rgrdf

1. Cameronfrullo
“The Dollmaker” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqSmb3n0j8o
I Watched “The Dollmaker” directed by Al Lougher, it was released April 4th 2019 onto the
YouTube channel ALTER. The director most probably made this film to entertain and
to try and scare the audience hence being a horror. There may have been some
aspect of wanting to make monetary gain from the film but as it is on YouTube and
under ten minutes long it is not likely this was his main goal. The director may have
entered it into a mini film festival but as it is not stated in the description of the video
we cannot know for sure. The audience is most likely 12+ as the short film contains
strong language and visuals of suicide and some disturbing imagery, I think the film
would be aimed at both genders as it hasn’t got any strong aspects that would
stereotypically appeal to men or woman. I don’t think the film is aimed towards
anyone of any social class but more towards fans of horror. The film appeals to the
audience by having creepy looking dolls that have become quite a staple in horror
movies (chucky, Annabelle, billy), so this will attract horror fans as they are used to
seeing them.
All the shots looked very professional so possibly a DSLR camera was used or
maybe something a bit more high tech, all of the shots were smooth and there was
no shaking so that rules out the use of hand held filming. The director most likely
used tripods or for the moving shots a Steadicam, you can see that they used extra
lighting in some shots, for example when they are in the basement extra lighting
must have been used as there is no natural light in there and the light bulb would not
have been strong enough. This makes the film look professional making it easier for
the viewer to get enveloped into the story. Th film is on YouTube and has 11 million
views and it was uploaded to a channel with 600 thousand subscribers, thus making
it a quite successful short film.
The film looks like it has a blue/cold filter over it making it more gritty and eerie, this
appeals to horror fans who are the target audience of this film. A blue/cold filter is
heavily used in horror (insidious, conjuring, us, the ring) so this will make horror fans
feel comfortable as it something they are used to seeing. The genre of the film, as I
have stated before, is horror and it is clear from the very beginning of the film, the
opening shot contains creepy music and then a zoom shot of a dead young boy and
after the transition the boy becomes a creepy looking doll. The doll being a huge
horror story convention and it is in most scenes. There is also some blood as the
wife kills herself in the film, blood and knives are a huge horror convention as I would
say 90% of all horror movies contain blood in some way and knives are the staple
weapon in a slasher movie.