Focus Group Feedback

Out of the three potential plot ideas the focus group favoured plot 1; the story around the discovery of a relevant object. 

Plot 1 Feedback:
The focus group liked the idea of this plot as it can be achieved in realistic locations which can be relatable to them which adds to the scariness of the film. 

Possible problems: 

·         Having the access to a child with parental consent may be difficult to get. Furthermore using a child may be difficult to meet the needs of the filming and the effect needed to be portrayed.

Suggestions: 

·         Need to expand on the relevance of book, perhaps how it relates to the trip and that is why the mother was reminded of the traumatic trip.

·         To change aspect of using a book, the focus group suggested using an object which was relevant to the girl, such as a necklace. This could be found by the child who shows it to the mother which then recalls the trip and takes it away from the child. An alternative proposed to this was the child could find the object relevant to the girl, and has connections and spiritual communication to her as the child can see and hear her whereas no one else can.

Plot 2 Feedback:

The focus group liked the concept of this plot having a message from the past, and having it at a school was achievable however it is rather complex and may get confusing to follow especially when trying to get the message across in a trailer.

Possible Problems:

·         Having the access to various characters and ones that show ageing overtime.

·         There will be a large amount of filming to create the ideal trailer that gets the message across, fit into a suitable trailer length and have horror aspects within it to persuade viewers to watch it.

·         The story line is rather complicated and complex to the extent whereby the filming may takeover resulting in a product that is not edited well enough to be persuasive to the target audience.

Suggestions:

·         Instead of having the passing of time, use the original students to investigate the death of the teacher instead of the student’s daughters to solve the issue of making the original students and teacher show age over time.

Plot 3 Feedback:
The focus group liked the idea of using an abandoned hospital as the main location and theme of the film, with the use of an evil spirit and Ouija board adds to the scariness. They believed that with good filming and editing the end result would be effective and persuasive to watch.

Possible problems:

• Having access to a derelict, abandoned building may be hard to fulfil, especially if the building is unsafe. The process of accessing it would involve contacting several people like the council, which could refuse anyway.
• Having the access to props that would create the hospital appearance and making it look realistic may be difficult, especially if using school corridors and classrooms to makeshift the hospital interior.

Suggestions:

• Find a derelict hospital (or hospital-looking) building which has access to film the outside of, and then use alternative places, like a school where the corridors can be used, and change round classrooms to create a basic hospital room.