Virus Empire cover

FINAL: This is our finale Empire cover for our film, we chose this magazine as it's the most well known movie magazine and our film is aimed a there audiences. Like with the teaser trailer we wanted to keep it a secret what the zombies looked like. Directors such as J.J Abrams and Steven Spielberg also have done this in the production of there films (ET and Super 8). We felt doing this was effective so we collectively decided to continue with showing audiences little part of the Zombies making it mysterious. 

Using photoshop Abbie transformed the hand into a torn apart zombie hand. Although we want to keep our film current we went with an old fashioned style layout, conforming to a typical old zombie film. We felt by doing this and then having a high quality picture of the zombie hand it would make a statement announcing the new type of zombie films. 

We kept the font red as it contrasted well with the green colouring of the hand, these colours would really stand out but to not make it too cliche we darkened the title font to a slightly darker red in order to look more professional. 

DRAFT: After discussion we thought we should make changes to the origional concept of the cover, we decided to move the date of the issue from the top inbetween the M to underneath the E so that it was more visable to the viewer. We then changed the writing on the left side to bold white font and made them form a line on the side so that it looks more clean and cut. 

Virus poster Final

After feedback this was our finale result we took the strongest parts of our trailer and then improved on the weaker parts to come to a finale product we were happy with. Originally the poster was an average size but after some discussion we felt the top half of the zombie face was giving too much away and also didn't look as visually impressive as the top half. We also didn't like the names at the top of the poster as with the reviews on the side as well it just crowded the poster making it too busy. By cutting the top off we feel we have made it unique and more minimal which was important as our title is already detailed. 

In the black shadow on the side we included reviews of the film. We look at other posters to get an idea of the type of magazine we would want reviewing our film so we went with Empire, total film and the guardian. All of which are well known magazines/papers meaning people will see it and trust the opinions and ratings. 

Virus poster 1st draft

This is our first draft of the 'virus' poster, this was created give us all the same visual of how we wanted it to look. This is a picture Abbie took during her zombie tutorial. You can see the original photo below. Further back you'll see a tutorial of this Zombie makeup being done, collectivly we agreed this was the strongest pieace of zombie make up from abbie. We wanted to avoid using red as this would be too cliche we felt and would end up look unprofessional. As most of the picture was black we went with white font. The white really stood out over all of the background and the hands in the font look far more detailed than they had previously.

We had seen what the poster looked  like with just the title and felt it looks dull. We chose to have the subtitle of "we never walk alone". This could be interpreted in a number of ways, one being that the zombies group together or another that becomes clearer in the trailer when characters Emma and Shanie group together. We wanted everything at the start to be fairly vague though as it gives the audience time to discuss and guess creating buzz around it. 

Virus poster test

By combining two posters I was trying to present the two worlds that now exists on earth, the living and the dead. The eye that matches in the middle which is slightly distorted (zombie) shows how despite this divide they were at some point all the same. 

Despite our aim to match a lot of the stereotypes of a zombie film, we felt this movie poster was an opportunities for us to make our film appeal to another genre, sci-fy audience. Due to the recent growing popularity of sci-fy super hero films we felt this would be a good way to gain a larger audience. I think the divided screen doesn't match the messy layout of typical horror films it has a more sophisticated and clean look. This was to show to our audience a new side of the genre where there can be a strong story and not just pointless blood and guts everywhere.  

Virus Production Credits

We made our own company credits by using a template in photoshop, we used our own names to fill in the gaps where actors and directors names would be placed, by doing this its way more effective than using a picture taken from google because it shows that we are capable of producing film trailer/poster assets. Also by doing this we are able to control the layout and font so it can evolve with the rest of the poster through the development process.

Virus development shots

 

On our first day of shooting a few of our actors werent able to make it due to school rehursals or christmas play rehursals so we decided that we would film a variety of developing shots. On the day it was also very cloud and rainy so it was perfect for the image that we wanted to go for and inspired how the film will look today.

