Production: Filming

 Today I got my filming done and I am now ready to edit. Me and two of my friends met at Markham part at 9:30am and began filming. I started by taking some shots of the scenery in case I need some more clips to kill time or for the credits. 

We searched the woods for a tree that would fit the vision and found a patch of thicker trees and used one of them for the beginning. I used my friend's Walkman and an old journal for the beginning scene of her sitting under a tree. 

Then, I took some shots of her walking through the woods and one of my friends had an idea that she should take water from the lake and "drink" it. Of course, the lake is probably filled with brain-eating amoebas and stuff so she didn't actually drink it. I angled the camera in positions so it looked like she drank the water. 

Finally, we recorded the final scene with the switchblade which looked cool on camera. I am going to create a post breaking down this scene later so I won't go too much into detail but it was the most challenging part.

Planning: Shots

 I have done a lot of thinking and have decided that I will have the project take place only after the outbreak so I will not be doing the first half at night and showing the outbreak. I made this decision because it would feel like more of an opening than my original plan because it will have less action and will feel less rushed. To fill in the two minutes I will have the protagonist go about her day to show how life is after the apocalypse. I have compiled a breakdown of the shots that I will be using with example images from the internet as a guide for me

-Establishing Shots: Woods setting

-Long Shot: Girl under tree

-Medium Shot: Girl pulls Walkman out of backpack

-Close up: Puts headphones on

-Extreme Close up: Puts tape in, press play

-Medium: Pulls out journal from backpack

-Close up: Writing

-Extreme Close up: Writing

-Medium: Close journal, put in backpack

-Over the shoulder: Zips bag

-Medium: Stands up, starts walking

-Long shot from back: Walking

-Close up: Walking, girl stops, takes off headphones

-Medium: Worried, looks into woods

-Close up: Hides behind tree

-Medium: Girl behind tree

-Close up: Scared, behind tree

-Pan down: Stop at hand

-Close up: Knife in hand, zombie walks in back, knife blade retracts

-Credits

Audio

 Audio is a significant element in my project since it will be comprised of sound effects. I have compiled some sound effects that I will use in my project including the music for the credits. I plan to try to use as much natural audio from filming as I can, but I will most likely need to insert audio as well. 

-I am going to use the amber alert sound effect as the emergency alert:

-I have started creating a playlist of sound effects on pixabay.org to use in my project

Other sounds I need to find or create:

-Walking on concrete

-Gunshots

-Zombie noise variations

-Helicopter noise

-Scream variations

-Running on concrete

-Explosion sound

-Walking on grass

-Knife click

-Suspenseful music

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Mise-en-scene: Color and Lighting

 My project will have two major colors shown throughout. Since the first scene will take place at night, black will be the main color with white as a secondary color from the streetlights. The color black represents fear and evil which is fitting for the situation. The dark lighting will convey a feeling of uncertainty and unease at the situation that's about to unfold, and the streetlight will create a spotlight effect focusing on the zombie as a metaphor to show how the infected individuals are the main focus of the post-apocalyptic world. 

Green is also going to be a major color in my project, specifically the post-apocalyptic half. I will also use natural lighting throughout this part of the opening to create a more natural effect. Green is used to convey nature and rebirth which is also fitting since it takes place in the woods and after the outbreak where we see the protagonist change and become more confident. 

Mise-en-scene: Set

 The setting for my project will be fully outside so I will not be able to manipulate the set design, however, I think it would be more natural and realistic that way. The first half of my opening will take place in a neighborhood street at night. I would like to use the lamp posts as lighting especially to act as a "spotlight" for the zombie when it is first pictured. 

For the second half of my opening, I want it to take place in the woods during the daytime. I will most likely use Markham Park to film this scene since it has a nice woodsy area with a lake.

Developing the Protagonist

 For my project, I knew I wanted to have one female protagonist. I thought it would be interesting to make the main character a teenage girl since a lot of zombie media have men as the main characters, it would be cool to see the perspective of a zombie apocalypse through a teenager's eyes. 

I don't want my protagonist's name to be revealed in the beginning so she will be nameless. This is because there will not be any other character for her to talk to that may reveal her name, I want to keep that a secret until later in the film when she meets other survivors and finally reveals her name. I think this would be cool since it creates a sense of mystery surrounding her.

