Casting

For my teaser trailer I will need a relatively large cast, to fill both the main characters and the zombies of which I will need at least 10 people, below is a list of the roles I will need to fill and characters from other movies or TV shows that have influenced my decision.

Gary
I have already found someone to fill out this position and I am very happy with the person who will be playing this role. I have based Gary on the co-start of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg, who I believe to be an average looking character, similar to the lead role in most rom-coms, basing my character on Simon Pegg will be very useful as he will fit in well with the other characters, especially the female one that he will fall in love with. Another character I can compare this role to is Mathew Horne who plays similar roles in films along side James Corden.

Neil

The character Neil will be based on Nick Frost, who has co-starred alongside Simon Pegg in both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I will need to find someone very suitable for this role, as it is where most of the comical aspects of the trailer will come from, he will fit in well in the story alongside Neil as the clumsy one all ways making the mistakes, another actor that plays a similar role is James Cordon who also plays role's alongside Matthew Horne

Sarah

Sarah is the mysterious busty good looking slim woman stereotype in my film, however she is a counter type for the fact that she is the one killing the zombies instead of the men, I have got this idea from a number of actresses such as Carrie-Anne Moss who played trinity in the Matrix, MyAnna Buring who played alongside Matt Horne and James Cordon in Lesbian Vampire Killers and Milla Jovovich who played the lead role in the series of Resident Evil films.

General civilians

As part of my movie, the three main characters seek shelter in an abandoned radio station where eventually some civilians around 3 - 7, they will be average people wearing average clothes that have been torn and shredded so signify that they have had close encounters with zombies.

Zombies

I have already arranged a large group of people for this as well as a make-up artist to create both blood and scars, I will need at the very least 8 zombies which will be dressed up in very tatty and torn clothes smeared in blood, bruises and scars, this part of the film due to the amount of actors and make-up will take a large amount of preparation and time, i have not fully decided weather to base my zombies on George.A Romero's stereotype zombies from Dawn of the Dead or to go for the more modern fast running strong zombies such as the ones from Resident Evil.

After reviewing my idea I have made some large alterations to the cast, below are some of the new character roles that I have added.

Main Male Characters
I have changed my original characters from a Simon Pegg and Nick Frost styled actors to Road trip college like students, below are who I am basing the characters on below are the four main character types that I will be using.

Josh
my first main character will be based on the role Breckin Meyer played in road trip i.e. that of an average male who is the main male protagonist in the group, I have an idea for who could play this role and match it well, as it is my most important role I have chosen a very good actor to play the role and hopefully should mirror Breckin Meyer well, I believe he will fit well into my film and alongside my other male characters I believe it will work.

Steve Treadman (Treadman)
For my second male character I have based the character on Seann William Scott who plays a very similar role in all the films he appears in i.e. a cocky character that everyone seems to hate but is also very funny to watch on screen, I also have a character in mind to play this role and I will be killing him off early in the film (slight mirror of Phsyco where the main female character gets killed off very early on) I think this character will fit in very well in my story however and will his death will be a good way to create some humor throughout as, he will turn into a zombie.



Elroy
As my third male character I have chosen a weedy looking character who doesn't stand up for himself very much like DJ Qualls who played kyle in road trip or Jason Briggs who played Kevin in American Pie, I believe this is a very good style of role in my film as I can create a large amount of comedy from it as well as him being an oppositional character to that of Treadman, it will be a hard role to cast as I need to get it just right so that the character is not too over the top but so that he still looks weedy and fits the part correctly.

Neil

one role which I have hardly changed is Neil as I believe this to be a very important character in my film, the only alteration that I will make to the character is the age i.e. he will be played by a younger actor, The character Neil will be based on Nick Frost, who has co-starred alongside Simon Pegg in both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I will cast my actor as the clumsy one who forgets to do things and all ways lets people down, as well as being similar to Nick Frost I also see him as a close resemblance to James Cordon who has played similar style roles alongside Matt Horne in Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Main Female Characters
As part of my cast I shall be introducing 3 female characters who shall join groups with the three remaining male characters about 1/3 of the way through the film, below is who I will be basing the 3 female characters on

Sarah
My first female character, Sarah will be based on the main good looking female character from Lesbian Vampire Killers, MyAnna Buring however I will cast a slightly younger college style female character as it fits in more with the other male characters and will work much better as the mina male protagonist falls in love with her. It will also be very useful to include female characters to widen the audience that I will receive for my film, i.e. the added romance should bring in a larger female audience.

