Research and Planning - Over Christmas

Over the christmas holidays I plan to take my photos for the poster and magazine and hopefully meet up with Chelsea to film the tiny bits we need or to take the photos. 
I won't be able  to add the sound effects until I get back to college and use their programmes, but I can add more into how I've done the effects.

Research and Planning - Audience Feedback on trailer

We gathered some audience feedback that we collected for our half finished trailer, so far so good! We are yet to improve on them by taking the the feedback they've given us :) 

Research and Planning - Trailer added with some effects

This is what I've managed to do so far for the sound effects of our trailer.  Some will be adjusted if I can find better or more suitable effects but for now I like these.  More to come! :>

Research and Planning - Movie Magazine Update

I thought I'd add in the cover lines for my magazine and see If I could find any effect instead of the original outlined circles or 'bangs', as it kinda gives a sense as to what type of movies the magazine reviews.  I wasn't sure at first whether I wanted the magazine to review all genre of movies, but I've decided I just prefer the action type horrors that include sci-fi. 

Research and Planning - Chelseas: Prop

These were the perfect props as they didn't look entirely cheap and fake and the latex really helped create an effect on our zombies faces! Lovely products for their price.

Research and Planning - Chelseas: Weather forecasts

Chelsea says it all, it was very important that we knew what conditions we'd be filming in as health comes first eh!

Research and Planning - Chelseas: Audition photos

The two of the actor zombies we used for our movie and our protagonist, Chelsea!

Research and Planning - Chelseas: Make-up

The make-up my partner Chelsea used to 'decorate' our lovely zombies! It worked great on the day we actually filmed as it wasn't time consuming to do at all plus the cost of the make-up wasn't dear so it suited our budget.

Research and Planning - Chelseas: Costume

Considering me and Chelsea are working as partners and she's taken up Mis-en-scene, she's done research so I'm posting the other half as to what she's done for the making of the trailer. :)

Research and Planning - Cinematography of trailer

I decided to take a medium shot of the protagonist during this little scene to show her holding the gun and getting a glimpse of her facial expression just as she's about to take action.

 I then panned round to the side of her to how her stance is again, at a medium shot but you can also get a sense of scenery behind her and the desolation.

Lastly, I panned around to an over shoulder shot to finally see her shoot the zombie, this way you can see the gun smoke and the stagger back of the zombie.

 A close-up during the first montage scenes of the 'preparation' seemed appropriate so you would know specifically what she's doing and you can focus on the tension whilst she gets ready.

 A high over shoulder angle was chosen for this part so you can perceive how vulnerable the zombie is on the floor, and the over shoulder to show her preparing to shoot him in his unfortunate, weak state.

 A close-up to show the make-up and 'death' of the zombie seemed appropriate as we then zoomed out to close medium shot as she starts walking, so you can see the how she moves.

 Another over shoulder shot to show the zombie creeping up on her, it fits in the story line of the random montage.

 Low angle to show the vulnerability of the zombie on the floor and the power Chelsea has over her.

 Wide shot to show all actors and get a sense of scenery.

Research ad Planning - Sound effects to add to MP3 Soundtrack

The sword effects of this youtube video are quite suitable and could be applied for my soundtrack during some parts.  I'm looking to cut down the length to a certain 'swipe' that I can then fit onto the video and sound.



The gunshot on this video at 1:28ish is quite useful for the montage part where Chelsea shoots the zombies.


Zombie noises will be made once we can get the actors to come in and record as right now their noises are overlapped from background noises like cars or the wind, so we're looking to remove them and re-record something similar on the mikes.  I'll then enhance the sounds through Magix.

Research and Planning - Cover lines to be

I've thought of some cover lines that I'm going to put on my magazine cover, and  they all relate to what consumers will like plus the movies match the genre that my movie is also related to.

Research and Planning - Trailer so far

So I'm happy to say that we've nearly completed our trailer! This is what it looks like so far, but of course we're missing 1 mini clip that shows the Acura company and the voice over of the protagonist that's going to tell us how the zombie's outbreak or give us some clue to it.  Sound effects need to be included such as gun shots and zombie noises enhanced, but these will be added soon hopefully.  Editing transitions need to be made for graphic matches etc and maybe the odd transition near the end. We had feedback from class which was helpful as it told us we needed to definitely include these sound effects and voice overs.

Research and Planning - Unedited footage

This was all the footage we filmed over the few days.  It was quite an experience aha, the weather didn't help much with the filming but we coped and had the right equipment to help.   Now to edit this! (Chelseas job of course)

Research and Planning: Auditions 2

Chelsea Hall A2 Media: Research and Planning: Auditions 2: Here is the video of mine and Becky's auditions for the role of Alexis Von Fury. We decided that I would take on the role of Alexis, hop...

(Same thing with auditions 1)

Research and Planning: Auditions

Chelsea Hall A2 Media: Research and Planning: Auditions: Today I borrowed a camera from my classroom and went out into the college to see if I could find people to audition for my trailer. I will ...

(Had to add a link as this won't upload to my profile)

Research and Planning: Auditions

Chelsea Hall A2 Media: Research and Planning: Auditions: Today I borrowed a camera from my classroom and went out into the college to see if I could find people to audition for my trailer. I will ...


(I've had to add a link as the video won't upload to my profile)

Research and Planning - Film Poster title draft

I spent some time trying to find suitable fonts for my poster for the film, and I've come up with these two within this layout of blood splats.  I kinda like it at the moment cause it shows that's going to be quite actiony however I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep the blood splats depending on what the colour of the background is and whether it's going to contrast or not.

