EVALUATION 15 - Use of Camera

 This was the first shot in our trailer of our protagonist. This is a mid shot of the girl, partially using the eye-line match technique with being at her level. This is an effective shot to use, as like a close up it is revealing the characters face (part of her face in this case) but also her body language and in some circumstances, the actions that are being made. This was a significant shot to open up with as it immediately sets the scene of the trailer/film of it being based in a house - in the bedroom. Also, this use of the mid shot is effective in revealing not only the character but also the surroundings; primarily in this shot, we are able to recognise the clock, making the audience aware of the time of events.

Here, we have used a low angle, mid shot. This shot was taken through a mirror reflection which we feel is an extremely effective way in capturing what is going on behind the camera. This could also be seen as a point of view shot of someone looking in the mirror, which makes the shot more significant as it creates quite an eerie atmosphere as to who is there; and also puts the audience in the characters perspective to show what they are seeing.

This shot is a slight close up of the young girl, captured from a high angle. Again, we thought this was an effective shot as again it provides the audience with a question; whether it is a point of view shot or not. This is a significant way to portray shots in a horror film as this adds and creates tension, making the audience more aware and engaged with situations - and this is the aim in a horror. This shot particularly portrays the innocence and vulnerability of the young girl as she is just a sleep, holding her teddy - significantly portraying the child that she is. 

These two shots are both presenting a point of view, which is effective to use in our trailer as a way of  conveying the horror genre. The idea of an eerie presence is effective in creating an intense atmosphere and is effective in making audiences engaged and on the edge of there seats - with expectations that something bad will happen. The shot on the left is particularly effective as it is a mirror shot, showing the reflection of the young girl - and it is further a constructive shot as showing the view from a characters perspective is engaging them a lot more and putting them in the shoes of the character, making them feel part of it and making them understand what they're seeing.

This shot was significant as it captured the moment that the toy dropped on the floor. The first shot on the left is a side-view relatively close yet still revealing the young girls body language. At this point of the shot, she screams and although it is not shown in the shot on the left - her actions reveal her drop it down. The shot following on from this is shown on the right which is a close up showing the toy on the floor and her feet. At this stage, we used the match-on-action editing technique. Match-on-action is a form of continuity editing. This editing technique involves cutting from one shot to another showing the same action however, through a different shot and/or angle. The action carrying through creates a bridge between the two which could possibly draw the audience attention away from the cutting.

These two shots were part of the montage at the end of our trailer and were both very fast-paced. The first image on the left is a point of view shot - again used to show the view from her perspective and viewing her own actions. The second shot here follows on from this and is a slightly angled shot showing the fast-paced writing of the young girl as she slams her head down. This shot was effective in revealing her actions as she essentially became possessed. The high-intensity of this shot was effective and conventional of both horrors and trailers in general - where they both involve fast-paced clips, but most importantly adds to the tension and fear of horrors.

This was another shot that was part of the montage at the end of our trailer. This is an effective shot - showing the point of view but also from the lower angle. In this situation, the angle could be shown to portray the power that this unknown character  has. Whilst the girl is screaming down and banging on the window - it engages the audience as it is not clear to them who is behind the camera and who isn't helping her in the situation. All of these thoughts that we aim for audiences to have are effective as it is a way of engaging them and making them more involved by the events that are occurring. This shot is also significant as it is a view from outside - looking up to the window, again showing how they are subservient to the character inside; portraying that idea of authority and power.

EVALUATION 14 - Comment on Influences

 In our planning, where did we take some inspiration from and how did this become realised in our final production. Include screenshots and analyse in detail.

The first film that stood out to us was The Grudge. The ideas and themes that we gained from this were the idea of using a young girl as the antagonist. In the film, the young girl is represented as a curse and this is something we were considering and we thought was effective. This kind of idea is most effective in subverting the typical expectations of a young child; expecting them to be quite innocent and vulnerable, however in a horror, then being portrayed as evil. A creepy, young girl is quite conventional of a horror which is important as, despite wanting to make the trailer original, we want to use some conventional ideas/techniques. Children are simply innocent and the more they stray from that, the more frightening it becomes for us. In our trailer we significantly portrayed the girl as being vulnerable and innocent from the start where she was shown in a home location, in her bedroom, asleep. Typically, the audience would get the sense of safety and security which is what we want them to think. By the end of our trailer, however, this representation changed where she was shown to have become possessed. And this is where we were inspired by 'The Grudge' whereby - we ended up incorporating an eerie young child to which audiences are confused by with her abnormally fast actions when writing and the fast-paced actions of her slamming her head down - all of which create tension and fear the audience as it is not what they would typically expect from a young girl.