During the opening, she will be depicted as resourceful and capable of survival. This will be shown through her dirty clothes in the second half of the opening, as well as her drawing her switchblade. The switchblade indicates that she had to kill to survive and is willing to kill again. I am thinking of including her listening to music on a Walkman in the second half which will also establish that she still finds pleasure in life and hasn't completely lost her innocence, but I am not 100% sure I will include this. 

Storyboard

 I've completed my storyboard for the project. I am not the best artist but I illustrated the story to the best of my abilities. 

Project Summary

  My portfolio project will be a two minute opening scene about a zombie apocalypse. The scene will begin with  a girl going for a walk at night time. As she's walking, there will be a helicopter sound effect as she looks up at the sky. She then sees a figure of a person at the end of the sidewalk, she is confused and alarmed. There is a loud noise coming from her phone, It's an SOS message. The noise from the message causes the figure to turn around, it is revealed that the figure is a zombie. The girl realizes this and becomes scared, she runs away. As she is running away there will be gunshots and screaming sound effects in the background. She runs to a safer spot and there is an explosion. Since I will not be able to actually show the explosion, I plan on just recording her eyes and I will use a bright light to simulate the look of an explosion, I may even edit an explosion in her eyes to make it more believable. 

There will be a match cut to her eyes but this time in daylight, there will be birds chirping in the background and sounds of nature to establish the woods setting. The cut will depict a time jump to show how the girl has survived and is now alone. She will be walking around, trying to find food and shelter. I have two alternate endings before it cuts to the credits which I I'll experiment with and see which one fits best:

1.  As she is walking around, she hears the sound of a zombie and immediately hides behind a tree. There will be a shot of her behind the tree with the camera panning down to her hand where she is holding a switchblade. The camera stays on her hand as we see the legs of the zombie walking in the background, she presses the button on the knife, and the blade deploys. It abruptly cuts to black and the credits roll.

2. The scene will just be the girl walking around the woods long enough to fit into the two minutes. The final shot will be the girl eating food she hunted/scavenged with a slow zoom out as the credits are layered on top of the clip. 

I prefer the first idea but it may be challenging to create and also leaves on a cliffhanger which makes it more of a short film than an opening. The second option is easier and makes it more of a casual opening, but may not make it clear enough that it is a zombie film.

Group Meeting #1

   In class today we met in groups to discuss and give feedback about our projects. When I shared my ideas with my group, they all liked my idea but had some suggestions. I was told that I should have the whole opening be just the pre-outbreak since it would make more sense as an opening. I agreed with this but I also thought I wouldn't be able to make it long enough for the time requirement of two minutes. Someone in my group shared some helpful resources with us as well:

-Simply Scripts: Has full scripts from every movie.

-Pixabay: Sound effects library

-Bulletproof Bear: Sound effects + Music

-Adobe Fonts: Font library

-Splitter AI: Splits music into instruments.

I told them about an obstacle that I had which was the news report at the beginning of the opening. In order to have a news report, I would have to create it. To get around this I had the idea of having an SOS message on her phone which my group approved of. 

Media Theory in Project

 A media theory I would like to integrate into my project is Character Theory which was created by Vladimir Propp. Character Theory simply states that characters in media typically fall under one of seven character types:

1. Hero: The hero is the protagonist of the story. There are two types of protagonists, the seeker and the victim. The seeker is typically the type of character who goes on a quest to defeat evil, while the victim directly suffers from the actions of the villain. 

2. Villain: The antagonist who works against the protagonist.

3. Dispatcher: The dispatcher is the character that sends the protagonist out to complete a quest or go on a journey.

4. Helper: The helper aids the protagonist in completing their task.

5. Donor: The donor provides the hero with an object or information they need that will help them succeed.

6. Princess: The princess is a character that the hero is trying to rescue.

7. False Hero: A character who isn't painted as a villain in the beginning, but eventually works to prevent the protagonist from succeeding.

I am going to have a hero and a villain in my project. The female protagonist in my film will fall under the victim hero character type, while the zombies will fall under the villain character type since they are the ones causing the protagonist to suffer. 

Media Studies. (2024, March 9). Vladimir Propp’s 7 character types and narrative theory. https://media-studies.com/propp/

Costume Research

 Costuming is an important aspect in a lot of zombie media as it shows the living conditions of the protagonists. Common clothing choices are cargo pants, jeans, tank tops, or long sleeves depending on the setting; the clothes are always worn in, ripped, and dirty. I want to take a look at the costume design in some of the films I've blogged about earlier. 

