MattHawkins Online - Film Making Forum

Zombie film post

Ok it has been a while since I last talked about the zombie movie after getting everybody excited and raring to go, sorry about that, with classes starting last week, and a few relationship squabbles between some of my help, plus a world of Warcraft addiction, I was slow to get started, so here we go, and this could be a long post so bare with me, at lest it will be spell checked.

First off let me address the makeup of the zombie situation, I’m going to get the test done this week and when I do it will post a long thread on it in the Tutorial section soon, and will tell you guys here that it has been posted, so until then that’s all I’m going to say about the makeup.

Ok as for what I am looking for in the little shorts, and how they are to be posted, some of this might be old info but will deal with it as we come to it, I guess I need to keep repeating it because the threads keep getting lost, it would be cool if maybe a mod could make this a sticky.

The shorts need to fit into the idea that they were taken by people during and after the zombie infection, which is not over five years later when the commandos find they guys computer, so no, humans winning sequences. As for they need to fit they should feel like home movies, news broadcasts, web cam footage, and anything else that doesn’t feel to heavily edit. Some of them though like the news can be edited. Also if you have apiece where it is evident that the people taking it would have had the time and the knowledge to have edited their footage then you can do so, but we have to believe that it could have happened. (I have one idea in mind where a group of teens show off their house fortress, and then a new zombie-killing suit, and that was going to be edited a bit because they would have had the time and the knowglae.) Don’t be afraid to shot segments on old analogue cams and then capture, or to break any of the basic film rules that we as film makes have come to know, i.e. you don’t always have to have your tripod, auto-focus is a good idea etc.) Also keep in mind that in the final un-compressed version of the film some of the shorts will actually still perously be shown in compressed .wmv or .mov format, just to add to the interesting feel.

As for the teams and feelings of the pieces, we need ones that are both funny and very dramatic and heartfelt, so that the movie isn’t a total depression fest, like say 28 days, or a long funny stick like Shaun of the dead. I am defiantly aiming for a good mix of the two, leaning towards the heavier stuff because that is where the real drama is.

Content wise, I’m sure this flick would get an R rating or an 18 or what ever the high ratting is in said country so go all out in the language and gore department, s*** even sex if you can swing that I don’t care the grittier and more visceral the better.

Legth wise, I am looking at 5-10 min for each short with no more then 15 min, and that would require asking ahead of time, and the knowledge that your short might get trimmed a bit by me to keep the movie at a good running time. As running times for the entire thing go I am looking at the ballpark of 90-150 min depending on how much I get and the quality of the shorts.

The process for submitting your parts will be as follows.
1. Come up with idea.
2. Post idea and start writing script.
3. Idea will be approved, (mainly so we don’t have a ton of the same thing).
4. Post script. (So that I can write the intro and start to put together the final full script)
5. Shot movie
6. Edit and post.
7. It will get looked over and if any change is needed it will be made then. Once the short has been approved move on to next step.
8. I will PM you with my mailing address, and you will send me the short on a miniDV tape or a CD/DVD with the short in MP2 format, the miniDV tape is the preferred way though. Just know I will not download any uncompressed footage.

As a note I might have to cut out parts, or ask for an entire re-edit down the road if it is needed to help the flow of the movie. But hopefully it will not come to that.

Other needed things are a community Special effects house, or a few special effects houses, basically they are the people we send footage to so that it can have CGI effects added to it, for those of us, like me who don’t know how to do it and don’t have the stuff. In fact if you’re not interested in making a short but still want to help this would be the perfect way to do it. We will need people who are able to animate large sequences totally in the computer, such as a slow pan in on a destroyed city, and who are able to take footage of a sunny city street and turn it into a post apocalyptic zombie infested Hell. As these sequences get written up and posted, the individual film makes will talk with the effects people and they will tell them exactly what they need to shot for the effects shots that they need, such as if they need a ton of zombies in front of a green screen or X amount of clan plates, of a city, photographs etc.

