The document summarizes the student's stage 2 research and experiments for their film project. Through primary research including surveys and interviews, the student found their target audience prefers psychological horror films with suspenseful elements like a good story and mystery. Secondary research on popular horror films showed films like IT were very successful. Camera experiments tested different shots and angles to create atmosphere without dialogue. Audio experiments added sounds to a clip to enhance the scene. Potential constraints for the final production include a tight time limit, equipment issues, and availability of actors or locations.

1. STAGE 2
RESEARCH +
EXPERIMENTS
Your name here

2.  You MUST conduct a questionnaire/survey/interview or a combination of all three.
Summarise this and add in any other primary research you feel is appropriate
These results help to show
me what my targets
audiences preferences in
the films they watch, and
what I maybe should do for
mine.
Comedy showed to be the
top result with most of the
others being on par.

3. This question I asked to start being more specific to the genre I would
like to use, s that I can have an idea exactly what I should look for
when making my own.
These results showed me that a psychological horror is what majority
of my audience would prefer with the others all getting equal votes
which may suggest I have a broad choice in production.

4. I asked this question as a way to find out why people watch horror
films or what makes them enjoy and want to watch them. My results
showed me that majority of my audience like a good story such,
suggesting I should spend time in my story board and look at other
films for ideas.

5. This question I found to be one of the most important and informative as it
would help me show what I should include to make the horror side of the
short film enjoyable to my target audience.
The results I received showed that the majority of my audience believe
suspense is the key technique to include, however it shows that lots of
people also enjoy jump scares as well which I may have to look at also.

6. I asked this to help me with the character selection in my short, whether I
should include a male leading role or female, however the results show male
is the top voted but the majority of the people taking the survey were male.

7. Carrying on with the theme of characters I went on to ask this in a way of
collecting more specific information on what the character should be like
aside from the gender. The results I received show people would like
someone who slowly changes and progresses throughout maybe starting out
as a weak role but by the end is a strong minded leader.
The issue here is we are only making a minute long film with no dialect so this
may be difficult to do.

8. Again with the characters I felt like in horror films the villain or antagonist is
usually quite a main part of the story and whole horror aspect, so I asked
this to see what types of villain people would like to see. The results
showed me that a psychotic role is what most would like to see, however a
killer is close second which may suggest I could mold the two quite easily
reaching to more peoples preferences.

9. The final question I chose to ask was this because I wanted to have an idea
on how people would prefer for the short to end, the results however show
people want a bad ending. This is suggesting I should include a dark ending
with people dyeing.

10.  Research viewing figures, sales figures, demographic and psychographic info.
Look up article, features or stories related to your potential audience
In my secondary research I found an article showing that the new 2017
adaptation of the famous Stephen king film “IT” has blown the block
busters out the water, making it the newest top grossing horror film in
the US since “The Exorcist” making a total of $236.34 in just 14 days.
I also found an info graphic that shows the most sort after horror films
in each state, showing me what horror films have been the most
successful at reaching there audiences.
The info graphic showed me that
certain films keep recurring in
several states, the most common film
on there seems to be the ring
showing me briefly the sort of film
that is popular among horror lovers.

11.  For this you should summarise your primary and secondary research, through this
you should then be able to produce an audience outline that you intend to target.
For this you could also produce an audience profile.
I have done my own primary and secondary research to help me see what
my specific target audience is going to be and what they may want within
the film.
I started with the primary research where I made a survey asking general
questions about there film preference, I then got specific in the questions I
asked this is so I could get more specific information. The results I received
from this showed that my target audience seem to want more older content
with death and more psychological aspects.
I also took part in some secondary research looking at online articles
particularly in the horror genre, as well as an info graph showing me the
most popular horror films by the state, this helped me see the types of films
that have really reached there audience in the past as well as a wider group
of others.
The research I have took part in has showed me that my target audience is
more likely going to be and older age rating, because the results show they
would like a horror movie that contains more techniques and things from
older labels.

12.  Given your idea generation and your audience research, what sort of content
would you define as the appropriate. Consider issues of taste, certification [BBFC
might be a good starting point for this], etc. Look at what you’d like to include and
what you are allowed to include.
I plan to make a 15 age rated Horror film, in this I would like to include a
paranormal theme to help create suspense and also with the jump scares.
I also plan on including a short scene of drug use which alone is not allowed
to be included in a 12, being a horror as well I will be including things such as
blood and un slightly images which may be to graphic and scary for a younger
audience.
However I can not include strong and discriminating language within my film
however I may include racist and homophobic content to pass a message but
I do not think I will include this.
When I make the scene including drug and alcohol abuse I can not make it
seem as if it is encouraging this or include us of things such as aerosols, also
when it comes to strong language such as swearing I can include but due to
having little dialect I doubt it will be included.
There may be strong threat and horror, a sustained focus on sadistic or
sexual threat is unlikely to be acceptable. So I will be making the horror
aspect more paranormal and unrealistic so it doesn't’t risk these topics, this
also I similar with the violence I involve it can be graphic but not sexual or to
reviling.

13.  Research potential production techniques you might want to use
or feel would be most appropriate – these can be related to
camera, editing, story, sound, etc
 You should look at a minimum of 3 related products in your
research.
 You should collect clips/still images/how to guides/etc that might
help you. When watching scenes from films, etc you could also
ask potential target audience what they think.
 You will need to add extra slides!
 With each technique you should assess whether you can use it or
how you might employ or why you may want to disregard it
completely

14. The first product I am looking at is the
horror movie lights out. The main
reason for choosing this is because
the way they film the scenes with the
monster, I like how they’ve made it so
you can not actually see it because of
the lighting in the shots, I would like to
incorporate this into my own film as I
believe It creates tension through the
mystery of what it really could be.
Also with the film lights out I think they have done a really good job at
connecting with there audience by making the main concept about being scared
of the dark, this is something everyone has experienced at some point in there
childhood.
However they’ve took this and brought it to light using different camera
techniques and various lighting changes, i also think I might look at taking ideas
from the way they film shots in the hallway making the monster seem further
away and gradually get closer, this creates suspense and adds to the fear
factor.

