Final Film

This is the final version of our film.

Film Evaluation - Audience feedback

There has been a large amount of positive feedback on the finished film, with most of it coming in the form of comment on the YouTube page. Most of which highlight the use of sound, editing and there is also a large amount of praise for the opening of the extract containing the titles. All comments for the video are listed below.



The one point of opinion clash in the comments is the use of lighting throughout the film. Where 'TheJackCasey' mentions getting caught up in the lighting, it gives a positive view of the use of lighting, which is a contrasting view to 'taylor1n' who says that at times, the lighting is a little too dark. This will be an area of film that I will need to improve on if i make films in future, allowing darkness to still be present, but make sure all action is visible if intended.

Film Evaluation - Looking back at the preliminary task, what has been learn from the progression of it to the full product?

We've also learnt about a number of new types of software, such as Livetype and Final Cut Pro, which have improved the quality of the film significantly from when I shot my preliminary film. The effects that were available in Final Cut Pro were extremely useful in the first film, and not really required in the second film (apart from increasing the lightness of one scene which was deemed to be too dark originally). In the first film the main tool we used was 'Colour Corrector', to first slightly desaturated the colour in the image, and then change the different colour levels t create a darkness effect, and then finally but a slight blue tinge on the final product to make it appear that the film was set during night time. A screen shot of the night time effect in use can be seen below.

The effect created was not the most convincing night look, so therefore we decided to leave that idea, as it was too ambitious, and try and create a better quality film.

Film Evaluation - Audience statistics

The audience we expected for this film was of mostly males aged 15 - 30, with a specific occupation or segmentation. Youtube, where the film was uploaded for public viewing, allows the user to see the demographics of the people who have have accounts and have seen the film. The statistics are as follows.

These demographic statistics from youtube fistly show an expected male dominance in the viewing figures of the film opening, with 80% of the viewers being male, and the expected lower female figures of only 20%.

The age demographics are also very reassuring for our film are also very reassuring when it comes to the expected target audience. 70% of viewers fell within the 13-17 age group, the upper half of which is an area we are targeting, and a total of over 90% of viewers fall between the ages of 13-34, almost the very age range that we stated in our planning.

Film Evaluation - What has been learnt about technologies through the process of making the films?

The process of making the film has given me an insight into the importance of planning time, work and duties when working in a team.
Working as part of a pair means that there are more ideas for the actual film, and there is a better creative input. Because we ended up doing two film shoots instead of one, the second shoot ran a lot more smoothly than first time round, and planning from the first to the second shoot was greatly improved.
Working in a team meant that the tasks on shoot and planning before hand could be split up and we could both take specialist roles, and there were also a lot more props and pieces of equipment available for use. For example, I personally provided the camera on each shoot, whereas Harry provided the tripod on both occasions. It was advantages like this which meant that we didn't have to rely on renting school equipment or returning it late.

Film Evaluation - What has been learnt through the progression to the main film?

The original preliminary film i made was very hastily done, and the editing was of a low standard, using very few shots and only one type of cut between shots. However i believe that the final film was of a much higher quality, with a larger range of cuts, more creative shots and more time was spent on the editing in it.

With the final film we realized that it would have to look as professional as possible, therefore we pushed the boundaries of the limitations of our film. Examples of this include the shot from behind the knife block, and the range of high angle 'surveillance' shots that we attempted to create, which took a large amount of time and planning to pull off.

Film Evaluation - What has been leant through the process of making the films?

A lot of film tricks and theory has been learnt through the process of making this film. Before i was unaware of the importance of lighting a set correctly, and it required a lot of experimentation on set and with different types of lighting to get the scene lit correctly. There were many occasions where lighting had to be tested with a number of different levels, to create the dead of night effect we wanted. The final effect of the lighting changes in one of the last shots covers half of the main actress' face in darkness, and creates a large shadow behind the door.

The other lighting trick learnt was the use of smaller more compact lights to illuminate a certain area of the set. One light was transported round the house as we shot the second attempt at the film, and the effects of it in both scenes can be seen below.

Both these shots contained the same lighting, it is clearly visible in the first shot as it is a bedroom sidelight, however it would look very out of place in a kitchen and was therefore hidden from view from the camera.

Film Evaluation - How to attract/address the target audience?

The audience is immediately drawn in to the opening film with the use of an actress of the same age as the target audience, which will appeal in different ways to both genders within in the target audience. An attractive female lead is often used in horror films to attract young male viewers, as a stereotypical view of male viewers is that they often go along to films simply to see an attractive female lead. Young female viewers would also be able to relate to this character, being their age and living the lifestyle of the attempted target audience.
There is also room for everyone who watches the extract to relate in some way to it, due to the realistic setting of the film, especially for the English audience. The shot in the bedroom depicts a number of objects that many people could relate to as things they would also like. The ipod on the bedside table could be described as a representation of both a generation and the decade, allowing many people watching to relate to the room and the item. The same could be said about the posters seen around the room, which were unintentional when it came to attracting an audience, but may help with attracting part of the target age group.

Film Evaluation - How to attract/address the target audience?

