Problem Solving and Experiments
By Ben Brown

Research Problems
Bibliography: I spent a long time organising my
research sources so I could correctly reference
them and leave an individual link for each
source. This whole process was slow because I
couldn’t remember all of them even though I
left the sources written next to quotes I took
from these sources. I referred to many primary
and secondary sources and tried to track all
sources however, this whole process took a
long time. I overcame this problem by making
a blank template bibliography format
sentence which I duplicated to add all my
sources a lot quicker. The biggest problem was
that I forgot to put all the sources into
alphabetical order which meant I had to slowly
and carefully rearrange the list but I continued
coming across more research sources with
material relevant to my project research and
needed to constantly add new sources. I
solved this problem by learning of an
automatic tool in power point that could put
lists into alphabetical order, however, I already
fixed the list but I know to use it for next time.

Research
Problems
I faced two problems when I was doing my research for the FMP, but all of it
stemmed from the Research Power Point itself, the two problems were; trying
to edit the Power Point layouts at home on a non-college computer and
tracking my research sources to write to a comprehensive bibliography.
Power Point layout: I decided to remake the writing in my Research Power
Point to make the presentation more professional but after I fixed it, I couldn’t
adjust the size of the writing on my home computer (it lacks the proper editing
materials the college computer has). This caused the text either to be either
too big or too small and it made the slides texts too small to read or too big
which made it look like I did not write enough content or the text went off the
page. I overcame this problem by using a college computer with the proper
editing features to make the text box bigger and adjusting the size of the
words. All my Power Point slides were bland, so I had to add images to make
my slides more eye catching and show what I wanted my film to look like, but I
didn’t have time to add layout pictures on my college computer so I had to use
my home computer. The images I added from that computer kept on blocking
the text so I couldn’t read my paragraphs and the designs alone were not high
quality because all I was able to do was add a single picture on the side of the
page. I solved this problem by using the designer idea generator on my college
computer to make slides have neatly placed pictures and backgrounds that
matched the pictures to create a design that shows my artistic vision. The
designs were also able to perfectly space out the text from the images so the
paragraphs were easily readable.

Research Problems
The other issue that I faced for my FMP was selecting
filming locations suitable for the dark and horrific
atmosphere of a slasher film. I research this area by
looking at 1980s and more modern horror films to try
to notice the way they filmed houses, rooms and
shots of the murderer and other characters. I also
went around York and the surrounding areas to look
for houses and buildings that I could use to film
exterior shots of this nature. I would look at these
locations at dusk and in the evening and I also had to
look for public accessible locations. I initially thought
that the Hospitium in Museum Gardens in York would
be an ideal film location as it is accessible, not
connected to other houses so I could make it look like
an isolated dwelling. After trying several filming
angles, I realised that the Hospitium was not
appropriate for my film as it was too grand and would
not match the interior shots that we will do in our
family home. Also, I would only have access to the
Museum Gardens only until around 5pm which would
prevent me from shooting night-time shots. After this
research, I notice a house near the street where I live
in Fulford which is an older cottage, it could be filmed
in such a way as to look like it was isolated and on its
own. Also, I have access to filming this house at night.
My extensive research of locations has allowed me to
select a much more atmospheric location and it’s
similar to locations and the appearance of houses in
films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween.

Theoretical Problems
Problems Effect on Work Overcome Problem Contingency Plan
Filming Outside While my project is filmed mostly
inside, I can’t film in the day because
the light will ruin the dark atmosphere
and blind the camera.
I can solve the problem by checking the
weather to know which day is best to
film and by finding a location before
filming that is very dark.
If the day is always too bright I’ll use a
filter to make everything look dark or
film in the evening or at night.
Unwanted Noise In my location of an isolated house, the
house’s occupants may make noise or
noise from the outside will interfere
with recording dialogue and music.
I can overcome the problem by
recording from a microphone
connected to my iPad which I got for
this Final Major Project.
If there is too much noise and my
microphone doesn't work, I’ll rent out
the recording studio and dub over
everything that is said.
Locations If I cannot find a proper location for
filming, this will mean I have to film at
home and that location doesn't fit with
the scary isolated setting for my
project.
I can solve the problem by finding a
location long before filming will take
place and also book a private place in
advance.
If I cannot find a location to film, then I
will use an exterior shot of an isolated
location and film inside my own house
for interior shots.
Production Time With a short production time, I will
not be able to film the entire project
and it will be left unfinished without
the film being the idea I wanted it to
be.
I can deal with the problem by doing
more work in my spare time before
production starts to get ahead of
schedule.
If I run short on production time I’ll
have to change the plot of the story to
be shorter so I have enough time to get
it finished. I will make this judgment
early in the production process.
Job Roles My project will be managed by three
people sharing job roles which will
make organising production confusing
and that will take up a lot of work time.
I can overcome this problem by me
doing most of the job roles and my
crew just do small simpler jobs for the
production. I plan to draft a job list and
production schedule to organise
filming.
If I cannot organise job roles with my
small cast, I’ll have to use students
from my class to do individual job roles
to finish the project. A job list and
production schedule should help me be
able to change cast members if

