Class Task
Our task was to either create a magazine which contains a front page, a contents, and a first page, Or to Make an two minute opening to a film of any genre. Although I enjoy using adobe photo shops, and have used photoshop for other things such as posters, birthday cards and editing photo's, I feel I'm more comfortable and feel like I can get a higher grade with Film.
Ideas
Before planning anything I had to think about the genre my 2 minute introduction is based on. I instantly had an idea to do a movie based on the video game, "left 4 dead" which is a game based on Disaster and survival.Left 4 dead storyline
The storyline of the game is about a Virus that has spread through the world, turning all those who are infected with the virus into Zombies. When the virus spreads there are barely any survivors in the world. The game is based on four survivors, who have not been evacuated. In the game you have a choice to play as one of the four survivors, and together,
survive through hordes of infected and hunt down for rescue helicopters, boats and vehicles that are still looking for remaining survivors. Surviving includes finding safe houses that the infected are unable to get to, and killing thousands of infected that try to attack you, including "special infected" which have special abilities. An example as one of the infected is a "hunter", which has the ability to jump very high and pin a survivors onto the floor.One more example of a special infected is a "tank". a giant zombie which is basically a gorilla, but has super strength. considered probably the most dangerous zombie in the game.
Tank-Left 4 dead
The image to the left may be difficult to see, but this is my first plan out of my introduction. It's a rough plan which I did and then scanned onto a computer to upload onto this. In this Paper i give small detail about the Props Required, the amount of actors needed and who the actors will be, the location and lighting, The amount of camera's requires and the clothing that the actors will need to wear. As you can see i have used stickmen and rough drawings to show the plan.Actors in the Intro
I will be using, in a way, the same storyline as the game. But instead of four survivors, I'm planning on only having three. Another reason why i wanted to do a 2 minute introduction based on this game is because I knew that alot of friends of mine have the game and would be more then happy to be in the film. I wanted the Three survivors to be three certain people, Being Jaydn Tomkins, Dominic Taylor and Lewis Randall.
I Know that I won't be able have thousands of people to play the act as the infected. So I plan on using just five actors who will play more then one Zombie (so in a way they will re-appear as a different zombie). At the moment, I have just 3 people who are taking a role as an infected, and another person who will have the role as a special infected.
Location Location Location (OLD LOCATION)
It was difficult thinking of an area to film this introduction. I though about using a street or road, But as people and vehicles would be coming into the shot almost all the time, it would be very difficult to film. I also had to consider the fact that using fake guns in a public place to film with could get us into trouble. I then thought that using a quiet field would be good. I planned on looking around my village for an empty Field which contains a shed-like building placed somewhere on the field. I found out that an old friend of mine is a farmer who owns a reasonably large field. Currently I have not yet contacted him asking him if we can use his field to film on. I feel that he will be more then happy to let us use it. Using his private land will also enable us to use the fake gun props without getting into any form of trouble.
Lighting (OLD LIGHTING)
Currently I haven't got much to write about the lighting, But I want it to be broad daylight. If my plan can fit into 2 minutes, I'll be able to use a shed like building, which inside will be dark, with one source of light on the ceiling.
Weather (OLD WEATHER)
I also don't have much to write about the weather in the film. I feel Raining and sunny would probably be the most effective weather in this film. Windy weather will be difficult for the camera because it may mess with the microphone attached to the camera. Also, I feel snowy weather will make the film look less effective. It is possible to snow in one of the days we film, as it's been snowing alot recently, it most likely will snow because the weather hates me *laughs*.
Cameras
I imagine that most people who are doing the two minute film intro will be using one camera. I feel that one is fine. but to add extra angles and have less filming scenes, Two camera's would be very helpful. Also, making a film like the one I plan on making will be difficult to film, so having two camera's is more helpful.
Props/Items Needed (OLD PROPPS)
I won't need many props to make this film, But the props I require would be very hard to get. All i require for the survivors are weapons (as I mentioned before), those I plan on being an Uzi (a Small Machine gun.), Machine gun and a baseball. Luckily one of the actors (Lewis) Has a fake (not real) Uzi and machine gun that looks almost exactly like the real things, which we can use for the film. Finding a baseball bat will be difficult, as we haven't been able to obtain one yet, but if we're unable to find one, we can just use something else, such as a cricket bat. Other then the three weapons, there are no more props that I need for the time being.
Clothing (OLD CLOTHING)
I also had to consider what the survivors and the infected would wear. I have to think more about what the infected would wear then what the survivors would wear. Below I have given a rough detail on what each act would probably wear.
Survivors- Casual Clothing, nothing unordinary as we want the viewers to see that they've basically just left there house and came into a disaster in a way (if that makes sense). Dom, Jaydn And Lewis will need to wear something casual but something they don't mind getting dirty, so for example a jumper that they never wear.
