Research and Planning: Podcast

Here is my podcast showing you my blog and the work I have done so far. Prezi and videos do not show up as the podcast was recorded on an ipad.

Research and Planning: Film poster analysis 2

I can tell from looking at this poster that the genre of the film is a zombie/ horror. The colours that have been used are black, red and white, these colours are commonly associated with the zombie/ horror genre as the colour red is associated with the horror genre as it has the connotations of danger, blood and hell. The colour black is seen to be a negative colour as it is associated with evil and death, this is why it is commonly used in horror films.

The image at the bottom of the poster appears to be of a man walking alone in the city of London. This may have been done as the film is about an apocalypse therefore the image implies loneliness and isolation which would reflect the man feelings in the film as he wakes up to an abandoned London.

The words used like 'Exposure', 'Infection', 'Epidemic', 'Evacuation' and 'Devastation' are all associated with zombies/ an apocalypses which indicates the genre of the film. At the top of the poster it says 'A Danny Boyle Film', this has been used to 'sell' the film as Danny Boyle is a successful director therefore fans of his may want to watch the film. The font used is bold and, The billing block which contains the names of the production companies, director, actors, writers, producers and executive producers and the font used is steel tongs, this a typical convention of a film poster.

Research and Planning: Film poster analysis 1

Looking at this film poster I can tell straightaway that it is a zombie film. One reason is that the title is 'The Zombie Diaries' and the tagline has reviews saying 'The best zombie movie ever'. The colour scheme used on the poster has gives away the genre, the colour red has been used which is associated with blood, danger and the zombie/ horror genre. 

The image used on the poster appears to be a zombie, the image is blurred which could suggest the fast pace of the film and/or that their state of mind has changed and is unclear. The zombie appears to be reaching towards you as they have lost all control of their actions and all they want is to grab you and kill you.

The text on the poster is slanted which could again reflect the state of mind of the zombies. The billing block which contains the names of the production companies, director, actors, writers, producers and executive producers and the font used is steel tongs, this a typical convention of a film poster.

Research and Planning: Animated storyboard

Research and Planning: Storyboard drawn

Today our group discussed the different shot types we would like to use in our trailer. We then drew a storyboard of what we think our trailer should be like, however when we create the trailer this may change as it depends if we will be able to recreate these shots.

Research and Planning: Font and logo for production name

Today I used www.dafont.com and www.1001fonts.com to look at possible fonts for our production company name.

Research and Planning: Group Meeting

Our group have discussed the possible names for our production company. We have finally decided on the name Undead Productions.

Research and Planning: Prop and costume list

Here is a list of props and costumes that we will need for the trailer:

• Missing person posters

• Tribute wall - candles, letters, flowers

• Fake blood

• Ripped clothes

• Make-up

Research and Planning: Production schedule

Here is my production schedule which I have created on Microsoft Excel.

Research and Planning: Production company name ideas

I thought of different words that would be associated with the horror genre. I used www.worditout.com, this will help us come up with production company names.

Possible names:

• Undead Entertainment
• Brain dead Production
• Corpse co Unlimited

Research and Planning: Equipment and software list

Here is a list of the equipment and software that we will use when planning, researching and creating our film trailer:

• Blogger

• Photoshop CS6   

• iMovie

• Garageband

• SLR camera

• Polljunkie

• Prezi

• Slideshare

• YouTube

• DV Camcorders

• iShowu

• www.worditout.com

Research and Planning: Company logo research

I have researched film production companies that are associated with the zombie/ horror genre.

Is an American horror, original and action film company founded by Courtney Solomon.
Some horror films produced by this company:

• Lake Dead (2007)
• ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2011)
• The Abandoned (2006)
• Dread (2011)

Hammer is a British film and television production company based in London, United Kingdom. Founded by William Hinds and James Carreras in 1934.

Some films produced by this company:

• The Woman in Black (2012)
• Let Me In (2010)
• The Resident (2011)
• The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

The company was founded on May 31, 1935 as the result of the merger of Fox Film Corporation, founded by William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck and Joseph M. Schenck.

It is an independent film production and distribution company founded in 2001 by Darrin Ramage.
Films produced by this company:

• Zombie Anonymous (2006)
• The Witch's Sabbath (2005)
• The Vultures Eye (2004)
• Goth (2004)
• Hell's Highway (2002)
• Death Factory (2002)

Research and Planning: What is a trailer?

Trailers/ teaser trailers are used to advertise a film before the film’s release. They used extracts from the film to attract an audience. The trailer does not give too much of the narrative away or the ending as they want the audience to go and watch the film. Trailers are usually between two and three minutes long, however teaser trailers last between half a minute to a minute. Trailers feature the name of the film and the release date to inform the audience.

What are the key element in a film trailer?

• Montage - A montage is a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information

• A voice over -  It is a voice which is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic) used in a film. It is pre-recorded and placed over the top of the film trailer. 

• Titles - They consisted of the name of the film, release date, the movie company's name and logo and the actor’s names.

• Release date - Usually told through the use of titles or the voice over. It is included to inform the audience the date that the film is out in the cinemas.

• The title of the film - The name of the film is normally either at the start of the trailer or the end. This is done to inform the audience what the film is called.

• Peaks - Is the most exciting moments within the film, some are included in the trailer to persuade the audience to watch the film.

• Studio name - Features in a film trailer, telling the audience who the film was produced and distributed by. The studio's logo usually appears on a title.

• Certificate - This is given before the film is release. In the UK the BBFC give films ratings, the ratings are decided through the use of guidelines. The film will either be certificated a U, PG, 12, 12A, 15 or 18 depending on the content that features in the film.

Research and Planning: Cinematography research

List of different shot types;

• Long shot
• Close up
• Medium close up
• Wide shot
• Establishing shot
• Master shot
• Mid shot
• Wide shot 
• Ariel shot
• Point of view shot
• Over the shoulder shot

Research and Planning: 'Wall' scene

We have started to think of ideas for our zombie film trailer. I have watched Derren Brown's TV special called 'Apocalypse', there was a part of the show where it shows you a wall of pictures and letters to peoples loved ones who are missing. I thought this would be a good idea for our film trailer, even though the convention was not taken from a film, it still would be suitable for the genre and narrative.

Research and Planning: Sound Test

Today in our groups we used GarageBand so we could learn more about the software as we will be using it to create sound effects and a score for our trailer. We played about with different sounds until we found the sound that would be suitable for a zombie horror trailer. After creating the sound on GarageBand I used iMovie to be able to upload it to blogger.

Research and Planning: Target Audience

Research and Planning: Group Meeting

Our group has discussed today if we knew anybody who would be willing to star in our trailer. We also decided that we would all upload a status to Facebook asking if anybody would like to be in our trailer.

Research and Planning: London

                          

While we were in London, we went to the London Film Museum, I have taken lots of photos to help me with my research for our trailer, especially those props and costumes from the horror genre as our trailer will be of the same genre. We also found props which were used in the zombie horror film '28 Days Later'.

Here are some photo's that I have taken of props and costumes used in horror films.

We also went to the BBFC which will help me with my exam topic as we was presented with lots of useful information about regulation in films.