Because we know we wanted to use a school as its a relatable location for our target audience we tried to go to more obsucure places. For example a panning shot from above the buildings is on a stair case to a blocked part of the building meaning nobody really does up there. As the is an view of the building students wont know it will be more intreaging. Corridoors are something we really want to include in our production due to the grim lighting that occures when we change to colouring of the trailer
.

0:00 - 0:04 // We filmed whilst walking down the E corridoor and after that we edited the clip to slow it down. This created a haunting atmosphere and made the camera jult more causing the light reflecting off the wall to give the illution its flickering. This technique and location is somthing we will probably use in a death scene of one of the lead charecters. The enclosed corridoors makes the audience feel costriphobic and alone which will in turn make the audience feel for human charecters in the corridoor as you can predict danger.
 

0:05 - 0:08 // The section of the year 7 playground I film here had to be cut due to the bright colours in the art windows and the brightly coloured blue and yellow doors. From this we learnt that bold colours dont work well as they still overpower the editing making it look amature.
 

0:09 - 0:12 // The field I feel is a really strong location due to the flat landscape across it, it really emphasises how alone the humans. Aswell as this the trees at the back when editied create a dark frame around the field emphasising on the enclosed space they live in makeing the audience feel they are safe.
 

0:15 - 17// The building shown are as bright as I would would to include any colour in our production. Any brighter I think the building become to obvious and it takes the attention away from whats happening in the scene.
 

0:32 - 0:35// The playground is a good location as its the most steryotypical location in a school, reminding the audience where its set. Aswell as this the fencing around the edge of the play ground also makes it seem like a prison, making it appear dangerous.
 

0:41 - 0:45// This is possible my favirote location due to the dug up ground making the school grounds appear untended to as if it has been left. It also suggests a sort of aftermass of the Zombie apocalips as if a veichal of some sort has driven and taken up the grass. Aswell as this the puddles of dirt make it seem dirty and abandoned.

Virus Film Teaser

While we were producing our film trailer, we decided to create a teaser trailer for our film. A teaser trailer is usually released a long time before the main trailer, and is used to build hype around the film. We decided to create one, as we wanted the chance to play around with marketing, and see what ideas we could apply to the teaser. We added rock music and a special filter to the footage to enhance the cold and isolation of the footage.

We decided to have the scene set in a fire escape so that we could show that you cannot escape from the zombies, as they are everywhere.We used fake blood because Blood and Gore are constantly used in Zombie films as it reiterates the horror of someone having parts of them eaten. We don't specify wether the person behind the door is a zombie or a victim, helping to create an atmosphere of uncertainty. We wanted the audience to question what they would do if they were on this side of the door. Overall we are happywith the syle of our teaser trailer and we really enjoyed creating it.

Virus Storyboard

This video is our 'Virus' trailer storyboard.(the figures with the red parts are the zombies)

The locations for half of this storyboard will be at our school grounds, we decided this because with our time manegment we thought it would be quick and easy to film.
For some of our shots (mostly the end action shots) we will be filming anywhere we can, because these shots will only last for about 2/3 seconds we can choose a spur of the moment location and shoot there.

We decided to use 'rock' music because we want the viewer to feel exhillerating while watching the trailer, we want the music to build up to the fast action shots to create a suspense through the beginning and then creating a loud 'drop' of music in the action shots.

The special effects we will use is mostly for sound because we will have gun shots to make the props seem real, and use overlaping sound of zombie noises instead of making the actors do it in front of the camera we think we will record a backing track of the noises to create a more theatrical trailer.

we chose to do a range of shots because we wanted a diverse type of trailer, ranging around medium shots, close- ups and long shots. the medium and long shots will be used for when we are filming action and 'battle' scenes, the close-ups will be used for when we want to focus on a characters expression or their speech.

We will be involving fast black transitions, by doing this is gives the trailer a fast pace making the viewer feel like there is alot happening, and makes them wonder what is going on behind the black transitions making them want to go to the cenima and see the whole of the film to know what is really happening.

Zombie Film production Company

After researching some existing production companies we felt creating our own company would be better. Most of the ones we researched e.g. Hammer films were more on the horror genre than Zombie. Splatter Studios would be specialised in only Zombie films.

