The Props

My film is set in a fantasy world and one of the most important things to do is immerse the audience in this world without anything pulling them out of it. One way that they can be fully emerged is through the use of the props. The props that are involved in my piece will consist of a bow and arrow, a necklace and may include various campfire equipment, such as pots and pans. So far I have got the bow and the pendant. The bow was initially red so it was painted brown to look more immerse, as can be seen in the picture. The necklace is the most important prop as the whole story is built around it. I decided to go with a simple blue pendant necklace as seen below. I chose this as it needs to look like as normal so that it gives it an innocent persona even though it causes nothing but problems for the person who wears it. The next step is to decide on whether a campfire will feature in the film as these props will need to be assembled if this is the case.

Audience research into fantasy films

With any film making sure their is an intended target audience and that you will capture their attention is key. Before I start my own piece, I need to make sure my chosen genre is appealing, and who it is appealing to. To do this, I need to conduct some audience research to see what sort of genre people like and what they're opinion is on the fantasy genre. There are a variety ways of doing this however I feel the best way of doing this is through a questionnaire. Therefore, I put together a survey which asked questions which could help me determine if my choice of medieval fantasy was the right one. Below are all the questions that I asked along with some analysis of the feedback received.


What is your favourite film?

On average, peoples favourite films fell under the action genre, such as 'Purge Anarchy' and 'Fury'. There were a few people who preferred films that were far from reality and could have been classed as a fantasy film. Most of the other films mentioned do not move away from reality too much like fantasy films do. Some examples of this would Forrest Gump and Billy Elliot. 

What is your preferred film genre?

In this question, the participant could choose from a selection of the most common film genres such as action, adventure, horror, comedy and so on. All but one of the participants said that they enjoyed the action genre. More importantly half of the participants said that they enjoyed fantasy films. The fact that most like the action aspect of films means I could interoperate this into my piece by adding a small action sequence such as a chase or a fight scene. 

How often do do you watch fantasy films and do you like fantasy films?

My research shows that the majority do watch fantasy films however and do enjoy the genre. However the people who didn't really watch much of the genre and didn't enjoy it had a similar taste in other films. For example, two of the participants who said that they didn't enjoy the genre were both into horror films. This could show they prefer things that could be related to real life rather than that of imagination. 

If yes, What is your favourite fantasy film and why?

By an outstanding amount, the majority of the participants favourite film was the Hobbit. This helps greatly in cementing my idea to make a medieval fantasy film as it seems this the most appreciated fantasy sub-genre. There were a few other sub-genres that stood out such as Sci-Fi fantasy such as Avatar. 

Overall, this survey has helped greatly as has cemented the idea of a fantasy film, specifically a medieval fantasy film. Although not enjoyed by some the majority do enjoy a film which takes them away from reality and into a completely different world and this is what I plan to do with my piece. 

If you'd like, you can help me further my research by completing this poll to the right about your favourite genre