Unit 19: Learning aim C Research
Introduction:
My film genre is psychological horror and focuses on a patients experience on taking LSD as they are all told “it will cure them”. Long story short, each patient agrees since it is a blind test, and the outcomes are completely random – though since it is scripted the drug eventually kills other patients who decided to take it. The fifth one is asked to tell or write down her/ his experience of the drug, but she/ he can’t remember much and has to be reminded of their experience in a series of flashbacks, eventually they remember their experience.
Primary research:
Here in the first question, I’ve asked them what their gender is, which as we can see is generally populated by men. This shows us that there is a divide in gender between men and women. This is useful as it suggests that more men answered the questions in the survey. This will be useful information for my script as it means that I can target the male audience and write my script in such a way that it attracts boys. Depending on what age they are it is useful to use the common gender as the main character. That’s why in my script I will use a man as the main character and create stereotypical imagery for a man. I may also go ahead and apply the same thing towards a feminine character. I’m not sure if I will include female characters but that is an idea.
In the second question I ask people about their race and nationality. People weren’t required to answer this question but did anyway. The majority of race was White. Most of the people’s nationality is British which is unsurprising since most people are born in Britain. What is surprising was the mix of races. This is useful for my script, as I can use a character who is born in Britain and is black. This might be a decision for my character I may have to make later for my script. Creating the stereotypes of race and nationality in my script is something I am less keen on doing, simply because horror films don’t concede those behaviors. This can be seen in films such as IT or paranormal activity.
In this question I ask how old everyone is. 6 people responded with 15-18 and 1 respondent picked 20-30. This is useful to know how old people are when taking this survey. This is useful for what age male and female characters should be in the script of my film. I think that looking at the data, I would prefer to use the smaller statistic than the larger ones for my script. However, 15-18 maybe the age of my characters who are part of the film might be perfect to write about their experiences on their journey.
Question 4 explains to me the genre of film people like to watch. 5 people chose horror films as the genre they like to watch. 1 respondent chose comedy and the other chose action. To me I would’ve chosen Sci-fi. Each person is given 4-5 questions explaining why they like the genre and the other genres. This bar chart is good representation of what genre I should pick to write for my script. For my script, it is based on a Horror, specifically a psychological horror which is good that people like my idea of a film. This means that I can stick to the genre and not have to worry about choosing other genres.
This question and onwards to question 11 ask about what people’s opinions are from each genre they picked as well as other’s that they didn’t pick. This genre talks about action and what people think about it. This is useful as it tells me peoples in depth opinions about a specific genre they may like or may not like. It is useful also to know as the action genre was one genre which was picked out only once. Their reason for why they liked this genre was that it was “fast paced and eventful”. In my script I will try to make sure that the story is also eventful since when writing a horror film script like this one idea I have, horror genre can sometimes be slow paced and uneventful. But also, if there is too much action in horror genre than it is overdone and feels too fast. This can be from the amount of things that happen.
This question asks about why the participants like comedy as a genre. This is useful for the writing of my script as adding jokes or making hilarious remarks about something can weaken the genres effect that it has on the audience. We see that people like comedy as it helps them feel happier in themselves. This can be achieved by the jokes themselves and the situations that they happen. The genre I am interested in is horror and most horror films don’t include jokes except comedy horrors. These horror films include jokes and jump scares that are supposed to make the film feel different or unique to other horror films. Personally, comedy won’t be used for my film as it’s a very serious film but having people's opinions is useful for communicating back to them. Plus, it's something they like that I didn’t know they liked.
On the next question we have people's opinion on sci fi films, which is my favourite genre of film. This is useful as it tells me if I should include sci fi to my film and in my script. The information here is not really that useful for the writing of my script but is always good to have information about another type of genre and a different type of film that I could make in the future. Right know though, Horror is the focus. Nevertheless, I do like that another alternative to my film could be about aliens. Which sounds interesting as a second idea.
