3. Research
• The strengths of my research: I had 3 major sources of research that helped
make my project: Dexter, You (Netflix Series) and Alfred Hitchcock Films.
Because I’ve become a Dexter enthusiast in recent months, I used the show
as research, it taught me creative ways to kill people for my movie and it’s
inner monologuing about Dexter (the title character) of his psycho life
became the main story element which I was able to build everything
around for my product. You had more creative kills than Dexter which I
used but it’s main strength was the stalking, Joe Goldberg (the series
protagonist) constantly stalks women and whoever is affiliated with them,
this stalking added a massive plot point of suspense and horror to my
product. Alfred Hitchcock was the magnum opus of research for me
because of his movies suspense and horror which made them so iconic,
psycho was the pinnacle because of it’s own suspense thanks to
outstanding music and cinematography at the time a long with a massive
plot twist which made iconic horror, Alfred Hitchcock movies are the bases
for my plot and everything that makes it horror.
• The weaknesses of my research: The weaknesses of my research was the
atmosphere and the audio design which impacted my product. Dexter and
you don’t create a scary atmosphere because they’re not scary that much
and when something gruesome is supposed to happened it’s made more
like a comedy and the lighting isn’t dark and unnerving but harmlessly light
most of the time, this made an atmosphere that was scary but not taken
seriously scary and the background is quite light. Even though the audio in
Hitchcock movies are regarded as legendary, only the music was made
scary and to stand out while the rest of the audio is bland which made the
audio boring instead of scary and suspenseful, because of this a lot of my
background noise was simple and not scary enough to build up a scary
atmosphere.
4. Research
• What I could’ve done better/improved: I could’ve used more
than one source for each of my topics of inspiration and one of
them was Wikipedia. I used Wikipedia to learn about Alfred
Hitchcock's life and his career in film making, I also watched a
long boring documentary that talked about his entire career
but it didn’t talk about suspense that much, I can improve this
by reading more sources and make sure there about horror.
You and Dexter I watched the series of and I read there
fandom wikis that taught me a lot about it, but it didn’t
individually talk about certain aspects of the show like stalking
and killing which makes horror, I can improve this by reading
sources that specifically talk about the horror sides of these
shows.
• What effect would this have had on my product: If I used more
sources to research from I would’ve been able to make a
scarier atmosphere and have better audio. More sources
would’ve taught me the individual techniques from the shows
that they use, I could’ve used those techniques to make a
more scary atmosphere because I would’ve learned about the
individual parts of the techniques that fit my project and I
could’ve picked those parts to make a proper scary
atmosphere. If I learned more on how they used audio, those
specific different techniques could’ve been used by me make
audio that would build up suspense and greatly disturb
people, my audio would succeed in the horror department.
5. Planning
• The strengths of my planning: The strengths of my planning
was the story and the days I planned to film them on the
production week. After my last attempt of a FMP became a
figurative tire fire, I planned a new story which worked better
and didn’t take as long, the new story was doable and it
succeeded in being a proper horror story. On the last project I
had to constantly change and change when I filmed my project
which lead me to quit because of how disorganised it was,
when I tried my new idea I planned proper dates and spread
them out onto the production weeks, it’s thanks to that I was
able to film the certain parts at certain times which allowed me
to get everything done on time.
• The weaknesses of my planning: The weaknesses of my
planning is the audio design and the practical effects in my FMP
product. Like I said in the research, my audio was a weakness
but here it’s a weakness because I didn’t properly plan it, I
planned the inner monologue, a bit of the music and the sound
effects of the victims but I didn’t think of the miner sounds and
music in the scenes and sound effects for what Edward Stanton
would do when not killing which lead to them being scattered
and not perfect. The practical effects was a bigger weakness
because I only planned for one scene they would be used in
(which was Edward Stanton having blood on his face) I didn’t
plan for blood to be on anyone else which explains why you
only see blood once and there were no proper prosthetic
wounds I planned to use, this lead to no blood making
everything seem less scary and when blood did appear it was
more humorous, and no fake wounds just made everything
boring.
6. Planning
• What I could’ve done better/improved: I could’ve
planned both the audio and the practical effects better.
I only planned the use of audio in certain scenes but I
could improve that by planning what audio to use in
every scene to make the music and sound effects
organised and fit with the scenes to make a scary
atmosphere. The practical effects were very limited but
I could improve it by planning more gruesome kills
were blood will spurt and wounds will be inflicted, I
could use this opportunity to be more creative with my
kills.