Already taken shorts, (But you can still volunteer to take some of them off my hands.)
News cast American
Televangelist
Teen fort/Jack a**

I am sure that something might have been forgotten but since this post is about two pages long in word, I’m going to stop and I will update things as well. So start the flow of ideas coming. I look forward to see what you guys come up with.

~Sean

I like. Keep us all up to date

Will do but now its up to ya'll to put in your parts so we can see this starting to come toghter.

interesting concept.

do they have to be reality tv like shorts or can they be little set pieces?

Well tell me the idea and will see how we can work it in, we can probably find a way to make it a set piece, just post about it in the ideas sticky.

I am an aspiring novelist, and one of story ideas was a book about an apocalyptic event where zombies are massacring the world’s population. The book is going to be made up of short stories of different survivors during this event – around the world, with the beginning and end explaining how the zombies were made to rise; and how it was all left. I had so far come up with 3 ideas within it, and wrote the first full draught of the main incident and how the world started to become over run by Zombies. If you want you can have a look at these ideas and see if they are of any use to you.

well I already have a plan of how they over ran the world, and in typical Roamro fasion do not want to explane why they happoned, but any ideas for the shorts that you have would be greatly apreseated.

I am working on mine and will tell you over the weekend. What kind of a rating are we looking at here lol

Gyro, Captain America and I started to work on a zombie flick about Halloween time. So far it's about 4-5 minutes. We aren't sure yet but we might finish filming some things and send it to you.

Ok I see only two problems that might ocure here. One it might not fit the theme of bing home shot, and will look to much like a movie, but I could be wrong. And your zombies might not match up with the prototype that I will put forth hopefuly getting it posted tommarow, becuase if all goes well I'll get zombiefed tonight. But I can't make a final call on it untill its seen. Though anything from anybody is a big help.

so what rating are we looking at? eg R, MA, G?

Well its a zombie movie and I'm involved so I'm guess a conservative estament would be a R rating our its equivalent, but really go all out, maybe not quite to the peter jackson extream but as much blood and profanity etc as you feel is needed to tell your story.

COOL, i do not need swearing, but i need gore

Foxwood, I have sent you an email with two ideas of mine.

Well, like you said before about " Filmaking rules we come to know " we should deffintly use the oppsite of them and plan them. Don't do them just on purpose, do them on purpose WITH planning. Mabye a new type of zombie you don't want the audiacnce to see, so the camera blurs becuase the guy is running. Stuff like that.


* Copied the idea here into the other section *

Did you like the end of the 'Dawn of the Dead' remake I3lade203? That was not security camera, it was camcorder. But I thought it was very effective when it would flash on and off at the main moments until at the end it fuzzes then dies.

foxwood wrote:Zombie film post

at lest it will be spell checked.

Sorry

Oopes one mistake.

The end of Dawn of the dead is a good example of how a simple short for this project should look, granted they can also be so much more.

My team would definitely be up for this... after we finish our little Matrix fan film

What about a couple of teenagers who lure a "docile" looking zombie into their backyard and start screwing around with it and they film their antics. But then it all goes wrong and we all die

I'll start writing a script if everyone likes the idea...

sounds like an idea.

Oh Wow! An entire forum section dedicated to Zombies! It's been a while!

ya it has.

Hey FoxWood. I had an Idea I wanted to do for this film and it would def fit the time frame. My idea is as follows:
A couple of friends flee their small rural town to try and find away from the zombies. Theypass through New York City where they are bombarded with zombies. One of them is holding a video camera with him to give the gritty home feel look. Somewhat blair witch like. I was going to edit the footage so their is breaks and static and you can't fully see everything that happens and leaves more to the imagination. I was going to do no computer special effects for the seen, but instead do all straight special effects at the time of shoot. I want to know what you think of this idea and I will write up a script if you feel its good. It would be shot on mini-dv a 1 ccd but the quality would be taken down and transferred back to Mini-DV or DVD whatever is preferred.
Tell me what you think, and if you want to talk to me at all outside the site my e-mail is Meade87@aol.com. Thank You. Later.

Write up a script and well see how it goes.