Target Audience

Since this is my first horror film opening, I did research on the type of audience that watches these films and the information I got is going to help me understand what they want to see in horror films which will ultimately help improve the opening of the film with these people in mind. In addition, this will also help me formulate my answer for one of the questions in the CCR.

Age: Although older audiences may sometimes be drawn to horror films, teens and young adults are generally the target audience. Teenagers and young adults are often drawn to the excitement, adrenaline rush, and thrill that horror film offer. They might also 

Gender: Now there is a balanced gender distribution in horror audiences. But males gravitate more to slasher films while females are more into supernatural horror or psychological thrillers. 

Location: Horror films are popular around in many regions around the world, but preferences may vary based on geographic location. Preferences for horror themes and styles may vary depending on one's culture. For example in the United States has a variety of subgenres from supernatural thrillers to slasher films, while in Asian horror films they tend to include elements of folklore, like ghost stories. 

Education and income: People from different backgrounds and education levels watch horror films. People might think that your income and education play a factor in the types of movies they watch but it actually doesn't have to do with anything. Anyone could be a fan of horror films.

Interests: This audience enjoys the suspense and the feeling of not knowing what will happen next. It's like going on a roller coaster ride, where they get an adrenaline rush. The target audience enjoy the special effects and creepy monsters ore creatures in horror films. Others also like these films because they are curious about scary things and they find it exciting to see how the characters in the films deal with fear and scary situations. Moreover, another reason why people watch horror films is because it has a cathartic release where they can immerse themselves in a fictional world where the can experience fear and other intense emotions in a controlled environment.

 

Editing Research

Editing scary movies requires precise timing to create effective jump scares and maintain tension throughout the film. Editors must know when to cut to heighten suspense or reveal frightening images. Balancing the release of tension while keeping the story engaging is crucial. Since I don’t have any experience editing horror films I did research online and found an article with techniques of how to edit horror films called “Editing for horror: creating suspense and dread through post-production” and I also found a blog in Filmstro called “ Horror Movie Editing: how to add the scare factor in your film” I will be using these techniques to edit my horror film.

The speed of how scenes change in the movie controls the feeling you get while watching it. I will be deciding when to make things tense and when to give the audience a break with calmer scenes. Additionally, I will be adjusting the speed of cuts so I can manipulate the duration and intensity of scary moments. A slower pace makes the audience feel uneasy, while fast cuts make things feal chaotic and scary. I will also use pacing of the scenes at the beginning to set the mood with suspense and tension, making the whole movie more exciting to watch.

In creating a tense atmosphere for horror films, focusing on the background is crucial. I will be using movement and details in the background to create a sense of immediate danger, increasing suspense and creating anticipation. With this technique I plan to engage the audience by allowing them to perceive something the characters haven't yet noticed, intensifying the viewing experience and eliciting audible reactions from viewers.

Additionally, selecting the right music is important for setting the mood in tense or terrifying scenes. I will be choosing a background score that enhances the impact of memorable cinematic moments, increasing tension and suspense. Music serves to build anticipation and enhance the overall sense of fear. I might use silence also because it is a powerful tool for creating chilling atmospheres when used strategically.

Ultimately, the editing process shapes the emotional impact of the story, determining the audience's connection to the film. I will pay great attention to detail, to ensure that my horror film opening delivers its intended effect during the killing scene of Dan.

Filming Day #3

This is taking a lot longer than I expected. But we are almost there. We just finished filming the scenes of the hangout and we had to redo some of the shots that we completed in the previous days of filming. The reason why we had to make some changes is because in one of the shots that we had included a new character was not able to show up. Therefore, we just decided to get rid of that shot and replace it with another, but this time it will be in another location before we were on the sofa that was outside and this time it will be us getting drunk in the jacuzzi next to the pool. This means that we will use the sofa location for another shot.

