Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback Sheet

Questionnaire for A2 short film ‘Purgatory’

What is your gender? (Please circle)

Male                                                     Female

How old are you?

            16-18                           19-21                           22-24                           25+

Did you find the film to be eerie and atmospheric, Why?

Do you feel that paranoia is built throughout, how?

Do you feel that the cinematography emphasizes the scenes, how so?

Do you feel that the ending works as an unresolved cliff-hanger?

Overall, how would you rate my film out of 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, based on how effective is it for its genre. Why?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Any other comments or suggestions, positive criticism?

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire.

Evaluation

Jack Gallagher

Word count:1805

FM3: Creative Project

Film Evaluation: Purgatory

The FM3 creative project brief consisted of two options to choose from for my coursework:

- Create a short film, or

- Create a short sequence from an imagined film

The film had to be between 3-5 minutes in length and should be made using the filmic language I had learned in FM1, creating a concise narrative through the use of the stylistics, particularly cinematography. I also had to keep a blog of my weekly updates regarding the films progress, documenting the films creation process http://www.jackgallagher17.blogspot.com/

I decided to create a short film because the project would have a complete narrative containing a beginning and an end. I decided early that I wanted to create an eerie atmospheric film; this fell naturally more towards the horror genre, more specifically the psychological horror sub-genre. To make this type of film I researched the conventions of the horror genre and discovered the various traits they share regarding camera angles, framing, mise-en-scene, sound and editing. Most notably the psychological sub-genre often focus’s on atmosphere rather than shock value, I kept this in mind while making my film: the less the audience see the more their mind fills in the blanks, its not what they saw but what they think they saw, its because of this that I decided to show as little of my films antagonist as possible.

My aim for my short film was to build tension and create a sense of paranoia. Firstly I created the synopsis for my film: a rough outline for the narrative, I knew I wanted it to start slow and eerie, and then build tension until the last act of the film where a fast paced sequence would end on suspense. I also wanted the disturbance (Todorov narrative) to be that the body the boy finds will be of himself, adding further nightmarish and surreal aspects to the film. To emphasize the narratives suitably I needed to create a drawn storyboard and a Script/Screenplay of the film and find locations that would suit the purpose of the project, I used this to plan how each part of the film would be shot, using techniques within cinematography often used in the horror and thriller genres to make sure that the film language was used to convey the boy’s emotions (Protagonist), this is mirrored onto the mise-en-scene for which I found two suitable locations to shoot, isolated and narrow (as the boy is cornered in the end) . Most of the techniques I used for cinematography came from watching films of the same genre, researching on the internet and FM1 studies.

I wanted the film to contain no dialogue; I felt that the mise-en-scene (empty streets and alleys) would show clearly that the Boy was alone and trapped, this was useful in creating tension when the antagonist was watching him, so silence would add to the eeriness.

When I had a detailed storyboard drawn specifying how I wanted the scenes to be shot including other rough elements like sound, shot length and angles etc, I edited the individual frames into Windows Movie Maker to create an Animatic (an animated storyboard), using this I could work out a stripped down version of what my film could look like, working out the length of each shot and what was relevant and what wasn’t, helping me stay within the 5 minute time frame. I also looked at what effects I could use in certain places, although Movie Maker has basic video effects I used them to display how they could emphasize a shot E.G. film grain for the monsters POV shots.

For the films antagonist I wanted to show what it looked like but keep its exposure at a minimum to ensure it still stays ‘scary’, I aimed to do this by keeping to the film grain-static look like in the POV shots as if the monster is an unnatural anomaly: not really there yet still threatening. To achieve a look that was surreal yet still scary I used a plain white face mask and covered the rest of the body in black clothing, this facelessness can also be seen in films like Halloween, 1978, John Carpenter making the antagonist unpredictable due to the expressionless face: the audience can’t tell what its motives are. Apart from the mask the only other prop I used was fake blood, I knew that I needed this because the protagonist would follow a blood trail to find the dead version of himself.

To shoot my film I decided to use a standard handheld camera, I chose this over a HD camera because I knew I would be filming a chase sequence near the end and needed something lightweight, I also chose this because I wanted the film to have an almost poor quality grainy look in certain scenes to add to the atmosphere. I began filming in November when the locations I had chosen were filled with snow, I thought that this would add to the ‘cold’ atmosphere to the project, however I did not complete my filming and due to the ever changing weather conditions I couldn’t use any of the footage because of continuity problems, this also accrued a second time with rain, I accumulated around one hours worth of footage that was unusable (Rushes seen on my blog), although I eventually re-shot everything and was happier with the results in regular weather conditions.

