Evaluation

Overall, I had fun letting my creative juices flow by working solo on this project. I managed to capture and use the tropes of a "found-footage" horror such as shakey cam and tight claustrophobic angles creatively and effectively, the theme of the "Skinwalker" was also effective as it is not well known and therefore gathered interest. Due to my chosen filming locations, this project proved harder than the last ones and took longer to make; 90% of my film was improvised and this proved challenging as I had little to refer to when shooting my film and I had to go back and film more scenes to put the story together better. Something that disappointed me about my project is that I didn't plan properly in advance and this made it harder to create the film project. I also featured in other students' film projects which made me focus on their projects more and give myself less time to work on my own. I feel if I had enough time and if I could go back I would plan more to ensure that I had enough time to complete the filming and editing of the project. In future, I will still help my peers but also plan for my own project and put contingency time in place.

How effective was audio in my film?

I believe that the audio in my film was very effective and immensely added to the horror elements of my film. I had used my prior knowledge of foley art, from my last project, and music to create a technical and horrifying soundtrack. I chose to have almost 100% of my soundtrack be made by myself even down to the jingle at the start which I composed myself on Bandlab. Some of the clips I had used in my film had no audio so I had to add foley sounds to make these clips useable and work within the film. I managed to accurately create the sounds of the forest and footsteps using my premade foley sounds and this was very effective.

Screaming Foley

One of my influences for foley art and camera techniques was Blair Witch (1999) as it is the most famous example of a found-footage horror. This movie uses loud, jarring sounds to increase tension and to make the paranormal happenings even scarier. I used the same techniques as this movie during the final chase where you can hear loud, distorted screams as the hiker is being chased; much like the Blair Witch, this puts the audience on edge and makes them uncomfortable because of the volume and inhuman nature of the screams. You can also hear the hiker screaming and crying which makes the audience worry about what will happen next to the hiker. This proved the Foley art for the screaming to be effective as it made the audience feel uncomfortable and scared when watching. I turned these Foley sound effects up to around 50 decibels to create an uncomfortable, pleonastic and loud screaming sound and the effect this had on the audience was giving them a jump and making them feel distressed.

Clip with no audio, with added foley

The first time I went out to film, the camera I had been given was not able to record audio so I had clips that I thought were great with no audio. I decided to salvage these clips by adding my own Foley art. The audio just below the purple clip is an audio clip I recorded of the Skinwalker, played by Barnaby Hale, shouting for help. I added a reverb effect to this shouting to show the vastness of the forest and how the hiker is all alone during this situation. Below that audio clip is pleonastic Foley of heavy breathing, this gives the effect that the hiker is terrified while he is behind the camera watching this unfold. This makes the audience sympathise with the hiker as you can clearly tell how scared he is. The audio clip on the bottom is the sound of wind and forest ambience to apply the mise-en-sense to the clip and remind the audience of where the hiker is stranded and that escape is too far away. This replicates the end scene of Blair Witch (1999) in the basement, a mid shot of a character turned away from the camera to induce suspense and put the audience on the edge of their seats.

Foley added to silent clip (red indicates footsteps)

In the second clip that turned out with no audio, the Skinwalker is running towards the camera and the hiker starts screaming. To create the footsteps, I recorded heavy work boots crunching against leaves and soil to create the sound of quick and agile footsteps on the forest floor. This pleonastic sound effect portrays to the audience that this creature is quick and skilled when hunting, it is an unstoppable force and it will stop at nothing to kill its prey. The two audio clips below this are a continuation of the pleonastic heavy breathing and the ambient sound of the wind

to continue to show the audience the isolation of the forest and how scared the hiker is. The audio clip with the yellow FX symbol is the skinwalker scream. It is Barnaby screaming for help; I reversed the audio and applied reverb to make the scream sound supernatural and as if it hadn't been made by a human. The effect this has on the audience is that this creature may look human but it is anything but and its facade can be easily removed when it is moving in for the kill. The audio clip on the bottom is the scream of the hiker. To record this Foley art, I pointed the camera opposite to me and just screamed and cried like I was being chased by a real evil entity. This was then turned up to around 50 decibels like the skinwalker's scream to put the audience on edge and unnerved as they know the hiker is crying for his life. This is the final recorded scene and at the end of this scene it suddenly jumps to silence and a blue screen with flashing text that reads "PLEASE RETURN TAPE". The effect this has on the audience is shocked as they have just seen the carnage and terror of the hiker's death and it has quickly cut to complete silence and it leaves them thinking about what happened and how sudden the poor guy's death was. This resembles the final scene of the Blair Witch Project as the main character dies and there is complete silence.

