I will be looking at different horror directors to see how they film their movies. Some films I will be looking at is Zombie land, Bad taste, 28 days later and Shaun of the dead. I don’t know if I will make it a horror or a horror/comedy which is why I’m going to be looking at different styles of the same genre.
Most original zombie movies have a sub-genre. This makes it easier for them to stand out. If a film doesn’t have a purpose other than a bunch of zombies and humans killing each other, it can quickly become tiresome.
Having a genre sets the tone and atmosphere of the film so that the audience takes away from the film what the screenwriter intended.
Because my film is going to be approximately 3-4 minutes I will not need to film a lot of scenes. I will be looking into how I will actually film the scenes and how long each scene will be. I will also need to work on the dialogue and how they’ll work with the locations I’m filming at.
I have been looking into the Director, Danny Boyle who is famous for his films, Train spotting, 127 hours, 28 days later. My film will be inspired by 28 days later since it is also a zombie film and it is one of my favourite films of all time. This movie is filmed in a way that shows the apocalypse in a very accurate way, like how you’d expect a zombie apocalypse to be in real life.
Danny Boyle is famous for creating visually striking films, that sticks with audience even long after watching the film. He’s also been recognised for his fast paced style and creating a distinctive look within his films.
Danny Boyle’s films are known for their range and uniqueness. He uses dynamic camera movements and unconventional camera angles. He also uses rapid editing, making the scenes look more fast paced. He also uses music to enhance the mood and tone of his films.
His films also explore themes of identity and addiction. He will incorporate these themes mixed with fictional stories such as 28 Days Later. His stories are characterised by its creativity and emotional depth.
Consciously distancing himself from zombie tropes, Boyle ushered in a whole new breed of seething, rabid-dog ghouls, spewing blood from their eyes and mouths while sprinting after their victims. He uses fast paced editing to create a tense atmosphere and music to set the tone of his scenes. The film goes through zombie fighting, how people get infected, meeting new characters and how the main character adapts to living in an apocalypse.
Seddon, D. (2022). ’28 Days Later’ at 20: Danny Boyle and Cillian Murphy on why it wouldn’t get made today. [online] NME. Available at: https://www.nme.com/features/film-interviews/28-days-later-interview-anniversary-cillian-murphy-danny-boyle-3340282.0000000
‘Anderson is renowned for using symmetry in his films, which creates a sense of harmony and balance. While pleasant to watch, this kind of composition also contributes to the fanciful, beguiling appearance of his films’ .
www.curzon.com. (n.d.). Unpacking Wes Anderson’s Cinematic Style. [online] Available at: https://www.curzon.com/journal/unpacking-wes-anderson-s-cinematic-style/#:~:text=Symmetry.
Using symmetry from Wes Anderson and Danny Boyle’s fast paced style, I tried to put the two together and make a film inspired by both of their art styles.
I also took inspiration from Wes Anderson. His style is known for its attention to detail, use of symmetry and its bright colour palettes. He is also another director who is known fr his sue of music, which includes rock and pop songs.
This video goes into the shot types and how his films are shot.
These two pictures show how he uses symmetry to align his characters and how he films them in dialogue scenes. The video goes into medium shots, close up shots and how they affect a scene.
This is a video I used to help me learn how to film in black and white. It goes into how to make black and white cinematic with a camera. It also shows how to keep certain shots in focus, the right brightness when doing still shots and moving with a camera.
Key points in this video that was needed for my film was just light intensity and the shadows. This video helped with my outside scenery shots and with my last scene of the film.
It helped me know how to get the silhouette look in the end and get the most light concentrated into the sky. And below it teaches me about the amount of distance you film a subject on a camera, the more shadows you will get, which is how I got the outline of me done well.
Another video I looked at was how to get a cinematic look on a DSLR. I didn’t book out a big camera, so I needed to learn how to make my film look like an actual film.
One thing that was important is making sure my film wasn’t too dark. I needed to change the shutter speed and the ISO to make sure it was in the right setting and the film was the right brightness. With the outside scene the ISO was set to 100 and my shutter speed was at 1/125. With these setting and my camera set to black and white I filmed my walking scene successfully and the right way.
These two pictures is what I used to help me with knowing what setting to use to get the right shot. With the zombie scene I used ISO 200 because there was natural lighting from the windows so I didn’t need to add much brightness. For the shutter speed I set it to 1/125.
I also have a tripod and for the scenes where I set my camera up I needed to make sure it was level so I was not filming diagonally and it was straight. In the video it shows the camera on the tripod and a closer look of it below. This is a bubble leveller tool that is already on the tripod so I know how to get the camera straight.
Directing
- My targets for the next month are: (March)
- To finish my script for the film
- Finish my research on topics related to my project
- Finish risk assessment
This is my mood board for my film that is the main inspiration and what my film aesthetic will look like. I took inspiration from shaun of the dead, landscape pictures for the visual of my film and the apocalyptic looks from many field, hallways abandoned places.
Above is the risk assessment for my film. Since I am going to be filming outside more than inside I need to be way of the things that could stop me from filming or getting injured.
Location planning:
For my project I will not need a lot of locations because it will be short and a limited amount of scenes. I’d like the scenes to show a lot of the area so it can be linked to the community and people from around Bradford recognise some of these locations.
- Northcliffe park
- Leeds trinity centre, particular roads and buildings shown in Leeds
- Bradford Lister Park
- Bradford College
Production schedule
Right now I am in the pre-production part of the project. It’s the 30th of March and I plan on filming throughout the holidays and finish task two. I also need to loan out a camera (Canon DSLR), and a tripod from central media services.
Cameras
I have my own camera at home which is also a DSLR, so I may use my own so I have more time to film when I want without worrying about giving the camera back. One negative of doing this is that capturing audio is difficult from far away because a DSLR only has a small microphone in the front of the camera. So, when editing I will need to add more sound effects that matches the scene, because I don’t want the audio to sound rough. In talking scenes I may opt for doing voiceovers, so the background noise the camera picks up won’t affect the scene.
I want most of my scenes to be filmed in black and white so it gives a bleak and dull atmosphere of the zombie apocalypse. All I need to do is change the setting from standard to monochrome on my DSLR and it’ll be perfect.
I also have a tripod at home so that means I can film from different angles and get different shots of things up close, and far away. Because it is a DSLR it is easy to film hand held, so when I am filming my actual zombie attack scene it is easier to get the zombie and me in frame and look good on camera.
Filming will begin on the third of April and I will be filming for majority of the holiday so when I come back filming is done and I can start editing. I have friends and family to help me film during so I can show them the scene and they can help me get the right angle and what looks good etc.
My script is almost finished and it will be done before I start filming. I have added in the beginning and last scene and am working on the dialogue in the middle.
This is an evaluation on what I have done so far. It includes strengths and weaknesses and how far I am into the project.
These two pictures are main scenes for my film. I planned what scenes I want to be shown earliest and latest into the film and there may be more added into the movie when I am filming.
This storyboard is just a rough idea of what my film will be, my script is the one thing I will mainly be looking at to see which scenes to film. However, this storyboard helps me to visualise what the final project will look like and is very useful.
This is my official script. I have made a lot of changes to it, but I have written 8 full scenes that will make the film about 4 or 5 minutes long. The script took me about a week and I got inspiration from many zombie films like, Shaun of the dead, 28 days later and Zombie land. I looked at different scenes from these and which stood out to me that I could incorporate in my film.