Evaluation

                                    Reflective Analysis

            The original aim of my creative project was to plan and make a short film using the conventions of the psychological horror genre. I also had to record the process on a blog. Before beginning my project, I worked on researching the genre I had chosen. One of the most important factors used in the psychological horror genre is the use of creating tension and horror through showing little, if any gore or violence throughout the film and if it does, it will be shown usually towards the end. Instead, the director chooses to play on the emotions of the audience, exploiting their fears through the use of the micro elements of film, predominantly sound and editing. An example of this is Psycho (Hitchcock, USA, 1960) in the scene where protagonist Lila Crane is murdered in the shower. Rather than showing her death, it is implied through quick cuts and high pitched non-diegetic sound to create the effect of frenzied stabbing.  Another example, though it is a psychological thriller rather than a psychological horror, is Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski, USA, 1968) which works by creating tension and suspense throughout the film without revealing the evil until the very end.

            As I planned for my project, I looked at other films of the same genre, particularly those that used handheld footage - The Blair Witch Project (Myriack/Sanchez, USA, 1999) and Paranormal Activity (Peli, USA, 2009) for example. I found that films that used this type of camera work had the effect of making the film seem much more personal to the audience and that they add a more realistic quality. I also wanted to use the contrast of traditional, "normal" footage in my film, to help the narrative and character development - it would help the audience to see this difference - what the protagonists would act like away from the video camera they are filming with. The next stage of planning consisted of choosing a plot, characters and a location for my film. I decided that I would stick to a simple idea of a group of young people venturing into the woods to carry out a research project. Although this is a cliché concept, I couldn’t have a narrative that was too complicated, so I chose a plot that my audience would be familiar with and set about creating a synopsis, which I included on my blog. I knew I needed something believable but that also offered the isolation of the protagonists that the psychological horror needs to work. I decided that the protagonists would then be picked off one by one (the element of keeping the antagonist hidden would be incorporated here). Originally I was going to have four protagonists in my film but I revised this as it would have been too difficult to keep them all relevant to the narrative whilst keeping the film to five minutes in length. Another convention of psychological horror is to include evil that hides behind normality - I decided I would choose for my antagonist to be someone the students originally go to for help when carrying out their research. My next step was to create a storyboard to illustrate my ideas and I then progressed by photographing different locations for my films, experimenting with different camera shots – Dutch angles, close-up’s, long shots, as well as the use of colour and lighting. I included some of these photos on my blog so that I could make reference to them when filming footage. For my location I settled on somewhere with easy access, as well as transporting equipment needed for filming. I was also aware that I would more than likely have to do re-shoots of footage, so it made sense to choose a location nearby. I also had to work on the mise-en-scene of my film. The costumes of my protagonists had to reflect what they were in the woods for. As they were carrying out research for a project at college, they had to be wearing suitable clothing - coats, jeans, boots for example and to have equipment with them that they would need for this research such as notepads to record their findings. I also wanted their clothing to fit reflect the surroundings - neutral colours such as greens, browns, blues and greys were used. This was in contrast to the antagonist that was to be dressed in blacks and greys. Also to create meaning I used the colour red - on one of the protagonist Lily's jacket and the gloves of hers they find after she is the first to go missing. Red can also be seen when the protagonists first get to their location as there are logs on the forest floor that have been covered in red spray paint. I used red to connote danger and foreboding.

            When it came to the filming of my footage, I had to plan what camera angles I would use. For example, when the main protagonist, Ruby, is filming the hand held footage I was aware that I needed to make it look “amateurish” but also to add a sense of chaos and confusion. However, I also knew that I needed to keep the audience engaged, so that’s where I contrasted it with the "normal" footage. I used Dutch angles - another convention of psychological horror - to create a sense of confusion and bewilderment. This links back to the aims of my project – to create a short film using the conventions of the psychological horror genre. I believe this is used most effectively at the end of my film when the main protagonist Ruby is trying to escape the killer. She has tried to escape him by running away through the woods and has reached the clearing the protagonists were in at the beginning of the film. She takes the camera out of her back and sets it up on the log beside her, which acts as a point of view insight into what is going on. The camera is based at a low-angle, allowing the audience to see only what she can. Through the camera angles I used, I wanted the audience to have a connection with the characters. I used the hand-held footage to add a more realistic element to my film. Also, in the montage sequence I chose to film this from Ruby’s point of view, again adding a more personal element. In the scene where the protagonists leave the camera behind whilst walking into the woods, I deliberately wanted this to appear voyeuristic, as if the audience is looking in on the scene. This was supposed to have worked better when the antagonist was to walk past the camera, but I was enable to re-shoot this due to the change in my location.

