Zombie Film Location Research

I AM LEGEND- Francis Lawrence's I am legend follows the life of a scientist, Will Smith based in New York following the outbreak of a plague. After wiping out most of humanity it transforms the reminding population into monsters. Smith then spends his time trying to reverse the effects of the outbreak which concequently results in more drama.

I think using a city in a Zombie movie is really effective if you have the budget to CGI it like 'I am legend' or just empty it like we see in the opening of '28 days later'. I think it's so effective as its such a contrasting image to what cities are which is busy. There is a reasonable amount of safety in a cities are there are always people around to help which is a contributing factor as to why these images are so affective because this is no longer apparent. New york is a popular locations for all genred films due to the iconic landscape. Everyone can identify this city which makes it that more dramatic when we see it torn apart. 

    

DAWN OF THE DEAD- Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead follows a group of survivers in amoungst a Zombie apocalips who seek refuge in a mall. As there group continues to grow they must survive together.

We see again the use of usually busy locations deserted. This is a reacuring factor in these Zombie films probably due to the fact that these places with large buildings can contain mass amount of people but from the outside it appears diserted/ safe. Another reason these locations are effective is because it's not common to see these public and comercial buildings destroyed enforcing the idea of danger. 

   

Zombie Film Media Examples

We felt in order to start planning the trailer we should look at other peoples so we could get an idea for what to do and what not to do. We looked at a total of three to get a decent range of examples.  

Zombie/ Horror film Directors

Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho, Birds and Rear Window

Aspects of horror but mainly a thriller director. His ability to build suspence and keep the audience terrified for days after seeing his films.

Takashi Shimizu 

The Grudge

I feel Shimizu is the best horror/ thriller director, I feel his films have a lasting effect on there audience. The clear language barrior he presents in the film between Gellar and the japanese people really emphasises how alone she is which i think is a big contributer to the success of the franchise.   

Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor known for his work on horror films, particularly slasher films.

Wes Craven is the creator of such films like the Scream franchise,

Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist. In his filmmaking career, del Toro has alternated between Spanish dark fantasy pieces.

Guillermo del Toro most famous films that he has created are; The Hell boy series, Pans Labyrinth

Zombie film soundtrack research

1. Blue Öyster Cult -- Don't Fear the Reaper
2. Chuck Mangione -- Feels So Good
3. Crash Kings -- Its Only Wednesday
4. Doves -- Kingdom of Rust
5. Hank Williams -- I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
6. John Stafford Smith -- The Star-Spangled Banner
7. Kristin Chenoweth -- Popular
8. Marching Band -- Feel Good About It
9. Metallica -- For Whom the Bell Tolls
10. Metric -- Gold Guns And Girls
11. Paul Anka -- Puppy Love
12. Ray Parker Jr. -- Ghostbusters
13. Success -- Hard to come back
14. The Black Keys -- Your Touch
15. The Droge & Summers Blend -- Two Of The Lucky Ones
16. The Raconteurs -- Salute Your Solution
17. Van Halen -- Everybody Wants Some
18. Velvet Underground -- The Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
19. Willie Nelson -- Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
20. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- The Marriage Of Figaro, K.492

Shaun of the dead- Zombie Nation.

01. Resident Evil - Red Queen 00:00
02. Slipknot - My Plague (New Abuse Mix) 00:04
03. Marilyn Manson - The Fight Song (Slipknot Remix) 03:06
04. Coal Chamber - Something Told Me 06:56
05. The Crystal Method - Name Of The Game (Clean Name) 10:18
06. Adema - Everyone 13:52
07. Fear Factory - Invisible Wounds (The Suture Mix) 17:26
08. Static-X - Anything But This 21:03
09. Rammstein - Halleluja 25:06
10. Depeche Mode - Dirt 28:46
11. Ill Nino - What Comes Around (Day Of The Dead Mix) 33:43
12. Mudvayne - Dig (Everything And Nothing Mix) 38:11
13. Method Man - Release Yo Delf (Prodigy Mix) 43:08
14. Saliva - 800 49:04
15. Five Pointe 0 - The Infinity 53:41
16. Resident Evil - The Umbrella Corporation 58:07
17. Marilyn Manson - Resident Evil Main Theme 58:38
18. Marilyn Manson - Seizure Of Power 1:00:47
19. Marilyn Manson - Reunion 1:04:40
20. Marilyn Manson - Cleansing 1:07:26

Marilyn Manson - Resident Evil main theme.

