X PRE-PRODUCTION18 Pre-Production Schedule Updated

We've discussed a few things about what we want to change for the film opening.

SCENE 1

• Hand of God
• Shows whole town, to street, to house, to living room

Location

• Near Emma's house

Props

• None needed

Characters

• Nobody - looks desolate

Costumes

• None needed

SCENE 2

• Wakes up on sofa with pizza slice on him
• Has a game controller in hand
• Game (specifically a zombie game) playing on TV
• Doesn't show protagonist immediately (narrative enigma)
• Shows a lot of the mise-en-scene - messy and dirty
• Takes a swig of vodka

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Emma's living room

Props

• Pizza
• Pizza boxes
• Cigarettes
• Chinese take out boxes
• Lighter
• Ash tray
• Work shoes
• Black leather jacket
• Pocket knife
• Video games
• Game controller
• Cans of beer
• Cans of CocaCola
• Cans of Fanta
• Cans of Red Bull

Characters

• Donnie Romero

Costumes

• White shirt, rolled up sleeves, pocket on left side, half tucked in
• Black work trousers/jeans
• White socks
• Black belt
• Thin gold frame glasses

SCENE3

• Donnie takes off clothes to get into shower
• Gets into shower
• Singing Ghost Town by The Specials - intertextuality with Shaun of the Dead
• Zombie comes in
• Donnie gets soap in eye
• Tries to get a towel and hits zombie in the process
• Bends down to grab towel
• Knocks zombie out when standing up
• Grabs toothbrush and brushes teeth

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Emma's bathroom

Props

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste (empty)
• Glasses
• Plain white towel
• Empty shower gel

Characters

• Donnie Romero
• Zombie

Costumes

• Donnie
• Nothing in shower (can't see swim shorts)
• Towel around waist
• Zombie
• White top - bloody and cut up
• Grey zip up hoodie
• Dark blue straight leg jeans
• Black socks

SCENE4

• Goes into bedroom
• Smells all the clothes on the floor
• Is disgusted until he finds one that's okay
• Picks it up and puts on

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Emma's spare bedroom

Props

• Clothes spread out all over the floor

Characters

• Donnie Romero

Costumes

• White towel around waist
• Rick and Morty graphic tee

SCENE5

• Goes into kitchen
• Quick shots of
• Putting kettle on
• Putting in tea bag
• Pouring kettle
• Milk
• Sugar
• Tastes it 
• Puts in more sugar
• Putting bread in toaster
• Toaster pops
• Scraping off burnt bits
• Putting jam on toast (strawberry - like blood)
• Takes a bit
• Jam gets on face

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Emma's kitchen

Props

• Kettle
• Toaster
• Jam
• Bread/toast
• Mug
• Teabag
• Milk
• Sugar cubes
• Butter
• Knife

Characters

• Donnie Romero

Costumes

• Rick and Morty tee
• Shorts
• Odd socks

SCENE6

• Can't find keys in hallway
• Rings keys
• Finds them in pink slippers
• Grabs change from bowl
• Puts trainers on
• Leaves house

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Emma's hallway

Props

• Keys - with keychain that plays music
• Pink fluffy slipper
• Paper which says "Keys hear" with an arrow pointing down
• Wooden chest
• Shoe rack
• Asics trainers
• Coat rack
• Change
• Ceramic bowl

Characters

• Donnie Romero

Costumes

• Rick and Morty tee
• Shorts
• Asics trainers
• Odd socks

SCENE7

• Walking to shops
• Listening to music
• Mia trying to tell him there's a zombie behind him
• He can't hear and is amazed a girl is speaking to him
• False scare as Eddie pushes Donnie out of way from zombie
• Pull dead body from car
• Get in car
• Drive off
• Drone shot of car driving off
• Reveals title

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via GIPHY

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Location

• Near Emma's house (outside)

Props

• Old phone
• Earphones
• Spatula
• Rolling pin
• Knives
• Lots more kitchen utensils
• Car

Characters

• Donnie Romero
• Mia Jones
• 2nd zombie
• Eddie Pegg

Costumes

• Donnie Romero
• Rick and Morty tee
• Shorts
• Odd socks
• Asics trainers
• Mia Jones
• Dress
• Denim jacket / blazer
• High heels with chunky heel and buckles
• 2nd zombie
• Ruined top with blood
• Zip up hoodie
• Jeans
• Eddie Pegg
• Trench coat hiding all the kitchen utensils
• Black trousers
• Black socks
• Black shirt

X PRE-PRODUCTION11 Zombies

(This post was originally by Bright Films)

COSTUME + MAKEUP

I put together a slide show of the topics covered, meaning the points specifically about the zombie makeup our group talked about with our teacher and the improvements and additional points that were discussed thereafter, I will go over them in depth underneath.
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(Slide 2) The test and influences have been covered in recent posts so a summary is:

We have heavily intertextualised elements of Shaun of the Dead, where some elements are close to a simulacra (Baudrillard) following a postmodernism theory, anchoring the preferred reading because if it is left as a polysemic reading, following many examples in the film industry, the preferred reading will be lost as the primary and secondary audience will have no anchorage to access it.
One of these elements is the makeup and therefore we are drawing heavy inspiration from zombie characters in Shaun of The Dead, especially Nick Frost's

(Slide 3) The Improvements from the first makeup test are:

- Firstly to include more blue and purple makeup, in the bruised areas of the zombies face's. This will make the look clearer on screen anchoring the fact that it is a zombie, not someone dressed as one.
- The hair wasn't worked on but we are probably going to add talcum powder to make it look more scruffy and dirty
- More white face paint needs to be used to make the character look pale, which is symbolic and connotes zombies as they are cold and dead, however in the example above that wasn't as clear so to anchor that we are going to use more white face paint.
- We didn't use the contacts we ordered as they had not arrived at this point, but they have now arrived so in are next makeup test we will get a completed look for the makeup.
- We also were unable to use liquid latex due to only Spikey Films and Scope Productions being together for the first test and neither of them had liquid latex with them.

(Slide 4) Additional points about the Zombie look 

- One of the zombies will have the pleasure of eating a dead corpses guts and we are going to attempt to achieve this using shallow field of focus and focusing heavily on the audio in post production editing.

- We need to use blood capsules for the zombies but we don't know how the effect will appear so we are looking to test that soon 

- We have decided to not film Sunday as we feel we need to test more points 

X PRE-PRODUCTION1 Pre-Production Ideas

ACTORS:

• Central protagonist - Danny Romero
• Love interest - Mia Jones
• Best friend - Fred East - intertextualises with Fred West (serial killer)
• 2/3 zombies 
• Intertextualising genre directors (Danny Boyle, George A Romero) - Danny Romero

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via GIPHY
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OTHER ASPECTS: 

• Cornetto franchise reference - possibly worms eye view - steps on cornetto wrapper - strawberry flavour connotes blood
• see zombie in bathroom + outside (chasing him) + zombie eating dead body
• Shallow focus (zombie eating body from far away)
• decaying title
• slow zombie movement type

X VODCAST4: First Shot

VODCAST
The first shot is very important for a movie.  This needs to set the scene for the audience whilst still leaving some narrative enigma.  The exposition can be shown through the mise-en-scene.  The first shot often shows the protagonist in a variety of different ways, for example, the rule of thirds.  I looked at Bridget Jones's Diary (Maguire, 2001), About a Boy (Chris and Paul Weitz, 2002) and Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007).
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X FILM OPENING EG3 About a Boy

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• Fade up
• Audio bridge to first scene
• Diegetic sound from tv 
• Bird's eye view
• Tracking shot
• Protagonist - proppian archetypes
• Rule of thirds
• Narrative enigma - not showing protagonist's face
• Intertextuality with tv show
• Camera movement and zooming connoting tension
• Anchored with tense music from tv show
• Show foreshadowing events - most likely to be Jon Bon Jovi character connotes comedic genre 
• Voice over - inner monologue
• Non-diegetic sound - guitar strings
• Red Bull signifies youth, not sophisticated
• Tea cup with saucer - sophistication
• Cigarettes - negative connotations - complex preferred reading
• Campbell's hero's journey/monomyth - all narratives center on journey and progression of protagonist
• Big book - intelligence, sophistication
• Lower case bubble font block white - connoting comedic genre
• Navy blue slacks, gry blue crew neck jumper, blue shirt, grey blue monochromatic mise-en-scene - conservative guy
• Large collection of books and LPs, electric guitar, speakers - rebellious

X TITLES2 Scream main titles

SOUNDS:

• Female high pitch scream
• Heart beating fast and speeds up
• Phone ringing
• Crash
• Wolf howling
• Violin strings - intertextualising shower scene in psycho
• Knife slashing sound
• Audio bridge

IDENT:

• Blue light - intertextualises blue tint in Halloween opening

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X THEORY3 Postmodernism Deconstructionism Intertextuality and Simulacra

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POSTMODERNISM

Argues that all the 'isms', eg. capitalism, communism, are now meaningless - the meta-narratives no longer have the power to explain the world or reality.  It is of course self-contradictory: postmodernism is an ism!
Strinati argues there is a collapse in the high/popular culture divide - all are now equally valid.
Such notions lead to playfulness.
The concept of postmodernism denies definition to some extent, but Dominic Strinati outlined 5 key characteristics in 1995 that are often cited:

1. Breakdown of the distinction between culture and society
2. An emphasis on style over substance
3. Breakdown of the distinction between high art and popular culture
4. Confusions over time and space
5. Decline of metanarratives ['grand theories such as Marxism, Christianity and ... modernism have lost their currency for modern societies']*

