, this trailer
feels like it could be a real trailer for a full-
length film, and I would definitely watch it
based on this trailer. Filming and acting in
your own production is also really hard and
honestly you can’t tell that the filming was all
done by one person; which is great! The
audio design is dynamic as well, very on
point for the genre.
What improvements could have
been made to the product?
 I think the use of the screams at the end is a
bit too over the top - especially since this
seems to draw a lot of inspiration from
Paranormal, which is a pretty quiet horror
film. I find soft eerie sounds or even silence
to be scarier than a scream.

22. Peer Feedback Summary – Film Poster
What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
 I agree with my feedback that the choice of colours was
good, I chose complementary colours so that they look
pleasing to the eye and also go well together.
 I also agree with seeing more of the characters face or
expression, I think if you could see more of their face, it
would help establish that they are the victim here.
Seeing their face may have evoked more fear and
established the hauntings effect on the character.
 Another piece of feedback I agree with is the tone of my
film poster, I believe my film poster does well in
portraying a dark and sinister atmoshphere.
 Spreading out the glitches more is something I think
that could have benefitted my product as it does feel
like they are too clumped into one area.
 Although I should have spread the glitches around
more, I agree with the feedback that they were a good
choice as it matches my film concept idea well.
 I also think the tagline should have been moved
elsewhere and matched the rest of the text, having the
actor's/director's names at the top may have followed
film poster convention more so which may have been
a better choice for my film poster.

23. Peer Feedback Summary – Film Poster
What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
 I disagree with having the antagonist or the thing haunting
the character being shown at all, this is as I want to keep
the fear of the unknown in my film poster and leave the
audience questioning.
 I also disagree that the window should've been completely
blank as I feel it would've looked strange or too unnatural.
 I disagree with the tagline being cheesy as it matches
my film concept idea well, the character being trapped
indoors unable to run but cannot hide in the comfort of
their own home either as their house is being haunted.
Therefore, I think "you can't run, and you can't hide" is a
nice take on the original phrase "you can run, but you can't
hide" that matches my idea well.

24. Peer Feedback Summary – Film Trailer
What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
 I agree that my film trailer did well with the pacing
and composition, keeping you intrigued with
what's happening the whole way through. I tried to
keep things fast paced so the audience would stay
interested in what's happening.
 I also agree that it didn't give you too
much information and left you
with unanswered questions, enough to build a sense
of mystery and make you want to see more of it.
 The home filming style being immersive and more
realistic is something else that I think is true about
my film trailer, it was a purposeful choice to try make
my film trailer feel like something that could happen
to you.
 Another piece of feedback I agree with is the
effects, I think I did a good job with making the
effects look professional and realisitc which helps
immerse the audience into the trailer.
 Another point I agree with is the acting not being
as belieavable as it could be, I think it could have
been improved however acting this out myself as
well as recording was quite difficult. Acting isn't my
strong suit either.
 Finally, I think the screams could be considered a
little over the top, I believe it should have only been
at the end when taking this piece of feedback into
account. This is because it was supposed to be the
final scare that took you off guard.

25. Peer Feedback Summary – Film Trailer
What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
 I didn't end up disagreeing with any of the feedback I
received for my film trailer. I think it was all quite
constructive and would have improved my film trailer if I
took them on board.