Above you can see the clip for our production company that will go at the start of the film, we felt the title 'Splatter Studio' really do with our genre. Hopefully it will grab the attention of our target audience which is 15+ with its bold and dark colouring and creepy font.

Zombie Film Representations

Antagonist

The antagonists for this trailer will be the zombies. the zombies will be creating chaos and will be chasing the victims. we want the viewers to be grossed out by these zombies, so their behaviour and look should be disgusting, we want blood to be everywhere.

Victim 

The victims for our trailer and going to be the survivors that are placed in this post-apocalyptic world, they have to fend for themselves, and because they are under 18 it makes it very difficult for them. because our rating is a 15, making these characters under 18 means that any under 18's viewing the trailer means that they can sympathise with these victims and can imagine themselves in this situation.

Zombie Film Zombie research

The Generic Zombie

(The Walking Dead)-The Generic Zombie is a human that has been brought back to life and  shuffles, moans and is unable to move properly. Always very aggressive, but not very fast.They are usually the victims of a virus messes up the brain, stopping everything and thus creating the zombie. These types of zombies come from no-where, anyone can catch the virus by a bite and become a zombie. The virus is normally transferred via a bite, however any transfer of bodily fluids may also give the victims the virus.

Resident Evil Zombies (films/games)- 

Resident Evil Zombies were zombies created accidentally via the T-Virus and other types of virus, created by the Umbrella Corporation. These zombies vary from other zombie as not just humans can become infected, but animals and plants as well. The zombies in Resident Evil are listed bellow:

Hyper Zombies: These zombies are freshly made and they tend to sprint fast towards humans, they're stronger and a bit faster than the general zombies.

Crimson Heads: After suffering a large T-Virus infection, the zombies start to gain a red-ish skin colour, their fingers get claws and they start to release a gas. they become more aggressive but faster and can take a number of hits before dying.

Lickers: Is the final evolution of a zombie as the Crimson Head(red skin zombies) "evolves" into a faster predator. They lose sight, but instead they gain super hearing and get the ability to walk on walls like bugs. Also they look like as they've been skinned or turned inside out. They attack their prey with their sharp claws and their long tongue.

The Crazies (Film)-

The Crazies

The Crazies are a rare infected who have been infected with a ' Rhabdoviridae Prototype (fictional toxin) ' called Trixie that drives them insane and have the urge to murder after catching it. They are special because after becoming infected, they gain the homicidal and irrational drive of a Zombie, but do not lose any of their intelligence, memories, use of weapons, or coordination - they simply become entirely drived to killing anyone non Crazy. they have been known to stand still like a statue, holding their positions, lying in wait for the victims. this infection/virus also kills its host after 48 hours.

Voodoo Zombies

Voodoo Zombies are individuals created by a witch doctor through mixtures of poisons and herbs. These are the first Zombies, Other Voodoo Zombies are re-animated corpses brought back from the dead by Voodoo rituals. Salt can be used against them, causing them to realize they are dead, and return to their grave.

Zombie Film Make Up

Make up is a very important part of our trailer as we want it to look real and not amateur like we have seen in other zombie media groups attempts. 

This is Abbie's make-up demonstration, showing one of the make-up options for 'Virus'. By doing this she was able to practice and experiment with colour and materials and we we're able to get a rough idea of how long each person will take to do the make up on so we can include the timing in our filming schedule. The materials Abbie used in this tutorial are face wax, concealer, face powder and gel blood. 

Abbie also recorded the demonstration in 1080p HD which is the quality we will be filming in so it was a good chance to see how good the final product looks on camera as high camera quality can occasionally make it look fake. Fortunately the make-up looked really good on camera so we we're all confident to use this within our film.

Below are a few other examples of Abbie practicing with the monster make-up building up a sorta catalogue demonstrating her ability so we can go through it as a group a select certain ones.    