28 Weeks Later Theme - John Murphy

Zombie Film Title research

 

Eighteen: The title Eighteen is linked into the fact that in the film no people under the age of 18 can become a zombie, as that is the mutation of the disease.We liked this font as it is quite messy and looks like it has been written in blood.

Outbreak: Outbreak was an interesting title because it also hints at how the Zombie plague spread across the world. We used this font because it's similar to blood spattering and that will fit in with our film as people are fighting against zombies.

We decided that the font of our film should be in red, as it is a bold colour that makes people think of blood. We went on to several different websites and found fonts that we thought would fit well with our film, once we'd selected a few we used them with a few titles we'd been thinking of using for our film: Virus, Outbreak, Zombie Run and Eighteen. 

Virus: We thought that Virus was an interesting title to use as it fits with the story, and we used this font as it is reminiscent of zombies rising from the dead.

Outbreak: Outbreak was an interesting title because it also hints at how the Zombie plague spread across the world. We used this font because it's similar to blood spattering and that will fit in with our film as people are fighting against zombies. 

Zombie Run: We liked the title of Zombie Run as this is what the main characters would be doing through the film. This font is a very stereotypical horror font that is reminiscent of the classic horror films that were released in the 1970's.

 

Zombie film Questionaire

When Creating our questionaries we came up with 7 questions we wanted to know the answers to in order to move forward with our development. As our target age group is for 25 and under we chose to only take results from this catogarie. Ubove is the 10 sets of results we collected from the questionaries.

 



 80% said the genres they would place with 'Zombie' films are Comedy and action.

 

40% felt the story line was the most important part of a film 

 

Film Certificates

 

Universal (U) - All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children

 

Parental Guidance (PG) - All ages are admitted, but certain references could be unsuitable for young children. May contain mild language and sex/drugs references. It can contain mild language and sex/drugs references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context. (E.G: Fantasy Violence.)

 

12A - Cinema only. This classification was introduced in 2002. Films in this category are considered to be unsuitable for young children. Those aged under 12 are onlya admitted if they are accompanied by an adult, at all times during the motion picture. It's generally not recommended that children under 12 should watch the film. Films in this category contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, infrequent strong language and discretely portrayed. Sexual violence may be implied.

 

 15 - Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15 film. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and strong violence and sex references. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.

 

18 - Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated film, or watch an 18-film in the cinema. Films in this category don't have a limitation on the bad language, hard drugs are allowed, and explicit sex references and along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed.

Movie Software

Imovie's is the software we will be using to edit our opening film. We made this choice based on our editing experience from our preliminary task, we found the software simple but effective to use as we could change the cinimatography of the film easily. We have chosen this software over others such as 'Windows Movie maker' and 'Final Cut Pro' due to complexity and avalibility.

As you can see from the picture above the layout is far simpler to our other options, But not so simple that the finale products looks bad due to limited options on effects.



Finale Cut Studio: This is the other software that was possibly going to be used. Its a far more complex software thats allows you to create high qualitiy videos with upgraded amount of effects compaired to imovie.

Although this is techniqually the best pieace of software it would also be the most difficult to use in a group. Due to these reasons we wont be using this program to edit our finale.

On the left you can see a tutorial of how to use the basics of finale cut. This was another contributer to my choice in editing software,I felt to much time would be spend getting the hang of the software that the film would suffer due to this.





Windows Movie Maker: This is an older software, that is as simple as editing can get in my opinion. With a simple layout resembling that of imovie, but other factors let it down.

It doesnt have much of a variety when changing the exposure, saturation and contrast of a video. We were hoping to use colour editing to make it less ordinary and stand out, for this reason we wont be using this program either.

Zombie Age Rateing Research

When decideing on the age rating of our film we watched Saw, The Grudge and The Woman in Black. From this we decided what level of violence mirrored what we had in mind for the film.