This question tells the modal answers which, that people chose horror the most as the genre they like to watch. A lot of the responses of horror is the same where they talk about its impactful thrill when they watch it. This is useful as it tells me that the genre, I am focusing on will be describing the feedback that people want. Since most common words are “tense” and “emotions” I will add in ideas of the characters being emotional and feeling scared for their life. Besides what happens towards the rising action is going to have to be intense and scary experience for the characters. That’s the written ideas that I think are going to help with my film. That rush of emotions is going to be a goal for this film.
This question asks the participants what their opinion on mystery films. Lots of people have said that they don’t like watching Mystery films since they are too slow paced. That does make sense but if considering the films which are mysteries like seven it is difficult to understand what people are going on about. This is useful as it tells me how my film should be and that it should be less mysterious and more of a thriller. This may be a thing to think about when writing my horror film.
This question talks about people's opinion on fantasy films as a genre. The data is useful as it will help me understand people's responses to the genre. Lots of the people find fantasy films satisfying. They seem creative, unique and intriguing to watch. This is useful for understanding what people think of the genre fantasy. It isn’t going to change my idea on what type of film I am going to make.
This was a new genre I had added to my bar chart. Some people commented in other questions that they liked romance, but it was just that I didn’t put that in my survey.
This question talks about how long people use a screen for and looks at an average. The Net promoter score is 16 which means that there is an average increase in the screen time that people use every week. This is useful data for me as it tells me the length of time people like to watch films. It is also useful as it tells me how long my film needs to be; since 1 page is equal to 1 minute of screen time. So, a 6 minute to 8-minute-long film will be long enough for a short film. When writing about my idea for my film.
Here, I ask people what they like to have when they watch a film. Since lots of the responses are very much about food and necessary needs or gratifications that people have when they go and watch a movie the question isn’t that useful for writing my film. This was just useful as it was a personal question to lure people into answering other questions that I had and increase the number of responses that I had.
This question talks about what everyone's favourite film is. This question is useful as it is more primary research that I can make a note of later. It doesn’t help me through the writing process of my script and the idea behind it.
In this question showing the demographic it is explaining what they want to have in each film and if it should exist in the film how much they agree or disagree. However, it seems as though people misunderstood the question and only agreed that all elements for a script and then to a film is important. This is all useful data as it lets me know what people think is more needed in a film. The data tells me that story and action (stunts) are the most agreed with among the responses. It is important to know that the one which was the least agreed upon are the actors. This is useful to know for further investigation into my idea for my film as in the long term, it tells me what I should try to focus more about when planning out my film in the future and what should be the most important and least important. It is also useful as it gives me clear organisation to what I should focus on while writing the script. This means looking at the first thing to think about, investigate which is the story. In the short term, it is helpful to my writing as I can use this as a guide for how I am going to write things out in my script. It also helps me think about the Mise en scene for the scenes of my film and all the other elements for my film such as camera shots and angles, characters and narrative structure for the story.
In this question, I ask people to explain their choices referring to a film they have or had watched. Lots of the answers are only talking about films that they liked. This is useful to a degree as it does have an explanation for the answers but not the expected answers that I had in mind. But it was helpful to know that people watched films for their enjoyment.
In the last question I ask people what their favorite celebration is. Just a question I asked them out of interest.
In summary, I found that the questions in my survey where useful and informative for writing my script later. The information collected from some questions weren't useful and only used for increasing the number of responses for the survey. Other question's were a lot more useful to learn about data from the responses of other people. This helped me describe my writing process like what I am going to do and what I could do.
Film analysis:
The film is they hear it.
https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/11/09/they-hear-it/
Narrative:
The two characters are watching an old sci fi film on an old television sleeping on the sofa in a dimly lit room. The films noise echos from the television to the outside, when it starts to shutter and plays different noise. It turns out that they must be at home since their mum is at work doing the night shift and after some pizza the characters go to bed. The sister is taking out the trash when she notices max, her dog acting strange towards the gate. She calls his name, but he resists, and we start to hear noises of cracking wood. From there, the film takes a dark turn when max runs off into the woods and is killed by whatever is making that noise. We soon find out through the trusty flashlight that the sound gets louder and messes with Jack who goes to investigate as well. All power is off, no lights on and no phone connection. The sister of Jack goes ahead to find out where jack is going. The noise still starts to get louder, and we see Jack while we call for his name. It is only after a couple of name calls that the torch light flickers. We bang the torch light to get it working which it does in the end but are shocked to see the death of Max and Jack by the monster in front of our very eyes. (Fade to black) Title cards.