Jessica
Jessica, playing a similar style role to Sarah will be the second girl out of the three, I am basing this character on Vera Filatova who also acted alongside Myanna Buring in Lesbian Vampire Killers, again this is a crucial role in my film and so similar to Sarah appropriate casting must be in order, the aim of this role is that Jessica has all ready been bitten by a zombie and is keeping it a secret but does eventually turn into one and turns on her friends.





Charlotte
Charlotte the third female character will be very similar to the other two, i.e. popular, good looking, out of the male characters leagues etc.

Geography Students
as part of my storyline some geography students are on a field trip and get bitten by a zombie which then effectively means they become zombies for the rest of the film. I will be choosing around 10 average male and female characters around 17 - 18 years of age to give the effect that they are college students.

Zombies

I have already arranged a large group of people for this as well as a make-up artist to create both blood and scars, i will need at the very least 15 zombies which will be dressed up in very tatty and torn clothes smeared in blood, bruises and scars, this part of the film due to the amount of actors and make-up will take a large amount of preparation and time, i have not fully decided weather to base my zombies on George.A Romero's stereotype zombies from Dawn of the Dead or to go for the more modern fast running strong zombies such as the ones from Resident Evil.

Pre-Production Schedule

1. The first thing I will need to do is to decide on weather to work in a group or by myself, this will be important as it will determine who I work with for the rest of the project.
2. Secondly I will need to decide weather to do a short film or a teaser trailer, the short film lasting about 5 minutes and the teaser trailer only lasting around 1 minute 30 seconds, it will also take a large toll on how a lay out the rest of my project as if I do a teaser trailer I will need to do research into teaser trailers, i will need a much larger range of locations etc whereas with short films I will need to do research into other short films but not as many locations will be needed etc.
3. I will also need to complete an initial proposal that will later be turned into a final proposal, this a key part in the writing aspect of my project as it will possibly determine what I need to do for the remainder of my project.
4. Once i have done my initial idea I will then need to put together an animatic , basically and electronic storyboard that will map out my story-line.
5. Once I have completed the animatic I will then need to do research into either 30 - 40 teaser trailers or short films , I will need to critically analyse them and by doing this it will give me a good sense on what I should include in my short film or trailer.
6. Once this research has been done I then should be able to create my final proposal , this could still change but it should mark out my final idea of the story-line and what will happen and from this I can do the other pre-production tasks.
7. Once I have my final idea I will also then need to complete a target age rating and BBFC classification, this will also give me an idea of what i can include in my film such as horror, bad language, drug use, violence etc.
8. I will also need to create two posts on both the hardware and software that i shall be using in my project this will give me a clear insight as to what i will need to create my final project, it could also show me what else i may need or the limitations of the hardware that i will be using
9. Once I have completed the posts on hardware and software I will then need to do a post on casting , this is an extremely important post as the characters in a film have an enormous impact on the preferred reading.
10. On the same level as casting I will also have to complete a post on locations , this will mean a large amount of scouting as most of my film is shot in the countryside and on the moors and so it shall be difficult to get the shots, never the less it will be very helpful to my final product as I may find some new locations that I could possibly use
11. I will also need to create a post on costumes, props and set dressing, this will be of key importance as I will need to know what items I will need in my film such as clothing requirements and prop requirements.
12. One of the most important things in any film or teaser trailer is the music and therefore i shall need a good quality soundtrack that gives signifiers to suspense, comedy, romance etc, I will need to use copyright free music which may be difficult in some parts but if I use programs such as garage band then I should be able to get around it.
13. I will also need to look into genre links and intertextual reference s as a key importance of how I lay out my film, most films take intertextual references from others and so I must do so in mine.
14. I will also need to re-animate my animatic if I see fit as my idea may have greatly changed by then and I may have the final casting and prop arrangements sorted to create the final version.
15. As a smaller task along the way i may need to take some test footage of what I will be doing, this could effect how I shoot my film dramatically as I may figure out that some areas or shots do not work or fit in.
16. One of the most important pre-production tasks I will need to do is the final narrative as this will be my final idea completely done as it will be done and from this it will help me greatly when created my storyboard and screenplay.
17. Before shooting my short film or teaser trailer I will first need to create a storyboard which will map out the shots some of the lines involved and who will be involved in them.
18. Alongside the storyboard I will need to created a screenplay which will include all of the lines in my film including details of the camera angles and characters used in the shot.

Hardware

To create my film I will need to use a large amount of hardware, below is the hardware I will be using.

