1. Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience and
what did you include within your film to excite or
intrigue audiences?
2. Research
In order to make a successful film we had to conduct different types of research before making a
storyboard. We decided to conduct an interview in which had two focus groups as well. The
questions we asked included;
• Do you like horror films and why?
• What is your favourite horror film and why?
• What do you want to see more of in horror films and why?
• Are there any aspects of horror films you don’t like and why?
• Would you like to see more horror films in the cinemas and why?
• Do you have a favourite subgenre, if so what is it and why?
• What was the last horror film you watched and what did you like and dislike about it?
The main findings that we received from interviewing the range of people was the preferred
subgenre. We found that everyone we interviewed liked horror films because they create
suspense and enigma throughout the film and allows them to be able to keep guessing with what
will happen which builds tension. Also, the majority of people said that psychological horror films
are their preferred subgenre of horror films because they create mind games throughout the film
from start to finish. We obtained varied results for what they want to see more of in horror films
because some people said they prefer to have more blood and gore whereas others said that
they would like to see more of the mind games and audience involvement. With this is mind we
decided to draft and collaborate a few ideas until we reached our end result.
3. Genre
We chose the horror genre as we thought it would be easier to
appeal to the masses as generally speaking our target audience
would predominantly watch horror movies for the same reason –
they want to put themselves out of their comfort zone and be on
the edge of their seat. We did research into our target audience
and found that because the primary audiences were under the
age of 35, we thought it would be easier to make something
younger age groups would find interesting but also entertaining.
We took our findings from our research and decided that a
psychological horror was quite possibly one of the best routes to
take as we had many ideas ourselves however we also wanted to
see an increase in these types of films on the market, much like
our target audience did.
4. Storyline
Our storyline was quite complex and had linking sections
however it was most certainly a film that an audience would
have to watch all the way through to understand what happened
and for what reason. The story line is very audience focused and
the audience are able to piece together parts of the film is it is
shown to determine what will happen next, though whether
they’re right or wrong will depend at how good they are at
piecing together the information and predicting the storyline.
We choose to have a storyline in which used reverse chronology
as it was the best way to present our film but also would entice
the audience to watch on as only a handful of films use this, let
alone horror films.
5. Technical Choices
Our technical choices varied depending on the shot and the
atmosphere of the scene we wanted to obtain. For example we used
match cuts to show the continuous motion of movement in the same
direction and also to keep the action flowing. However other technical
choices we made such as was to use different variations of both
diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to allow the audience to distinguish
the genre but also make sure the sound was correct for what we
needed, such as having music to build suspense for example. The
music we used was enigmatic and allowed us to convey a sense of
mystery within our opening and closing scenes. We also decided to use
filters on our film to make sure it had a cinematic feel and therefore
would look greater in film quality and appeal to our audience. When
doing the point of view shots (POV) we decided to include black
‘flashes’ to make it look like Joel was blinking to add realism to the
POV shots. This realism makes the audience feel more like they are in
the setting and have more involvement to the film because it connotes
that they need to see the world from Joel’s perspective.
6. Casting
For our casting we needed to have life-like resemblances of what
our characters would move, talk and act like. So we decided that
we had to cast people in which fell under the right age category
to ensure it didn’t look like a 17 year old was playing the part of
a 35 year old man for example. Therefore we casted Ryan, a
middle aged man to play the role of Joel and also casted his
daughter Megan to play the role of Bonnie. The fact that the two
actors are biologically related ensures that they can both get into
character quickly, easily and comfortably and the emotions that
were represented would be a lot easier to obtain and to show on
screen.
7. Mise-en-scene
Throughout our film we included a range of mise-en-scene in
which would create enigma however would become clear later
on. Mise-en-scene uses ‘CLAMPS’ ; costume, lighting, actor,
make-up, props and setting. Our use of these ensured that we
kept the audience entertained as we specifically used individual
aspects of mise-en-scene for different shots. For example each
shot had different lighting to ensure that there was the right
atmosphere for the setting. Another example would be that of
the costume we used as this would help establish the social class
of the different characters and would also establish enigma. The
only prop we used was that of the noose in the ending scene and
the iconography of it would symbolise that Joel’s fate ends here.
8. Uses and Gratification Theory
We thought about the uses and gratifications theory during our
planning and research and when conducting our script and
storyboard we decided to take elements from it and include it
within our film to make it more than just entertainment.
Alongside the entertainment we decided to make sure our film
could inform and educate the audience about mental health and
the problems and stigma that can surround it. We also had a
sense of escapism in our media product because of the film’s
setting and the different thought processes that the characters
would have, as well as the audience when trying to piece
together the storyline and what may happen next. We also had
elements of social interaction as the topics covered will have
sparked conversation between audience members after the
showing of the film and those that have seen it can relate to one
another and possibly discuss topics raised in the film.