28 Day's Later (2002)
Age 18
Horror/ Sci-Fi/ Thriller

The story line to 28 Day's Later resembles our own. Despite this we want to take a less serious approach as we want it to be aimed at teenagers, I feel the 18 age rateing might cause us to miss our aimed demographic.

We do want to match the amount of violence and gor in 28 days later but in a light hearted way aiming to entertaining rather than scare.

 Taking in all of this we collectivly decided that portraying the event to be relistic is not how we want to go about filming our trailer.  

       

Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Age 15
Horror/ Comedy






















Warm Bodies (2013)
Age 12
Zombie/ Romantic

Audience Profile

For Shaun of the dead the male gender is the dominante in watching this specific film, this could be because not only is it a zombie film, it is a comedy also, this could mean that our trailer would be specifically aimed at men. The age range for this film is 15-24 which is basically teenagers an young adults, this could be because again, it is a comedy involving two actors known for being funny.

For resident evil, the main age group to watch this film is 15-24 which means that our trailer should be aimed at young adults and teenagers. The male gender is the most popular to watch this film, this could be because the film involves horror zombie, and also an attractive young woman (Milla Jovovich), this means that are gender audience target should be male.

For resident evil: Apocalypse , the main age group to watch this film is 15-24 which means that our trailer should be aimed at young adults and teenagers. The male gender is the most popular to watch this film, this could be because the film involves horror zombie, and also an attractive young woman (Milla Jovovich), this means that are gender audience target should be male.

For resident evil: Afterlife, the main age group to watch this film is 15-24 which means that our trailer should be aimed at young adults and teenagers. The male gender is the most popular to watch this film, this could be because the film involves horror zombie, and also an attractive young woman (Milla Jovovich), this means that are gender audience target should be male.

For I am Legend the main gender group is male, closely followed by females, this would be because the main character is a male (will smith) an the audience can somewhat relate, and because the film is an action thriller/horror with zombies. The main age group that watches this film is 15-24, this shown that my trailer should be targeted at young adults and teenagers.

Zombie Mood Boards

This is a mood board reflecting the variety of zombie movies that have been made over the years. We felt as a group it was important to look into the different types of zombie films so we could collectively decide on what kind of Zombie film it should be. 

Camera Equipment

The camera we will be using for our film is the nikon D3100, main due to having access to the equipment and the HD (high definition) setting on the camera that. With 14 megapixel, 1080p HD we hope this camera will bring the same high quality images used in our preliminary task.

The camera is extremily simple to use so everyone in the group will be able to participate in filming without struggle. Aswell as it being convenient it also allows us all a chance to be in the film at the same time due to the remote control with the camera. We would preffer not to bring anyone else for filming so hopefully this will allow the minimum amount of people necessary.

Our choice in camera really effected our story as particular camera's we were concidering didn't work well in the dark. For example the a Lumix camera we had first tried out couldnt pick up on George's face in the dark therefore it couldnt focus. After testing this we had to weigh up how important natural light is in our scene and if it was to ambitious to set the entire clip at night. We came to the conclusion that the night setting of the opening to was to important to scratch so we looked into other options which is how we found the nikon.

Due to the automatic flash on the Nikon D3100 it would use the light from the flash to focus on what we needed it to.

Zombie Films Spider Diagram

Production Companies research

Twisted Pictures: Had it's first success with the Saw film franchise. It's an American independent production company, specialising in the horror genre. It was formed after the box office success of Saw in 2004, which lead to a nine-picture deal with Lionsgate. The company went on to produce six sequels in the Saw film series.

The clip shows barbed wires and a nail, resembling the scenery in the saw series. I think this is a very effective studio clip as it clearly shows the audience what the genre is before its even began. The animated clip also has the wire wrapping its way around the text in a very eerie sinister way after leaving scars. This personifies the text making it seem as if it can be scarred.     

Hammer Films: Based in the UK and founded in 1934 its best know for its Gothic films made in the 50s-70s. Its success can also come down to its partnership with major studios such as Warner Bros. Some of the popular films made by these companies include: Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy.  

This studio has alot more films to its name than twisted pictures and shows this by presenting these films in the title. Although its impressive and good they are crediting all of there previous accomplishments, I feel it takes the attention way from the current film. It feels more like a TV advert and less like a movie studio clip.  