Camcorder

To the right is the camcorder that I have purchased to film my production with, below are the specifications of the camcorder. This camcorder will enhance the quality of the footage I capture by a great deal as it can convert the footage into a HD format, it is also very lightweight and therefore easy to transport as well as coming with a spare battery pack for long filming days and a remote to adjust zoom and such controls from a distance with.

Price: £329.99
Record Format: 120GB hard drive
HD Ready: Yes
Recording Time Limit: 150 hours

Tripod
To create my film I will also be using a professional photography tripod which will give me an extensive range of angles and positions to film with, it is very good quality and heavy and can be easily adjusted whilst filming to get different angles, I will be using this tripod for many different aspects of my film and it will be extremely useful when capturing good quality footage with no shaking camera.

Boom Mic

After creating different films last year we found that the sound being recorded by the camera was not of a good quality and so this year I shall be using a boom mic, it is an expensive piece of equipment and it will be hard to control, however it will create a much higher quality of sound, the mic also comes with a large extension pole meaning it will be easy to use the mic without having it in the shot or to far away from the actors that you can't pick up what they're saying.

Mac OS

Another piece of hardware that I will be using is the mac OS which I will use for it's programs such as photoshop, Final cut express and garage band each with a large impact on the final product i produce, below are the specifications of the mac.


Machine Name: iMac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac8,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1

CPU Speed: 2 GHz

L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

Memory: 1 GB

Bus Speed: 667 MHz

Boot ROM Version: 5.2.5f1

Serial Number: W85180AWSDY

Software

Final Cut Express 4

The main programme that I will be using throughout this piece of coursework is final cut express 4, as it is a high quality piece of software which gives me a wide range of possibilities on how I can edit my film.

Last year in our AS coursework we used a more basic mac programme called I movie 6, however this year I will be using a much more advanced and expensive piece of software, final cut express 4, this will give me a much wider range of editing tools, transitions and text types. There is even a singular programme within final cut called live type which is used to create advanced titles. Clip and Sound editing is also much better and precise with this programme and will mean that I will be able to create quick cuts between clips which will be very useful in my film due to the horror and violence that will be included in it.

Before I use it in full for my final project I will also need to practice on it first to ensure that I get to grips with it, for this i have already edited a year 8 final assembly, which included cutting clips and adding some basic titles.

Garage Band

As well as using an editing programme for the clips I will also be using a programme for the sound and music, this will most likely be garage band.

Garage band is a program based on the mac side of the computers and is used to create music effects and songs, it is easy to use and gives a very good and professionally sounding outcome. it has many tools such as the cut tool, sound editor, loop browser where you can search for many different parts of music such as drum or guitar beats and many more.

Unlike Final Cut Express i have used garage band on many different occasions such as last years work, my animatic from this year and also my practice trailer.

Photoshop Elements 6

Another piece of software that i shall be using is photoshop elements 6, which I will be using for a number of things, firstly I shall be using it to create my teaser posters for my teaser campaign, it is a professional piece of software and therefore Ishould get good quality looking posters, I will also need to create a front cover for the box of my DVD cover, this could be very similar to one of the posters or teaser posters and only some small features may need altering, Lastly I will be using it to create my production logo, which will be used in a number of places such as at the start of my film

Target Audience And BBFC Clasification

Age Rating
Before looking into my target audience i must first consider what age rating my film would receive from the BBFC, firstly I will look into similar films to mine to give me an idea of what age ratings they receive.

Shaun of the Dead

Age Rating: 15
One of the films I have been looking closely at for inspiration and ideas is Shaun of the Dead, so far I believe this film is closest to what mine is like, as you can see this received a 15, it includes strong language and strong bloody violence which is what I intend to include in mine, however the language in mine could be stronger and there will be a very large amount of blood and gore as well as sex references






Dead Snow

Age Rating: 18
Another film I have looked closely at is Dead Snow, this is a very similar idea to mine, along with a similar amount of violence and language that I intend to include in mine, as this has been given an 18, I may decided to give my film an 18 certificate also








After looking into the guidelines of age ratings for films using pages 18 - 19 of this PDF file I have decided to give my film an age rating of 18, this is due to the amount of strong language and violence that I intend to include in my film.