            I chose to take on the role of Ruby in my film as she is the one filming the handheld footage. I believed that it would be best for me to do this as I knew what shots I needed and how I wanted the footage to be filmed. However, I acted as director when it came to the normal footage. As I was acting as the main protagonist, I chose one of my classmates to film this footage - I knew that they would have the understanding of what camera shots I wanted to use and how they would work effectively when being transferred from my storyboard to filming.

            When it came to editing my footage I chose to use effects typically used in psychological horrors such as fades and continuous shots. However, I did not use any extreme close-up's or sharp cuts that would also have added meaning, building up tension and suspense, something which I should have done. I also encountered a problem with re-shooting. As I had shot footage in the September, the woods where I had filmed quickly changed so much so that it would effect continuity too much if I chosen to re-shoot any key scenes. I did manage to get a few shots that I used in the montage sequence towards the end of the film, but I was unable to change one of my scenes. The scene I needed to re-shoot was when the protagonists venture off into the woods and the camera is left in the clearing. I originally planned for the antagonist to cut across the sequence, building up suspense, but I was unable to do so.

            Instead I relied on non-diegetic for this shot, something which is important in any horror film, not just psychological horror. Little editing was needed on my handheld footage as this had to appear “amateurish,” something which I wouldn’t have been able to achieve if I had edited it too much. Therefore, I worked on the sound to create meaning in my contrasting footage. Non-diegetic sound was added subtly to several parts of my handheld footage, especially in the scene where the protagonists have left the camera behind when they go into the woods. Non-diegetic sound was also added to the normal footage to create tension, especially towards the latter part of the film where the suspense is heightened. I wanted to add the music subtly and gradually increase the volume, again to create tension. I thought that if the music I added was unnecessarily dramatic or exaggerated , it would take away from the tension. The montage I put together is point of view footage, so I needed sound to compliment this. I chose a calm heartbeat to accompany the footage, contrasting to the emotions of the protagonist as she is trying to outrun the killer.

            The final stage of my project included gathering an audience response. I did this by designing a questionnaire for my audience to fill in after they had watched my film and I asked 3 males and 3 females. I designed my questionnaire so that the responses of my audience would allow me to see if I had achieved the aims of my film. For example, one question was “would you say the narrative is easy to follow?” Several of my questions were yes and no answers and others were designed so that my audience could make their own comments. For example, I asked what the effect of the film had and “would you say the film held your attention through its entirety?” I also asked what the audience believed the age group for my film was, as this was one of the key aims of my film. All responses said that they thought it was aimed at 16+, which was my intended audience. All said that they could follow the narrative of my film and that there were no elements to it that they could not understand. However, one candidate had written that they found the beginning of my film lacked interest and another said that they expected the killer to be shown more, both of which I agree on. All said that they could understand the narrative and that it fits in with the conventions of the psychological horror genre. All 6 said that the target audience was teenagers, with 2 saying specifically 16+ due to the horror elements.

            In all I believe that my film worked in meeting the needs of my target audience of 16-24 year olds - primarily because actors in that age group were used and the situation that they are in - carrying out research for a college project -  is something they can also relate to. I also believe I used the stylistics well through looking at the conventions of psychological horror. I believe the non-diegetic sound creates tension and suspense when related to the editing and camera angles I have used – Dutch angles point-of-view shots all add to the effect. I think that I could have improved my film, especially when looking at my audience feedback, as all six of my questionnaire’s stated that they thought the middle lacked interest. However, I do think that I reached the aims of my project, of creating a short film using conventions of the psychological horror genre.