EVALUATION: Question 2

EVALUATION: Question 1

FINAL PRODUCT - Mindless

Here is the finished piece.

PRODUCTION: Editing

The editing stage is possibly the most precise out of all of the stages. We took turns, Katie doing more of the physical work, and I took more of an artistic role, pointing out places we could cut and effects we could add. We effectivly mnaged to cut over 5 minutes of footage to just below the required 2 minutes.

We encountered a fair few probelms along the way, first and formost being in cutting the clips. We found that, after we had completed the filming, we had far too much footage, and even when cut down reached well over our two minute line. To overcome this we, first of all, cut down the clips to only the scenes we'd need, and then cut them so that they fitted well with the others. We did a fair amount if shuffling around of scenes, shaving a couple of seconds off here and there so that we would run to time.

One main problem we encountered was while we were trying to add the insert of the actors names, as the frames then spliced together, leaving duplicate copies. We managed to edit the frames whilst they were like that, and deleted the duplicate copies, and so effectively managed to overcome it. Here is an image of me working on the MAC.

Next came sound. First of all we edited the sound already on the video, keeping some of the more ambient pieces like the footsteps as Katie and I walk, and cutting anything necessary.
We spent around an hour searching for some copyright free music that we could use as a backing track for our piece. Eventually we came up with the perfect piece 'Got The Smarts' from freeplaymusic.com, which we decided was perfect. One we had added it, we had the problem where the music kicked in a little too early for the scene. We cut part of the music and moved it to where we wanted it, and then copied a section of the earlier rhythm and spliced it in so that it ran seamlessly to the timing we wanted.
We recorded Katie's voiceover straight onto the MAC, and added it to the clips. We had to bring up the sound levels so that it could be heard properly, and then drop the music sound level. Initially we couldn't hear the voiceover very well over the music, so I suggested we fade the volume of the music during the speech, and then make it louder in the action pieces. I found this worked pretty effectively. By then the only thing we had left to do was to add the 'zombie noises' for when the zombie is eating the male character. We found the perfect noise, but found it a little short for the length we envisioned it. To combat this we, again, copied a section of the noise and added it to the other. I noticed that the pitch rose slightly at the end, and suggested we cut the end of the first part so that the two ran smoothly together. We then faded out the music as the zombie noises faded in.

Katie and I wrote the script together on the day we recorded it. We collaborated on what should be said and in some instances changed word orders to accommodate both our ideas. Here is a picture of me making some alterations to the script.

And here's a copy of the the finished plan sheet for our voiceover script.














Katie and I managed to effectively overcome the obstacles we encountered both in filming with our actors dropping out, and in editing, and finished our piece well within the deadline.

PLANNING: Script Mark 2

Due to the complications we encountered along the way, we had to redraft our script. The edited version is as follows:

Script

Scene 1

Opens on a zombie, freshly dead, covered in blood. Zombie Lurches down alley.

Scene 2

Girl is writing in a journal or diary. Voiceover starts. *

Scene 3

Cuts to POV shot of GIRL.  Camera pans to zombie, then back to POV shot of her running through the alley, regularly stumbling. There is the sound of heavy breathing and footfalls accompanied by grunts or moans from off-screen.

Scene 4

Cut to an abandoned room. Male Character at top of stairs, walks down

Scene 5

Shot of building, view is shaky as the GIRL is running. Sounds of footfalls, grunting/panting. She runs to a door, close up.

Scene 6

Male character scopes the room for any danger.

Scene 7

Girl enters building, closes door behind her.

Scene 8

Male inspects doorway, from which a Zombie appears.

Scene 9

Girl walks to set of stairs and runs up

Scene 10

Male character fights with zombie.

Scene 11

Girl enters room, formally an abandoned office, now her ‘safe haven’.

Scene 12

Aerial shot of zombie and man fighting. Zombie has the upper hand.

Scene 13

Girl opens notebook/journal and places it in the desk.

Scene 14

Zombie knocks the man to the ground and descends on him. Sounds of the zombie feasting can be heard. Camera moves away.

*Voiceover Script

There was another one outside today. I just don’t know what we’re up against.  They seem pretty clueless…so far. But sometimes when the spot you, all you can do is… run. We’re completely unprepared for this, for whatever they are. We’re always on the lookout. We’re always scared. Nothing’s safe anymore. We’re strong. But sometimes it’s better just to hide. Because they’re stronger. And they WILL win.

FIN.