Research and Planning - Production Meeting

Me and Chelsea had another meeting today and figured out that we were actually going to shoot some scenes this weekend as we've gathered the people we need to do this and hopefully we'll have the HD camera we require.  If we can get hold of the Camera then we can shoot on both Saturday and Sunday - if we can't then we can only film Sunday as that's the only time we can get hold of a HD Home camera. The production meeting consisted of what our decisions were and what actions we're going to take.

Research and Planning - FIlm Draft

I decided to mess around with where abouts each title and masthead is going to be placed on the front cover based off my drawing drafts.  I've found some fonts I'd like to use and these are them.

Research and Planning - Audition Poster

So I created my own audition poster in addition to Chelseas that we've already put up.  The poster is to attract people who want to audition to be a zombie really, or the main protagonist.  You can get a sense of the narrative already with the protagonist being the title of the movie and there being a scenery of zombies.  It also stands out so it'll be an eyecatcher - hopefully!
I've created this using photoshop and a random photo of a zombie apocalypse I found off google. :)

Research and Planning - Film Magazine Masthead Fonts

basicl

bebas

lion king

telegrafico

stentiga

revolution

I've found 5 fonts that would be suitable for me to use in my media magazine as a masthead.  I've chose these styles as I don't want anything too fancy, considering the research I've done I've found most film magazines keep a simple font that is bold and easy to read - like it gets the message across quickly.
I like them all really, but the last 3 especially revolution and telegrafico appeal to me the most.  I like the style they have as it's not boring, it has quite an edgy look to it which is great and will also attract the audience.  Considering the title of the magazine as well, 'manic' suites this type of font more than say something like Arial!

I've collected all my fonts off dafont, as the ones that are pre-defaulted aren't to my tastes. :)

Research and Development - Soundtrack so far

Yes it may be a bit long at the moment but once we've filmed the movie I can adjust things that include maybe the volume, pitch and speed of the loops so that it fits in but so far it seems adequate.  I suppose.

Considering I have to make the soundtrack purely based off my own skills, inserting guitaring that isn't looped would be too expertise  so I've had to create something that you can get the feel of an action movie.   I suppose it'll fit better with the montage of fighting etc.

The beginning bit until the bass drop is where the script will be inserted - I can adjust the time it plays if needed
Once the bass drops, this is the part where the protagonist will make a kind of 'ha' gesture, and a montage of fighting or mixture of scenes will occur.  I decided to change the pitch of the loops in the middle to change things a little, once I've experimented more I'll probably add another action electro loop in.
The change in tune and the gap is where a gunshot could be inserted, like a slow down from the montage just to watch her shoot this bullet, then it goes back to the beginning of loops where a screen like 'coming soon' could be inserted etc.
The last of the loops drags on for long but that's something I'll adjust once the movie is edited etc.
I still have yet to consult Chelsea on her thoughts! hm :o

Research and Development - Soundtrack

I've been using my own programme that I have at home called 'Magix' and so I've had a go now for a while at trying to find a suitable soundtrack that isn't too hard for me to create, and I THINK I might find one I like, I just need to consult Chelsea about it.
It's a techno one but it kind of suites the action theme, as it's very loopy but not to mention action fighting will be going on so gunshots and sword swipes will be going on.

Research and Planning - Location Production Docs

Research and Planning - Risk Assesment docs

I've assessed the risks we may face during our filming process. Hopefully we won't stumble over any problems but this is how we're trying to avoid them.

Research and Planning - Shot list

This is the shot list so far that I've conducted.  More shots will possibly be added throughout the filming so I'll add them whilst going through the process of doing so. :)

Research and Planning - Shooting time list

These are the time's we've chosen to shoot our scenes as people are free here.  There may be time differences if we don't get all we want filmed or if people are late but it's important we stick to some boundaries otherwise we won't get everything we want within the lighting period and the weather will also turn worse.

Research and Planning - Looking for sounds

I know I like some songs that are purely artist made and some for trailers, so I've decided to collect a few and see if I copy different parts like action music, slow build up etc but create my own.

This features like a build up tension noise, the beginning or end parts I could recreate to similarly fit mine as it would be perfect.


I like the actual soundtracking to this song, not the voice ofcourse - but the whole guitar tuning once it gets going if I was to remove slow bits.  I could maybe create something similar to this




The backing to this song is a bit heavier, but the part from 0:11 would sound really good during the montage fighting scenes.  This would be pretty hard to create however.



In this soundtrack I like the whole techno metal theme, this would be probably the best choice to create as it creates enthusiasm, so it would go really well with the montage for the trailer :)

Research and Planning - Film poster drawing drafts

Research and Planning - Film magazine draft drawings

 So we had to draw two drafts of what our film magazine would look like, and I've come up with these.

This was  the first draft I did, and I favour this the most out of the two.  It's got everything that would be need to be featured within a magazine. I mostly like this layout due to the fact the blacked out zombie outlines give it a good style etc, and  the medium longshot of the protagonist would look perfect.

The other draft I did was this, which is alright but I do prefer the first.  However, this does have a good style to it as the highlighted zombies on either side of the protagonist imply she's being watched.  The rest of the background would be black with her on the spot apart from the highlighted eyes and darkness/wounds around them.  Again, it features everything a film magazine should: coverlines, masthead, positioning statement and barcode.

Research and Planning - Test Shots

Chelsea was wearing part of her costume that will be featured within the trailer today, so we decided to take some shots that would be similar to the ones we'll be using.  Medium close-ups and wideshots were used and also from a lower angle to show how intimidating she can come across
We've also found a location that will be helpful for us when filming if we need to take a quick shoot somewhere, so it's pretty convenient.