Clothes

 The women in zombie media often wear jeans with a lightweight top. The clothing choices would have to indicate that the characters were fighting to survive and didn't have many clothing options available. Breathability is also important in designing costumes for zombie media because the characters walk long distances and must wear comfortable clothes that they can fight in. I am planning on dressing my character in a tank top with some jeans or cargo pants. Making sure the clothes look worn is extremely important, I can achieve this by using fake blood to create that dried blood effect, and cinnamon or eyeshadow to create dirt. 

I already have a pair of green cargo pants I own that would be good in my film, I just need to find a tank top that I can use. As for the shoes, I really enjoy the beat-up Converse that the character, Ellie wears in The Last of Us. I believe that Converse would be more realistic for a teenage girl than combat or hiking boots. I also own a pair of black Converse that I have in mind for the shoes. 

Props/Accessories

I really like the idea of having the protagonist have a backpack since it makes the setting more realistic. I am planning on just using my black Jansport school backpack since I wouldn't need to weather it down due to the color. Another prop I'm thinking about incorporating into my project is a switchblade. At the end of the film, I plan on having the character draw her switchblade before cutting to the credits. This is another addition to the costume design that would add to the survival aspect and show how much the character has changed since the initial outbreak. 

Costume weathering & distressing guide: "...and sewing is. “...And Sewing Is Half The Battle!” (n.d.). https://www.andsewingishalfthebattle.com/costume-weathering-distressing-guide/

Timeline For Project

 There are about 7 weeks until the project is due so here is the timeline I plan on following to get this project done. There are a few days left over in case something goes wrong or I need more time than I thought:

Week 1: (2/3-2/7)

• Idea Planning

           -Brainstorming

           -Coming up with plot

           -Finding someone to act

Week 2: (2/10-2/14)

• Production Planning

           -Creating storyboard

           -Costume design

           -Filming locations

           -Music/Font

           

Week 3: (2/17-2/21)

• Filming

           -Start and finish filming project

           -Compile sound effects and music

•  Editing

           -Begin editing

           -Experiment with fonts and credits

Week 4: (2/24-2/28)

• Editing

          -Finish editing

Week 5: (3/3-3/7)

• Review

         -Revise editing

         -Add finishing touches

Week 6: (3/10-3/14)

• Creative Critical Reflection

        -Begin CCR

Week 7: (3/17-3/21)

• Creative Critical Reflection

        -Finish CCR

Analyzing Credits of Zombie Media

 In the last post, I analyzed opening scenes, now I will be looking at the credit sequences from apocalypse media. 

Zombieland: Double Tap

Zombieland: Double Tap is the sequel the the first Zombieland movie which I included in my last post. The credits (starting at 2:05) are incorporated into the opening scene and are pictured as text on video. The credits start off with a voiceover from the main character and transition into a fighting montage. The montage begins with the main characters holding weapons and preparing to fight as Master of Puppets by Metallica is playing in the background. The song is a great touch to the credits, it adds grit and a punk vibe. The names in the credits are displayed on top of the montage and interact with what is going on in the scene. For example, when a zombie falls, the text moves as if it was hit. This elevates the entire sequence. Of course, this is the most unrealistic approach to my opening but I wanted to analyze different styles of credits.

World War Z

This is a more realistic example of what I could possibly do for my credits. World War Z is another zombie film, the credits start out as a black screen with the production company. A montage is then played of different videos picturing what life was like before the virus. There are also voiceovers of news reports that are positive in the beginning but progress into panic. The videos playing in the montage are also becoming progressively more alarming. The music playing gets louder as well which is chaotic when layered with the voiceovers which adds to the eeriness and panic. The title, World War Z, is then pictured at the very end. 

The Last of Us

Finally, I will be analyzing The Last of Us' credit sequence. I included the opening scene in my last post but I also wanted to take a look at the credits as it is the most realistic idea I could execute. The whole sequence is just black with some animations of the virus, cordyceps, which is a crucial part of the game. There is The Last of Us theme song playing in the background which is layered with news report snippets, similar to World War Z. I like the idea of having news reports in the background with music to add a chaotic effect. 

 

Analyzing Film Openings

 I decided to go with apocalyptic for the genre of my film. I believe I would be more capable of creating an apocalyptic film than a dystopian one, more specifically I'm making it about a zombie apocalypse. I am a huge fan of zombie media so I am familiar with how they usually open. Usually, they begin either before the outbreak or during the outbreak.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead begins by giving us a bit of background behind the main character, Rick Grimes. We learn that he is a police officer and is refueling his police car. There are various abandoned cars at the gas station, as he is looking at the wrecked cars he sees a little girl. He asks her if she's okay, she turns around and it is revealed that she is missing part of her mouth and is a walker (the show's name for zombies).