The conflict identified is the noises that the characters (Max and Jack) can hear. This can be explored for when the main character tries to call someone on the red telephone when suddenly the phonelines and electricity goes out mysteriously. The conflict is developed when the main character hears a loud thud in the room next to the door, she is staying in. Conflict is identified as soon as the camera gets a close-up on the subject in question. This is all to raise the tension of the setting that the main character is in.
A three-act structure is identified from the first act being when the dog, the main character and the other character Jack notices the noise in the woods. The second act being when the main character runs into the house and tries to use the phone to call her mom, but she is unavailable as the power and phonelines are down, while she tries to do this, she hears a loud thud at her door. The final third act is when she goes off to explore what is making these sounds.
Characters:
The main character is the sister of Jack. She is very responsible and protects the entire house from danger from entering. This is her role for protecting her brother. We see her take out the garbage and do other monetary things. She speaks American-English and has a slight American accent. The main character tries to search for
The other character we are introduced to is Jack who is the younger brother of the main character. He doesn’t speak in the film, but it is important at the end of the film when we see that he has been following the sound he can only hear, not the main character. Since he doesn’t speak it suggests that he is hiding something creating a suspenseful ending.
Finally, we are introduced to the dog whose name is max. The dog notices the sound from the beginning. He is terrified of the noise too despite being an attack dog.
The character at the end is the monster who lures them towards danger. It is the one making all the noise.
Mise en scene:
They live in a house in the woods at night-time. The effect is that it creates dark and ominous. The lighting is dim. This means that the light of the backlight and fill light are low. The house is dimly lit from the outside but is bright from the inside. This creates low key lighting and is suspenseful especially for the time of day which is at night-time. The woods are depicted as a scary place at night-time since it tries to mess with your mind and imagination of creatures walking around. The effect created is mysterious. The costume of the main character is typical winter clothes. The costume for Jack is pyjamas since he was about to go to bed. This makes it feel more realistic up until the end when we see what the monster looks like. The main props being used are a flashlight and most from the house. This seems intentional by the director to lure the main character to the monster. The movement of the dog is an immediate run into the woods to suggest suspicion and fear in the other characters' instincts. Eventually, the main character’s instinct is to run away from the situation which leads to even more problems. It suggests that the main character's movement is jittery and paranoid. The overall meaning Mise en scene has for the audience is that it suggests an intense setting and probably a haunted forest.
Cinematography:
The camerawork is used to fit the style of the film. The camerawork uses lots of close ups and medium shots. The close ups can be towards a specific detail that the audience will follow along with. Some of these close ups can be of the door, of the torch or even of the main character to see what she is feeling. Sometimes the camerawork is close ups or even extreme closeups. These extreme close ups can show if they are in danger from something. We can see this from the extreme closeup from the phone lines going out. As she holds the phone to try to call her mother, who is at work. This camerawork conveys fear to the audience. It gets them intrigued about the things which will happen later in the film.
Editing:
Most editing is Fast paced in the film. The use of J cuts happens when the main character is going to get something to continue the story. We see the use of J cuts when the girl run into the other room when she hears her dog Max be killed in the forest. This is important for the story as it goes ahead and introduces more of the plot to the audience. The edits can also be audible as this short film likes to play around with sound effects. The sound edits create a suspenseful atmosphere as the second character Jack can only hear them. The editing alone makes the film a cleverly written horror film. At the end there is a transition between the face of the girl screaming and the title card. They fade to black and drops the bomb (the tension is reduced immediately).
Sound:
Sound in the film They hear it is important since that is what defines the films tension and makes it a horror film. Lots of diegetic sounds are used. Example of one of these sounds is the cracking of branches outside of the house. This is the example of how sounds are used to create suspense in a film which is about sound. It lures the characters into danger. These characters are the main character, Jack and the dog Max. The diegetic sound impacts the visuals by enhancing the details of each object. It may make the sound of certain objects more atmospheric like the cracking of branches. It also makes it more intense for the viewer, since the objects will fit perfectly with the surroundings and interaction with them. Non diegetic sound is used to impact the atmosphere in this film. We see this being used when there is certain thuds or booms to improve the atmosphere of objects.
