Evaluation of 'ZOMBIEQUALITY'

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Below is a Vlog I created and uploaded to Youtube to answer this question:



2) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before we began writing 'ZOMBIEQUALITY', we wanted a basic idea of the demographics of each genre. We looked on google for the definitions of each genre as well as a general overview of how any people watch them. Below are the demographics for the last ten years viewing in each genre:



As you can see, the demographics for comedy are very high. We therefore new that the film would have an automatically positive response. Following this, the horror genre is also quite high which allows more scope for our film. Finally, the Indie/arthouse genre is very low in it's viewings which is good because our film could also appeal to a smaller following. We wanted 'ZOMBIEQUALITY' to show versatility and for it to be suitable for most viewers. Below are the definitions for the four genres that our movie would adhere to:

Finally, we began to reference the film 'What We Do In The Shadows'. We watched the movie and really thought that we could draw inspiration and make reference to the various cinematic elements that were used in the micro. E.G. Editing, cinematography, sound. Even the narrative and plot followed a similar structure to ours. We therefore thought it appropriate to look up the demographics for this film. Below you can see that all comments were very positive and that the film did very well both critically and in the box office, with an extremely large grossing for what can also be described as an independent film:

Once we had made 'ZOMBIEQUALITY' with all of the information surrounding target audience still in mind, we made a survey that we would give to 20 random and varied people. This can be seen below:

'ZOMBIEQUALITY' survey

Name:
Age:
Place of residence:

Preferred genre:
Why?:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate our film: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
Why?:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What changes would you make?:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you like?:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What Didn't you like?:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The results were positive. It was clear to see that the audience were very diverse with children and older people enjoying different elements of the film. The average preferred genre of all was comedy with some citing horror as expected. the average rating for our film was 8 which is very positive. The main reason that the audience liked it was because of the plot and comedic elements. The main changes that would be made were better equipment used to produce a better quality product. The things that they liked were mainly the comedic hints of slapstick and dark humour and the things that they didn't like were the bad quality production and sometimes, the lack of continuity.

3) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Here is another blog uploaded to Youtube answering this question:

'ZOMBIEQUALITY'

This is our final product for our preliminary task 'ZOMBIEQUALITY'. We had two days to shoot this before handing it into Cinemagic Film Festival. The film had to contain a certain criteria, a pumpkin and a line of dialogue. It also had to be Halloween themed. After the screening we were announced as the winners and Michael Lennox ( Oscar and BAFTA winner ) presented us with the award. We have currently been looking in to using this as a concept film to crowdfund a better version.

Cinematic elements; Notes from Director, Production design, Cinematography, Sound, Editing

Direction:

As the director of my group, its important that I have a good grasp for film and an artistic vision that I am prepared to execute. It was brought to me that we could enter for the cinematic hallowee'en rising star award which was great as it gave me strict criteria to work with deadlines. I started working on the treatment package with my production crew, this insured we had a basic plot, a bottom line and a storyboard. From there, I started working with the screen writer on drafting the script and we came up with the title "Zombiequality". Before the shoot, we are fine lining details and planning what each individual specialism  will do. I am going through the script with each individual unit (e.g. sound, cinematography) and annotating it with ideas, references e.t.c.

Cinematography:

here are many definitions for the word 'cinematography'. Here are some of the most common:

The art of photography and camerawork in film-making.

The art or technique of motion-picture photography.

The job or skill of making films.

The act of capturing photographic images in space through the use of a number of controllable elements. These include the quality of the film stock, the manipulation of the camera lens, framing, scale and movement.

The Cinematographer

Another name for the cinematographer is the Director of Photography. They are responsible for all of the visual elements of the film. They are in charge of making every creative choice related to composite, lighting and camera motion. They decide everything that the audience can see in each shot. They determine everything from colour to depth-of-field, from zoom to the positioning of people and objects within any given frame.

They must realise what the director is thinking and find a way to make the director's vision a reality. This creates a consistent look for the film and images that are created will help to tell the story. It is getting images that will push the story along that increases the audience's interest and makes them want to watch.

Production Design:

Costume and make-up for each individual character:

Zombie Steve:

As he is being played by a 17 year old we didn't know wether or not to have him dressed like a hippy activist or to have him dressed as though he was slightly older and more established. Before hand we wanted the protagonist to be older however, when working with the short amount of time we have, we decided it would be better to go with the easier and more reliable option. Regardless, we wanted to go with the stereotype of an activist. The makeup for zombie steve also has to be very good because at the start we are giving the illusion of a scary Zombie. Below is a mood board and a tutorial on Zombie makeup from youtube.

Frightened Woman:

Casual work clothes. Can be any age from 15-50. Needs handbag as prop.

President/Prime minister:

More formal clothes, e.g. a suit to distinguish him as a political leader.

Smick:

Needs to be a male with a very authentic Belfast 'Smick' voice. Preferably tall and skinny with a short hair cut to suit the character. Wears tracksuits and snapbacks.

