Character Introduction

We took a long time deciding on how the character should look to fit in with the rest of the movie. We thought that he needed some sort of protective clothing on so we went with the classic white overall look. We also gave him a face mask, this was because in the film he doesn't know whether the virus is airborne or not so it tells the veiwer that not that much is known about what has happened to the people.

Evaluation question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?
Here is a link to our preliminary video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCQAbmzz9jo
While filming this we got a feel for who would be best for which role, the video was very amateur and this why we swapped the roles when filming the actual film. Although we got a variety of shots and some dialogue the film is obviously a first attempt and just shows us getting to grips with whats going on.

Comparisons between the two
As you can see from this picture the text is very large and takes up most of the shot, when editing the actual film we obviously had to change this. I was shot in the prelim talking and we felt that I was the strongest actor so I was chose to be the survivor in the opening.

We also put different effects on to the actual picture, when making the film we wanted to give it a dark, grim,  feel. That is why we put a darker effect on it, we learnt how to put different effects on clips after editing the actual prelim video. As you can see from the two photos below the is a contrast in the lighting between the two shots as the prelim shot is quite bright with nothing changed and the second shot has been darkened and the contrast has been changed.


We also used different shots when showing our
main character  We used close ups at a high angle when shooting the prelim. However we felt this look wasn't right for our film. We didn't want the character to be the sole focus of the shot, that is why we showed the deserted hills in the background to show how far the traveler has come from.


Not only is there massive differences between the prelim and the final cut there were also different drafts that we made when trying to get to the final piece  All of this helped us to get the right effects we wanted for our video and it taught us a lot editing these videos. Here is a link to our first draft http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERuvfa1nhlY and our final cut http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz34xipwMkY

Evaluation question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this film?

 

For this task I have had to use many different forms of technology to help with the making of the film. The internet has played a major part in the research part of the task. I googled different film openings and music to see how our film should look and what sort of music would sound best for the background. Once finished we also uploaded our video so that anyone could watch it and also so that we could get some feedaback from people online. We recieved some positive comments on some of our draft videos and also got some likes as well. As well as Google and Youtube we obviously also used Blogger. We made this blog to keep everyone updated on the film making process putting up clips, photos and other interesting details to keep it entertaining. What I learnt from doing this was hwo to upload videos to Youtube and also how to link different websites to blogs and other places on the internet.

 

 

 To film the actual video itself we used a Canon MD 235 video camera. The camera was quite high quality for an amature film and we could get many different shots and angles while filming. It also recorded sound very well so when we were filming our commentary it gave it a very proffesional feel. To keep the camera steady while filming we used Velbon DV 7000 tripod, this worked perfectly and stop the camera from gittering or moving a round. What I learnt from this process was how to use the camera and tripod together and also how to access different shots and angle.

 

To edit the actual video itself we used the programme Adobe Premier 2.0. We all had a go at editing so that we got used to the programme, as you can see from this screen grab we had to cut the film into sections. Once done we had to take out the clips we didn't want, add sound, credits and also external clips such as the static we used. After this was done we had to render it so that it all ran smoothly. Once finished we felt that it gave the desired effect and the film was up to the standard that we wanted.

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation question 4: Who would be the target audience for your film and why?

This is Jordan Ali he is 17 he is a teenage boy who lives in the center of Burnley and goes to Thomas Whitham sixth form. He is quite sporty and is very much into films. His favorite in particular being I am Legend.

Due to the facts that he is a young male who has previously watched Zombie films he is a key member of our target audience. If you look at my previous post on target audiences he must be over the age of 15 as the film will include violence and blood/gore. He not only likes films but also TV shows his favorites being The Big Bang Theory and How I met your Mother, so because of this we would advertise for our film on E4 at times when these show are on. Jordan also spends alot of time on Facebook and Twitter so we would get different advertising banners on these sites to appeal to him as well.