These zombie make-up tutorials are very helpful when preparing to do make-up.
Abbie researched into different types of zombie make-up and how to apply it, which is demonstrated in the YouTube tutorials above.
these are also very helpful to see what type of zombies are out there, weather they are blood thirsty-blood everywhere zombies or timid yet freakishly weird zombies!

Abbie took what she learnt from these, combined them together takeing the best aspects of a selection of tutorials.  

Zombie Film Costumes

The costumes between the survivors and the zombies are very distinguished.


For example, the survivors will be dressed in suitable clothing, padding for protection and suited up in protective gear. they will have weapons at had, weather it is a baseball bat or a gun. This type of costume can be found in films such as Zombieland and Buffy.

The zombies clothing will be very drab and dirty, they will look very worn and ripped, this being because of being attacked then infected, or just their clothing and body rotting beneath them. blood is a crucial part of the zombie costume and will be used within the gallons if possible, this blood will be smeared all over the ripped clothing and be used when the zombies are being shot down and killed.

Virus Film script #3

VIRUS

-green banner-
-production info-

[Medium shot of rebel on bike cycling away from behind, hand held to give the shaky effect]

Rebel: (whilst cycling looks over his shoulder to see how close the zombies are)

[close up on rebels face, tracking shot as he turns his head to face forward]

Rebel:(turns face forward, shakes head)

[close up low angle shot taken from floor level showing the bike skid side ways into the P.E. corridor]

Rebel: (jumps off bike and starts banging on the outside door to the hall) open the doors

[close up of zombies feet dragging across the floor]

Rebel: (try to push the door open by ramming his side into it) damn it

[over the shoulder shot from zombie prospective closing in on Rebel]

Rebel: (rams into door as it opens)

{music builds up to climax}  

[medium shot, high angel of the door showing rebel lying on the floor]

Rebel: SHUT THE DOOR

[the camera is slowly zooming in, doors shut on camera]

[long shot of boys just taking a rest]

{everything goes silent}

*EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT ONCE*

[zoom into boys (django unchained) or just straight into a medium shot where they are all holding the door holding sports equipment as weapons]

{zombies are groaning}

All: (panicing and screaming)

[zombies are pushing the door making it move]

[a variety of angles to emphasis panic]

[doors stop moving]

{violent sounds of fighting outside}

[medium shot of the group of boys from the back]

Boys: (back away from the door)

[Hero kicks open door, fog and zombies are on the floor]

Hero: you ladies alright

[close up of boys (goonies shot)]

boys: (nodding their head fast)

[over the shoulder shot from the boys view looking at the hero]

Hero: I'll leave you too it then (turns around) {huffs} (turns back to face them) then again you could always join me

[transition shot making it appear like a vision]

[montage of the film and dramatic fight scenes] 

[transition shot out of the montage back to the over the shoulder shot]

-title-

all: (cliche walking in sync together in a triangle formation out the school)

-coming soon info-

Virus Film Script #2

SECOND DRAFT:

VIRUS

-green banner-

[fade out sliding shots of the school with students]

{dark suspense music}

[extream close up, to close up on Rebels face]

Rebel: (rebel is stareing into the camera and puts helmit on)

[wide shot of the Rebel on the bike]

Rebel: (cycles down and into something that gets his bike stuck)

{Zombies sounds get louder}

[medium shot of Rebel, slowly closing in on his face]

Rebel: (panicing trying to get the bike out) 

[close up of bike part thats stuck]

Rebel: (frantically shaking the bike and kicking it) {groans to himself} FU

-cuts to production company- 

Rebel: (running round corner) {screaming} OPEN THE DOOR

[close up of feet running round corner]

[medium shot of double doors]

Geek/outcast: (unblocking door)

[low angle close up of the door]

{screams getting louder}

geek: (pulling off the chain from the door)

geek/outcast: (pull open door)

Rebel: (dives in through doors)

[medium shot taken from the floor of rebel]

all: (they rush off and rebel get up off the floor)

[medium shot of jock playing basket ball from side on in the hall]

rebel/geek/outcast: (Rush through doors)

geek: (chains up door)

{zombies getting louder}    

[medium shot of boys in diamond formation]

all: (struggling to keep door shut)

geek: (turns to rebel) this is ALL YOUR FAULT (starts strangling him)

[close up of rebel being strangled]

rebel: (puts hands over geeks face)

{sound of gun two shot}

[close up of jocks face jumping]

{punching and fight sound from outside the door}

all: (back away from the door)

hero: (pushes open doors)

People are still concerned the opening clip to the trailer is too long and therefore want to re-write it again. 

