The finish film.

Evaluation

By Frankie

Sound Effects

In our opening sequence we used a lot of different sounds, diegetic and non-diegetic.

We used three non-diegetic music tracks over our sequence to add to the atmosphere at the time. One spooky (Which added tension to the sequence), one up beat (when there was action) and another more calm (after everything had been resolved). These all happen at key parts of the open sequence.

We mostly used diegetic sounds such as blood hits, gun shots, contact hits and zombie noises. These add to the realism of the film and make a much better impact to the audience. These had to be added in at the right time otherwise it wouldn't give a good effect, in fact it would give the complete opposite.

To get the right sounds it took a while searching around on the Internet for royalty free sounds. After searching for a long time we found some decent gun noises to add.

Peter did the zombie noises himself by using a programme at home where he could record his voice using audacity, and made zombie like noises. He tried to get as near as he could to the sound of the zombies from 28 days later.

By Nic

How We Applied Effects

In our opening sequence we have added many effects from spooky mist to gory blood. It was hard to get the effects to look like they were realistic and in the scene and not just stuck on the screen. To achieve this we had to use a number of masking techniques and motion tracking some footage.

Adding Mist:
To add atmosphere to our opening scene around the church we have placed the effect of mist to give it a more eerie feel, and emphasise the genre. First we had to motion track the footage. Next we used the masking techniques to make it look like the mist was behind certain objects and then blurred it a little bit to get rid of the sharpness around the mask, then we tied the mask with the motion tracking so when the camera moves the mist would stay where it was first placed and not follow the camera as if it was stuck on the screen, this makes the effect look like it really is in the scene and not placed on. We added a tint of blue into the mist to give the chilly feel.

Adding Blood:
We used blood effects a lot in the opening sequence to give the sense of more realism. The blood is fairly simply to apply. All we had to do was place the effect on the footage then move it into place of where it would be. Then we would darken the blood to make it look more like real and not like paint. Next we would move the blood frame-by-frame to the right place and so that it flows well and looks good when playing. We would also have to synchronized the blood with the blood shot noise otherwise it would look fake. Yet again we would mask around the blood when it is behind certain objects.

Making The Footage Look Like Its Dawn
We realised that when we played the footage that it was to light and wouldnt fit in with a thriller/horror genre. So we decided to make it look like it was darker to add to the atmosphere of the opening. To do this we had to adjust the satuation and bring it down. Then we had to bring down the colour of blue, red and green, this darkened the footage even more, this made it look like it really was dark instead of giving the footage a cheap fake darkened look.

Flashes From Gun Fire
We decided that even unnoticeable effects still add the the opening sequence. We added gun flashes for when ever the gun fires, which is a simply but long task. First we got to the frame where the muzzle flash of the gun appears then we start to mask around the points where we thought the gun flash would appear. Now we changed the gamma of the colour levels to make it more white, we then decreased the blue levels and increase the red to give the mask a yellow colour. Now we feathered around the mask to get rid of the sharpness of the edges. This flash only lasts for one frame, so it is hard to see, but adds to the realism of the footage without the viewer realising.

The Headshot
This by far took the most time and concentration to do. Doing this headshot involved amazing techniques. Firstly we had to decide the point where the head would of been shot. Now, we new that we would be doing this headshot while filming, so we took a still frame of the same shot. Now we cut around the actors exploding head with a mask frame by frame till they came out of the shot, once we had finished this the head was cut out. We then placed the still frame underneath the footage layer, this means that the whole where the head was cut out will now show the still frame (Which would be what would normally be behind the head). Now we added the blood which was explained above. However, this time we have blood on the wall, this is achieved by sizing the blood up to how we wanted then making the effect 3D so that we could apply it to the wall at the angle that it would actually be, yet again increasing the realism of the footage.

By Nic

What Programs We Used

We used only a few programs but they did the job that we needed. For the editing and effects we used Adobe After Effects CS4 and a expansion for the effects which is Action Essentials 2.

For the sound effects that we recorded we used Line 6 Tone Port GX to record direct to the computer. Then we used Audacity to record it.

By Nic

Second Day of Filming

On the second day of filming we were luckey as it rained again so we didnt have to worry about the mise-en-scene being different to the first day. But we got most of our shots done on the first day so all we did was re-do shots we didnt like or add in shots we wanted. We followed on filming from the previous day and preceeded to film the climax of the opening scene and the main action scene. This involved all actors on set, all props and clothes we used for the zombies. we filmed these scenes from many different angles to create a good effect, we also made sure we used the environment to our advantage. Overall the second day of filming was a success as we got alot done.

By Peter

First Day of Filming

On the first day of filming we all met at Nics house. Once everyone had got there we made our way with all the props to the church/graveyard. once we were there we got Billie (the actress that plays a antagonist) into her costume, back combed her hair and smeered blood over her. The two main characters were already in there army outfits and had the guns. We had trouble with the guns as some of them were still wet with paint so we couldnt use them that day. On Monday it rained all day so it was very difficult to film as we needed to keep the HD camera dry. We started by filming the two main characters walking down towards the graveyard. We tried shooting the same shot from different angles. After we shot the walking scene we moved on to the first scene where we see a zombie/witch.

