Final Submission

From the 3rd to 4th quarter I made some small changes such as the 20 years later to 3 years later. I did this because we had used an iPhone X and it didn't make any sense.

Creative Critical Reflection

Creative critical reflection

CCR draft 4

The software I used to edit my film was Adobe Premiere Pro 2015. To start off I would put each of the scenes into the editing part and cut out the beginning and end of the scene where it was the awkward wait to start talking or if the scene was too long. In this software I was able to change the sound level because at some times it was very hard to hear. Another time I used sound changing was in the beginning to lower the sound because it was too loud. Adding in sound effects was another edit I integrated this was used in the scene where the glass breaks and they run out to the kitchen to find the broken glass. The sound of the breaking glass was all recorded before the actual filming. I also learned how to separate the sound from the video. I used this in the train scene to speed up the train to look more realistic and then add the sound back in. Another thing we did was buy sound effects and adding them into the movie based on each scene to give it horror.

CCR draft 3

My production skills have greatly since the start of this product. At the beginning I had never done anything like this. One of the most difficult for my me and my actors was planning because of how unavailable everyone was. Many times some two of our actor would be at church which they were unable to miss. Our third actor Nick plays baseball and coaches a younger team, along with my schedule this made it very difficult. I had to learn how to time manage and make my schedule more open to accommodate to everyone else. Another skill that I learned was directing actors. This may have been one of the hardest tings because how long it would take to finish just one scene from all the mess ups. Gathering the footage took a while because I had to go through and watch all of our mess ups and old footage to find the ones we wanted to use. Another difficulty was that for putting together the 3rd quarter submission i had to renumber and delete the old shots that we didn't need anymore. Another problem we ran into while filming was shadows and reflections in mirrors. While filming the first time my shadow was visible. Also, when going upstairs my reflection was in the mirror so we had to cut the scene a little bit shorter so the audience couldn't see me. Another production factor that developed was my ability to adapt to problems. The main time that I had to do this was in the first filming process we didn't have all the actors so I had to try make the scenes make sense without all of the actors being there.

CCR Draft 2

To engage with audience my product uses similar aged actors with who we want to watch the movie. The audience is also appealing to both male and female because all the main actors are male but the ghost is female which draws in both genders to watch. My product has a shaky handheld this gave off a realistic feel as if it is from the eyes of the audience. Also to draw in audience I would make multiple billboards that have the actors and the ghost in the picture. This will engage the audience by advertising the genre and general idea of the film. Another way that could bring in audiences is getting a partnership with a popular celebrity to help advertise my film by giving a positive review. This makes an emotional appeal to the audience to follow the new and popular thing. I would use social media as my last form of audience because the majority of people use some sort of social media, this also adds the ability for people to share it with their friends. For the distribution of my film our path would follow the form of digital distribution. However, the initial release would be in theaters for two weeks before releasing it to Netflix, HBO, Amazon, and Hulu. Since my movie isn't a big budget film, there would be more money made from releasing digitally earlier than the normal film does. The tactic I would follow the same way Happy Death Day 2u. Most high budget films make 95% of their income in the first 3 weeks. But lower films such as Happy Death Day 2u made more sales profit from their digital distribution. I would attempt to keep it in the theaters as long as possible until clear numbers for profit are visible. After this I would then release to Netflix and other movie sites. I then would have a possibility of hopefully doubling the money made from theaters.

3rd quarter submission

From second quarter to third quarter I changed a lot of components in my film. The first thing I added was music to add suspense. Another change I made was separating the audio from the video in the train scene so it could be sped up to look more realistic when she was hit. Also we refilmed about half the scenes because in the original we didn't have all the actors on set at once. We were able to give more fluidity to make the film make some sense.

CCR Draft 1

My product uses a few conventions that are implemented in horror movies. For example we used suspense to build up, one time we used this was when they are walking up the stairs and she is standing in the mirror while the audience is able to see but the actors are unaware of the ghost. Another example is while she is walking behind the actors while they are cleaning up the broken glass and again the actors do not see her. The movie started with longer shots that slowly becoming shorter as the suspense builds up as the audience sees more of the haunting occur. Another convention used is music that is played in the background which often means something is going to happen. For example while Gabby was walking to the train track I had a more slow horrifying audio playing that shows a build up or foreshadow for something about to come. Immediately after the music I added the distant train sound to add more reality to the film. After the walking scene I obviously we were unable to actually have our actor be hit by a train. We decided to use the conventional method of having the actor reacting to the thing that is off scene that faded to white showing the death. One camera shot that is used in horror movies a lot is an over the shoulder shot this was important in our film because while they were walking into their new house this was the first time we see the ghost for the first time. Another shot used a lot were wide shots this is very good to show the setting, characters, and things only the audience can see. The last shot in the film was a Point of View shot this convention is often used to make it feel like the audience is actually in the situation dealing with the problem. The social groups that are represented in my film could be married couples. Another social group could be teenagers because that's the age the actors paying the parts are. Also it is for a more lower middle class as you can see from the house and other settings.

Distribution Plan

For the distribution of my movie i would follow the path of a more digitally distributing film. However, I would put it in a theater for around 2 weeks to make some money and draw in the audience that prefers to watch in theater. After this I would plan to release to HBO and Amazon prime to keep drawing in income. This tactic would be more useful for my film because low budget films like mine and Happy Death Day 2u. Most films make 95% from the first 3 weeks however we can see the sales from Happy Death Day 2u made more sales from their digitally distributed profit. I would attempt to keep it in theaters as long as possible till I am able to get an idea of how much profit that will be made from the theater sales. After this I would release to as many digital forms that I can make possibly double profit over the coming weeks and months.