Virus Film Script #1

FIRST DRAFT:

VIRUS,

-film producation companie logo-

[fade out sliding shots of the school with students]

Rebel: (gearing up, to cycle around school outside)

[fadeing slide transition shot to gym]

Jock: (in the background playing basket ball)

Cheerleader: (painting her nails in the forcused part of the shot)

[fadeing to sciene room]

Geek: (conducting an experiment that emits smoke)

[fades to art classroom]

Outcast: (painting the zombies from inside the classroom whilst munching)

Rebel: (cycles past on his bike)

Zombies: (follow rebel on the bike)

Outcast: (rushes towards the window and watches the zombies follow the rebel)

[cuts to science classroom]

Rebel: (cycles past)

Zombies: (follow shortly behind the rebel)

Outcast: (rushes into science room)

Geek: (grabs coat) seriously

Outcast: (scattly rushes out the room)

[geek and outcast are running down the long corridor]

Geek, Outcast: (take chains off the door handle and removes baricades)

{zombies shouting gets louder}

Geek: THERE COMING!!!!

[geek and outcast hold open the doors]

Rebel: (races through the doors towards the camera)

Geek,outcast: (walk away from the door watching rebel cycle up the corridoor)

Geek: SERIOUSLY!!!!

{side on close up of out cast face and geek in the background}

Outcast: sniggers

{door slams open}

outcast, geek: (look at eachother *pause breath out* run)

[cut to sports hall]

[jock cycles into the hall followed short after by geek and outcast]

cheerleader: WHAT DID YOU DO? (to rebel)

rebel: (take helemet off) relax princess

geek: (closes doors)

[cast join together in the middle of the hall using random weapson like tennis racket]

{the sound begins to get louder and the doors are rattling}

[close up of cast adding suspense]

{three violent sounds of stabing and blood}

After writing the opening to our trailer we decided that it was too long and resembled a opening to a film rather than the opening to a trailer. Because of this we will need to make some adjestments to make it more suited to the task time limit. To make this happen we might make the shots more jumpy e.g. cutting parts out of long shots making them appear to jump making it more fast pace. Another thing we discussed was how to make it more comedic, we feel this heavily comes down to the music and cinimatography.       

Zombie Film look

After photographing the school we wanted to come up with a colour scheme that we want the film to look like. We wanted to achieve a dark comic book styled image for our film similar to sucker punch as we felt the way the film looked was edgy and dark. By editing these pictures we we're able to get a rough idea of how it should look which is presented below: 

 

Above you can see the most sterotypical location for a Zombie film set in a school. Of all four images we felt the hall most most powerful due to the shiny floors making the light reflect off it giving it a eery feel like the light is scratching onto the floor. By increasing the detail it brings through the tiny flaws on the walls and floors making it appear damages and old. We will most likely be using this location because of these reasons and that it has a door directly leading to outside. This fits perfectly with a chase scene we want to include where we see the hero running into the building from outside.

 

Zombie Film Location Leatherhead

This location is only a short distance from Therfield so it would be easy to get to. Along the river is a perfect location as its usually empty so we could film without interruption. Aswell as this we wouldnt need permission as its a public area. We have discussed possibly using an underwater camera but this would depend on the temperature on the day of filming.  

We also might film in leatherhead town as around this time of year it's lit up really well as it gets dark so early. Although the lighting will be good it also means we have little time to film if we want natural light scenes. I've looked online to check the times for sunrise to sunset so we can estimate the times we need to meet up. We are planning to film on the 9th or any time within the first week of the year. Based on this we will most likely be meeting everyone in Leatherhead at 11:00 giving us plenty of time for makeup and costumes aswell as filming.         