Using the Premier Pro editing program I followed my planned storyboard into creating the real film, naturally when I was shooting the footage I tried a different approach to each shot while at the locations to give myself more options, some of these were even used in the film because I felt that they suited better slightly altering the way I had planned on the storyboard. When I had the footage in place and in order the program allowed me to alter the timing and sections of each individual clip giving more precise continuity, I also used this to shorten the film as a rough version would result in the film being around 7 minutes long, by editing out areas of the clips that were irrelevant and using ‘jump-cuts’ I brought my films length down to 5 minutes. Next I focused on sound and visual effects, I used video effects like speeding up time and film grain for POV shots, I also utilised video transitions like Dissolves to signify time or location changes. When I finished the visual side of my film I needed to find appropriate sound to add, I already had a clear idea of what I wanted to film to sound like and picked appropriate music clips and ambient sounds to add in certain places, originally I imaged my film to have an atmosphere similar to a horror game like the Silent Hill series, so instead of using music that sounded similar I embraced the reference and used sound from the game, my film also uses a range of other sounds from Radiohead to ambient wind chimes, to emphasize an unsettling atmosphere.

Throughout my film I created a particular atmosphere with the use of the stylistics. By using short scenic shots in the beginning I established the mise-en-scene of the film, as the locations get closer towards the protagonist’s house (his safe zone) I used eerie music to slowly expose the protagonist but ensured that his face wasn’t seen. When the Boy leaves the house he is immediately in the sights of the antagonist, this shot is shown in a hand held format creeping towards the Boy making use of Dutch angles to signifying its unsettling presence. When the garage door opens by itself the Boy’s face is revealed, I used this to give a more significant entrance as his identity is important later on, and it also depicts him looking back as the films voyeuristic narrative: following the Boy almost like the antagonist does, shows this to be the start of his disruption. I aimed to keep the films structure simple and not include any irrelevant footage, when the Boy finds the pocket light it is unclear at first why this is important but I feel it’s apparent that it will become useful in the future.

For the sequences walking in the street I made sure that the Boy is seen as ‘alone’, there are no other people seen throughout emphasizing the Boys vulnerability as if he’s walking to his fate. I used a POV shot when the Boy hears a noise from behind him, I did this to make the character more personal to the audience, putting them in his shoes, as the atmosphere suggests he is unsafe and at this point the audience have only seen the Boy, therefore caring for his safety. I included dissolves within this sequence to signify time lapses, this keeps the locations the he goes to fairly obscured and keeps the narrative consistent as this is the bridge between the beginning and end scenes. When the antagonists POV shot is seen again I sped up the shot to give a sense that it really wants to harm the Boy, with the sudden use of ‘shock’ music it also builds more tension.

When the Boy walks into the alleyway and discovers the blood I used tension building music to mimic his discomfort, as he sees the body staccato style music is used similarly to Psycho, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock to create discomfort, I also used a Zolly effect to capture the Boys reaction and to symbolise the nightmare ahead . Throughout the scene I shot using Dutch angles and close-up to emphasize the disruption, showing how the protagonists world has been turned upside down, the twist being that the body is of himself. As the monster approaches the Boy tries to escape and to show his helplessness he falls over, almost powerless to the antagonist. I made sure that as the creature reached out to the Boy he saw everything the monster had before, I did this by speeding up and altering the colour of previous footage, this reminds the audience of how to Boy got to where he is now. To retain this tension I added further fast paced music to mimic the panic as the Boy runs for his life, long hand held tracking shots are used to keep the chase suspenseful. I included a “Danger of Death” sign that was part of the mise-en-scene to signify what could happen at the end of the film, although as the Boy uses the pocket light he found earlier the screen fades to white (mimicking the light) from the monsters POV shot, a creature scream can be heard although the film ends on this cliff-hanger, leaving it open to interpretation at the peak of the films suspense.

Finished Film

Update

This week I have been focusing on gathering sound to use in my short film, I have a clear idea about the mood I want to create in certain sequences so I don’t think ill have a problem finding appropriate music. I am also looking at editing my film further visually, adding edit transitions and various other effects to specific clips.

First Complete Edit (No Sound)

This is my first complete edit of my short film, the clips are aligned in order and I’ve kept the timing within 5 minutes, although the film still has no sound and a number of clips need editing further: transitions and other effects etc.