Details of Re-Shoots

We decided to re-shoot the therapy session scene. This was because we felt the scene lacked dialogue and interaction between the characters. We added lots more close-ups to allow the audience to be much more engaged with the character's feelings, especially as this particular scene is so emotive.

We felt the scene needed to deliver more clarification about the imaginary presence of Charlotte. Although hints were placed in the preceding scenes, we wanted a subtle but shocking reveal that cleared up any speculation in the audience's minds.

Re-shooting the scene allowed us to capture Georgie's thought process, and learn more about the traumatic situations that sparked her hallucinations. In the re-shoot, Georgie's tours of Afganistan are referenced, which weren't included in the initial shoot, and allow insight into the reasons behind Georgie's fragile mindset.

Rough Cut Questionnaire Audience Response

Rough Cut Questionnaire: Responses

In order to gain a better understanding of our potentional audience and to be given an early opportunity to make necessary changes, our group released an audience questionnaire with a link to the rough cut of our film on the social media network Facebook for people to answer at their own leisure. Upon sharing the questionnaire, our film was not fully completed, so critques about the lack of music and credits were expected but suggestions about how and when they could be incorporated and comments on the cinematography, editing and performance were valued by our group, as it meant that we could add to our film before our coursework deadline.

The first question that we sought to ask our potentional audience was if they enjoyed Aftermath. Of our eight responses, all of the people stated that they enjoyed the film fairly well, with the most percentage going to eight out of ten on the scale. Even though we are pleased that our film has been positively recieved, we wanted to know how we could make our film more entertaining, so we followed this question with ways that they could add their imput to the film's production, with open questions such as 'what do you think was successful about our film' and 'what suggestions could you make to improve it?'

87.5% of the people that watched our film understood it's plot and the twist that came at the end of the clip. Georgie's PTSD means that she can be prone to hallucinations which we attempted to represent through the inclusion of Charlotte's character. Although, we tried to make Charlotte's death subtle in order to capture the sensitive and heartfelt nature of Aftermath, due to the limited time that we had for the running time of the film, we had to make the ending of the film more of a revelation so that the message could be understood. Most of our responses said that they wish that Charlotte's status had been referenced earlier in the film so that the ending was more clear. This could be done through including more moments such as, Charlotte's sudden apperance in the kitchen, throuh the use of jump cuts in editing.

75% of the people that took part in our questionnaire were between the ages of 18-20 while 25% were between 15-17. This adheres to the 15 certificate that we have given our film and shows that it's plot is appealing and understandable to young adults. The majority of the audience agreed that our film should be a 15 certficate which shows that our film has successfully fit into the BBFC guidlines and would be suitable to show in cinemas with this rating. Although, our film was aimed to appeal to both a male and female audience, 75% of the responses were from females. This could possibly be because all of our cast was female which could possibly mean that it was less relatable towards a male audience.

The genre of our film was understood to be a War Drama which matches the one intended for Aftermath. This shows that our film has been successful in displaying the conventions of the genre, such as using the army jackets and the sound of gunshots in the opening scene, and thus suits the context of the film. Individuals generally expected to see our film in the cinema or through film festivals, which is what we too expected for our film, as War Dramas are a popular and successful genre but the low budget of our film would probably mean it would have to be an Independent project.

Because of the serious subject matter, the occasional use of profanity and the implication of violence, we believed that our film would generally appeal to a more mature audience. Looking at the research gathered from our questionnaire, we found that audiences thought our film would be mainly watched by teenagers and young adults. As a group, we wanted our film to be able to appeal to a wider demographic and so we chose to explore how PTSD can affect individuals day to day lives. This is a relevant subject for audiences as it can be the result of anyone who has gone through a traumatic expoerience. 

Throughout the film, Georgie displays feelings of frustration, anxiety and anger. Her difficulty in opening up to Charlotte about how the PTSD is affecting her life creates a very sombre and almost mournful tone to the film, which we needed to project through the use of similar music. Many people found that the music suited the film and that it went well alongside some of the film's more solemn scenes. However, some suggestions were made from audiences to remove the clock ticking from the counselling scene as it was distracting and made our actors difficult to hear. They also suggested reducing the volume or replacing the sound of ringing after the gun is fired in the flashback scene, as it dosen't quite fit the cut from the war scenes to the bedroom.

Finally, we inquired from audiences their thoughts about what was successful in our film and what scenes they felt could be improved or changed. Audiences complimented our filming techniques (particularly the use of camera angles and lighting), the storyline and the well placed fade at the end of the film. Nevertheless, they felt that there could have been more close ups included in our film in order to create more intimacy and that the scenes where our characters are walking from one place to another needed to be cut or reduced. Again, they felt that the film needed more music and that the volume could be highered in the counselling scene. We will work to make the neccessary changes appropriately.