There is a scene where the hiker discovers that his campsite has been destroyed and the tent door has been left open. He slowly stretches his hand out and as he does this, you can hear a slow build-up of static in the background, making the audience believe that a jumpscare is coming and putting them on edge. He rips the door open and the static abruptly ends as you can see the tent is empty and he sighs in relief. This synchronous and diegetic sound effect builds tension and makes the audience believe there is a big scare coming. In a non-found footage horror film, this technique would be used to build tension but it would be violins slowly getting higher and faster or low ominous drums building. As my film is found footage, it cannot have the theatrical soundtrack because it will remove the credibility of it being a "real" video. The fact that the build-up effect is static, gives the desired effect on the audience while still being a found footage film.

Something that went well with my audio was the added foley to the clips that originally were recorded with no sound. I managed to accurately recreate the clip by recording my own Foley art over the top. In the final edit, you can't really tell that the sound was added on afterwards and it increases the scariness of these clips. Something that could have been improved was in the final scene the audio of the hiker breathing is too crisp to sound like it was in a forest. It is however layered over the loud screams so it is not noticeable for long.

How effective were the camera techniques in my film?

I believe that the different camera angles and techniques that I used in my film were very effective in portraying an inexperienced filmmaker creating a home video. My use of extreme and big close-ups and the unstableness of the camera made the audience sympathise with the hiker as he is just a normal guy in a horrifying situation. On the location of filming, I improvised these angles to make the film feel spontaneous and ad-libbed like I were a real hiker creating a video. These angles used are similar to my main influence, The Blair Witch Project (1999). They evoke suspense and put the audience on edge. It also makes the film more realistic and believable as it is all handheld shots by the actors. During the pre-production of this film, they did not create a shot list or storyboard for the actors to follow, thus creating a completely improvised and realistic final edit.

Example of big close up

To the left is one example of a big close-up in my film. These angles are claustrophobic and uncomfortable to the audience and they can only focus on one thing when this angle is being used. The audience is left not knowing the surroundings and are left in the dark about what's around the main character. This was very effective in my film as the main premise was the Skinwalker was stalking the hiker and was constantly hiding away from his gaze. The Blair Witch Project also uses this camera angle in the famous "crying scene." In this movie, it has the same effect as what I was trying to create; uncountability and the audience not knowing what will happen next.

Example of POV shot

Another camera angle and technique that I chose to use is a POV shot. In the context of my film, I am on a solo hiking trip documenting the sights and nature around me. The use of a POV shot shows the audience exactly what the character is seeing and where he is going so when the character does come into contact with the skinwalker in the final scenes, the audience is forced into the position of the hiker and has to face the monster just like the main character. During the final scenes of the Blair Witch Project, the character

POV shot

Heather uses a POV camera shot to guide the audience through the house. Similar to my film, this forces the viewer to watch the path ahead and they become the person in front in this scenario.

Another camera angle I used in my film was a mid-shot using a tripod. To maintain the theme of

Mid-shot

being a YouTuber/Vlogger, the character needed to address the camera like they were speaking to a person right in front of them. Many vloggers use a tripod to steadily keep up their cameras so I have replicated this technique in my film. The use of this camera technique also presents a wide angle of the surroundings behind the character which shows how vast and dense the forest is. It also makes the audience feel as though they are being spoken to personally and this is why many YouTubers use this technique, to boost audience engagement and to make the viewers feel like they are friends.

Mid-shot used in Blair Witch

This same technique is used in the opening scenes of Blair Witch before they embark on their journey. It makes the audience feel as though they are a part of the friend group and are getting ready to leave with them.

Something that went well with my camera techniques is that the different shots that I used accurately portrayed a YouTube-style video. I was trying to present this film like it was a real event and this technique helped the film to reach this goal. The use of this theme also increases audience engagement as they become more interested after learning it is real. One thing that could have been improved is pre-production. Even though my influence, Blair Witch, did not pre-plan a shot list; it might have flowed better if I had properly pre-meditated some shots and camera angles prior to filming on location. Something else that worked well is the use of big close-ups and extreme close-ups increased tension and gripped the audience during the film.

Audience Feedback

After I completed my final edit of my film, I presented it to my peers. The overall reaction to the film was scaredness which was the intended audience reaction, they had said that the final scenes especially were very scary and did meet the standards of the horror genre. Some people did agree that if I had followed a more detailed production plan, then the film would have been better structured but it would have lost some of its improvisation effect. A target for improvement that I could make myself is for my future projects, I need to produce more pre-production elements such as a storyboard. The genre of film I picked for this film did not require this but to make a movie flow I will need to have these planning tools before the film is made.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed this film project and I believe that I have met the target of creating a scary found footage horror. In my future projects, I will take what I have learned during the making of this film and apply this new knowledge to make it the best it can be. I have also learned that I need to make time for my own projects if I am participating in another student's film as this can ensure the film is as good as it can be.