Audience Feedback Handout

If we were allocated more time, I would ask for feedback from my audience and take their criticisms into consideration. Below is a handout I would use if we were to do this.

Our Finished Film Opening

The Editing Process

Of our group, I was the one who edited our film opening. Along with putting the clips together, there were also certain things I had to fix and alter.

Something I had to change was the perspective of certain clips when the 180 degree rule hadn't always been followed properly. To do this, I used the 'Flop' setting in Final Cut Express. This flipped the video and helped massively in the continuity of our opening.

"Flopping" the Clip

On all of the clips I used in the opening, I added a 'colour correction' filter. I pulled the "whites" bar down to make the clip look darker and also desaturated certain clips that were too vibrant. This was very effective in adding a certain mood to our opening as it immediately made it look much creepier.

Colour Correction

Below is a before and after shot of one of the clips I desaturated. This made the clip look much moodier and suits the horror genre a lot better.

Desaturating the Clips

As you can see, the colour correction made a profound impact on the overall tone and atmosphere of our film opening. The filter made the clips much gloomier and made the genre of our film more apparent. 

I also slowed down a few clips of my film opening, by using the 'Modify' tab in Final Cut Express. 

Modifying the Speed

Below are two gifs to demonstrate the different speeds before and after editing. I think slowing the clip down helps maintain the dramatic atmosphere and also builds tension. This also meant that our clips fit much better with the type of soundtrack we wanted to use. 

Before

After

Props & Costume Prep

Before we can begin filming, we need to establish what our characters will wear and any other props we may need.

Costumes

Our Protagonist

In films of all genres, colour is an important factor in portraying the message you want. Because of this, we looked into different colour meanings and then decided what colour would best fit our protagonist. I went onto this website and researched different colours. Upon research, I found that white symbolises "purity and innocence". The colour white is personified by our protagonist as she is exactly that - innocent. Further reading informed me that the colour white also offers "a sense of peace and calm". This will create a sense of irony and leave the audience paranoid of their own security.

To fit the image of our protagonist being innocent and feminine, we have decided that Ellie will wear a white dress in our film. This will subtly infer her naivety to the audience and make it apparent that she is the victim.

Our Antagonist

We decided to carry through the theme of symbollic colours into our antagonist. When researching horror films, I found that black is a colour that is typical of the horror genre. I then searched the meaning of the colour black and found that it symbolises "the hidden, the secretive and the unknown". This suits our film opening very well as we don't ever see the antagonist very clearly, creating an air of mystery. The antagonist's motives also remain unknown which further emphasises the secretive nature of the colour black. I also found that, in colour psychology, black represents "power and control". This is very similar to our antagonist as she holds a lot of power over our protagonist during the attack. We will also be using an upwards angle to emphasise the power our antagonist has.

To emphasise the characteristics we want present in our antagonist, we have decided to dress Kayleigh in all black. The dark colour will reflect the character's dark nature.

Props

Our Protagonist

To strengthen the idea of our protagonist being vulnerable, she will wear earphones. This shows her obliviousness to her surroundings and makes it apparent that she is an easy victim. The audience may feel sympathetic towards her as she does not have any idea there is somebody watching her until it's too late. The obliviousness caused by earphones is relatable to our target audience, young people, as they stereotypically wear earphones a lot while in public. This may strike a chord with our target audience and create paranoia as they worry what may happen to them. Creating paranoia by using everyday situations is very effective and is also typical of the horror genre. It ensures that the film sticks with the audience so that it is not easily forgettable.

We will also need to use fake blood and make-up to create the impression that she has been attacked. We will buy a small bottle of fake blood and we will use the make up that Nicole already has.

 

Our Antagonist

Our antagonist will need a weapon of some kind during the attack. We brain stormed and, again, agreed that we should use something that is typical of everyday life. This meant that we did not want anything too extreme, like a gun. Instead, we decided on a large pair of scissors as this was much safer than something like a knife but still looks threatening.

Casting

Our Protagonist

We decided to cast Ellie Horne as the protagonist of our film as she fits the image we wanted to achieve. We wanted our protagonist to look feminine and innocent, which is further emphasised by the outfits we chose for her. Ellie conforms with the characteristics of typical victims in horror films; she is blonde, petite and, in this scene, alone. Although Ellie does not have any acting experience, we believe it is more important to have an actress who fits with the conventions of horror films to make it apparent to our target audience.

Our Antagonist

Kayleigh Roberts played the part of the antagonist in our film opening. She seemed to be a good candidate as she enjoys participating in drama and was very enthusiastic to take part. The antagonists of horror films don't always have a distinguishable appearance as they once were "regular people". However, we decided to portray the contrast between Kayleigh and Ellie in terms of outfits. Kayleigh followed our brief perfectly and had an outfit which symbolised her character's evil personality. This was very convenient as it meant that we did not have to buy any costumes.