Film: Audience Feedback (Teacher) for Second Draft of Film

Feedback given on second draft of short horror film - Playtime:

• Spelling errors in credits - production and starring.
• Credits are too long - get rid of names at the beginning.
• The moment before Myles ties his shoelace on the floor, they all look bored and it has no purpose. Makes it seem like they're doing anything to fill time (01:05) 
• Myles should spend a bit longer looking at the balloon. The balloon should pop before Myles get to it. 
• Need a bigger balloon and a pin to pop it. There should be somewhere underneath the tree (out of the camera frame) to make the audience jump.
• The popping of the balloon should be recorded beforehand and exaggerate it. 
• Leave identity of the clown a bit longer. 
• Editing is too quick. 
• Showing too much of the costumes (maybe just a shoe/sparking gold part of the costume).
• Faint screams, footsteps, branches breaking and ruffles in the bushes while the jack in the box plays. 
• Mica's death is too quick and the effect should be made longer. 
• Leave the identity of the clown hidden until the taxi. 
• Quick transitions.
• Hammad doesn't look scared - doesn't know where he is but the taxi somehow appears. 
• Things need to be slowed down. 
• Get rid of fighting scene in the middle of the road. 

Film: Evaluation of First Draft

A2 Media Studies Evaluation:

1.     In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media?

In our short horror movie we develop and use the conventions of real media. This is evident as we researched the key props and elements to make a horror movie successful and we used them. For instance, when we researched horror movies we noticed a lot of masks/weapons. For our horror movie we had a clown that had a mask on which was intimidating and also gives the audience a feeling of fear. In the horror movies we looked at we noticed that after a tragic death the transition is usually fading out. However, other transitions were effective such as fade in, and dissolve etc. The common traits in our movie were screams, and sound effects. Whenever the clown came into the camera frame there was the sound put in of a clown laughing which sounded sinister this was the non-diegetic sound. However, the screams of the characters getting killed were diegetic. This makes the film more realistic. There was low key lighting to emphasise the darkness in the film, the clown and deaths that occur. 

2.     How did you find the filming process?

My individual area was mise en scene and I aimed to find a variety of locations that the film could be filmed at and also the props and costumes were important. The locations that I had looked at were; a park, train rally, a street and an alley way to foreshadow danger in our ending it. A lot of factors delayed our filming such as bad weather. Because of the rain being too bad and the floor being slippery we couldnt film on the days we wanted to due to health and safety of others in our group. We got all of our props together and got together as a group to film our first draft. There were a few changes in the story due to a change of characters too. There could've been a few changes in the group work due to organisation and planning. The group worked well together by finding appropriate elements to film. 

3.     What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Looking at audience feedback I realised that my target audience (teenagers/young adults) I found out my audience were more interested in slasher movies with convenient props such as; fake blood and weapons. I had given my questionnaire to the age group of 16-25 year old's. The younger group wanted more blood and slasher moments. The older the group got they wanted more paranormal and physiological events. However, more people had said they preferred more blood and killing. We couldn't make the full movie a slasher and make it brutal due to our time of filming and also our props. The feedback I got from my target audience helped our group pick the characters and their characteristic, props, sounds and  location. Furthermore, I seeked advice from a previous person who filmed and producer who advised me on what to do within my movie which helped as it ensured my idea was realistic and achievable although successful.

4.    How did you incorporate a range of media technologies within the research and planning stages of your film?

In my process of short film horror research, I tried to use a range of digital technologies in order to achieve best possible marks. I used social media software’s ranging from such as; twitter. I was able to develop a portfolio of information in a suitable way as social media is the way modern day citizens communicate as its becoming easier and faster. Twitter allowed me to create a group and ask questions of which everyone was giving feedback of what to include in the horror film. I could identify that there was a correlation to create a film which edged towards being a paranormal film. This is because Paranormal activity is a popular horror movie and has proven to be quite successful among youth as well as elder horror viewers.  I found it challenging using Storyboard as It was only valid for a period of two weeks before becoming premium by which I wouldn’t be able to access or edit it. 

Film: Second Draft of Film

Film: WWW and EBI and Action Plan

What went well:

• Mise en scene: 
• The use of props where used appropriately such as: Clown costume/mask, music and the balloon.
• Scenery: We filmed outside which was effective as it was dark and gloomy which showed the conventions of 'scary' in a horror film. 
• The lighting as good as it was clear to make out what happened in each scene. 
  Even better if:
• In some scenes you can't hear the characters speaking, the sound is not clear therefore we will add voice overs to make it clear to the audience what they are talking about. 
• The fighting scene of Hammad and The Clown - this scene needs to change as it takes away the conventions of a horror film. There are a few scenes that jump and don't follow each other from the previous scenes. 
• When Myles pops the balloon, we should put a pin in between his hands so that it is not obvious that he is popping it. 
• Every scene that the clown appears in, we shouldn't reveal too much, instead of the showing the full character, we are going to show different bits of the costume so that we can build suspense for the audience. 
• Remove the sound of VJ saying 'go' before each scene. 
• We are also going to change the scene when Hammad is ringing and getting into the taxi as it doesn't really make sense. Instead - he will be breaking into a car that is parked on the side.
  New Film Plan - From the feedback we received from our teachers further filming will need to take place. The scenes that will be re shot are the last scene of Hammad entering the taxi and here we are planning to implement a further story line. The second scene that will need to be shot is the clown’s actions. This is because from our feedback the clown was shown too early and therefore was not as successful as thought. By having shots and camera movement of the clown these will be discrete and can be easily edited in to the film. The people required on the day will be Jogesh as he is the clown in the film, Hammad as his scene is the one which will be revisited and Vijender as he is equally responsible with Jogesh in Camera angles/Editing. The duration of this process shall only take 45 minutes maximum as the clowns acting will take 5 minutes. By Hammad’s car scene taking place again several car shots and head movements will take time and planning therefore 30—45 minutes is sufficient enough. The props needed will be the Clown’s full outfit, machete and the borrowed car of Chris (external friend)

First Draft of Horror Film