Between the two we would most likely be using twisted pictures to be the film studio company we use in our opening. It looks more creative and sets up the genre of the film better than Hammer films does. Our films also have very subtle colours so Twisted pictures is more fitting.

Film Genre Spider Diagram

Music Software research

If we are unable to find a non copyright piece of music to put in our two minuets we will be using Garage band to create some.

Garage Band is an apple software we will be using. Due to the fact we will be using imovie, that influenced our choice in music software.

"Oz The Great and Powerful" Poster Analysis

The poster shows the wicked witch of the west traveling forward making her appear intimidating. Behind her is a tornado which refers to the film 'Wizand of oz' as its what bring Dorthy to Oz, this presents her as powerful. In amungst the tornado are ashes and flying mokeys which are both symbols for the wicked witch from the first film. The the dark tones used in this poster in contrast to the origional Wizard of Oz film suggest its following the common re-make (sequal) conventions by making it darker and therefore edgier and gritty (Man of Steel, Batman and spiderman). The long shot allows us to see her costume and the background which gives us more things to analysis. Although this poster gives little away the dramaticness of it draws the audience in. People had been waiting for a glimpse of the witch as the trailer and the first posters had her hidden. By doing this it draws in the audeince when a full body length poster is released of the witch. 

   
The oz francise has been most associated with MGM company so by putting Disney above it the audience can trust it's still with a good company and suitable for familys. The title of the film is in big gold lettering which is attractive to the audience. The colouring of the font also has green in it which hints to the story line of the witch riseing and taking over. Bellow the large title is the release date and information on the 3 type of 3D you can view it in. This is a unique selling point for the film as it already suggests sucess having had so many expensive and alternat viewing experiences.      

In the origional wizard of oz the witch was bright green, this poster dipicts her in a darker green. In the origional film she famously appears on camera via fire, across her skin in this poster are dark patches making her appear as if shes cover in soot and ash. As fire conotes danger this makes her appear fearless.

The film had a huge budget of $215 million It received mixed reviews but still grossed over double of that at the box office.  

"Oz The Great And Powerful" Trailer Analysis

Oz the great and powerful 2013 is a prequal to the 'Wizard of Oz' film following the Wizards journey to Oz.

Similarly to 'The Wizard of Oz' the film opens with a black and white (sepia for Wizard of oz) making it appear old and stylish. We are taken though a circus where a fire breather shoots fire from his mouth and out of the frame giving it a 3D illusion. The Disney logo appears a lot more subtly than in usual Disney trailers making it fit on more with the time period of the film but possibly even due to how well associated the film is with MGM and not DIsney. Over the top of the clips is a voice over by James Franco (Oz) explaining how he want to achieve something and be someone. This voice over suggests he's in control and the film is centred around him.  We next see him flying off in a hot air balloon during a twister, which also will remind audiences of the original film attracting their attention. We see a low angle shot of him being taken up into the twister making him appear large which could be to signify how he will go on to become the powerful 'wonderful wizard of oz'.

As we enter Oz the square screen widens into a widescreen setting and colour is gradually introduced. We see a developing shot of Oz giving the audience something new as the previous film never had the technology to great the full landscape of Oz. The transition to colour is really effective as it emphasis how different Oz is from the real world. As we look over the landscape there is also a sense of danger as it revels ridged rocks towering over everything. Danger is also suggested with the dramatic music which is used to appeal to a wider demographic of people and not just children.   

Like many trailers they used dramatic parts to bring in dialogue as it's when they have the audiences best attention. It tell's us the film is directed by the same man as the spiderman trilogy and the same produce of Alice in wonderland, by attaching successful franchises to it people will be encouraged people to see it as they will assume it will also be successful. I feel this trailer has a risk of being viewed at too similar to alice in wonderland which could result in low turn out as people feel they have already seen it. As it continues Mila Kunis is introduced swell as Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz all academy nominees or winners which raises the expectations of the film.

