Evaluation.

For my A2 Film Studies coursework, and two friends and I decided to work in a group and soon decided to make a short Horror movie, we made this decision because we all mainly watch Horror movies and agreed it would be relatively easy to make. We both decided that we would make our short movie to be apart the Zombie sub genre. We soon decided what rolls we would like to undertake in the pre and post production. Will choose Director, Sean choose Editor and I choose Cinematography. We soon came up with the idea of our plot and wrote the Synopsis, Script and Storyboard, but over the rest of the project, all three changed and we agreed that they had improved. After a few Months, Will Decided he no longer wanted to carry on his education at Wyke and dropped put, this caused us to panic a bit but it wasn't a major problem for us because we just decided to spilt the role of Director, which turned out to be better for our project. We was able to get more work done as well as a group when Will left as he never had the same free lessons. A main problem that we came across and really struggled to overcome it was being able to find actors able to act for us and being able to film it when we was all free. Reasons why we was unable to film where either myself or Sean was working ( week nights and weekends respectively) and the actors being free. We eventually had to find other actors because we could no longer wait for our intended actors, this caused things to happen a lot fast and managed to get a lot more done. With our intended actors we had planned to film when Sean and myself where free and they were also free, for various reasons we the actors had to cancel filming various time which halted the process.We choose the abandoned building carefully for different reasons, safety was a main issue with it, Lighting and we choose the building to represent "Alex". The building is Isolated and just outside of town, we choose the building because it was Isolated which represents "Alex" as he becomes alone and Isolated as he "Transforms" into the "Zombie" Another reason why we choose the building was that "Alex" is slowly decaying and becoming a mess, and so is the building, so it reflects back onto "Alex". The building has been vandalised, graffiti ridden, broken glass on the floor and just general rubbish, this helped a lot for the Mise-en-scene as to connotes the main characters state of mind. The dull lighting helped make "Alex" to look like he was in a bad place in his mind and ill. I came up with the idea for the establishing shot which was instead of having just a straight on shot of the building and "Alex" walking into it, open the sequence with a shot of a puddle, "Alex" stepping into it and then a tilt up to show Him walking into the building. We both liked the idea but didn't realise until the editing process that the ripple in the puddle caused by "Alex" reflects back onto how the equilibrium is changed. We filmed "Alex" walking into the building from different angles and positions in and out of the building, the reason why we did this was to make a match on action shot and to keep the flow of the sequence going from him walking into the building and in the building. For the scenes in the Abandoned building we didn't need any dialogue so we just filming the parts we needed for the montage sequences, the idea the montage sequences was that it would show "Alex" "Transforming". We got an idea from a bands music video ( As Winter Burns white- This sentence". They is a part of the music video where the footage has been sped up and it looks really distorted and like something is happening to the guy. We liked this so decided it would work well as something is happening to "Alex". I filmed "Alex" walking about, hitting walls, throwing bricks and other heavy objects lying about and just general movement that looks like he is angry, during the editing process we sped this up and put it in the Montage sequence. We needed some fake blood but was unable to buy any, so we improvised and bought some red food dye and mixed it with water, this made a perfect substitute for the t shirt and to put on the floor. We made a blood trail from the middle of the room to the corner where "Alex" was sat, I recorded from just before the blood and followed it until the blood trail had finished, I then Panned up quickly to show "Alex" staring straight at the camera, which is a convention of Horror Movies. We also decided we would need to have a shot of "Alex" looking at his neck where he was bitten, to do this we used a piece of broken mirror. I found it difficult to position my self so you could see "Alex" looking into the mirror without being able to see me in the background. At this point they is a discontinuity error in our film as our actor dropped the piece of mirror by accident, meaning we had to use another piece of mirror, we could of re filmed the whole sequence so it wasn’t there, but it didn’t occur to us until the editing process. The next part of our film that we recorded was the “meeting” scene between “Alex” and Kirsty”, our original plan was to shoot it on the marina, but due to actors being unable to do certain days, we recorded it during the free lessons we all had during college time. Because we didn’t want it to look like it was obviously a college, we filmed it in an area that would have a lot passersby, we also recorded it there because there was no signs up on the walls indicating it was Wyke College. During the editing process, we thought that due to the Mise-en-scene, the setting looked similar to a shopping centre, the fact it looks like a shopping centre also gives the film Representation which is that teenagers hang about in shopping centres and also verisimilitude as it looks like a shopping centre, you can relate to it. . They was some discontinuities during this sequence as in some parts for example, there will be a girl with blonde sitting down, and then when it’s the next over shoulder shot, they is a girl with brown hair sitting down. Its unfortunate that that happened but there was not a lot we could do about it. Because we changed the narrative slightly, we didn’t have enough time to write a full new script so we just wrote the basics of it and then asked out actors just to improvise. This worked and saved us time, but it also made the sequences dialogue sound abit awkward between the characters. Just like when I record the sequences in the abandoned building, I recorded jack entering the college from different angles so Sean could edit it into a match on action sequence. We used a tracking shot to follow “Alex” walking from the door to meet “Kirsty”, this was simply done walking backwards, to eliminate any risks, we made sure there was nothing on the floor that I could trip over. For the same sequence I also recorded him from the side and then an over shoulder shot which then linked in which him and “Kirsty” meeting. During this date scene, to show continuity, I recorded the conversation using over shoulder shots. The next sequence is when the couple are leaving the building and “Kirsty” loses control and bites “Alex”. For the shots where they are leaving the building, I shot from behind and I framed their hands holding one and other to show their relationship. I filmed them leaving the building from different angles for variation as well. After they left the building, that is when the bite scene is. I used a backwards tracking shot again to follow “Alex” and “Kirsty” coming out of the doors from the outside, this is also a two shot. It’s a fairly longish shot without any cuts as it includes them leaving the building from the outside, “Kirsty” becoming angry, and then the bite scene. I filmed the bite scene from a few different angles so we had a few to chose from and so we could use different ones for the flash backs later in the film. I think these shots work well, especially during the flash back. The original idea was that “Alex” would put his jacket on, which would then cover his white t-shirt, just after he was bitten and when he was walking away which conotates him losing his innocence and that he is turning into something dark. We decided while we was filming that was unrealistic that he would be interested in putting his jacket on after he had been bitten, so we asked him to drop it on the floor as he pushed “Kirsty” away. To show “Alex” leaving “Kirsty” and to bring in the next sequence, I recorded him from the side of the building, leaving “Kirsty” and looking back at her in confusion with what just happened and walking towards us. Whilst recording this scene I thought that in post-production Sean could fade the scene to black, and that would be the next voice over, and then introduce the next scene which would be fading in from black. The voice over’s and fading in and out of black became a motif in the film which we liked. To get the voiceovers, I used the camera to record Jack talking straight into the microphone and when uploaded, Sean cancelled the footage but kept the sound. I recorded the voiceovers during the same day I filmed the parts where the story starts in “Alex’s” memory which is of him getting ready to go out and meet “Kirsty”. Because our actors bedroom was small, it was awkward finding areas in which I could record and for Jack to move about. But I overcame it by setting the tripod on the bed while I was up against the wall but with enough space to see the screen and pan the tripod when needed.

