PRE-PRODUCTION

NEW GROUP - NEW PRODUCTION

In todays lesson, myself and Bright Films, decided to join the other group, as one member of their group has stopped Media Studies. This means that we are now allowed to work as a 4 (as 4 group members is the maximum). We feel they had a very solid plot, so we would go along with their hybrid genre (zom-rom-com). We recorded a short video of our lessons discussion points.

PITCH

INSPIRATION

(THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED BY SCOPE PRODUCTIONS)

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Things we liked (ignoring the bar scene):

• Everyone looking like zombies however they're just doing their boring jobs
• When a car would go past and it would cut into next shot
• The continuous panning from left to right 
• The use of titles such as the Shaun of the Dead on the floor
• The narrative enigma of Shaun panning from feet to head and looks like a zombie
• The quick shots of parts of his morning routine

ZOMBIELAND

Things we liked:

• The video recorder effect
• Point of view shot with the first zombie
• The visuals of Earth (don't know if we could do that)
• The use of titles for the rules
• The funny list of rules
• The slo mo title sequence (however we thought it was too long)
• The moving titles in the title sequence

WARM BODIES

Things we liked:

• The narrative enigma of the main character then revealing he is a zombie
• The set design
• The internal monologue
• Flashbacks
• Scenes going on behind character 
• The transition back to how it was before and then back to now

Editing influence

Edgar Wright, the director of the Cornetto Trilogy, has a specific directing style that is renowned for building the comedy in his movies. This was something we wanted to make sure we incorporated. A distinct style he uses are his quick cuts (and short takes), often to build tension and add to the snappy comedy style. Here are examples of the snappy editing used in his movies...

We will use this style in our kitchen scene, where Donnie is preparing tea and toast. Another clear aspect of these quick shots are the zoom-ins, which we are planning on using as well. 

It was important to look at Edgar Wright's style in-depth, therefore here're a few videos we used as reference, as it analyses why his style works so well in the industry...

SCENE LIST

Scene list from LouisHodges3

UPDATED SCENE LIST

Updated scene list from LouisHodges3

LOCATION - FIRST IDEAS

LOCATION SCOUTING - Scope Productions

(THIS BLOG POST WAS ORIGINALLY MADE MY SCOPE PRODUCTIONS)

VIDEO

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The construction work there should hopefully be done by the time we film.
• I think that the cul de sac is a good place to have a car as it won't block anyone trying to get past.
• The 'dead body' coming out of the car could have a zombie attacking it, but then we would need to think about how our protagonist wouldn't see it.
• We could use the front of the house on the end as Donnie Romero's home (but probably not the inside as it doesn't have what we want).

VIDEO

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Shaun of the Dead scene i'm referencing (from around 40 seconds)

• I was thinking of having Donnie not seeing the zombie rather than him seeing it as there would be no reason for him to think it is normal like how they think the zombie is just a drunk guy in Shaun of the Dead. 
• The field is very long so it wouldn't need to be very obvious.

LOCATION SCOUTING - Spikey Films

BATHROOM

LIVING ROOM

KITCHEN

LOCATION SCOUTING - Bright Films

Benefits of Filming-

• Space to film in
• Lots of mise-en-scene already available
• has mirrors we wanted for certain camera angles

Disadvantages of Filming-

• awkward removal of items in order to place correct props and create mise-en-scene, as to get preferred reading
• Not the best as far as social class, it doesn't fit the middle class stereotype

KITCHEN

Benefits of Filming

• Lots of mise-en-scene already available 
• fits the social class

Disadvantages of Filming

• not a lot of space to film
• challenge to avoid filming balcony window 
• awkward for group members to get too

CHARACTER COSTUME AND RELATED PROPS

ZOMBIE

Our film opening is going to be a zom-rom-com, meaning we need to plan a look for our zombie characters. It is important we get this look correct to obtain verisimilitude. Our plan is for our zombie to have white eyes (to show they aren't alive), several wounds/cuts across the face, white face, ripped/dirty clothes and then covered in blood. This style is inspired by the zombies in Shaun of the Dead. They are all wearing normal clothing, however its all hanging off them as if it was unnatural. Looking at the close up of Nick Frost, you can see his face has been covered in white powder/paint to show the character is lifeless. We have ordered white contact lenses from amazon to create the same effect as Shaun of the Dead. We have blood capsules as well, meaning we would be able to create a similar effect to what is going on around Nick Frost's mouth.

My practice cuts

Liquid latex - we ordered some to create any disfigured sections of the zombies face.