The second influence on our production was from the film, The Visit. The idea we gained from this was from having an elderly women as the main antagonist in the film. This idea would be significantly effective through the fact that old people generally tend to be represented as sweet, innocent and vulnerable. Because of this typical representation of old people, if they were to be represented in the opposite light of that, in specifically our horror film, it is likely that the audience will be scared/shocked. In our trailer, the elderly women is an enigma - whereby she is not at any point throughout 'fully' revealed. The effect of this is that it engages the audience of being curious of who she is and what she is doing but it is also effective through having unexplained events and unanswered questions. The old women creates a ghost-like presence where she is there then shes not and this creates a suspicious atmosphere as audiences will not be sure of what is actually happening.

The next film that we gained ideas from was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The first influence from this film was the ideas for clothing for our young female character. In this specific film, all of the young children are dressed in white gowns/nighties. Significantly this gives a kind of old fashioned, historical context with the kind of clothing all of them are actually wearing. Usually, it is likely that white gowns/nighties are associated with night clothing, however in the image above, it is clear that it is not night time; therefore giving the old fashioned context with that being the clothing in previous years. In our trailer, we did not create this effect on the young girl where we chose to apply the stereotypical look of her wearing childish pyjamas. However, we created this kind-of old fashioned look on the old women whereby she is wearing a laced netted head scarf, along with the leather gloves- also stereotypical of an elderly women.

Our final inspiration film was Orphan. The young girl who is the main character in the film, alike with that being the case in our trailer, is presented in old fashioned, Victorian style clothing; yet again creating a historical context. This was effective in influencing the key area of mis-en-scene which is significant to consider in all film. We also picked out the idea of the young girl being based around a park location and being on a swing; significant through the fact that a park tends to be a natural setting for a young child. In association with the swing, the eerie diegetic sounds would be something that we have incorporated into our trailer and are most effective. For example, in our trailer where we used the eerie sound of the creaking door as the character's arm reaches out. This is effective as it creates the sense of realism where they are sounds that you would typically expect to hear but on top of the silent atmosphere; it creates much more tension and is much more eerie.

EVALUATION 13 - Presentation

Evaluation presentation- 

Focusing on our: Initial Ideas, Choice of Location, Strength's of our Production and Barriers that we had to overcome.

Evaluation feedback commenting on the use of sound, narrative, titles, editing and camera.

Evaluation Presentation

EVALUATION 12 - Audience Questionnaire and feedback

Create a questionnaire that asks our audience what they thought about narrative, characters, branding and use of technical skill in our production.

Above is our audience questionnaire which we conducted to find out what audiences thought about our trailer; focusing on the character representations, narrative, sound, etc.