List of props:

-Hangbag

-Kettle

-Radio

-Bed

-Placards for the protest

-eyepatch

-zombie hand to fall of Steve

-Geek Glasses

Shooting Locations:

Wellington street, Belfast 

House at Rugby Avenue (Incl. Bedroom and kitchen)

Belfast City Hall

Old dining room in the convent area of our school

Green screen used in media studies class room

Sound:

I worked on the sound design for BFI production 'Afterlife' so therefore, I knew a bit of background knowledge. I knew that I wanted the sound to come across immediately like a documentary, quite raw and rough with sound coming from behind the camera. We weren't able to get better recording equipment so mainly we used the internal mic from the camera. As well as this, we used the internal IPHONE 5S microphone to record radio voiceovers. 

In terms of layered sound, I added in a reverse piano which was edited on music software, logic pro X. I also added in a heartbeat to the title which was ironic as Zombies aren't living. `however, this sound could also be used to represent the sound of the boy's heart who is running away at the start.

Editing:

I wanted the editing to be really fast and pacey, therefore I looked for further references in mockumentary and comedy style films. One that I remembered seeing was 'What We Do In The Shadows'. I had to use Final cut express and iMovie mainly. I added in keyframes and made quick cuts, e.g. in the end when the HAZE member walks toward the house, to minimise the time he had walking, I cut it up into three sections.

Zombiequality Script (final draft)

Brainstorming

Below is a 'wordle' that I created to brainstorm for my first film, 'ZOMBIEQUALITY'

Short Films

This year in my media class, I decided to present my portfolio as a short film. Obviously I can't just launch straight into making the film without any attempt to draw inspiration from the skills involved in various other short films. I decided to analyse three short films that have already done well in the industry, mainly to see if there were any patterns or conventions involved in the making of the short.

I turned to Short of the week to find some of the most weird and shaky shorts in the industry. Below are two short films that I have analysed for any likenesses in their patterns. The third is a control factor for comparison.

1) Undying Love

This is a Horror about Love from Norwegian director Omar Hauksson. Undying Love is the tale of a lone survivor, fighting for his life in a world overrun by the living dead. Equipped with his trusted baseball bat and a selection of protective clothing, our protagonist goes about his daily routine of searching for food with ruthless efficiency. This film is indeed extremely abstract and has a huge plot twist as was expected from a short film. We follow the film the whole way through with a certain degree of satisfaction as things are going the way we would expect them too for a typical zombie film. However, as we get to the end a huge secret is uncovered and instead of the boy and girl living happily ever after, the protagonist feeds the survivor to his zombie girlfriend.

With regards to the film's elements, the story was conveyed in a very different way as would be expected from a short film as people are always trying to find new ways of telling the same story in the film industry. I've included examples of where the different crew members were directed to think outside the box:

Cinematography - The camera was handheld to give a more natural feel and everything was framed in perfect symmetry.
Sound design and sound - This element of the film was the most pronounced with very abstract sounds that wouldn't generally be associated with the film.
Editing - At the start of the film, the editor flicks back and forth between the memories of the girlfriend then and of her now as a zombie, using bright tones to convey positivity and red and black tones to convey a more sinister point in the film.
Screenwriting - The story for this film starts off as very normal but the screenwriter has incorporated an extreme twist to the end of the film to make it shocking and interesting in it's short 10 mins.

2) Afterlife

Afterlife is a short film that I created with a production team at the BFI Film Academy earlier this year. It's a comedy and a tragedy in its own right and tells the story of a middled aged man, Martin Stevens, who finds himself in the waiting room of the Afterlife, after being hit by a car. The film has a very abstract and quirky style and I know myself during pre production that we planned for the movie to be as weird and unique as possible. We all agreed that there was far too much normality in film and we wanted ours to stand out in the industry. As well as this, I specifically remember our group wanting the end to be absolutely shocking whereby Martin is plunged into eternal darkness. The film followed the codes and conventions of a short but challenged them in a lot of ways too.

Cinematography - the cinematography for this film was completely out there. There where whip pans and out of focus shots to give a hazy effect.
Sound design and sound - I worked on the sound for this film and remember that I wanted to take my own dynamic twist things to tell the story in a different way. A lot of the sounds where comprised from different parts of the soundtrack. This was made from reversed piano notes recorded by a microphone that was under water.
Editing - The editing for Afterlife was also extremely different. I remember in the editing studio, we had to try a number of different things to make it suit us.
Screenwriting - The script for this film was absolutely off the wall. Some of the jokes bordered on the absolutely insane. However, this is typical of short films. Another factor likening Afterlife to the codes and conventions of short films was the twist at the end conveying an unhappy ending. It didn't sit well with the audience and hence, worked effectively.

3) Dotty ( Control Factor )

This funny and touching little film about an old lady struggling to send a text message has been charming the pants off film festival audiences from Tokyo to Nantucket – where it won Best Short Film. It will have you both laughing and reaching for a tissue.

Cinematography - Long shots without much variation give a degree of monotony in accordance with what elderly life might be like. e.g. Non-Moving shot of the old man crossing the garden with his zimmer frame.
Sound design and sound - very low key and natural. Funny implications with the annoying beep of the phone.
Editing - Very natural, almost boring, which is abstract as it takes extreme measures to follow the life of the elderly.
Screenwriting - The script for this was absolutely stunning. It began very slowly and I was very sceptical, however, at the very end there is a huge plot twist which keeps in with the idea of the structure of short films.