Before:

After:

From left to right (Rui, Reeves, Me)

I also decided to change the reason why we leave. Therefore instead of having the characters leave during the night while they are still drunk, they will pass out due to being drunk and wake up the next morning. When the wake up hang over the then decide to leave a go back home. I decided to change this because both of us do not have time to film during the night since we have to wake up early due to our schedules. Below is the shot of us passed out. I changed the shot of us being drunk on the sofa to the jacuzzi. Therefore, we decided to use the location for us being passed out.

Another thing in the future that I decided to change is the location and of how the character will be killed by the serial killer. Instead of Dan being killed in his own house I decided to make the killing in a forest to make the setting more spooky and creepy. Reeves came up with this idea because he goes there every so often with his friends and he said that he has found and heard creepy things when he and his friends were in the forest. Filming in this location is also more reasonable now because we will be filming during the day for the killing scene. It would be to dark and dangerous if we filmed at night. One thing we don't plan on changing is the serial killer. His friend will still be the serial killer as a matter of fact he says that he will drive him home but actually lures him to the forest to attack him.

 

Filming Day #2

 3/17

Yesterday was the second day of filming. Let's goooo! Unfortunately, though we had to start all over again because one of the cast members who was in the previous day of filming was not able to show up because he had to do a big project for another class. Therefore, it was just me, Reeves, Rui, and the cameraman Luke. My brother was the one who could not show up. This did not stop us though we had to work with what was available. We decided to begin from the beginning with just three people hanging out at a friend's house. 

Something good from this video is that my partner Reeves was able to get a stand for the phone. This was very helpful throughout the filming because it really helped the cameraman keep the phone stable. Once we got everything like the plastic cups, the deck of cards, and the golf balls then we started shooting. The first shots we did were of us playing with a deck of cards then it moved to us playing cup pong with the golf ball. Afterward, a friend of Rui (Jordan) showed up at Reeves's house so then we thought maybe we could include him in the opening to make it seem like the hangout is more full of people. Jordan is also experienced with photography so he also gave us some tips for the movement of the camera and lighting of the film. For example, we have these big lights that we brought outside to make the image in the camera brighter so that we could see clearly what was going on in the shots. Well Jordan said that those lights were great but it was too bright for the camera so he suggested to block some of the light with something black. We decided to block it with a black computer case since that was the only thing we could find. 

We did not finish filming all the hangout scenes but I am confident with what we completed. So later today we plan on filming during the day so stay tuned for the next blog because we have decided on changing a few things. The reason we are making some changes is because we have realized that we need more time during the day to work on this project. After all, we are staying up too late working on it and we most of the crew has to wake up early to do other things. Therefore we believe that this works better with our schedules. Yesterday I realized that not everything goes as planned so you have to work around it and find solutions to make things work. 

Creative Critical Reflection

3/16

This Tuesday was eye-opening. Merely because in my AICE Media class we got news that the Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) was 20/50 points. For CCR each group member has to create at least two different media products that in total answer four questions on the planning of the production and the final product. During class, we saw past presentations which I thought was very helpful since it allowed me to see what the CCRs are supposed to look like. In addition, we also discussed how we could improve each one of the projects. At first I was a bit confused on why some of the CCR needed some improvement because I thought that they were pretty good until I realized that I had to include a lot more things than I expected. We need to try to make the presentation engaging.

An important aspect that I took from Tuesday's lecture is to not have a talking head. Meaning that I should not show myself speaking in front of the Camera for the entire time I answer the question. Things that I could do to prevent this is to include inserts of the specific thing that I am referring to in my questions. Another important detail that I need to keep in mind is to create a script for the answers to the questions, so that I have an idea of what I am supposed to say and not just wing it. Furthermore, I found out that we also need to include music and more camera movement to make the video more engaging. I'm guessing that the Cambridge graders get bored of watching various videos of people just talking in front of the camera for the entirety of the CCR. Don't worry Cambridge I will try my best to make my CCR engaging. Lastly, the other important thing that I have to incorporate is research, which I have already done in my previous posts therefore I will just grab info from my research blogs and include them in my answers. 

Below are the notes that I took from the lecture in class.  