Below shows the results from our audience questionnaire which we gave to 10 people of our specific target audience. The questionnaire was given to the audience prior to watching our trailer so that they knew to focus on these 8 key aspects throughout. Our first question focuses on the binary oppositions - which in our trailer was mostly the contrasting ages of the characters (as well as the good vs evil). The chart below shows how 90% of the audience believe that the incorporation of the binary oppositions were effective and this result is significant as the use of the contrasting ages was something that we wanted to make clear to audiences and was something that we thought was original and stood out compared to other films. The second question of our trailer focused on the narrative structure that we used and how we managed to make the trailer seem like a trailer. This was a key thing that we wanted audience feedback on as we used a linear/chronological narrative; whereby the scenes were in order of what happened, essentially creating a story rather than an actual trailer where we typically expect there to be a montage of events, all happening at random times. Therefore we tried to make this feel more like a trailer with the constant appearance of titles to break apart the continuity of events. The feedback we received from our target audience was positive where 80% said that we were successful in making it seem like a trailer. Question 3 was focusing on the effectiveness of incorporating enigma codes and whether audiences are kept engaged through the unanswered questions and events. The results show that 85% of the audience thought that it was effective and that they were kept engaged by the enigma codes throughout. This was the aim for us where we wanted audiences to feel a part of the film a bit more and we wanted them to be engaged through thinking about what is going to happen or make assumptions to which they will then be revealed to at a later stage. Question 4 is regarding the effectiveness of using fast-paced editing and we questioned audiences on how it specifically made them feel. The four options were 'frightened, shocked, confused and tense'. All four reactions to the fast-paced editing were what we would actually expect however we asked audiences this to find out what the overall effect of it was. The results show that 20% of the audience were frightened of the fast-paced editing which is an effect that you would typically expect a horror film to have on someone. It further shows how 10% of the audience were shocked by this which is positive feedback for us as we wanted the trailer to be overly conventional where audience would typically expect to see this editing and as a result would not be so shocked by it. 30% of the audience were confused by the editing which although is not expected, it is an effective reaction for us as we want audiences to feel confused by what is going on creating a more suspicious atmosphere, making them more engaged and curious as to what is going on. Lastly, 40% of the  audience felt 'tense' from viewing the fast-paced editing. We were pleased with this result, as the overall intention of using this fast-paced editing is to add suspense and create a tension atmosphere - to the build up of an event that is going to suddenly take place. Our fifth question focused on expectations of our representation of our protagonist (the young girl). We felt that it was important to get  feedback on how our characters were portrayed and whether or not it was what audiences expected. The results below show that 60% of the audiences expected the specific representation of our antagonist. This result is significant as we aimed to subvert the typical expectation near to the end of our trailer where her personality essentially turned. However, this was nearer to the end of our trailer and throughout we did portray her to be innocent and vulnerable as you would typically expect from a young girl. 40% of the audience, however, did not expect the young girl to be represented the way she was and this is an effective response for us as it makes us feel as if our trailer is much more original and stands out compared to others - through specifically subverting the expectations. Question 6 is continuing to focus on the representation of one of our characters, who is the antagonist (elderly women). The results show that 75% of the audience expected our antagonist to be represented the way she was as a kind-of eerie presence. The way we portrayed her was also as a hidden enigma where she wasn't actually fully revealed to audiences and the majority of the times that she was, it was in dark lighting making it much more suspicious for audiences. However, 25% of the audience did not expect this which is relatively surprising; the reason for this is that there is a positive representation of elderly characters where they can be caring and welcoming. Although this is not what you would expect in a horror as it is inevitably going to be negative with the aim of horrors to scare audiences. Question 7 focused on the effectiveness and the expectations of our use of sound. When incorporating sound, we aimed for it to be as conventional as possible however we wanted to make it effective and stand out to audiences. 90% of the audiences thought that the sound use was effective and conventional of a horror and this is positive feedback for us as we overcame many barriers with the sound where we ended up deleting all of the diegetic sound as the quality was not very clear. Therefore when having to add sound into our trailer, we wanted to make it as conventional and realistic as possible. So overall we are pleased that the  majority of the audience thought that it was effective and conventional of the horror genre. Our eighth question focuses on the mis-en-scene that we have incorporated into our trailer - and the effect that it had on representing our characters and whether or not things such as the location, conformed to their expectations. The results show that 80% of the audiences thought that our incorporation of mis-en-scene was effective in creating representation and that it was what they typically expected from the horror genre.

EVALUATION 11 - Codes and Conventions

How have we established genre across the three products? Use screenshots from each to show how we have indicated genre across our portfolio productions.

Horror films are typically designed to scare the audience as well as captivating and entertaining us. A few of the best places for a horror film would be abandoned houses, graveyards, woods, cabins, basements, etc. Camera shots are very expressive in horror films as they tightly frame characters emotion. Also, they use different sounds such as diegetic, which is things the characters can hear such as footsteps and trees rustling, and non-diegetic, which is things the characters cant here, such as a heartbeat. The target audience for horror films is often 15+, however most of the time they are 18. Reasons for this are sometimes because of swearing, sexual scenes, etc.

