Planning
Initial Ideas - Brainstorm
As we were still struggling on what our main idea for our opening should be, we deiced to create a rough brain storm of our all are ideas and see which idea appealed to us the most. different
After writing the script we have created a storyboard which as a whole helped our vision come to life. We have carefully thought about the framing for each of the shots which would reflect on our initial ideas from the beginning of this course.
Our finalised idea was to film a zombie horror film opening. We liked the idea of the film starting after the apocalypse has already happened, because we could use some nice dystopian landscapes and cool costumes that people would have dressed into to aid their survival. With that, we could also get some weapons that people would use to defend themselves against the zombies, like axes and firearms. I went and purchased an air pistol, not just for the shoot, but would be good to have as it looks realistic and works like a real pistol would, so we could have some shots of a character firing the pistol, and not have to apply heavy SFX to make it look realistic, only maybe some muzzle flash and smoke effects.
Another good thing we thought would be good to add is a narrative device, posing a question that will be answered later on in the film (If the rest were made). The question we came up with is an unspoken question, and the answer may look obvious at first but in reality is different. The final shot of one of the first scene will be of the main character sitting behind a door, trapped by zombies. He loads the last round he has into the chamber of his pistol and then puts the barrel to his head. Just before he looks to pull the trigger, the screen goes black and a shot is heard. It looks to be that he killed himself, but we can't be 100% sure because we didn't actually see the act. Viewers have to wait until the end of the film to find out what actually happened.
Something that we also thought would be a good idea is to have a '24' style film. 24 is an American TV show that is shown in realtime with use of a ticking clock. The first shot will be a white clock in the corner of a black screen showing days, hours, minutes and seconds since the apocalypse, then after the first scene the clock would reappear and rewind back to days before the apocalypse. The opening will not be entirely in chronological order though; every now and again during the first scene, the action cuts from outside to inside in the building, later on in the scene, giving a few mini flashfowards for the audience to see what's coming. After the second timer, the action would cut to before the apocalypse, where the world is carrying on as normal.
Another good thing we thought would be good to add is a narrative device, posing a question that will be answered later on in the film (If the rest were made). The question we came up with is an unspoken question, and the answer may look obvious at first but in reality is different. The final shot of one of the first scene will be of the main character sitting behind a door, trapped by zombies. He loads the last round he has into the chamber of his pistol and then puts the barrel to his head. Just before he looks to pull the trigger, the screen goes black and a shot is heard. It looks to be that he killed himself, but we can't be 100% sure because we didn't actually see the act. Viewers have to wait until the end of the film to find out what actually happened.
Something that we also thought would be a good idea is to have a '24' style film. 24 is an American TV show that is shown in realtime with use of a ticking clock. The first shot will be a white clock in the corner of a black screen showing days, hours, minutes and seconds since the apocalypse, then after the first scene the clock would reappear and rewind back to days before the apocalypse. The opening will not be entirely in chronological order though; every now and again during the first scene, the action cuts from outside to inside in the building, later on in the scene, giving a few mini flashfowards for the audience to see what's coming. After the second timer, the action would cut to before the apocalypse, where the world is carrying on as normal.
Storyboard:
After writing the script we have created a storyboard which as a whole helped our vision come to life. We have carefully thought about the framing for each of the shots which would reflect on our initial ideas from the beginning of this course. We made sure that we included every element that goes into storyboards in order to make our storyboards appear professional.
Script & stage directions
Script and stage directions
(Idents for Fox Searchlight and DNA films appear)
Celine (Voice over radio): If anyone can hear this... come to the old sports ground... X marks the spot...
(Timer appears, counting in seconds, beeping sound with it.)
(Scene opens to establishing shots of 'The old sports ground'. Cut to Jack staring at red X on the wall, and sees something running past the front door through the mirror. He runs out into the open and walks in the direction the thing ran in.)
Jack (Sternly): Who's there?
(First person shot of zombie running towards Jack. Zombies run over the hill and give chase. Denis runs through the main hall and outside and approaches the old janitor's hut. At the door, he pulls out his pistol and fires a shot at the zombies, missing them and running out of rounds. He runs to the back and slams the door on the pursuing zombies but they get their arms through in an attempt to grab him. Jack removes his axe and slices at the hands, making them retreat. He finally closes the door and sits behind it, zombies trying to break it down. Assessing his options, Jack removes the pistol from his holster and checks his magazine, which turns out to be empty. He throws it away and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a single spare round and loads it into the top of the pistol. Zombies still banging on the door, he puts the pistol to his head and starts to squeeze the trigger.)