The media products that I will be creating are the director commentary and the other will either be the presentation with a voiceover or a talk show. Another option is to create an interview like 73 questions from Vogue. Moreover, since this part of the project is worth many points I have to dedicate a good amount of time to creating an engaging and creative video for Cambridge. To do this I will have to include music, inserts, and research.

As of now, I am focused more on the filming but as soon as I finish filming, which I will be doing later today, then I we bring all my attention to creating two CCR products.

Props

3/15

Today I will be discussing the different props that my partner, Reeves, and I will be using for our production. 

We will be using plastic red cups to illustrate that the characters are drinking alcohol. To further illustrate that our characters are drinking alcohol is using a brown paper bag with a bottle inside that contains any type of liquid that isn't actually alcohol. Only one of the characters will be holding a paper bag because I feel like it will look weird if everybody was holding a bottle of wine or champagne. Therefore the person that will be holding the paper bag with the bottle will be pouring the drink into the red cups that everybody else is holding.

Moreover, we will also be using golf balls for the shots where the characters are playing cup pong. "What golf balls?" you may be asking. We weren't able to get pong balls for the cup pong game so we decided to use golf balls since they are the closest thing that looks like pong balls and Reeves so happens to have hundreds of them because he plays golf. The only problem with this is that the golf balls knock down the cups easily when thrown so water will be going everywhere. Therefore, we have to try to shoot this shot in one scene because the ping pong table and the characters clothes will end up looking wet for the other shots. We will also leave this shot for last.

Another prop that we will be incorporating in the hang out scene is a deck of cards. The deck of cards are so common when hanging out with friends that we had to include it so that our viewers can feel a sense of relatability. We will show this prop by making a shot of the group of friends sitting together and playing a card game. I also plan of using the deck of cards to create a graphic match to emphasize a time skip of everybody being too drunk and tired.

Now for the scene of the murdering we will use a gold club as a weapon to attack Dan. We will also use a knife at the very end of the film opening when the serial killer kills Dan. No we are not going to use any type of blood for this scene. Why? Well because we thought to take a different approach of making the audience hooked. Instead we are just going to have a shot in the complete darkness of Dan screaming to illustrate that he has been stabbed by the knife. This will have the audience hooked to watch more because it creates a sense of curiosity to know why he was screaming or how was he killed. Therefore it will also make the audience think and use their imagination, which is a way to keep the audience engaged.

First day of shooting

3/10

Finally! We have begun filming. I have been waiting for this moment because this is the fun part of the project. 

We decided to have more of a hang-out between a group of four friends instead of having a party because it is easier to control a smaller group of people. Therefore, the serial killer is going to be me, the person on the right with the black shirt, and the victim is Reeves. My brother and a friend of Reeves (Rui) played as the friends of Dan and the serial killer. In the picture below Rui is the person on the very left and my brother is between Reeves and myself.

It was a lot more time-consuming than I expected and we did not film as much as I wanted to. What we accomplished was that we filmed various shots of the group of friends fooling around at the hangout. For example, in the picture below is a shot of friends drinking alcohol and just hanging out. Other shots that we took were of us playing cup pong, cards, soccer, and basketball. So we pretty much just filmed the first couple seconds of the opening. 

A reason why we weren't able to complete everything we wanted was that we were honestly fooling around for around 30 to 50 minutes so we did waste some time there. Another reason we weren't able to finish all the scenes that were going to take place in Reeves's backyard was because we started too late. We started at 9:30 pm and out of nowhere it was 12 am midnight. This definitely won't happen again because now we know what to expect on how our days of filming will look. Therefore, we need to modify our schedules on the days of filming so that we can start earlier than last night. This is because this is the number one priority if we want our project to be developed well and on time. This isn't a problem though because now we know what to expect for the next days to come. From now on we will begin filming at around 7:00 pm therefore all cast members have to be by Reeves's house at 6:30 pm so that we can get everything ready and explain the roles to each cast member. Oh, and we have to stay disciplined and not fool around.