Infected- What the infected wear is one of the most important thing in the introduction, as we don't have a make-up department to make the actors look exactly like zombies. Again They will need to wear casual trousers, as they wear dressed casual before they were infected. But to avoid viewers looking at the infected's upper body and saying "hey look it's Bob" and "How does that look anything like a zombie?", i feel that if the infected were wearing "hoodies", it will hide any proof of human identity and make the actors look more like spooky zombies.
Special Infected- To start this let me just add that there will only be one special infected in this intro. With the special infected, I had to think about the exact same thing as I thought about with the normal infected, but I also had to make the special infected different to the normal infected. Obviously, there's no possible way I could make someone look like a tank (picture of tank above on the "left 4 dead Storyline" Section.) So I had a bit of trouble on what i could put on the special infected to make him look different. Other then adding a effects, recently, I've had the idea of having a bandanna tied onto the special infected's head, which blocks the special zombies eyes.
This is all I have currently planned on clothing, I may change what the survivors may wear later on when i begin filming.
First Plan of the Storyline (OLD SCRIPT/PLAN)
After thinking and making small notes on the set up of the film I then quickly drew a rough stickmen comic of the storyline. Currently this comic is what I plan on using to help me direct the film, but some things may be edited as I get further into planning the structure. The comic has been scanned onto the computer and is underneath this paragraph.
First Storyline plan (Difficult to read and understand when viewing from my blog.)
The introduction is split into 6 scenes. these scenes have unimportant titles and are listed below
1-Introduction
2-Running Scene
3-Jaydn Attacked
4-Boss Appears
5-Boss attacks Dom
6-Boss attacks Lewis and Jaydn
Below shows the storyline of each scene. (Note: all this is mentioned below is not the actual final storyline. This is the basic plan which may be edited later on.)
Scene One - Introduction
I plan on having the introduction start with 3 areas that are infested with zombies, the last area being shown will show writing on the wall saying "Not 'just a flu' " (which is the Title of the film.) Which introduces the viewers to the film. this will be a very small scene, which I plan on being around 15 or 20 seconds long.
Scene Two - Running Scene
In this scene I won't the viewers to know that the film has begun with a disaster that has occurred (So A disequilibrium, The story instantly begins with a problem.) The scene basically shows The three survivors running across a field. Dom is in front of the other two with a baseball bat, Then Lewis is in the middle Firing an Uzi (small machine gun) at zombies that are charging at the three from the sides, the camera shots prevent the viewers from being able to see the zombies attacking from the side on this scene. And Lastly, jaydn is at the back running sideways while shooting zombies that are coming up from behind with a machine gun. While they are running, Jaydn Asks "how far now?!", Lewis then replies "we're close!" this would make the viewer realise that they're trying to get to a certain location.
Scene Three - Jaydn Attacked
This will probably be the longest scene and the hardest scene to film. as the three run and defend themselves jaydn gets pinned down by 4 zombies, causing him to drop his gun. as jaydn is pinned he calls for help. Lewis and Dom instantly turn around and Lewis shouts "Hang on!" and attempts to shoot the zombies off of Jaydn. Lewis sucessfully kills two of the zombies on Jaydn but another zombie sneaks up on Lewis, Dom then uses his bat and hits that zombie away from Lewis, who has realised that a zombie has snook up on him and turned away from Jaydn. Jaydn now has two zombies on him which manages to push them away and pick up his gun and shoot the last 2 zombies. As jaydn is sprinting back to the others, Lewis (who is standing, not running.) asks Jaydn If he got Bit by one of the zombies, Jaydn says he hasn't and instructs the two to continue running.
Scene Four - Boss Appears
This scene starts with a special infected called a boss, which I plan on being a bit like a "tank", in the actual game. It's quite a distance away from the three survivors but it can still see them. It charges towards them knocking other zombies out of his way (Like in the trailer of 'left 4 dead'). Dom is the first to notice the boss charging at them and alerts the other two that it's about to attack. This scene then ends with The Boss around 10 feet from the survivors.
Scene Five - Boss Attacks Dom
this will be a short scene, but a very difficult one to film and edit. The boss goes for Dominic first, Dom swings at it with his bat, but the boss ducks and punches him away. Because of it's super human strength, the punch sends Dom Flying, around 10 metres away. The scene ends with Dom landing on the ground.
Scene Six - Boss Attacks Lewis And Jaydn
the last scene in the intro. As the boss walks to Dom again, Lewis and Jaydn start to shoot The boss, Which then turns it's attention onto Lewis and Jaydn. opens it's mouth and forms some sort of beam. it then spits/fires the beam at Jaydn And Lewis, The beam hits the ground near the two and explodes, the impact of the explosion causes Lewis and Jaydn to be pushed away and seperated. The Boss Charges at Lewis who is down on the floor and lifts him up from his coat. Jaydn quickly recovers and gets up, he begins to shoot at the boss Who is still holding Lewis. The boss then again moves it's attention onto Jaydn And throws Lewis Away. The Boss begins to charge at Jaydn, who has ran out of ammo and needs to reload. At the end of the intro. It shows Jaydn About to get attacked by the boss, he shouts for his friends and the intro then ends.