• What effect would this have had on my product: If I
planned the use of audio in every scene I could’ve
made a lot more convincing sound effects that would
fit the audio-less footage and have music that would
make a suspenseful and scary atmosphere. If I planned
the kills to have fake blood and fake realistic wounds,
the scenes would have been a lot more scary and
squeamish, all of this practical work would make the
product look a lot more professional. Overall, the effect
of improving theses points would make my product a
more effective horror movie because music and sounds
are the building blocks that build suspense and
practical gore is a major part in horror, I have both of
them in my product and if done better, they could’ve
lived up to the standards.
7. Time Management
• Did I manage my time well? Overall, I managed my time well, I tried
to do my first project and I planned that for months over the time of
the FMP before production and I had everything ready for
production, I booked everything and got the students together but
the unreliable actors caused me to start again. I quickly adapted to
change my idea, I changed all the power points to my idea nonstop
and started filming at home in the weeks of production eventually
getting it finished intime for me to right this very sentence.
• Did I complete my project on time or would my product have
improved with additional time? I got my product done on time but
extra time would have vastly helped me because I had a massive set
back. When the FMP started I put my first idea on all the power
points and handed them in on time (I either completed them
quickly or did them in my own time), I tried to film my idea on the
first week of production but everything was going slow and
unorganised I started a new idea and spent a week of my own time
remaking every power point, I then spent the weeks of production
filming everything in an order of a plan were I would film a certain
segment each day, all of this lead me to hand in my work on time
(but I had to upload it onto Wix on the day I had to hand it in
though because I don’t have the right equipment at home. My
product would’ve vastly improved with additional time because of
how much I got thrown off track, my first product idea had actors
who had no commitment and didn’t care about the product and
that was a hole week down the drain and then I had to spend a lot
of time changing my work nonstop, I didn’t get given enough time
to film because I only had an hour at the end of college when
nobody had the energy to try and now I only have three days to
write this which is causing me to go overworked, long-story short
my original idea would’ve been bad but finished if I had additional
time and I could’ve added more detail to my new idea with
additional time, additional time would’ve improved my product.
Failed Experiment of original idea
Picture for weekly diary taken last
minute because of time limit
8. Time Management
• What I would’ve done if I had more time to
produce my work: There are two scenarios
that would’ve happened if I had more time to
do my work; try and finish the already lost
cause original idea or add more to my new
idea. If I had more than an hour at the end of
the day to make my product I could’ve got the
actors to be committed and try at their role,
or at least after a thousand takes I wound be
able to make something out of the scraps of
footage I had, but I probably would have
failed the course anyway because of how
impossible it was to do. And if I had more
time to do my second idea I could’ve had
more darker lighting to make the literal part
of the scary atmosphere work, I could’ve
made better music and sound effects to build
suspense and I could’ve found or made better
prosthetic gore to make my movie seem like a
major horror story.
9. Technical Qualities
Similarities:
1. Both Dexter and my product
use the technical qualities of an
inner monologue narration.
Dexter monologues about his
life of being a lawful killer in his
thoughts and Edward
monologues about protecting
his son in his thoughts.
2. Both Dexter and my product
use the technical qualities of
similar camera shots when
someone’s about to get killed.
The camera shows the
suspenseful of Dexter waiting
in an isolated spot to kill his
victims and the camera shows
Edward suspensefully waiting
for his victims at his home.
Differences:
1. I chose to use a tripod for
my filming, while Dexter is
filmed with a hand held
camera. My camera work is
straight and you can
properly see what’s going
on, Dexter has a shaky
camera that makes
everything confusing.
2. I use standard lighting in my
film while Dexter likes to
have everything filmed
bright. When I filmed I had
no filter and filmed
everything in their either
lamp or sun lit lighting,
Dexter everything is lit with
studio lamps or CGI.
Differences:
1. Psycho is filmed in black and white while Paranoia is
filmed in colour. Psycho was made in 1960 when
coloured filming wasn’t used much while Paranoia was
made in 2022 were coloured filming is always used.
2. Psycho has a full score (music sound track) while
Paranoia only uses music in some scenes. Psycho plays
neutral music in most scenes and it’s main theme when
scary things happen, but paranoia only plays scary music
when someone dies or when unsettling scenes happen.
Similarities:
1. Paranoia and Psycho both use creepy music to make a murder
scene impactful. Psycho plays creepy music while a woman is
being brutally stabbed, as does Paranoia when Edward's first
victim comes.
2. Paranoia and Psycho both use moving camera shots to show a
plot twists. The camera pans to from Bate’s dressed up as his
mother to his mother’s corpse while Paranoia pans from
Edward talking to someone showing that it’s a teddy.
Paranoia and Dexter
Paranoia and Psycho
10. Aesthetic Qualities
• Does my work look good? Overall, my work looks good,
everything’s in focus and light enough to see what’s
going on. But when the filming was coming to an end
everything became fuzzy a and everyone’s skin turned
yellow, it did become normal in the end though.