Equipment to create scars/cuts - we have been practicing creating realistic cuts. On the right is an image of some practice cuts I have done on my arm (using glue, makeup and pens).

White make-up - we have access to makeup that could be applied to the face to create the dead look.

Fake blood - could be applied to face or clothing

Contact lenses - we have ordered 2 pairs of white contact lenses.

CLOTHING

We haven't made any specific plans for clothing yet, however preferably baggy clothing that can be covered in blood. The point is for it to look like the zombies have been turned immediately from their normal self to a zombie, which is why they would be dressed in clothing that they would usually wear.

WALK

Once again, inspired by Shaun of the Dead. We chose to go for a slow zombie because we felt it would be easily distinguishable between the zombies and the normal characters. For example if our characters, Donnie, Eddie or Mia, are running away, the comedy would be in the style of the slow walk.

SOUND

Similar to the sounds above, the generic zombie noise would work well for our scene, as it has been used in several zombie movies before.

PRACTISE

This video is a practice attempt at creating the zombie look (done by Spikey films and Scope productions)

What went well:

• The scar (looks realistic) 
• The bruising around the scar 
• The colouring of the face

What we need to improve:

• The face needs some more blue and purple 
• The use of liquid latex 
• The hair (should add falcon powder to show dead look) 
• The eyebrows (need to be covered)

ONLINE ZOMBIE RESEARCH

These are 3 videos show different looks found in YouTube. Although we will use bits form these videos, we are not looking to achieve the exact same look as any of these. These are the areas we liked and will use in our film opening:

• pale face (dead look) 
• fake scarring through the eye 
• white contact lenses 
• bruises around the eyes 
• blue, red and purple discolouring 
• pale lips (but with blood pouring from them) 
• red directly under the eyes

PURCHASING MAKE-UP

Blue Face Paint

Gray Face Paint

White Face Paint

Green Face Paint

Fake Blood

Red Lipstick (Could be for blood)

Eyeshadow Palette with a better blue

• I think we could possibly use the blue face paint as a bit of discolouration for the zombie's face. I think it will make it look a bit more gruesome without making the age rating go up.
• The grey face paint is vital to show the lack of life in the zombie.
• I think the white face paint will be useful but we need to make sure it's not too white so it looks ghostly.
• The green face paint, like the blue, can be used to make the zombie's face look a bit discoloured. 
• Obviously fake blood is a massive part of this. It is important we use something that isn't going to irritate skin and this one is specifically for the face.
• We could use this red lipstick for blood. It might cause a bit of a problem as it is matte. This could make it look very unrealistic and not the look we are going for.
• This eyeshadow palette may be a bit too bright for the look we're going for. However, we may be able to use the blue and green shades to set the blue and green face paint.

PRACTISE 2

UPDATE

26/01/2020 was set to be our first filming day, however unfortunately a cast member fell ill just before filming, therefore we couldn't film. We have now arranged to meet on 02/02/2020 to have our first filming.

ZOMBIE LOOK

Despite not filming on this date, myself and Scope Productions met up to practice the zombie makeup once more. It worked relatively well, as the zombie look is a lot more complete than the last time we practised it. Here is a comparison between the two zombie looks we have done so far.

On the left, we have a look that we went for a few weeks ago. It is a lot more simpler and significantly less convincing. On the right, we have the look we practised this Sunday. Here are things we preferred about the more recent one:

• The scar is more convincing (and it looks good going through the eye - will work very well with contact lense)
• Bruising around the scar
• The makeup goes down to the neck
• lip looks swollen because of the blood

Here are some things we want to improve on for our final zombie look:

• The blood around the mouth is too bright
• There are white areas around the scarring
• The general colour needs to be more pale (too red/purple)

We still need to practise:

• Fitting the makeup with the hair
• Dressing the zombie with the makeup
• practising with liquid latex

Here is a video of us completing the face of makeup on the 26/01/2020

ZOMBIE FINAL LOOK 

Grey zip up hoodie

left open to show white shirt with blood stain

Baggy blue jeans

Shaun of the Dead zombies look as if they are fitted normally as if they are normal humans

Black socks

We didn't want any false representations with white or coloured socks

White hands

Had to match with the colour of the rest of the body

White connotes a dead look

White base layer of face + lips

White connotes a dead look

Red directly under eyes

Zombie looks tired (matching with the way he walks and the way he moans)

Lighter/dusty hair

We put flour (as an emergency replacement of talcum powder) in the zombie's hair

Possible hint that he has 'risen from the ground'