As to advertising the film, low budget advertising methods should be used, with a focus on advertising to younger generations and in modern mediums. Internet or 'viral' advertising should be at the forefront of the campaign, utilizing websites such as youtube and facebook to spread the word of the film to a wider audience. To illustrate the uses of these mediums, i shall use screen shots of the new 'Nightmare on Elm Street' film's advertising.

Youtube should contain either a specific page for the film, or have the trailers for it on the host page of the production/distribution company. This is a free medium for distribution and is an extremely cost effective method of getting the film known by its target audience. The search shows that there are many videos with the latest trailer, and even a promoted video by the production company, which has recieved over 5,000 views in 2 weeks.

Another more recent medium of promotion is Facebook, and more precisely, creating a 'fan page' for the film. This fan page is then 'liked' by people who are interested, and this information is shown to that person's friends. This allows a quick spread of information, possibly around people with similar interests, and gives those people more information on the film, including release dates about the actual picture, competitions and merchandise.

The shot above shows the Facebook fan page for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' where fans can see photos, the release date of the film, reviews and discussions about the film. This is also a very cost effective way of marketing the film, however its not full proof when it comes to targeting a large number of people.

Film Evaluation - Who would be the audience for this film?

Due to the Content of the film, and in compliance with the BBFC, the film 'Disturbance' should be rated as 15.
The opening sequence of the film only contains a small amount of Horror, and no violence. However, there is a lot more violence implied at the end of the extract and the fact that both characters are holding kitchen knives is not a good message to send out to younger viewers. It states in the BBFC classification that 'Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised' . The collection of the knives would not be seen as weapons easily accessible and more as self defence, conforming with the rating of '15' from the BBFC system.

Film Evaluation - Who would be the audience for this film?

This is one of my class mates, Tom Vella. Tom is 17 years old, does AS level media studies and has a part time job on some weekdays. He is currently attending his secondary school's 6th form, with aims to get good A level grades, and then plans to continue on to a well respected university.

Tom's hobbies include biking, computer games, creating artistic drawings, and most importantly watching a wide range of films. Some of his favourites include 28 days later, 28 weeks later and dawn of the dead, all from the genre of horror.

As Tom has a part time job and no rent or mortgage to pay, he enjoys a disposable income, which is spent on either games or movies. This is the type of person that our film is aimed at, it does not mean that the film will not be accessable for anyone else, but it is people with these kinds of interests that the film promotion and advertising would be aimed at. This would mean advertising in publications for younger people, such as sports and gaming magazines.

Film Evaluation - Who would be the audience for this film?

The typical person we would expect to target with this film would be:

Sex - Male (stereotypically, males would be more attracted to the horror genre, however females would not be ignored)
Age - 15-30
Family Type - No family of their own/very young child with no film interest
Income - UK Average, some disposable income/NA if still at school
Occupation - First or second job, lover levels/NA if still at school
Education - 6th Form school/College
Ethnicity - All Targeted
Religion - All Targeted
Economic Group - Classes B/C, aspirational youngsters

Film Evaluation - How does the film represent particular social groups?

The main antagonist in the film, the man dressed in a suit with black hair, is representative of a seemingly well off man, with an apprarent psycopathic nature. The character is meant to be someone who would be passable on the street without people taking a second glance at them. The character profile is meant to be representative of a man with an office job and a stressful life, which would lead to the split personality.



In the film his suit appears to be open necked and with an untucked shirt. This gives the impression of someone who wishes to break free from the world that they live in and we believe was represented well in the makeup of the character.



We believe the character portrays either a high class business man, or a man in a managing role, who has a 9 to 5 job and has a stressful life. This may appeal to an audience of older working males, who may be able to relate with the character's normal lifestyle.

Film Evaluation - What type of media institution may distribute the product and why?

Due to the genre and story line behind this film, it would not be the type of film to be distributed by a major hollywood film company. There is a smaller US prduction company called 'Twisted Pictures', who are behind the production of the saw franchise amongst others, who we believe would be the type of company to take this film and distribute it.



Twisted pictures are a well known company within the horror genre due to their sucess with a certain film franchise, and therefore our product would have the brand name backing. Also, this production have no fear when it comes to backing films that some people may be opposed to, such as the Saw film franchise. It has also had previous experience with low budget films, being associated with the original saw film, made on a budget of $1.2 million, and also the original 9 minute short film idea (now called Saw 0.5) which was the pitch for the rest of the series.

Film Evaluation - In what was does the film use, develop or challenge conventions of real films?

The production style in this modern horror film means it contains a lot of darkness and a lot of shadows over the character's faces. This style is often associated with Gothic horror, supernatural horror and slasher films. Although our film could be described as a slasher film with the opening sequence being scripted and shot with the victim getting in trouble, it bears no resemblance to either gothic or supernatural horror films. This is where it develops the conventions and applies the common assets of one type of horror film and implements them in a very different type within the same genre.

The two shots above show the use of lighting in the film 'Jeepers Creepers' (2001), where the daylight shot of the character shows very little wrong with the situation, and then the shot in darkness shows the sinister nature of the supernatural character. The darkness in this case is used to hide some of the facial features of the main character, wheres in our film it is used to provide cover for the main antagonist to hide in.