The location of a film is a significant indication of genre and is a part of Mis-en-scene that tends to set the scene of a film. Specifically in our trailer, we have used the home location. This is conventional of a horror where you typically expect to see a haunted house to which audiences may feel the relation where you should feel safe and secure in your home; however the aim of a horror is to subvert this assumption and as a result, scaring the audience. The codes that have been clearly conveyed in our trailer are the bedroom scene where the young girl was asleep; again conveying the idea of safety and security in your own home and own bedroom. The location that we have used in our trailer is effectively portrayed as in a horror, you would typically expect the house to be old and worn down for it to be perceived as haunted. However, the house that we have incorporated into our trailer is modern and this is portrayed through the floral wallpaper and the warm lighting creating the atmosphere of a welcoming home. On our magazine cover, we have followed the codes and conventions again with the location; presenting the 'top 10' horror locations, of which one is a haunted house to which we have conformed to and incorporated into our own trailer. 

Another way in which we feel like we have conveyed the horror genre (and followed conventions) is through the use of titles and title fonts. In our trailer, we have used titles throughout as a way of engaging the audience and making them feel a part of our trailer. The titles that we have used are specifically conventional of horrors whereby we have used direct address as a way of making the audiences involved but also to fear them. A specific title that we have used in our trailer is 'face your demons'; and here we have directly addressed the audience and have used the mythological term 'demons' which although is unrealistic; is something that you fear when watching a horror. 
The specific font that we have used in our trailer to display the name of our film is basic but effective with the background. The background and font of these credits have immediate connotations of  a horror with the dark, dull colours  and the faded edges - adding emphasis to the text in the centre. They partially portray an eerie and threatening atmosphere which is an important illusion to have in a horror. The black font on a white background is extremely prominent; the colours completely juxtapose one another... with black having connotations of fear, horror and power - in comparison white portrays the safety, security and purity of the film. We are also able to relate these colour connotations to our characters which is an effective way of creating representations. In our magazine cover we have used a bold red font to which is effective as it is prominent and therefore would stand our to audiences. This font is specifically a code of the horror genre with the red colour having connotations of blood and death - typical conventions of the horror genre - but also with the dropping affect on the 'M' creating the sense of death with the sharp edges.

We have followed the conventions of the horror genre in our trailer where we have incorporated the possessed scene of the young girl - similar to films such as Orphan - this is effective as it creates tension and fear for audiences; and could also make them confused but also more engaged as to wanting to find out what is going on. A convention that we have followed in this specific scene is the fast-paced editing; conventional of a horror and trailers in general, we expect to see alot of fast-paced movement and actions to create tension and fear. In this specific scene of the young girl being possessed, we used the time laps tool on the editing software to speed up the actions of the young girl as she wrote 'help me'. This specific edit made the young girls actions seem abnormal but intense and as a result engaging audiences. This fast-paced intensity is conventional of the horror genre and is effective in engaging but fearing audiences.

Another code that we incorporated as a way of conveying the horror genre was the lighting. We specifically filmed at night due to the scene that we were presenting of the young girl sleeping. Therefore, because of this, we focused a lot on the low-key lighting which gives more of a shadowy effect. This shadow created by the low-key lighting is most effective and conventional in horror films. We weren't able to use natural lighting (daylight) due to the time of day that we filmed so it was important that we used the low-key lighting effectively to convey the horror genre. The side-light that we used in our trailer as the light source is effective and conventional of a horror where it is dim and makes it more difficult to see the actions of the character or the events that may be occurring around it.
Another convention of a horror which we felt that we incorporated well into our trailer was the eerie presence of our antagonist - elderly women. The idea that we wanted to portray to audience was the kind-of  'shes there then shes not' effect. We felt like this portrayal was specifically conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we made this effective was through the match-on-action editing; whereby we filmed the women in the dark as the young girl approached, then used match-on-action as the young girl turned on the light again - to which the women disappeared. This effect of the ghostly presence is conventional of the horror genre and the way in which we have portrayed this in our trailer is most effective in confusing yet fearing audiences.