Final Film Posters Background Research

We chose this poster as our final film poster as it is simplistic and effectively communicates the backstory of our film. The poster shows both characters, Georgie and Charlotte, and hints at the cause of some of the issues displayed in the film.

The above poster is a teaser poster which would be released in the UK about 6 months before the film's release date. It would give a flavour of the film without giving too much away. Georgie's back is turned to hide her face, which creates mystery surrounding her character. She is framed centrally with space on either side of her to make her appear small and alone.

Similarly, the teaser poster for 'Logan' shows just the iconic hand of Wolverine, held by that of a child. Without giving too much of the plot away, this poster speaks volumes about the backstory of the film, and the emotion associated with Wolverine's life, and having a child involved in conflict. We used similar techniques  to capture this in our teaser poster.


The main poster is much more visually captivating, using dramatic lighting and bold lettering to capture audeince attention. This poster contains a long shot of the main character, similar to the twoshot of the main characters on our poster. This reveals more about Wolverine as he is dressed in smart clothes but looks determined as though on an important mission. The poster is still simplistic, but has much more depth.


Due to Wolverine being part of a franchise, the names of the actors are not needed on the poster, as the audience are already aware of the cast, especially Hugh Jackman. Our poster contains the actor's names and information about the production company across the bottom, as our film has no pre-established fan base.

Music: Research

Similar Music: Research

Before finalising the music for Aftermath, I decided to look into similar films and the music that they used to set the tone of a particular scene. In The Deer Hunter (1978) the theme song 'Cavatina' composed by Stanley Myers is credited as a classical guitar piece that is used to primarily highlight the feelings of regret, nostalgia, longing and love of Robert De Niro's lead character after he returns from the Vietnam War. The piece first orginiated in 1970 for the The Walking Stick, a film about a woman who suffers from polio and the effects a handsome stranger has on her life. However, 'Cavatina' didn't achieve commercial success until it was featured as the soundtrack for The Deer Hunter whereupon it became a UK Top 20 hit. The song's gentle, melancholy quality would be fitting for the closing credits of our film as it would capture the sadness that Georgie feels when she realises that Charlotte is truly gone. The following link is a preview of 'Cavantina':

https://youtu.be/xAAiYMgFcbw

Futhermore, it is important that we can use a track in the intial flashback scenes that juxtaposes the solemmn tone of the therpay situation with the despairing atmosphere of the war. For influence, I researched into the music used in the 2009 psychological war drama film Brothers that shows the wavering mental state of Tobey Maguire's tortured soldier character. The music was composed by Thomas Newman, an acclaimed American composer, and feautred songs that refelcted the anxiety and tension of Tobey Maguire and the family he returns home to. This particular track, from the link, slowly builds to a crescendo whereupon the music changes to a more melodic and reflective tune. This would suit the flashbacks because Georgie is remembering how she failed to save Charlotte and the subsequent guilt she feels due to it. The following link is a preview of track fifteen from the Brothers soundtrack:
https://youtu.be/qT4IS2N5ltI

We believe that the music previewed in the link above would be suitable for the flashback scenes in our film.

Shooting Pack 6 - Exterior house scenes

The following is a list of things we needed/used during filming of the extrior house scene.


Shot list

Script 

  
Storyboard

Props

Character Profiles

Equiptment. 

Rough Cut Questionnaire

https://goo.gl/forms/0snV6q8mnbRKUl9s1

Research into Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing use exsiting social media websites and technologies to try and increase brand awareness. It can be delivered through word of mouth or enhanced by social networks.

 

In recent years the best example of Viral Marketing is for Christopher Nolan's 2012 film, 'The Dark Knight Rises'. During the marketing campaign white bat graffiti appeared in different locations around the world. The idea behind this was for fans of the film to find the bat graffiti and take a photo using their mobile phones. Once they had taken the photo they had to upload it to social media using #TDKR2012, on Twitter or email the photo in. For every picture sent in, it unlocked a frame from the trailer. The entire trailer was unlocked in under 24 hours. 

These are a few examples of the marketing campaign.

The  video below shows the hype surrounding the markleting campaign.

 

Although it is uncommon for short films to have viral marketing, due to small budgets, the internet is a fantastic way to create hype and gain awareness. 

Creating a short trailer with a tease of the film, posting this on social media mean it would be seen by friends & family, also by people who follow you on Twitter etc. Family would share the post as they would be proud of your work. There are film trailers posted on the likes of Facebook regularly which shows it is an extremely popular way to gain interest in the film. A positive thing about using Facebook to advertise the film is that it it free, which helps for small films.