• Was my work creative? My work was creative because
of all the creative use of music, kills and
cinematography. They’re creative because; the music is
put together to build suspense, the kills and body
disposal are bloody and brutal, and the cinematography
(editing and camera work) show a man who you
sympathize with who you grow to hate because the
story reveals how he’s a cold-blooded murder! My
techniques of aesthetic match my points of inspiration
because it’s a psychological horror that’s shrouded in
mystery like psycho with its massive plot twist.
• The aspects of the product’s visuals I like: I like two
parts of the production: the bloody and brutal death
and the creative revealing transitions. Even though the
kills aren’t perfectly bloody, they are creative, instead of
gunshots you see brutal stabbing with some blood that
builds a suspenseful and terrifying atmosphere, and it
succeeding in that is why I like it. The transitions of calm
fading that slowly grows more menacing and darker as
the plot moves on because the transitions keep on
showing disturbing imagery (and the plot twist showing
the Edward’s son isn’t real and he’s crazy) makes the
scary atmosphere that fits my artistic vision and that’s
why I like it.
11. Aesthetic
Qualities
• What I would improve: I would improve two things,
the bloody and gory kills and the dim grey like
lighting in my FMP. In my original project, I had
originally planned for there to be lots of gore but
thanks to constant cuts because the project was too
ambitious and the actors being late or not trying,
gore as a hole got cut, in my new project I didn’t
properly plan where it would go and blood only
appeared on Edward's face once. Horror movies
always use either dark or strange lighting to create
the atmosphere they want, but I just used common
day light or lamps, this only created a bleak and grey
atmosphere that needed improvement, the focus
even went out and everything looked fuzzy and
yellow which took a way the horror theme even
more.
• How I would improve it: I would improve the gore by
having more blood on Edward and his victims, I
would buy a prop were blood would spurt when ever
he stabbed people and I would buy practical pros-
ethic wounds which would show proper wounds
(e.g. a person gets stabbed). I would improve the
lighting by turning of the lights in my house and film
during the night to have a dark atmosphere, I would
also turn down the brightness on my iPad when
recording to make everything darker, and lastly I
would put a dark filter over the footage.
12. Aesthetic Qualities
Weaknesses:
1. Upgrade has a dark
atmosphere thanks to
it’s lighting, while
paranoia has bright
lighting which makes
the product seem
friendly instead of
horror.
2. Upgrade had both
proper CGI and practical
effects while paranoia
only has a man with red
smeared on his face, the
lack of effects makes
Paranoia look cheap
and amateur.
Strengths:
1. Both Paranoia and
Upgrade are similar in
having creative camera
shots, Paranoia uses
these camera shots to
make a creepy
atmosphere.
2. Upgrade and
Paranoia both have
creative kills (Paranoia
uses practical effects
and Upgrade uses CGI
to make their kills), the
creative kills of Paranoia
make the scenes their in
memorable.
Weaknesses:
1. Belco turns from friendly light to twisted dark as the
plot continues, Paranoia however is bright all the time
and you can’t tell if it’s supposed to be scary or a joke.
2. Belco isn’t subtle, it goes all in on showing how brutal
and bloody you fight for survival can be with it’s
practical effects, Paranoia only uses blood once and
that makes it seem silly instead of scary.
Strengths:
1. Both the Belco Experiment and Paranoia create a setting were everything
looks normal and a twist in the plot later shows a dark secret, Paranoia
creates the atmosphere of a man living with his son but it shows that
he’s crazy because his son is a teddy.
2. Belco and make you think a character is good but then they become evil
when the movie shows you something bad about them, you’re made to
think Edward is a good dad forced to protect his son by killing henchmen,
but then you see he’s bad because he kept weapons that were actually
harmless stuff they had and he killed innocent people because he’s crazy.
Paranoia and Upgrade
Paranoia and The Belco Experiment
13. Audience Appeal
• How I've appealed to my target audience: My audience
research revealed that horror is a very popular genre, but
the audience had diverse opinions about which
characteristics they liked and didn't like (e.g.: CGI vs
practical effects, super-natural vs psychological etc).
Everybody agreed that character development was key.
My film focused on one character and his descent into
paranoia. I think that I developed the character well and
it would appeal to those who like the psychological
horror subgenre. I chose not to use CGI as I felt that this
would detract from the naturalistic style of my film, and
this would certainly appeal to the audience members
who like practical effects. I think that my idea was
original, and the audience said that originality was what
they were looking for and I think slasher fans wound like
the gory kills. Slasher films tend to, not always, be aimed
at adult males. As my central charter is male, I hope that
appeals to my target audience.