Target Audience
Now that I have created an intended age rating for my film I can now consider who my target audience will be, to do this I will consider age, gender, nationality and ethnicity, this will give me a much more clear view on exactly who my target audience will be

Age
Due to the age rating of my film being 18, it will limit my target age group to people of 18 upwards, to decide upon the target age for my film I did some research into the amount of people who rated and rated highly, Shaun of the Dead and Dead Snow to give me an idea of who enjoyed the film,

Shaun of the Dead Ratings




















As you can see from this graph the majority of the votes came from people aged 18 - 29 with very few above and barely anyone below 18 rating the film, I also noticed that people aged 18 - 29 gave it a very high rating which may lead to be a good age range for me to aim my film at.

Dead Snow Ratings





















Above are the ratings for Dead Snow, as you can see the ratings are very similar to that of Shaun of the Dead with most ratings coming from people aged 18 - 29

From researching into a target age I have decided to aim my film at people between the ages of 18 - 29 due to two very similar films to mine receiving most ratings from people of that age range.

Gender
Aswell as deciding on a target age range I must also consider the gender that I will target my film at, I will again look into Shaun of the Dead and Dead Snow for some guidance.

Shaun of the Dead Ratings 

From looking at this chart it is clear that a much larger number of males (92,000) had rated the film than females (13,500), this therefore gives me a rouch idea that this film was mostly targetted at a male audience.

 Dead Snow Ratings

A very similar case can be seen when looking at the ratings for Dead Snow, where again a much larger amount of males gave the film a rating as apose to females.

Nationality

Due to the language of my film, English, it will most likely be aimed at an audience who speaks the English language, however almost every film releases versions with subtitles or voice overs to appeal to a worldwide audience

Ethnicity

Due to the genre of my film horror/comedy it will ideally be targetted at all ethnicities, in some cases, films target only some ethnicities such as This is England, minaly targetted White English people.

Below is the overall target market for my film

Age: 18 - 29

Gender: Males

Nationality: English

Ethnicity: All

Final Proposal

Dead Moor

The film opens with the sound of what can be connoted as pool balls being set up on a table, which is running over the top of the production logo's, the establishing shot opens with a close up on some pool balls being hit and then zooms out to show two male characters (Gary and Neil) playing a game of pool.

Gary - is an average looking male around 5 foot 10" tall, fair hair, slim not muscular dressed in a shirt and jeans
Neil - is more of a binary opposite to Gary, he's overweight and smaller wearing scruffy looking clothes.

whilst playing pool and drinking some pints, Neil persuades Gary to take a random adventure which they decide upon by randomly pointing to the map of England on the wall, they both move in closer as the camera slowly zooms in to reveal a small village surrounded by grassy moorland.

Two days later the duo turn up in the centre of the village via a bus, dressed in a poor excuse for hiking and camping gear, they begin walking up onto the moor and stop for lunch in a quiet remote old cafe, where they are warned by a supposed crazy old man than on the 10/10/10 (tomorrows date) the dead burried on an ancient beryl ground, a big attraction to the village, will come back to life, both characters look at each other strangely and whilst walking out of the cafe they begin laughing and joking about how it can't be true and that the old man must be crazy! A quick cut to a close up of some grass is then shown as a rotting hand bursts out of the ground and clenches it's fist, signifying that the dead have come back to life.

Later that evening Neil and Gary are setting up camp with a poor excuse for a tent and a small set of instructions that Neil is attempting to read whilst Gary points fun at him. After setting up the tent they both sit down and pathetically sip on orange juice cartons as Neil has forgotten to pack beer, this is shown through a mid shot of the two of them sitting sipping orange juice, (this would make a good poster or DVD box if i put a zombie in the background).

After having a conversation about Gary's and Neil's dilemmas they both fall to sleep, at this point the scene cuts away to the "crazy man" clearing up in the cafe, he hears something move outside and wary of what he told the two male characters he takes a decorative medieval sword off the wall in the cafe and slowly makes his way outside. He opens the door and walks out carefully, turning around holding the sword, he looks around and see's what looks like a log on the ground, he slowly walks over to investigate it, the camera then changes to a medium shot, showing him picking it up, he looks in disgust and slowly stands up as he realizes it's a severed arm, then over his shoulder a very tall figure that can be denoted as a zombie is stood behind him breathing heavily, it then changes to a point of view shot of the zombie as the old man slowly and terrified turns round and screams as the zombie pounces onto him and begins ripping him to shreds, the scene then cuts back to Gary and Neil asleep in the tent midway through the night, Gary then wakes up with Neil cuddling up to him, he shrugs him off and opens the tent to go pee in a bush.

After reviewing my final proposal I have decided to alter it and below is my changed idea.