We had a few big problems that we had to overcome during the process of trying to make our film, in pre and post production. The main problem which set us back hugely was the fact our first chosen actors couldn’t film when me and Sean was free and vice versa. Eventually Sean and Myself decided it was logical to find other actors instead of waiting till the original actors were free. If we was able to film with the original actors earlier on in the project, we would have had a lot more time to spend on the editing which is where our film was most important. Other things that we wanted to include in our film but wasn’t able to was Louise, who played “Kirsty”, to wear red lipstick and a red dress which is conventional in films to connote “femme fatale”. We also wanted Jack (Alex) to give “Kirsty” a Rose which is a prop almost always used in romantic scenes in films, but as we recorded the sequences in which we needed the rose as a last minute opportunity, we was unable to get a Rose in such little time. Another reason why we waited for our original actors was the male actor had a car and we planned some shots that we thought would of looked effective for the film, but jack is unable to drive, so we had to make compromises. We decided we didn’t want “Alex” to turn into a “zombie”, more like what humans turn into in the films “28 Days/ Weeks Later” (Danny Boyle 2002) and “REC” (Jaume Balagueró 2007) as we was influenced by these films during our pre production period. From the beginning we planned that it would end on an enigmatic note as the audience wouldn’t see “Alex” Spreading the disease onto the rest of the human population, but you know he does because of the voice over and leaving the remaining life of “Alex” ambiguous.

We are both happy with the outcome of our short movie project as we have both learnt a lot from it and if we had the opportunity to do it again, I know we could use time a lot more effectively and make the whole video a lot better. We had issues during the pre-production mainly but we overcame them and that helped and drove us to work at it harder and do as much as we could. Sean and myself agree that choosing to do a Horror movie was a right decision for us as we both mainly watch Horror movies and are combatable which the conventions and I think we included as many of the codes and conventions as possible.

Final Filming.

We managed to film the remaining scenes needed over a period of three days. Two of them being the Date and bite scene and the third day was used to film the scenes where jack is getting ready for the date. All three days went fairly well and we will be editing the new footage and putting it into the material we have already done.

First Filming.

We was only able to film the "Alex" scenes which are of him changing and entering the abandoned building. Our first filming went well, we got all the shots possible and even changed some of the ideas we had. Both me and Sean are happy with the footage we got. Due to filming inside, we didn't have to worry about the lighting changing or the weather or background sound.
The Abandoned building worked better then we had planned for the "Transformation" scenes.

We plan on editing what we have filmed, and then film the remaining parts as soon as possible.

Health and Safety.

As we decided to film in an abandoned building, we knew that that is a danger in itself, but we checked how stable it is, the building isn't old, nor does it have any extra floors. Inside the building there was alot of broken glass which we had to becareful about as it may of cut us, so we made sure we had hard souled shoes on and we moved as much glass out of the area we was filming in as we could.

For the other scenes we will be filming in "Alexs" house, so there won't be any dangers in there.

Change of Idea.

As we are running out of time and can no longer wait for our original actors, we have asked a few of our friends, and found a boy and girl to act for us.
As we cant get both of them to film on the same day, we are going to film the scenes with the boy undergoing the "change" and instead of filming the date scenes on the marina, we decided to film those scenes in college as it wont make a huge difference.

Animatric.

This is the animatric. of our storyboard.

Filming.

We have tried filming twice now, but our actors have had to cancel due to over commitments. This has caused problems as it is preventing us from filming and stoping us from geting the film done.