Evaluation question 2: How does your film represent particular social groups?
To do this I am going to pick out the main character from our film, I am then going to compare him to someone of a similar age from a similar film. The character I have chose to compare our survivor to is Columbus OHIO from the movie Zombieland.

The Survivor-

The main character is not given a name in our film so I am going to refer to him as the survivor. He appears to be the sole survivor from this Zombie Apocalypse as he is walking through the deserted fields alone. He obviously knows that some infection has broke out and that is why he is dressed in his protective white overalls and face mask to try and stop him getting the disease. He is also prepared for different scenarios as he is carrying a backpack full of his belongings so he can make a quick getaway from any situation. He is a young character which is breaking the stereotype of the usual zombie film as their main characters are usually older than him. The survivor is in his late teens which means he has done very well to out survive more experience people. He also must have a very strong will for someone his age to survive all this time on his own, without his parents or any friends. This again differs from the usual stereotype of teenagers in films who are very dependent on the people  around them and can't usually do everyday tasks without the help of their mum or dad.



Columbus OHIO-

Columbus is a very unlikely survivor from the zombie apocalypse, he has a lot of different phobias and states the only reason he survived is because of his list of rules. He starts of as the only survivor but eventually meets a group of friends and then relies on them heavily which is very different to the Survivor. He is the classic 'nerdy' teenager which is the character that Jesse Eisenberg usually plays. The character is like this because Zombieland is a comedy as well as a zombie film unlike our film Immunity. The character from our film is a lot more serious and this is due to the differences in the two films. I feel that Zombieland's representation of the young adult character is probably more realistic than ours because of his realiance on older characters and the how he is a lot more twitchy and nervous unlike our lone survivor who must cope on his own throughout. However because of this our film gives a much more positive representation of youth as he is a strong young male who can live on his own even in these very difficult situations.

Evaluation question 3: What kind of media institute would distribute your film and why?
Our film would be a small budget British film, so obviously a big american company like Warner Bros or Universal Studios would not distribute it. Because of this I decided to look at some of the British production companies to see what they made and if our film would fit in with some of their previous films.

Big Talk Productions-

Located in London and established in 1995, Big Talk Productions is best known for its films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. It is also known for British sitcoms Spaced and Free Agents. Through this company Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey have risen to stardom. This company would be ideal for our film after making Shaun of the Dead, even though this is a comedy film it is a classic zombie film and we looked at this throughout our research process. Big Talk put a lot of faith in this film and it had a budget of five million pounds, the faith paid of however and it made thirty million at the box office. They also distributed the film Attack the Block, this is another film that uses a mixture of comedy and horror. Similarly it uses special effects to create the aliens in the film, we would be able to use these techniques in our film when creating the zombies. As you can see from the trailer, it is an all British cast which is the same as what our film would be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3tOFejxPH0

DNA Films-

Formed in 1992, DNA films is one of the most successful British film companies. Probably best know for 28 Days Later, DNA would be perfect for our film as the two would be quite similar  However they do not just make small budget films one of their latest projects Dredd had a budget of forty five million. Because of 28 Days Later this company would have experience in the making of zombie films and could be a good choice for our film.

HEYDAY Films-

Heyday films was formed in 1997 and is another London based company. Distributors of the Harry Potter series they were also involved in I am Legend. This means that they are no strangers to special effects and would be very experienced in making high budget franchises. I am Legend is another of the films we researched and our film has some similarities with it. Because they have worked on such big franchises they would be able to get our film into a lot of high end cinema chains and they still work on small budget films so they would still have an interest even though we don't have the budget of some of their other films.  

Vertigo Films-

Vertigo Films has worked with such actors as Tom Hardy, Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan. Best know for its rough and ready British films like The Football Factory, The Business and Bronson Vertigo Films specializes in small budget British pictures. Here is a classic example of one of their films http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvQqETLU2eU As you can see there is a lot of big groups that go into mass brawls, we could use this sort of experience when creating the hordes of zombies that would be needed in the film. Vertigo also put faith in young directors such as Nick Love this means they would trust in our group even though we lack experience. 