• What specific bits of content would appeal to my target
audience? Although my target audience have differing
tastes, most are looking for an original story with strong
characters, I think my film was original and the focus on
one central character would appeal to my audience. My
film is a psychological study of one character with a twist
at the end. I think that this was effective in creating a
strong character which the audience said they wanted to
see. Most of my audience, although not all, like slasher
horror with practical effects not CGI. I didn't use CGI in
my film, which I think would appeal to many. Even
though my film was only three minutes long, I did
incorporate three kills which would be appealing to the
slasher fans. I also used naturalistic stabbing and axings,
which again would be appealing. My film was very short
but focused on one strong character and involved
psychological suspense and gory kills which many
said they want to see in horror films.
15. Feedback
1:
Hannah
Stockill
• What did you like about the product? Hannah liked two
things after seeing my Final Major Project; the
camerawork and the use of audio. She liked the fading
transitions because she thought they made a
suspenseful atmosphere because of how other worldly
they were, and she thought that the use of
cinematography in some scenes (like the long shot of the
reveal or the panning from the mail box to Edward)
which made the production look professional. She liked
the use of audio in the project, she said the sound
effects were convincing and didn’t seem like sound
effects at all and she thought the music came together
well to build suspense.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product? The only flaw she believed could be improved;
the black screens went on for too long in the production.
She said the black screen at the start and the end last for
over tens seconds which was too long and just made
everything look boring. She said it can be improve by
cutting the black screens down to half or less so the
audience will get to the movie instead of getting bored.
16. Feedback 2:
Jamie
Brown
• What did you like about the product? Jamie liked the
camera work in my Final Major Project because of it’s use
of creative camera angles. He liked the angles because
they showed the perspective of the character, it would
make you sympathise with him but they it had the twist
of showing he’s a psycho, the good camera worked
accomplished this.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product? Jamie had two major points of improvements
for me: the audio that didn’t properly fade and the story
was two repetitive. He thought that the music cut off and
didn’t make the scenes work as well instead he thought
they should’ve faded to make the scenes have more of
an effect, he said that I could improve it by playing
shorter pieces of music that fit my time limit. The other
point he thought could be improved was the
repetitiveness of the plot he thought it just jumped form
the next kill to the next kill with nothing between, he
said it could be improved by having less killing and
instead show Edward’s failing life.
17. Feedback 3: Flynn Westwood
• What did you like about the product? Flynn had four
points which he liked about the product: foley sound
effects, music, practical effects and dialogue. He liked
the foley because he thought it fit with the footage
connected to it, he also thought that the use of scary
music made a scary atmosphere. He liked the practical
effect blood believing that it made the film more
realistic, he also thought that the dialogue made the
plot clear and made the story of the product more in
depth.
• What improvements could have been made to the
product? Flynn stated two things which he thought
would need improvement, the repetitiveness and
extended shots. He thought that the plot was
repetitive because it just showed Edward Stanton
talking about protecting his son and killing the next
person, he said I could improve this by making the plot
show more of Edwards life and have less kills. He also
said that the shots needed improvement, he said it
went on for too long making the audience get bored
by just seeing the same thing for many seconds, he
thinks I can improve this by having shorter shots or
have more interesting stuff going on in them.
18. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback? I agree with two
overall things from my peers; The good camera shots and the music
cutting off too soon. I agree that the product has creative camera
shots (e.g.: camera panning showing plot twists, moving shots
making you think you part of the movie etc) because I put a lot of
time into how they work and filming them, not only were they
properly panned to be good but they made the film effective and
memorable. I agree with the music cutting off instead of fading out, it
made everything seem less effective and left the product looking
amateur, even at the start you see the music cut off in a shot that
was devoted to try and make it play out but it cuts off and the shot
ends up going on for too long as well.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback? I disagree with
two overall things from my peers; The story lasting too long (that
point being because of a personal matter) and the plot being
repetitive in my Final Major Project. The plot was long enough to
explain the story, if I cut it down you wouldn’t know what’s going on,
and besides that hole point was because my feedback to one of the
students was that I said the shot lasted to long so they said that point
back probably for revenge. The plot wasn’t repetitive because it was
trying to build suspense, not pad for time, a lot of my inspiration do
the same techniques I did in their movies to be successful, trying to
make scariness and suspense isn't retentiveness.
19. Peer Feedback Summary
What changes I would make to my product based upon my peer feedback and why: The two
primary areas I would change is; two long extended black screen and audio cutting off two
short. I would change the black screens because they go on for two long, two black screens are
in the project that last 10 seconds each and that would just make the audience grow bored, I
want people to be able to focus son the product not a boring black screen. The second thing I
would change is the music because audio is an important part of my project, when it cuts off
instead of fading off it ruins the suspenseful atmosphere that the music has started, not only
that but it also makes the product looked rushed and amateur.