Clear genres are presented within the trailer, the exciting journeys tell us it's an adventure. The surreal settings and costumes show fantasy and the relationship between Franko and Kunis suggest romance. After the closing title appears there is a bonus clip after with the Wicked Witch of the West hand clawing her nails across a table. By not revealing everything they keep the audience wanting more.   

Monsters University poster analysis

Monsters University was released on June 5th 2013, 12 years after the original monsters Inc film release. It received positive reviews and grossed $743 million at the box over $200 million more that the first one. Being a prequel to a successful film it help as they already have strong following and a huge company behind to to fund advertising. The lead cast is same as before, Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi. All actors are ones parents of the children going to see the film will recognise giving them more of an incentive to see it than if it was just kids from the Disney channel voicing them. Also due to the success of the sequels to Toy Story audiences can trust its of a high standard, 

The background shows traditional looking universities resembling the I V league schools in America like Yale and Harvard. The focus of the picture is all the monsters standing around Mike and Sulley like a year book photo. This is effective as the timing of the release of this film means that the kids who saw this when they were little are in university and the same thing happens with Toy Story 3. Three characters are recognisable that is Mike, Sulley and Randall who all were in Monsters Inc, Randell is seen here will big glasses looking nerdy suggesting Randells back story as to why he turned into the villain will be revelled. Sulley appears wearing a clack jock costume where as mike is seen with braces and books, this shows a time when Mike and Randell characters were closer. 

The title is in big writing on a flag fitting in with the year book photo look, they've kept the writing to a minimal as these posters are aimed at children so by making it busy and colourful with minimal writing they are successfully targeting there demographic. The Disney and Pixar logo are at the top of the flag, a company name everyone will recognise and associate with family entertainment.   

"Saving Mr Banks" Trailer Analysis

Saving Mr Banks is a film based upon the true story of the struggle Walt Disney went through to gain the rights to Mary Poppins. 

The trailer open's with  a quote from Mary Poppin's "Winds in the East, mist coming in. Like somethin' is brewin' and bout to begin." This is an effective way to open the trailer as we witness Travers (Thompson) making her way to Los Angeles from London (east) and bringing a lot of drama which 'brewin' I feel sums up the anticipation for it. We see Travers as an adult reminiscing of her childhood which reflects the sentimentality of the book to her. The trailer quickly switches from an intimate and calm moody into a very fast pace and busy one. The colouring of the image has been made to bring attention to the era of the film making it appear old fashioned. They continue to bring in the all star cast (Tom Hanks, Collin Farrell) into the trailer which will suggest to the audience that it's going to be successful enticing them to see it. 

The film comes across light hearted as they clearly show the contrasting character, the Americans being very positive and happy apposed to the British ones whom seem uninterested and bothered. As the trailer goes on we see Hank's interpretation of Walt Disney  bring the iconic figure back to life. There is a shift as to who is dominant in the clips but as it goes on Travers has dominance as we can see from her body language and actions. As she is welcomes to Los Angeles she is wearing a dark brown suit making her look official and doesn't avoids eye contact with the driver making her seem above him. She continues to be introduced to people all of whom she makes a bad impression, when she meets the Sherman brothers (the composers of Mary Poppin's) she takes no interest in them only to correct them calling the film "Mary" patronisingly. Walt Disney's character literally welcomes her with open arms showing two very opposing characters that don't mesh well together.   

They present these opposing characters in a comedic way rather than a vicious mean way. For example when Disney takes her hands in attempt to have a deep conversation that will gain him the rights to Mary Poppins she responds by looking at him with disgust and confusion but with the sound track in addition to this its made very light hearted. This humour continues throughout the trailer making it still good family entertainment. A turning point in the trailer is once Walt (Tom Hanks) makes an assumption that Mary Poppins was there to safe the children. In response Travers  flashes back to her childhood to revel the true origin of the story. This shows the good balance it has between comedy and drama making sure it does good by the true story.       

Disneyland is an iconic park so when they go there you can see the effort gone into taking it back in time to look as it would. This makes the film appealing as people would be intrigued if to see how its transformed. After this the trailer goes on to show Travers past again, for this they change the colouring to a more exposed and yellow image to resemble that of Australia where that part of the film was based. This compared to the bright bold colours in LA make Traver's appear weaker now switching the power over to Walt.