Conclusion:
The short film they hear it is a good example of effectively delivering out sounds and is something that will impact my film production since it is part of making the sounds as hallucinations. This may help the production of the film as it creates spooky sounds to question what they are watching. Some of my ideas I might need to change parts of the narrative or the characters development. However, some things from the short film won’t be part of the overall imagery of my actual film, the actual location of where it is shot, the time of day and weather.
Secondary research:
A lot of the research may not be used later.
Information about LSD or a psychedelic experience.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2018.00054/full
Information collected off the internet.
What is a Hallucinogen?
A hallucinogen is a drug which alters the persons perception of reality.
According to the NHS getting off Hallucinogens: Your first appointment
At your first appointment for drug treatment, staff will ask you about your drug use. They'll also ask about your work, family and housing situation.
You may be asked to provide a sample of urine or saliva.
Staff will talk you through all your treatment options and agree a treatment plan with you.
They can tell you about local support groups for drug users and their families or careers.
You'll also be given a keyworker, who will support you throughout your treatment.
Examples of things that may happen is the use of CBT, Detox, Tests for Hepatitis and HIV and taking a substitute drug such as Methadone. They also mention about looking at the website talktofrank.com/get-help/find-support-near-you
Common Hallucinogens that have been identified to be used for a psychedelic trip include:
LSD, Psilocybin (Also known as magic mushrooms) and DMT. Also, some other include Ketamine, PCP and DXM.
All these drugs make you hallucinate and having different methods of digesting them.
LSD can be produced in a crystalline form which can be used to produce tablets known as “microdots”. This can be the same as Ketamine and produced as a tablet. However, Ketamine is a dissociative drug and can be sold on the street. LSD may not be sold on the street and manufactured or given to patients.
According to the National institute of drug abuse: Ingesting hallucinogenic drugs can cause users to see images, hear sounds, and feel sensations that seem real but do not exist. Their effects typically begin within 20 to 90 minutes of ingestion and can last as long as 12 hours. Experiences are often unpredictable and may vary with the amount ingested and the user’s personality, mood, expectations, and surroundings.
The effects of hallucinogens like LSD can be described as drug-induced psychosis—distortion or disorganization of a person’s capacity to recognize reality, think rationally, or communicate with others. Users refer to LSD and other hallucinogenic experiences as “trips” and to acute adverse or unpleasant experiences as “bad trips.”
On some trips, users experience sensations that are enjoyable and mentally stimulating and that produce a sense of heightened understanding. Bad trips, however, include terrifying thoughts and nightmarish feelings of anxiety and despair that include fears of losing control, insanity, or death. Like LSD and psilocybin, DMT produces its effects through action at serotonin (5-HT) receptors in the brain.
LSD is a Hallucinogen and creates images for over an hour. LSD is not a prescription drug and in many hospitals across the UK it isn’t prohibited to be taken. LSD is a class A drug like cannabis, heroin, DMT, PCP, etc.
There are different types of classes of drugs the most dangerous is class A. Class B is still dangerous and class C is for things such as steroids.
LSD:
LSD is a class A drug which usually looks like a liquid onto a dot of paper or sold as a pill drug called micro dots. Common sensations of LSD include your sight being warped. People can feel happy, sad, giggly, euphoric, energized, empathetic, excited, suspicious, confused, anxious, frightened, panicked, overwhelmed and in awe of things or people around you. Feeling depressed may make the feelings worse and cause odd behaviors. People who take LSD maybe very quiet, struggling to speak. Others may become aggressive, highly emotional and feeling sleepy but there is so many different was that LSD can make someone feel. These side effects are similar feelings across other Hallucinogenic drugs.
Links to know about other drugs
DMT
PCP
Magic mushrooms
https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/magic-mushrooms#the-law
My film is based off the Nightmare on elm street where Freddy Kruger kills people in their own sleep. Other movie inspirations is the matrix, the Truman show and other films which challenge the perception of ones reality.
This is an example of a film which does this
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