15. I have gone with this film for my next
product because I believe this is a good
example of a realistic story with a good
plot to it.
I also like how in the film the two people
who are being hunted are shown as
weak and innocent, they do this using
angles such as the one I have chosen
which is a high angle making the boy
seem small and weak playing on his
own, maybe suggesting he is
vulnerable.
The film also follows a cool psychological story with the character jack,
progressing through the film using things such as flashbacks/hallucinations to
represent what is changing in his mind and why he becomes murderous. Jack
is also portrayed to be more violent and vicious later in the film which clashes
well with the two protagonists who portray weakness, there is one particular
scene which shows the contrast when he smashes through the door using
close ups on the characters to show hate and then to show the fear.

16.  i have chosen this film because it is an example of a aged 15 horror that
still works really well on the fear factor. In the film they use the premise of
isolation and Arthur Kipps being unable to leave the house until sunrise
when he is there to help make the film scary, using scenes where he is
running from something but can not go any further making the audience
on edge and drawn in to what may happen.
 Also I like that the film is set in a cold and eerie building it creates a good
atmosphere for the film. They use multiple shots in the haunting scenes
including many long shots to show something far away, but also making
something be in the back ground but the role is not looking at it.
This film also uses lots of music and sound
effects to create a more creepy feel when
something is happening, there is one
particular scene with a locked room and a
rocking chair which I found particularly
creepy due to the noises used.

17. EXPERIMENTS
Camera/Editing/Audio Experiments
Be prepared to add extra slides

18.  I first planned everything I was going to shoot first with making the
ideas and the story for my experiment, then using mood boards and
mind maps i made a more interesting and detailed plan for when I
filmed. Also using previous shot lists and different ways to create
atmosphere and emotion in the shot I had an idea of how to stick to
a particular genre and create a story without dialogue.
 Using the filming equipment and the recorders to film the individual
shots taking several of the same but using different angles to create
different atmospheres.
 We also could have maybe used a tripod to film some of the scenes
as the camera was a bit shaky having blurry scenes and out of focus
faces, also wind can be a major problem.

19.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
 When I make my final short film i would like mine to be quite different
creating a horror film with a far eerie and creepy effect, although I
would still like to use similar shots such as looking up at someone to
create a sense of power.
 I would like to try and include more shots though using a longshot to
create a more creepy distant effect, I also would like to end my own
with a canted angle shot.
 I will also make sure to use a tripod for the more stable shots as the
camera on my last was shaky, I also would like to minimise the wind in
the shots as it can cause audio problems and is unprofessional.

20.  We have been using premiere pro as our software for editing our clips
and audio, I’m not the greatest at using this or at editing at all however
using it over and over I am slowly starting to get the hang of it. My
experiment aloud me to test out different effects and tools, we started
by ordering the clips and then using the cut tool to shorten and erase
any un needed or bad footage.
 I used several editing tools to make the scenes seem different weather
and change half way, the main tool to do this is the RGB colour tool but
also just changing contrasts and brightness can do similar features.
 I also attempted to make to screen change colour completely to try and
hide a blur but it would have looked much better if I had just re-shot
that particular shot.

21.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
 When it comes to editing my final product I would like to improve
my editing skills in making the shots cut from one to the next
much cleaner, as well as improve the filming so that it looks
clearer and professional.
 I would like to again use the tools such as the RGB to make the
horror feeling of my final product be more obvious.

22.  For the SOTD audio clip we were given a short clip from the movie
without any of the sound, we then got into pairs and watched through
the clip listing off the sounds we believed were necessary. Then using
the audio recorders we went out and found ways to make the sounds
so they can fit the scene, taking several recordings of each to fit the
tempo and make sure we have at least one usable audio recording.
 The problem with using the recorders is the wind I picked up very
easily and echoing in large areas makes the audio sound far away or
indoors, so we had to retake several shots.
 We then used premiere pro to insert the audio clips into the scene,
using the scroll bar to make the clips bigger made it easier to get the
timing right, I also had to cut and chop a lot of the audio to make it
work, reusing certain sounds for similar noises such as the two fridge
scenes.
 I then got two atmospheric audio clips from Youtube to get rid of the
awkward silence in-between each noise and so it all flows a bit better
in the final cut.

23.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
I enjoyed doing this audio task as it taught me how to add
sound over a scene like they do in many films, it also showed
me that with filming and sound it is important to concentrate
on detail in the sounds you may not stand out but still would
be present in real life, such as the cans banging around in our
experiment.
I also think having the ambiance noise in the back throughout
the scene is very important otherwise you will have silences
and the clips will sound really cut out and maybe unrealistic.

24.  List all the potential constraints that might affect or limit your production, you
should consider issues from each of these categories:
 Time/Personnel/Cost/Technical/Location/Organisational
When making the final product I may come across several constraints and
problems slowing down my process. Firstly I may have a problem with the
time limit we have been set for our video, being unable to wrap it all in to one
minute. The solution to this would be maybe to look at cutting down my story
or making the scenes a lot shorter then I may plan to, this will be easy to do
in production as I could simply cut or not include certain clips in the film.
I may also face problems with equipment being faulty or deleting work, also
footage may come across as unusable in production with the time limit to film
being an issue, to fix this I will just make sure I film multiple shots and look
through the ones I will have, as well as have backups of my work saved.
Another issue that may come up during the production may be with the
actors or availability of locations, however I can just plan to have several
locations ready just in case this was to occur.