Warp Films-

Warp Films are another company that have a lot of experience in low budget British films that use a lot of
violence. This is England, Dead Mans Shoes and Donkey Punch all use an all British cast and all of the films include a lot of violent aspects. However they don't just concentrate on the violence they also have a strong morale story. This is England has won numerous awards for its story, and because of this I feel Warp Films would be interested in our film because of the strong story line. 

After researching these companies I feel that Big Talk would be the best company for us, as they are interested in small budget films and put faith in unknown actors. Also they have a lot of experience in the horror and zombie film genre this would help us out a lot when we are making the film itself. 

Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your film use, develop or challenge forms of real media products?
Our film genre is a post apocalyptic horror, usually in this sort of genre there is a realism to it. What I mean by this is that even though the world is over run by zombies (implausible) in the back the viewers mind they're believing that this could actually happen.

Comparison between our film and a real film 28 Days Later

1.Both films use a simple plain white font for their opening credits, although 28 Days Later decides to start them later into the actual film in contrast with our film that starts straight away. The way in which the titles fade in and out slowly goes with the way in which the film opens, we made the opening gradually get more intense to add to the suspense of the film.
2.Both scenes use real life riot footage, this gives it that realism effect. These scenes are used in both clips to show what happened before this disaster has happened, they are not the main part of the films however they are just used to set the scene.
3.The next shot of our film shows the evacuated town center, 28 Days Later also shows an empty city however they have decided to introduce they're main character slightly earlier on. He has just woken up from a coma and because of this he has no idea of what has gone on. This is a very original idea from the director Danny Boyle and I have not seen this in any of the zombie/apocalyptic films that I have watched as research.
4.We then show a car that has been opened and left in an abandoned car park, this is to show that people have had to escape and leave everything behind (even their cars). The next shot from 28 Days Later shows their character walking through an abandoned city center  both shots are used to highlight the fact that all the people have disappeared.
5.For our next shot we showed the back of a pub that had had its back fence smashed down and had been broken into. We did this to give the impression someone or something had broken into get to the people inside. In contrast to this 28 Days Later showed a long shot of London with no people in it, obviously we couldn't do something on the same scale as this as we did not have the resources. The closet we could get to shot like that is by getting up in the early hours which is what we did in shot three.
6.In 28 Days Later the next shot shows the character pick up a news paper with the headline 'EVACUATION' this confirms what we first thought, and shows that London has been evacuated. For our next clip we showed a dog slowly walk past some fencing. We used the dog to show that even though the people had gone animals were still there. We tried to suggest the dog was savaging for food, maybe even people. This would suggest the animals had gone rabid, it would give the impression wild animals were romaing around the empty town like in this I am Legend clip
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOjOoICCRGI
7.In our opening we are now introduced to the main character, slowly walking up in the distance a man in white overalls appears coming over the hills. This is very much like the previous 28 Days Later shots of the lone character walking through the city. Straight away we know this person is going to be important to the film as he is center focus and he is walking through the hills alone.
8.In the next shot our character gets closer to the camera, again confirming he is going to be the main character by the amount of shot time he is getting and that he is in the center of the frame. He is in white overalls and a face mask to suggest he is trying to protect himself from some sort of virus. This means he knows what has happened, unlike the character in 28 Days Later who has no clue what has gone because of the coma. This is why he walks into the deserted church, which unbeknownst to him is filled with corpses.
9. Our final shot shows the title of the film, again in simple block writing however this time it is written in large red font instead. We did this to show the veiwer how important the name of the film was, and that it must be related in some way to our main character. 28 Days Later does not do this and carries on with the film showing their character walking into the church.

I think that as you can tell from this our film is quite similar to 28 Days Later so it does go along with the classic post apocalypse film conventions, however we have differences and individual selling points which would make our target audience want to come and see the film.