Some people will be concerned about how I can pull off some of the parts in the 2 minute intro. For starters, I will not be using Windows movie maker or a Mac. I have my own software which I feel is one of the best editing software you can get. The Software is called Sony Vegas Movie studio. I've used this to make other school projects and video's based on games, And I feel it's very possible to pull of this introduction. Some of the special effects I will do are...
Zombies - Glaring eyes: I will try to have the zombies eyes bright yellow and glowing to add more effect and realism.
Boss - Beam from his mouth: I will use the same effect as I use for the Zombies Eyes.
Boss- Beam Explodes: sony vegas does not have an explosion effect, but I've found an add on you can put into sony vegas which enables you to use an explosion effect.
Currently I can't think of anymore special effects I will need to add onto my intro, but their's a high chance that i'll be adding more effects to make the intro more realistic.
After writing this information about sony vegas, I decided to look for a Music video on youtube which uses sony vegas to edit. I found a random video which I thought shows alot of sony vegas's affects. (The song isn't very important, I haven't exactly listened to what the song is on this video but I imagine the video matches with the beat of the music.) The video relates to my idea from its effects it uses.
Introduction Speech Plan - Deleted
Before the christmas holidays when I had a rough idea of what I was going to do. I had a plan of having someone with a really good voice (A voice that would sound excellent for a "customer announcement" at a supermarket.) and having him read an introduction speech which I would record on a microphone. I Had pretty good script for this speech which I eventually deleted.
Basically, I wanted this person to read a script saying on the lines of "barricade your homes, avoid contact with any infected individuals..." etc. I would then record this on a microphone and put it onto my computer, which would then be edited with sony vegas and added onto the very beginning of the Intro.
I then realised that the intro I had planned was way too long. Aswell as cutting out half of the storyboard, I had to also get rid of this idea.
Finding Related Movies
It was very easy finding movies that are related to my own. I instantly thought that "I am legend" was a movie that was very identle to my Idea. I am Legend Begins with the World already caught in a disaster, so it begins and ends in a disequilibrium, which is how I want my introduction and whole movie to be like. With I am legend, the movie is also about a virus outbreak turning those infected into zombies (Also relates to my own idea). Since this movie is very identical to my own idea, I can watch the movie carefully and look at all types of camera angles that they use and use these angles in my own to make it more professional.
I also thought that 28 days later and the sequals to that movie were quite identical to my own. In 28 days later, it begins by showing us what causes a virus outbreak. With I am Legend, the virus has already happened. 28 days later also relates to my idea because of it's storyline, which is basically to survive.
MoodBoards
Left 4 dead Moodboard
Related movies Moodboard
I decided to make two moodboards instead of one, One with pictures and images from 'left 4 dead', and another showing related movies.
Left 4 dead Moodboard
I felt i didn't have enough to explain by just doing one moodboard with all related movies and other samples. I decided to to make a left 4 dead moodboard to explain more about what is featured in the game. Onthe top left shows us the 4 characters from the first left 4 dead game. Next to them is the 4 characters from the sequel to the first game "left for dead 2". Unlike my film, both games have 4 survivors instead of 3. On the top right it has an image of a 'horde' of infected from the game charging. The Middle image which is covered by the Title is alocation in the game. I had a small blank space behind the title, so I decided to put the location image in as a background. The buttom left shows us the front cover of the game (the front cover of the case the game comes in). It shows a severed hand with it's thumbmissing and it's 4 fingers spread out. The 4 fingers represent the 4 in "left 4 dead". Above that it shows the front cover of the sequel "left 4 dead 2". Which also represents the 2 in "left 4 dead 2". The last part to mention whichis on the bottomright of the moodboard shows all the types of infected in the game. These are: Normal Infected, A spitter, Charger, smoker, Witch, Jockey, Hunter, Boomer and a Tank. All the special infected have these nick names for there special abilities/ways of attacking. For Example, A charger is nicknamed charger because it charges at an enemy with great speed, A boomer is nicknamed boomer because it explodes if it is shot or hit, and a tank is nicknamed tank because it's strength, defence and abilities match up with an actual tank.
Related Texts Moodboard
I used The films 28 days later and i am legend in this moodboard aswell as Left 4 dead. I made this moodboard before i made the left4dead moodboard and before I had plans to make a seperate moodboard which explains why Left 4 dead images are on both moodboards. I had trouble browsing the internet for suitable images from the two texts. Alot of images were either bad quality or too small. In the end i found 4 images for each movie which I then used in my moodboard Along with some Left 4 dead images. I then began to look for a video I watched a few months back on youtube, a popular and short home video someone did which included Zombies wearing Hoodies (what gave me the idea of having the zombies wearing hoodies). I eventually found the video which i then print screened, cropped and then used in my moodboard (The image underneath the M in the MOODBOARD title).