Practical Problems
Problems Effect on
Work
Overcome
Problem
Contingency
Plan
Storage Without me storing my
footage in a proper place it
could be hard to find or it
would get deleted.
I can overcome this problem
by creating a folder for the
film’s footage and I will make
sure each shot is recorded in
this folder after each filming
session and catalogued.
If I cannot find a place to store
my footage, I will leave all the
footage on my iPad’s camera
role and back it up each day.
Power If my iPad isn’t charged, it’ll
run out of power and this will
delay or stop my filming or
editing production schedule.
I can solve this problem by
making sure my iPad is fully
and frequently charged to film
and edit all of my project.
If my iPad is still out of charge,
I’ll have to use a different iPad
to film all the footage, back it
up daily, and then move it
back to edit it.
Ability My ability to record audio is
limited because I only use the
speakers on my iPad to record
low sounding audio.
I can overcome this problem
by using the new microphone
I got to link to my iPad to
record clear audio.
If my microphone doesn't
work, I’ll have to put my iPad
to full volume and record
footage up close or
alternatively, I use specialised
software to increase the
volume of the film footage.

Experiment 1: Lighting
I experimented with lighting to learn how to create a dark
and scary atmosphere for my Final Major Project. I’m doing
this because I want to create a creepy setting to add to the
horror genre my project is based on and lighting is a key
technique in this process. I’ve learned that a cold blue light
makes a figuratively chilling atmosphere and there's many
angles a dark light can be projected onto a place or person
to create a dark and unnerving atmosphere. This will
improve my project because lighting is important to literally
show the film as dark and disturbing to fit with my horror
themed project and now that I understand how to use
lighting I can create the atmosphere I want.

Experiment 2: Slasher
Point of View (POV)
I conducted an experiment where the camera looks
like it is in the slasher’s point of view (Pale Face) as he
stalks a victim in hiding or chases them and brutally
murders them with a melee weapon. I’m doing this
because I want to create camera shots through the
slasher’s perspective to understand the killer and how
their mind works to provide even more tips on how to
survive a slasher. I’ve learned how to use a camera to
make it look like you’re looking through someone's
eyes with many minor details like the shakiness as
they move etc. I’ve learned how to do better moving
camera shots with POV. This will improve my project
by teaching me how to make better camera shots and
the final product will have improved camera quality
with more creative and impactful camera shots.

Experiment 3:
Moving/Reveal Shots
I’m testing out moving camera shots
and reveal shots like a running scene
and a shot were the camera pans to
reveal the killer, Pale Face. I’m doing
this because I want to make it seem
like the audience is living in the film
and creative camera shots make the
film more professional and artistic
with creativity. I’ve learned simple
ways of creating moving shots by
just pulling a chair back with a
camera attached, I also learned how
to do camera reveal shots like
filming a person's back and then the
camera backs up to see the killer
behind them. This will impact my
project by helping me produce
better cinematography to grab the
audience's attention and show the
horror/slasher atmosphere in a
creative and professional way.

Learning from Experiments and
Project Influences
My experiments with lighting, slasher point of view, moving and reveal
shots as well as my research on editing, production and locations made
me revise my approach to the project in four key ways:
• Adding blue lighting, complex moving and slasher POV shots to
increase tense and suspense.
• I altered the location of my filming for better access, sinister
atmosphere and high lighting for my camera shots.
• I have changed the way I will edit the film with sudden quick edits
after I researched how horror films are edited.
• During production, I will face problems with filming outside and
unwanted noise which I plan to solve by using a light filter and filming
at certain times of day. I will deal with unwanted noise by dubbing
over unwanted noise post-production and using a microphone that
can filter out background noise. I learn from problems faced during
previous productions and my research of production techniques.