Filming - Saturday 27th March

We shot the fight scenes, and final footage on the 27th March 2012. Over a few hours we took a considerable number of shots to get the full potential for our piece. Included are a few pictures as evidence of what we achieved, and how we went about it.

Getting into Role

The first thing we had to do was to make our actor Ben Richards up to look like a zombie. Katie was in charge of the makeup element, getting the character to look right. We had a white base to give him a pasty, dead look. She used gray and black blusher to give the skin a bruised, rotting look. She then used reds and flesh coloured make-up to give the idea of scars the zombie may have already had, and places blood may have smeared whilst it was feeding. It was quite a grotesque look which showed up amazing in camera.

Taking Turns

Katie and I shared the job of filming, however overall I ended up filming the greater portion of it. We shared the camera work, and whilst not filming, took turns in directing the actors.I shot the slower tracking shots, as well as some worms-eye-view and over-the-shoulder shots.

We worked a great deal with the actors in order to teach them way in which to make their fighting look authentic without them causing injury to themselves or each other.










In this picture here Katie is demonstrating to Ben the angle he needs to be stood at in order for the shot to work I was helping direct and choreograph from behind the camera. This is a great example of the teamwork we had within our group.

Here I am demonstrating to Rob how to fall authentically without causing himself injury.









My Role

Overall, my role was a lot of the filming of the piece, along with Katie, as well as helping direct and choreograph scenes so that they looked effective, but didn't cause injury.

PLANNING: Meet the Cast

Here are the cast of our piece, and a little but of information about them.

Female Zombie

I play the role of the female zombie, as well as taking lead a fair amount of filming and directing. I am also co-founder of Amputato Productions, and joint producer/director for the film. I take an A level in drama, and enjoy a wide range of acting including being in an amateur dramatics group. Because of this I though I would be a suitable role, also taking into account I am dedicated to and care for this piece as it is partly my work.





Male Zombie

Ben Richards played the other zombie. He who stepped up after our other actors fell through. He works in an amateur dramatics group in Brixworth and is also in a yearly show for Scouting alongside Kaie, and therefore we thought he might understand the concept if working hard with a small group of actors. He played the part well, not making it seem comical, but rather more realistic.





Female Protagonist

Katie, co-founder of Amputato Productions, took the role of the female protagonist referred to in the planning stages as 'running girl', as well as shooting the hand-cam scenes and providing the voiceover. She took a GCSE in drama with me, and is just as invested in this as I am, and therefore was a good option for the part.



Male Protagonist

Robert Kostur took the role of the male Protagonist. We chose him for the part because he has had previous acting experience, and is also a close friend of Katie's, and we felt we could rely on him. He, to, stepped after our previous actors through, and, as he was the leading make, had a lot of work on his hands. I feel he managed to play his part well.

PLANNING: Updates - Shooting Schedule

We have recently encountered a rather large problem. We thought we had found decent actors, but due to unforeseen circumstances they had to pull out last minute, meaning some serious alterations to our plot and shooting schedule. This really threw us in at the deep-end, as we then had to find new actors as well as writing a new script, as we couldn't find actors for all of the parts needed.

Luckily, we worked through this and managed to get pull through and get everything sorted in time for our shoot on the 10th March.
We kept our teacher appraised of all our changed and dilemma's through our Twitter account, as well as informing our actors and keeping in near contact with each other.

Below is a copy of the altered Shooting Schedule.

Scene	Actors Needed	Where?	When?	Costume/Props
Running scene (1st) inc. credit shots	Ella & Katie	Jimmy’s End	25th Feb	Normal teenage clothing
Desk/Writing scene	Ella/Katie	Jimmy’s End	26th Feb	Normal teenage clothing, paper, pen
Two guys indoor scene	Ben Richards, Robert Kostur	Jimmy’s End	10th  March	Normal teenage clothing, zombie make-up
Fight scene zombie and guys, inc. Credit shots and final shot.	Ben Richards, Robert Kostur	Jimmy’s End	10th  March	Normal teenage clothing, zombie make-up
Voiceover	Ella/Katie	Quiet room or Radio Box.	7th March (subject to change).	N/A

PLANNING: BBFC Research

The following slideshare presentation details research into the BBFC and its rating system. All information used was sourced directly from the official website www.bbfc.co.uk

BBFC Research

View more presentations from EDrakeMedia.

If I were to rate our film like the BBFC, I would give it a certificate of 15 as it contains themes of horror, including a supernatural element (the zombie). There is no drug use and little strong language, with only infrequent violence and the horror contained is rather mild.