Distribution research

Happy death day 2u it is a mid budget film. Unlike high budget films which is digitally distributed 3 months after leaving the movie theaters because they make most revenue through theater sales. The mid budget films like happy death day 2u had to be released digitally while still in theaters to keep making money. The film has made a total of $54,482,60 while having a budget of 9 million. The movie has made $25,282,610 which was 46.4% of total revenue. From digital distribution they have made 53.6% of total revenue which was 29,200,000. Movies like this with low budgets have to compete with other horror movies like Get Out, It, and The conjuring which make most of its sales from theaters. Movies like Happy Death Day 2u have to release digitally earlier than the normal. This shows that the movie has made the majority of its money from other sales outside of theaters.

Distribution research

Digital distribution has become something very common in the recent years. Many companies tend to release the movies digitally after being in the movie theater. Some however do releases simultaneously to the theatrical release. This technique is more commonly used to more middle cost or low budget films. For example Warner Bros. Pictures distributes to airlines, cruise ships, Armed Forces, the Veterans Administration, colleges, hospitals and other markets. The movie Get Out is a high budget film who was expecting a big audience. So they did the normal process of films keeping the movie unreleased digitally for three months prior to the theater. Get Out made 68.9% of its revenue from theater sales which was $176,040,665. It made its other 31.1% of sales from digital releases which was $79,366,998. This shows films with high budgets and that are more popular make the majority of their revenue from theater sales.

Distribution research

Typically the movie studios distribute to the theaters once the movie is completed. On average movies will stay in the theaters for four weeks. Movies often make about fifty percent of their sales from being in the movie theaters. For example Warner Bros. Pictures produce 18-22 films on average each year. Warner Bros. often either fully finance their movies or co-finance. They are  the only company to have grossed over 1 billion and it has taken them 18 years. They have offices in over 30 countries and release films in around 120 territories internationally. They do this directly or with some partner companies. The company sets the release date for all the films and the exhibition operations on more than 39,000 screens in North America alone.

Marketing Plan

For my market plan I can use ideas from Get Out by locking in on my age group for my target audience. I can make a billboard that shows the actors with the haunting being behind them. By doing this it will show my audience the genre of film and a general idea of what the movie will be about. Also, this may create a suspense leaving the people to want to view the film. I could use business partnerships with a popular celebrity from a horror movie giving a good review or shout out. This would draw in more people to watch because it relates to an emotional appeal because they will want to follow the new and popular thing. The third thing I will do is post the film billboard online to Instagram this could create more viewers and have the ability to have more people seeing this because people can share it with their friends.

Target audience research

In the movie paranormal activity they try and create a more realistic sensation by using a CCTV camera. It gives the audience a feel they are really witnessing the events occur. For my movie i tried to implement a more realistic view that lets the audience feed off the realistic view. Our movie have a similar audience because we want to attract people to scare and a more male audience. For Paranormal Activity they had around the same rating but only a vote turnout of around 17,000 females and around 84,000 males. Males may like to watch my movie more for the fact that there's a majority of male actors. Also the average age group is from 15-45 which is the age I am wanting to attract to. The movie is intended to attract groups of people leaving them forced to watch all the scary moments instead of looking away and being "unmanly". In the movie poster they show the film technique that is used in the filming this could draw in more audience to see something different and new.

 

Target audience research

Get out is a good example for target audience because they lock down on the age group they want to entertain. They use a current issues that a millennial can relate to. The main goal of the film is to show the horrors of being black in America. This film focuses on how black men are stereotyped and it does the same to white middle class people. How they choose to relate to millennial's view on how the are awake to racism how we try to include our audience is by using actors from the same general age but making them play an older age so it includes our full spectrum of variety from sixteen to twenty five. They also include that its hard to be young and black in america but they show how he goes against all odds to escape. In the posters they use one has the characters in separate shards of glass broken from the whole. This was used to show the disconnected culture and how everyone is separated. The next poster is an African American man sitting in a chair with the most fearful expression the poster shows how the there is two sides that will have a building conflict in the movie.

 

Target audience research

The target audience for our film is similar to that of conjuring because they are both horror films that have someone or something causing a haunting. The producer of The Conjuring put "From The Director of Saw and Insidious". They did this to draw in their past audiences by showing films that were already made by this director. Many people wouldn't know of the director just by seeing his name which is why he included it. Our intended audience is the same, as for the conjuring their audience range is for 18 and older. For mine i would want to lower the age a year or two because teenagers are the biggest audience for horror films. Horror films are often very successful no matter the quality of the movie just simply the fact the genre is very appealing.

Feedback/Revisions

In the midterm we received some critical feedback such as the lighting was dark and hard to see but on the other hand some people liked it because it helped build suspense. To fix this i am going to try to brighten the scenes and make it more clear. If that is not possible we may have to re-shoot the outside scenes around sunset so there will be some natural sunlight. Another request was to add some suspenseful music to give a sense or tension along with fear. Another improvement I am going to make is to re-shoot the part where the glass shatters because when I was filming the camera was very unfocused. However many people liked that we found a working train in southern Florida because it adds realism to the movie. For the train scene my goal is to speed up the shot to make it look more intimidating. Many of the other students said that the plot was very understandable. The only thing I want to change with the plot is add better and more smooth transitions that make sense.

Use of Conventions

One convention we used that most horror movies use is suspense which is built by the dark scenes and build up that ultimately leads to her death. Another time we implemented suspense was by showing her moving in the background while the actors do not see her. Another convention often used when someone is hit by a moving object is a close up of their face reacting to whatever is about to hit them. The social groups we have in the movie are middle class college students who have to deal with a unknown mystical force trying to kill them. In the beginning it relates to a lower class rural area because there is nobody nearby able to hear her shriek for help.