 She walks closer to him and he has no choice but to shoot her. This opening begins after the outbreak but there isn't much action. There is a cut to a few months prior where we get the background of the characters and how Rick was before the outbreak, this is an interesting twist on traditional openings as we see the aftermath first. 

The Last of Us

Although it isn't technically a film, I want to analyze The Last of Us' opening scene from the game as it is an amazing opening. We are introduced to the protagonist, Joel, and his daughter, Sarah. It is the night of Joel's birthday, he and Sarah are watching a movie and Sarah falls asleep. Joel gets a call from his brother, Tommy saying that he needs to pick him up from jail. There is a cut to Sarah in bed, it is 3:05am on her clock and she is woken up by a phone call from Tommy asking where Joel is. There is a sense of panic and unease as the scene progresses. Sarah looks for her father and sees a news report on TV about a virus outbreak. An explosion goes off as Sarah searches for her Dad. She finally finds her Dad and a zombie runs into the door of her house, which startles the audience and brings the panic that Sarah is feeling, to the viewers. Sarah, Joel, and Tommy then flee the house. They try to escape burning streets full of infected individuals and screaming people. Ultimately, Sarah gets shot and dies, and there is a 20-year time cut. This is my favorite opening from the ones I've selected because I love the sheer panic that is evoked. This is the type of opening I would like to incorporate into my opening.

Zombieland

Zombieland is a comedy zombie apocalypse film so the opening is more exaggerated and unrealistic. It begins with a POV shot and a zombie viciously attacking. The opening scene is just a montage of different zombie attacks with the main character's voiceover describing his various "rules" to survive a zombie apocalypse. He describes each scenario and the rule that goes along with it, the zombie attacks are vicious and gory. Zombieland took the action approach, which best complimented the comedy aspect of the film having the opening be dramatic and funny. The credits roll with slow-motion scenes of zombie attacks. This opening starts off during the outbreak and after the credits, we are introduced to the main character who was doing a voiceover in the beginning. 

Two Possible Genres

The two genres I would like to consider are apocalyptic and dystopian. Before doing research, I thought thy were the same thing but there are actually a few differences between the two. 

                                                                         Apocalyptic

Apocalyptic genre depicts the aftermath of a disaster. These are usually caused by natural disasters, wars, or alien invasions. Post-apocalyptic is another subgenre which follows the characters after the apocalypse happened, this can be anywhere from a few months to multiple decades. Both apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic are subgenres of the science fiction genre. I notice that the conflict in many  apocalyptic films aren't the disaster itself, it's the lawless society that is created after. The antagonists in these films are humans, not the actual cause of the disaster (zombies or aliens). The protagonists have to navigate through society and survive.  

                                                                        Dystopian

A dystopian society stems from human opression or corruption. The main difference between dystopian and apocalyptic is that dystopian is man-made suffering whereas apocalyptic is typically natural occurrences. Typical conventions of this genre are:

-Government is usually the enemy

- People monitored by the government

-Citizens are separated based off of economic class or other factors

-Oppression and injustice.

-Advanced technology

-Further in the future. 

The plot of dystopian films typically revolve around a protagonist who is trying to overthrow the government or bring justice to society.

Conclusion: I'm going to make my film a zombie apocalypse film since it seems more doable than a natural disaster or futuristic dystopian. 

Sources:

Law, Ryan. “The Ultimate Guide to Apocalyptic and Post Apocalyptic Fiction.” Ash Tales, ashtales.com/guides/post-apocalyptic-fiction.

Tomczyk, Whittney . “Characteristics of a Dystopian Society - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com.” Study.com, 2020, study.com/academy/lesson/characteristics-of-a-dystopian-society.html.

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Plans For My Portfolio Project

 My initial plans for this project is to create an opening for an apocalyptic/end of the world film. I really enjoy apocalyptic films, especially zombie media which is what I will most likely be executing. I plan to have friends assist me with this project, one to help film and one to act in it. I am going to have the opening be fully sound effects with no dialogue as I enjoyed the sound project and I don't know anyone who can act, I'd rather have no dialogue than bad quality dialogue.