(The screen cuts to the timer again, this time rewinding to before the apocalypse. The film title appears. At -2 days, the timer stops rewinding and starts counting up again. In the background the BBC news jingle fades in.)
(The scene cuts to Jack being woken up by the jingle in the school restaurant. He packs his bags and leaves, with the TV playing a breaking news screen
mentioning a flu pandemic getting worse.)
(Idents for Fox Searchlight and DNA films appear)
Celine (Voice over radio): If anyone can hear this... come to the old sports ground... X marks the spot...
(Timer appears, counting in seconds, beeping sound with it.)
(Scene opens to establishing shots of 'The old sports ground'. Cut to Jack staring at red X on the wall, and sees something running past the front door through the mirror. He runs out into the open and walks in the direction the thing ran in.)
Jack (Sternly): Who's there?
(First person shot of zombie running towards Jack. Zombies run over the hill and give chase. Denis runs through the main hall and outside and approaches the old janitor's hut. At the door, he pulls out his pistol and fires a shot at the zombies, missing them and running out of rounds. He runs to the back and slams the door on the pursuing zombies but they get their arms through in an attempt to grab him. Jack removes his axe and slices at the hands, making them retreat. He finally closes the door and sits behind it, zombies trying to break it down. Assessing his options, Jack removes the pistol from his holster and checks his magazine, which turns out to be empty. He throws it away and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a single spare round and loads it into the top of the pistol. Zombies still banging on the door, he puts the pistol to his head and starts to squeeze the trigger.)
(The screen cuts to the timer again, this time rewinding to before the apocalypse. The film title appears. At -2 days, the timer stops rewinding and starts counting up again. In the background the BBC news jingle fades in.)
(The scene cuts to Jack being woken up by the jingle in the school restaurant. He packs his bags and leaves, with the TV playing a breaking news screen
mentioning a flu pandemic getting worse.)
locations
The White Lodge Sports Ground in Syon Lane is our main location for this film opening. It is the meeting point of the survivor sanctuary, and where Jack gets trapped by zombies who inhabit it. It was once a famous sports ground that was ravaged by the apocalypse and now lies in ruins.
This location came about after weeks of searching for an appropriate place to film the opening. We also found a site called: www.derelictlondon.com an excellent website that documents all the neglected buildings and spaces in the capital. After finding the information for this place, and a few other places including the Gillette Building just down the road from White Lodge, we phoned up the Council to ask for permission to film. Gillette corner was ruled out because of a major production happening there, but White Lodge didn't seem to be owned by anyone, so it was only down to asking the Police to get permission to film with the air pistol, which we were granted.
Below are our location pictures we have chosen:
This location came about after weeks of searching for an appropriate place to film the opening. We also found a site called: www.derelictlondon.com an excellent website that documents all the neglected buildings and spaces in the capital. After finding the information for this place, and a few other places including the Gillette Building just down the road from White Lodge, we phoned up the Council to ask for permission to film. Gillette corner was ruled out because of a major production happening there, but White Lodge didn't seem to be owned by anyone, so it was only down to asking the Police to get permission to film with the air pistol, which we were granted.
Below are our location pictures we have chosen:
Derlict london
White Lodge Sports Ground - final loaction
Makeup
Make-up has the ability to enhance the look of a character. As a group we wanted the zombies to look very realistic but we didn't want to go to the extreme with the make-up. Therefore we kept makeup very simple. Make -up was very significant as the close ups allows us to capture a more realistic vibe to the film . However bearing that in mind, my make-up was largely inspired by the zombies in 28 weeks later. The reason why I was so drawn to it was because it appeared so effortless and natural, for that reason it did not distract the audience from the character's actions. As well as that , we used natural lighting and as there were no harsh artificial lights used ,we were able to present that 'effortless' look with a bit of makeup and blood to create a drastic zombie look.
Character profile
The zombies
The zombies are the main antagonists of the film. None of them are really given an identity, so they remain being part of a horde. They were the people that were infected by a virus that was originally thought to be a flu, but when infected people died and came back to life, it was found to be something much more terrifying. The zombies are identified by tarnished clothes, rotting or blood stained skin, and one bright red eye.
These zombies are a hybrid of zombies from different films. Like the traditional zombies, they bite and try to eat anybody not infected, but unlike traditional zombies, they sprint to their prey rather than walk or shamble. This trait was shown in 28 Days Later.
These zombies are a hybrid of zombies from different films. Like the traditional zombies, they bite and try to eat anybody not infected, but unlike traditional zombies, they sprint to their prey rather than walk or shamble. This trait was shown in 28 Days Later.
