Focus Group

I recently did a Focus Group with a few of my peers, so that I could gather a few of their thoughts and opinions on some aspects of the horror genre and what they thought of the idea behind my production. I asked them the following questions:

1. What do you think would be the best weapon to have in a horror film?
2. Do you watch horror films?
3. Do you go to the cinema to watch horror films?
4. When watching a horror film (or any film) what age do you prefer the main characters to be?
5. What do you think is a good general location for a horror film?
6. What is your favourite horror film?
7. Do you like the idea of the Final Girl?
8. (After giving a brief overview of our idea) What do you think to our production idea?

Topic Research

For our short film, there are only a few particular areas that we would need to research in order to make them more authentic and true to reality. This will need to be done to make it all seem as believable and realistic for an audience as possible, so as to not break any atmosphere that has been created.

Ouija Boards:
The most important area that i've done research into is the way that Ouija Boards are used and how they work in general. I have focused the most on this area of research, since it's such a massive part and idea for the plot of our film. I was aiming to find out about things, such as the rules that come with using it and therefore what you must and must not do, as well as what the various symbols and characters mean on the board. I've used a few different websites and sources to gather this information, such as videos, historical websites and more.

Original Ouija Board created in 1894

The typical appearance of Ouija Boards and what they look like is that they are a flat board with the letters of the alphabet arranged in two semi-circles above the numbers 0 to 9. In the top corners are the words "Yes" and "No" and the word "Goodbye" is placed at the bottom of the board. This is all accompanied by a planchette, which is a teardrop shaped device used to move around the board. Nowadays, they are usually made of cardboard, rather than the wood they are conventionally known for.




Elijah Bond was one of the first to patent the Ouija Board

The history of Ouija Boards are, as expected, quite unknown and creepy and as for origins of the Ouija Board; it is said to be just about as mysterious as how the 'game' works. Even the way they were named is quite sinister and similar to something you would find in a horror movie. The story goes that the makers of the first ever 'talking board' asked the board what they should call it and in reply it spelt out the name "Ouija". When asked what this meant, it simply replied "Good Luck."

This short video gives a small insight into some of the history behind the creation of 'talking boards'. It explains the way that Ouija boards used to be thought of as quite harmless and were used by many people as just another 'game'. They also acted as a way of making easy money, since it was fuelled by the spiritualism and love for the supernatural that had become so popular at the time.

Rules:
I have managed to find a couple of websites that outline the rules of Ouija Boards, as well as the steps to using them. A few cautionary rules are as follows:

1. Be serious! It's not a game! Being in a serious mood helps to naturally close yourself of to negative energy and protect yourself better.
2. Always say 'Goodbye' at the end! This acts as a way of ending the session by setting your mind to closing down the door that had opened to the other side and therefore stopping any negative energy from continuing on.
3. Never use the Ouija Board in your home!  The negative energy of spirits can effect you and the last place you want to release dark, swirling energy into is your home. It's supposed to be a place were you feel comfortable and don't have to worry too much, but this can cause various unwanted problems that will stick around.

In My Production:
We are actually planning on going against these rules, since this is going to be the basis for the plot of our film and the whole reason that the film's events are going to take a turn for the worst. We're going to have the teenagers acting in an irresponsible way, meaning they will misuse the Ouija board and cause many problems, through the way of using it in a home environment, neglecting to say 'Goodbye' at the end and acting foolishly overall. By doing this, we will be sticking to the typical horror conventions of films that involve the use of Ouija Boards, since they almost always are misused and often by young people.

Final Survey

This is the final survey we have done to gather information into what an audience would like to see in our production. We focused this final survey more around the actual elements and ideas that we had previously come up with for the short film, so that we can get more specific responses into what people's opinions on certain aspects are.  For example, we asked about our concept of having two alternate realities being shown. Overall, this will allow us to easily change and adapt the ideas we've questioned and create what is best suited to the audience.

Survey Link- https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N2ZWQJB

Quick Moodboard

This is a quick moodboard I've created in order to show of a few key concepts and ideas we have for our film. More may be added later on as our ideas develop.

Film Poster Survey

This is a survey that has been done to find out what people would like to see for our ancillary task of creating a film poster for our movie. Once again, we aimed to find out what people see as the most important aspect of the poster, which will allow us know which areas to put more focus into. It will also tell us what people will find visually appealing, meaning we can try to make our poster as eye-catching and interesting as possible, to attract more attention. The question given about what their personal favourite film posters are can give us a few references to look at and analyse, in order to see what they've included and what we can therefore include in ours.

Survey Link- https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HP5H55Y

Film Review Survey

We've also conducted a survey into what our audience would like to see in our other ancillary task for creating a film review page for our movie. The questions we used were chosen because they covered the main areas and concepts of film reviews and so allows us to get a good overview of people's opinions on the particularly important aspects. From this, we'll be able to gather an insight into what people like visually, in both images and colour, as well as what they think is most important in general. This will then allow us to focus on these areas within our own review and apply what people would like to see the most to it as well.

Survey Link- https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/H5KPNSR

Location Idea

I have been recently thinking about potential locations for my film. I am ideally thinking of a place that is some sort of abandoned house, but also thought of many possible problems that this kind of location would cause. One problem that i might face is the problem of accessibility. This is because after looking around online for any local areas that suited my idea, I couldn't find many, meaning I would possibly have to travel to find locations and I don't think this would be the most convenient way. Even if I did find any nearby locations, there would also be the problem of trying to gain actual access to the property, since it would be most likely 'off-bounds' to people. Another problem I've been faced with, if i do decide to go for somewhere more derelict, is that it causes limitations in terms of lighting and other effects, since there would be no power source at hand. I will need to take all of this on board when continuing my search for the place I want to film in, while also keeping it in line with horror conventions.

Genre & Form Research

Social Media Audience Research Question

Maddy recently created a Twitter Poll with a simple question that aimed to find people's opinions on potential weapons that can be used within a short horror film. There were limits to how many options could be put in the poll so it was narrowed down to the most iconic and conventional choices. It was quite a surprise to see that the top voted weapon ended up being the chainsaw, since it may be expected that something simply more common, like the knife, would be the highest choice.  The high percentage of people who chose chainsaw may be down to the higher risk and danger that comes with it, as well as it being more scary in many aspects, such as it's appearance or sound. The influence of previous films, like 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and the recent emergence of the use of chainsaws in horror may have impacted the opinions of people and therefore the results.