Scar through eye and on neck

Fake cuts add to the dead and beaten up look

Contact lens in one eye

makes the cut look like it did damage

DONNIE ROMERO

FILMS/TV

Star Wars

Star Trek

Indiana Jones

Sherlock

Breaking Bad

Shaun of the Dead

GADGETS

Watch (cassio digital)

Phone

Glasses

Spare glasses

Pocket knife

Can opener

Pens

ITEMS OF CLOTHING

Graphic tee

Straight cut blue jeans - thrifted - slightly worn/faded

Glasses - taking them off and wiping them as nervous tic - helps with not seeing

Possible button up over tee

White high tops

Possible long black trench coat

PLACES HE'S BEEN TO

Library

Diner

Game Store

Home

FOODS/DRINKS THEY LIKE

Slushies

Milkshakes

Monsters

Hot dogs

Pizza

RANDOM FURTHER DETAILS

Only child

Love interest

Works at blockbusters

Really good at darts

EXTRA NOTES

Impact on comedy to bring BBFC rating down to a 15 from an 18

Wears a Rick and Morty T-shirt

Plays video games

Has junk food and empty cartons etc.

To connote working at Blockbusters - name tag / card

Blockbuster movies

CD - possibly use as coaster or plate

Empty cans

Cigarettes

Opening baked beans with pocket knife

Box TV with playstation 2

Set in this day and age but has all old gadgets

DVD player - Dawn of the Dead / George A. Romero DVDs

Link DVD - in Halloween playing movie at start - Scream played Halloween movie

Triple hybrid rom-com-zom

MIA JONES

Female

Around 18 years old

Attractive - male gaze

Named Mia

Binary opposition to Donnie

Badass, very dominant and confident (countertypical)

Doesn't let her guard down in opening

Wears athletic, tight clothing (like Lara Croft)

Black tight dress (to obtain male gaze)

Black leather jacket

Love interest

18 years old

Inspiration from Zombieland

FILMS/TV 

Dear John

The Vow

The Notebook

World War Z

Dawn of the Dead

GADGETS 

Phone

Machete

Pistol

Pocket knife

ITEM OF CLOTHING 

Leather jacket

Boots

Black skinny high waisted jeans

White vest top, slightly cropped, rip by the neck

PLACES SHE'S BEEN TO 

Los Angeles

London

Paris

Tokyo

Singapore

FOODS/DRINKS THEY LIKE 

Any kind of salad

Has a guilty pleasure for chicken wings

Water with lemon and cucumber

Coffee

In the beginning, we took inspiration from the character Wichita in the movie Zombieland, played by Emma Stone. We were going to have Mia Jones dressed in a plain white, slightly baggy, V-neck top with a black leather jacket, blue ripped jeans and black flat boots.

INSPIRATIONS

Now we have changed up her outfit a bit for a bit more male gaze, a theory by Laura Mulvey (you can see my other post about this here). We took some inspiration from the musician PJ Harvey. She often wears a dress or skirt with some boots. The dress looks exactly the same as this with the slight slit on the left thigh. The length was inspired by the PJ Harvey dresses. It's going to be quite cold so Emma will wear skin coloured tights underneath. We will also have her wearing some black boots and a khaki thin jacket. It has a smaller collar than the one in this picture and it's slightly more cropped.

EDDIE PEGG

Eddie Pegg from LouisHodges3

PROPS

These are the props that we will be using for mise-en-scene in our film opening

Props from EmmaScoble1

WEATHER PREDICTIONS

This is the predicted weather on 24/01/2020

(2 days before we are due to have our first)

FILMING EQUIPMENT

Small Tripod - convenient for worms eye view shots

iPhone 11 - the highest quality out of all iPhone cameras. Has a very wide angle lens (improving the issue of recording in small rooms). Similar quality to proper camera

LED camera light - this means we can film in rooms that have slightly less light.

Large Tripod - gives the shots stability and gives us the opportunity to adjust heights if need be

iPhone tripod adaptor - meaning we can attach the iPhone to the tripod

Gimbal - if we chose to use any tracking shots, it gives a very stabilised and professional look to the footage

CALL SHEETS

BATHROOM

BATHROOM Call Sheet from LouisHodges3

KITCHEN

Kitchen call sheet from LouisHodges3

LIVING ROOM

Living room call sheet from LouisHodges3

BEDROOM

Bedroom call sheet from LouisHodges3

OUTSIDE

Outside call sheet from LouisHodges3

HALLWAY

Hallway call sheet from LouisHodges3

STORYBOARD

Storyboard from LouisHodges3

SCREENPLAY

Screenplay - Donnie of the Dead from LouisHodges3