Jack (Denis)
Jack is the protagonist of the film. A student caught up in the apocalypse, he has to fight for himself to survive. He spends two weeks roaming the now wasteland that was once London to hopefully find other survivors, or maybe even salvation. After hearing on a radio that other survivors are making a stand in an abandoned building in West London, he travels there. Upon finding nobody there, he searches for an answer. Accidentally, he alerts a small horde of zombies who give chase, and trap him in a room. With only one round left, he puts his pistol to his head and squeezes the trigger. The screen goes black and a shot is heard. Did Jack kill himself? Later on in the film, we find out that the shot we hear is from outside the room, and is actually from the other survivors, killing the zombies.
Jack wears some military clothing that he picked up while exploring, his trusty jacket and a rucksack where he keeps all his food and other supplies. For weapons, he carries a fire axe which is strapped to the back of the rucksack, and a Colt 1911 pistol in his holster which he took from a fallen army checkpoint.
We do not know Jack's real name, nor much about his past.
Jack wears some military clothing that he picked up while exploring, his trusty jacket and a rucksack where he keeps all his food and other supplies. For weapons, he carries a fire axe which is strapped to the back of the rucksack, and a Colt 1911 pistol in his holster which he took from a fallen army checkpoint.
We do not know Jack's real name, nor much about his past.
Props and Costume
The pistol
This is the pistol Jack uses in the film. It is an American pistol that he got from an overrun military checkpoint that used to be occupied by British and American forces. He fires it at the zombies in the opening, and it runs out on him after just one round fired. When he is trapped in the room, he uses a spare round he had in his pocket to load and shoot himself, but doesn't actually get to use it as he is saved by other survivors.
The pistol is an air pistol that I bought for the film. It works almost exactly like the real Colt 1911 and looks realistic as well, which is good for Mise-En-Scene. In the room scene, Jack loads a .45 ACP round into the chamber, which was actually a spent rifle round that I modified to look like a pistol round.
The pistol is an air pistol that I bought for the film. It works almost exactly like the real Colt 1911 and looks realistic as well, which is good for Mise-En-Scene. In the room scene, Jack loads a .45 ACP round into the chamber, which was actually a spent rifle round that I modified to look like a pistol round.
The severed hand
This is a severed hand prop that Jack cuts off a zombie during the room scene. Because the skin on the hand was really bright and unrealistic, we dirtied it up and put a lot of fake blood on it to make it look more believable, seeing as a dead person's hand, especially one that has come back to life and tries to rip people to pieces wouldn't look this clean.
Red eye contacts
These are the contact lenses we used to give a more menacing and fitting look to the zombies. The contacts were a blotted read iris which give the effect that 28 Weeks Later had with their infected, where the eye colour changes. One of the contacts became unusable during filming which gave us a unique opportunity to change the whole eye colour change aspect and make it so only one changes, bringing a nice contrast in eye colors for close up shots.
The rucksack
This is the rucksack that Jack wears during the film. He found it with all the other military equipment, and keeps all his clothes, food and other supplies with him in it. It is a heavy bag, but over time he has gotten used to the weight and can now run around with it on his back for a long time, which is great to get a way from zombies. The axe is lodged into the carry handle at the back, which allows for easy access when the bag is removed, as is shown in the opening.
This is a rucksack that Matthew owns because he goes on treks and camp a lot, and is a perfect prop for Jack to be wearing during the film.
This is a rucksack that Matthew owns because he goes on treks and camp a lot, and is a perfect prop for Jack to be wearing during the film.
The axe
This is the axe that we used, first as aesthetics on the back of Jack's bag to make his costume look more realistic, and later on Jack uses it as a weapon against the zombies to get their hands out to close the door. Jack throws the axe down afterwards and never uses it again. The story behind it is that Jack found the axe, which is a fire axe, on a fire engine during the first day. It became a valuable weapon for him, killing many zombies that tried to kill him.
The fire axe is an old London Fire Brigade fire axe that my Dad had got from his workplace a few years ago. It is rusted, but is still sharp so Denis had to be careful while running with it. At first I was going to sew some tabs to fit the axe on to, but in the end we just hooked the axe to the handle of the back of the rucksack.
The fire axe is an old London Fire Brigade fire axe that my Dad had got from his workplace a few years ago. It is rusted, but is still sharp so Denis had to be careful while running with it. At first I was going to sew some tabs to fit the axe on to, but in the end we just hooked the axe to the handle of the back of the rucksack.
Jacks clothes
These are the clothes that Jack wears in the film. All three materials Jack stole from the same army checkpoint he got the pistol from. We had an idea to have shots centered on the holster with the pistol in it, with either Jack walking past or reaching down to get the pistol.