 



Zombie Film Location School

SCHOOl- After researching the locations of a variety of Zombie films we felt school would be a good location as it follows the popular use of commonly busy locations deserted. Using location aswell as being effective would also be more convinient as we would be able to film during our free lessons, time for filming was somthing we struggled with last year. Hopefully we would also be able to have more extras and actors in our trailer if we film parts in school. On top of this we would hopefully be able to get permission to film after school meaning we would put some scenery us making it a more believeable location. We want our film to have theme's of comedy in it we wanted to show the teenagers being sterotypical and go about there day to day life in school but the outside being surrounded by zombies 

The long corridoors are perfect for chase scenes so we would want to include an action scene of some sort within the trailer.   

 As our cast are all teenagers we thought we would see if we could use the gym equipment for a training scene where we see our lead charector come in to train to teenagers in combat.

  We havent decided yet as to where the bass will be for the charectors, but we will most likely use one of the room in the school that isnt use too often allowing us to mess it up. If this isnt allowed then we wil probably leave these scenes till the end of term and film it after school meaning we wont be in anyones way.

 

 We want the canteen to be show in the begining of the trailer where we see the charectors going about there's lives in school as if nothings changed.



Zombie Film Summary

Fifteen years have passed since the united nations released a virus that would help control the population of the world and the years that followed saw the population start to dwindle. The United Nations believed that the virus was succesful, and released it with no further testing. This mistake proved to be fatal. Two years after the second strain was released, a man in Colorado had his throat ripped out by his girlfriend, who then ate his internal organs, turning completely feral.

 

Fastforward eight years, where the world has been ravaged by Zombies, and the only people unaffected are those under the age of 18. A small group of teenagers form a group in there school where they fight for survival until the arrival of Jen Lowe. After saving the group leader she is brought back to headquaters where she informs them of the possible cure being held in a goverment building. 

Zombie Film research Antagonist & Victims

The antagonists for this trailer will be the zombies. the zombies will be creating chaos and will be chasing the victims. we want the viewers to be grossed out by these zombies, so their behaviour and look should be disgusting, we want blood to be everywhere.

The victims for our trailer and going to be the survivors that are placed in this post-apocalyptic world, they have to fend for themselves, and because they are under 18 it makes it very difficult for them. because our rating is a 15, making these characters under 18 means that any under 18's viewing the trailer means that they can sympathise with these victims and can imagine themselves in this situation.

 

Zombie Film Zombie Actors Reasearch

There are three types of Zombies we have been looking into when planning our trailer:

Warm Bodies: 

This is a more recent interpretation on Zombies following on from the beauty and the beast themed teen flicks like twilight. This type of zombie is more interactive with other characters meaning he can communicate with a love interest which makes him more appealing to the teen audience. The zombie's also arent as physically effected by the disease as normal, this is also to make him more appealing to the audience as they aren't falling apart.

Although this modern interpretation of a zombie appeals to the same demographic as our own trailer hopes to we don't plan on making the Zombie's key characters within the film. We also don't want our audience to empathise or like the zombies we want them to be scared of them. This style of zombie is too soft for our film.  

Zombieland:

                               

In zombieland they play on the tradition appearance of zombie's. The film put a more comedic spin on the traditional zombie showing them in funny places such as weddings, shops and theme parks. This takes away the fear of the zombies as they don't follow all the cliche's of a horror film. Unlike common zombies these ones can move fast, this makes up for the fear lost by it being a comedy as it adds suspense.     

We are looking into adding a bit of comedy in our film so looking at this film was helpful. I really likes the idea of making the zombies move faster as it compensates for it being less scary by making it a comedy.    

Shaun of the dead:

 

 

Shaun of the dead presents far more cliche portrayals of Zombie's, they show no sign of intelligents like in 'warm bodies' they slowly move around with distorted bodie parts blood gushing from there faces. This sort of Zombie I would say acts as more of a prop than an actor.