The film begins with a girl running and what can be denoted as an evil character chasing her. After running for a while she trips over a rock, she quickly gets to her feet but no one is there, she then turns around to be pounced on by a hooded figure who begins eating her stomach, which is the first signifier to a zombie and creates an early preffered reading.

The scene then changes to what can be denoted as a college where four students are talking, a fourth student then joins the group and tells them that this weekend they are going on a road trip to the countryside, the four friends agree to this and decide to meet up later on that day.


Later that day the four male characters meet up at the car outside one of their houses, the four characters get in the car and being to the drive away however in the background, out of the back window of the car a man is being attacked by a hooded figure, but the four characters cannot see or hear this.


Eventually the four characters arrive at their destination and get out of the car which is shown through a shaky long shot creating the effect of a distant point of view shot. The characters remove their bags from the car and begin walking to the destination where they will set up the tent.


The scene then changes to a Forrest like area where the four characters walk back onto screen with their bags and dump them onto the floor, they then begin to set up the tent and their camp, however they make a poor attempt at it and settle for a half put-up tent hanging of a tree, later that day one of the characters begins getting what he thinks are the beers out of the rucksack, as the weekend revolves around "booze" to his annoyance and astonishment he finds a crate of calypsos instead of beer as one of his friends has accidentally packed calypsos instead of beers, it then cuts to a shot of later that night as they four characters are sat around a camp fire sipping calypsos and looking angrilly at the clumbsy character who has forgotten to pack the beers.

The scene then changes to later that night as the main male protagonist wakes up with the clumbsy character cuddling up to him, he shrugs him off and walks out of the tent. he begins peeing into a bush outside the tent, however a nearby set of bushes begin rustling he stops for a second and then continues, he hears the bushes rustle again and looks over, out of the darkness a figure appears out of them, he looks terrified but then looks again to realize it is his friend the dumb character, he laughs and they both walk back into the tent.

The next morning the three characters wake up and begin to prepare for another day of exploring, just at that moment the cocky character runs out and climbs onto a broken down tree shouting at mother nature, the other 3 characters laugh and joke about it, until he suddenly falls of the tree and impales himself on a sharp log. The three characters look in amazement at each other and argue about what they're going to do with his body, at that moment the cocky character picks himself up, in the background and begins slowly walking towards them, with blood running down his torso giving clear anchorage to the fact that he has become a zombie, the characters turn around to see this and panic, they attempt to kill him with twigs but after they do nothing they decide to run away in search of weapons.

Eventually the three remaining characters find a small shed full of spades, bats, rakes etc and so they pick them up, the main male character and the nerdy character walk out with small weak weapons, the stupid character then walks out with an axe, a large spade, metal poles etc.

Later that day the three characters come across a large hoard of zombies, they discuss how they are going to deal with them and then they decide to run out and beat them in the head, as that is what the main character/movie buff has told them is the best way to kill them, after a large fight scene the characters managed to kill all the zombies and being walking back to the car.

As the three characters are walking back in search for the car they come across three female binary opposition characters, who are popular girls from the same college, the two parties decide to team up and head for the car together.

As they are nearing the car they have to make there way through a large crater, with a tent set up in the open in the middle of it, the six characters rush towards it but when they get there they find a half eaten man lying inside it, at that point they look around the high parts of the crater to see large amount of figures running around, the six characters prepare with weapons as they believe they are zombies and they will need to kill them.

There is a large final fight scene between the six characters and the zombies where one of the girls gets killed and another male character distracts the zombies and makes them follow him as the other four characters make it safely back to the car.

Initial Animatic And Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback

Chris Benisek

Age: 17

Comments:

• got confusing in the middle
• not enough blood!
• not sure if the comedy was intentional
• why was there a random girl? what was the purpose?
• i enjoyed the soundtrack

Tom Copland

Age: 17

Comments:

• unclear narrative
• not very convincing acting
  
  

Conor Potts

Age: 17

Comments:

• I liked the storyline
• music needed to go together better
  

Alex Jowett

Age: 17

Comments:

• zombies may be hard to make look realistic in the actual trailer
  

Joe Shrimpton

Age: 17

Comments:

• more of an introduction at the start is needed
• soundtrack worked well
• would look better and scarier if it was set at night
  

Helena Beason

Age: 17

Comments:

• Unclear as to why the two characters thought it was a zombie
• relevance of woman was unclear
• would look better set at night
• better looking zombie!
  

Since doing this animatic my idea has slightly changed however it is relevant to my story-line