By Frankie

Perparing for Filming

On Monday we had to prepare costumes, set, props, mise-en-scene, narative and the dialog. We also had to phone all the actors and acresses to check that they were still coming and that they knew where we were shooting first. For the costumes we had to get old t-shirts, jumpers and troussers. we cut them up and stained them with fake blood and left them to dry over night. For the props we had to make sure we had guns, fake blood, army outfits, hair product (for the zombies) and ashes to make the zombies look dirty. After we got all the props and costumes together we phoned all the actors and actresses to make sure they still could come. When we had sorted it out we sat down and went over the dialog and made changes to it, adding and taking away lines.

By Nic and Peter

Props and Costume

Before we stared filming we got a list of props that we were going to use. We knew that using probs would enhance the realism of the situation that they are in. Also props help us to get the genre across to the audience, for example, if we didnt have army costumes for the soldiers then it would be extreamly hard show that they are soldiers to the audience. The soldiers uniform was also iconic that they are fighting for suvial as this links to the army and then links to war. We also had to have red food dye, ripped cloths and ashes. we used these to make the zombies look more realistic as we poored red food dye on the cloths and rubbed ash on it. After we did that we put red food dye on the actors and smeered the ashes all over them to make them look dirty and more realistic.

By Nic and Frankie

Storyboard

By Peter

The name of our Film

We have been discussing names for our films. We have been getting inspiration from zombie films and death metal bands as there names suite the genre of horror. Here are some examples of some of the names we came up with;
Abysmal Dawn, Deceased, Shadows fall, Dead Infection, Apocalypse, The End Is Nigh. Once we got the names down to two names, we did a team vote on what name we thought set the genre and plot to the audience the best.
Once we decided we asked our friends if this name was suitable and if they would go see a film named 'Dead Infection', we found that 95% of them said they would.

Dead Infection.

By Frankie and Nic

Questionnaire

1. Do you enjoy watchin films?

2. How often do you go to the cinema?
-0-1 per week -2-5 per week 5 or more per week

3. Do you enjoy zombie films?

4. What age group would you say would go and see this genre of film?

5. What rating would you expect on a zombie film?

6. What gender do you think would enjoy a zombie film more?

7. What was the last horror/zombie film called?

8. When was the last time you watched a film with zombies in it?


By Frankie

Ideas For Opening Sequence, Storyboard

We have started planning and drawing up ideas for our storyboard. We have come up with many different ways to start and finish our opening sequence jotting them down on paper and sharing our ideas. Once we got all our ideas on apaer, we decided to try and put together a opening for our opening sequence. We ellimated the weak ideas and made the good ideas stronger by linking them with other ideas that fit in with the story. We then tried to put together the ideas we had and fit it into a opening sequence. We then started thinking about the lighting, set, location, characters, how many people we will need and what days we will need them. We also started planning what props we will need and who can do makeup on our actors/actresses. We have already selected the main character and who will play him. We have also started practising the make-up and how to make it look realistic.

Nic & Frankie

Inspiration

We have got our inspiration from certain films and games. One film that we feel has influenced us the most would be '28 weeks later'. This has helped us to think about conventions and general themes. we also found inperation off of blood effects that we researched. we also found that the pace of the opening should be fast to put the point across the emotion of the characters.

By Frankie

Inspiration: Zombieland

Zombieland' came out in 2009 and was directed by Ruben Fleischer. The editing to this opeing sequence was slowed down, this can show the reaction most people get when they are in a bad situation, this puts us in there position. The opening sequence is zombies attacking normal people in normal situations, but what we dont see is zombies actually killing them, we just see that they have caught the 'normal' people. this makes the audience use there imagination, this is very clever as the imagination can think up of a very gory scene which is not actually in the film, the imagination is the most powerful thing they could of used. also this makes it less effort for the director as he doesnt have to use any CGI to make a scene of complete gore. this has helped us, as we no we cannot make our film as 'real' as '28 weeks later' but we can use the imagination of the audience for the gory scenes.

by Frankie

Preliminary Video Task

In preliminary task we videos a short sequence of two people speaking. Using match on action shot, high angles and close ups. In our final version of it we noticed alot of key mistakes. One of these mistakes was the first shot of Nic. We left loads of space above him in the frame which was a total waste and was no point in it. It would have been a far better decision to have filmed a closeup instead to show the emotion on his face. Another mistake we made was an over the shoulder shot of opening the door and then the next shot is Peter going though the door. We made the mistake of cutting the shots too short which made the footage look jumpy. We should of filmed longer and made the editing less jumper so it fits in properly. Because of these mistakes we will be more aware of them when we film our opening sequence.

Peter, Nic and Frankie

Production Company Name Choice

We have choosen "Infected Studios" as our production company name. We have choosen this name because it links with our opening sequence that we plan to do. The word "Infected" suggests a sort of disease or illness which straight away puts a image of a horror or thriller to the audience. Also, the word links into the opening sequence that we are doing, which involves zombies. It will add to the atmosphere of the opening sequence and give the audience expectations of what is to come, which is already giving the right reaction to our film.

Nic