DECONSTUCTIONISM

The ironic use of existing conventions in a knowing way; the audience is assumed to be in on the irony.  EG: in Scream the Matthew Lillard character cries out dramatically "I'll be right back", an old horror trope being that this denotes a character will be killed.  The other teens at the party respond with that in mind, in a scene where they're sat watching Halloween.  Craven is poking fun at, or critiquing, the very genre he helped to create with 1972's The Last House on the Left.
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This occurs across all media - this Depeche Mode video is a classic example, deconstructing the band's poor, tawdry image and the male gaze.
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via GIPHY
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INTERTEXTUALITY

A simple but profound concept originating with Kristeva - the preferred reading (Stuart Hall) of two texts are linked; the viewer needs knowledge of the earlier text to be able to follow the preferred reading of the newer text.  TV shows like The Simpsons are built on this, and there is a strong vein of this running through the slasher genre.
To help generate cheap publicity for his 1978 proto-slasher Halloween, director John Capenter cast the daughter of the Psycho's scream queen.
In Scream, the characters are watching Halloween.

SIMULACRA

Scary Movie exemplifies the ideas above - it takes intertextuality to a new level: Scream had the working title of Scary Movie, and this film is a satirical remake, quite literally signposting the conventions (eg the Carmen Electra scream queen sees a sign giving the options for either death or safety... and runs up the stairs where the death sign points to, as the dumb scream queens tend to).
These movies have been much analysed, not least for gender representations.  Baudrillard might argue that this leads nowhere as there is no ultimate meaning behind an endless sea of signifiers; Scary Movie is an expression of many existing ideas or signifiers, which cannot be tracked back to any concrete 'true reality' or meaning.
Ideas like encourage playfulness, as seen in these two films.

X IDEAS4 Improved Film Opening Pitch

SETH OF THE BRAIN DEAD
Working Title at the moment.  Intertextuality with Sean of the Dead


Scene1

• Playing movie in protagonists messy living room
• Not showing protagonist immediately (narrative enigma)
• Playing Scream / Halloween / Dawn of the Dead / Shaun of the Dead
• Opening Baked Beans can with pocket knife and eating them cold

Scene2

• Protagonist in shower
• Pans from feet to head (cuts in between)
• Oblivious to zombies in bathroom
• Dropping shampoo bottle knocking out zombie
• Slipping and kicking zombie killing it
• Possible shower singing scene for comedic effect

Scene3

• Getting ready scene 
• Quick shots like in Shaun of the Dead
• Brushing teeth
• Going to toilet
• Putting on glasses
• Getting dressed 
• Putting on glasses
• Putting on badge for blockbuster store

Scene4

• Walking out of house with headphones on looking out phone
• Not looking around
• Sees girl ahead (love interest) trying to tell him theres a zombie behind him
• False scare - hand on shoulder 
• Turns out to be the best friend character who pushes him out the way
• Shouts 'get in car'
• Pulls dead body out revealing title on floor

LOCATION

PROTAGONIST

• Male
• 18 years old
• Attractive - female gaze
• Named Seth

FILMS/TV

• Star Wars
• Star Trek
• Indiana Jones
• Sherlock
• Breaking Bad
• Shaun of the Dead

GADGETS

• Watch (casio digital)
• Phone
• Glasses
• Spare glasses
• Pocket knife
• Can opener
• Pens

ITEMS OF CLOTHING

• Graphic tee
• Straight cut blue jeans - thrifted - slightly worn/faded
• Glasses - taking them off and wiping them as nervous tic - helps with not seeing
• Possible button up over tee
• White high tops 
• Possible long black trench coat

PLACES HE'S BEEN TO

• Library
• Diner
• Game Store
• Home

FOODS/DRINKS THEY LIKE

• Slushies
• Milkshakes
• Monsters 
• Hot dogs
• Pizza

RANDOM FURTHER DETAILS

• Only child
• Love interest
• Works at blockbusters
• Really good at darts

EXTRA NOTES

• Impact on comedy to bring BBFC rating down to a 15 from an 18 
• Wears a World's End tee - direct intertextuality
• Plays video games
• Has junk food and empty cartons etc.
• To connote working at Blockbusters - name tag / card
• Blockbuster movies
• CD - possibly use as coaster or plate
• Empty cans
• Cigarettes
• Opening baked beans with pocket knife
• Box TV with playstation 2
• Set in this day and age but has all old gadgets
• DVD player - Dawn of the Dead / George A. Romero DVDs
• Link DVD - in Halloween playing movie at start - Scream played Halloween movie
• Triple hybrid rom-com-zom

SECONDARY CHARACTER

• Female
• Around 18 years old
• Attractive - male gaze
• Named Chloe
• Binary opposition to Seth
• Badass, very dominant and confident
• Doesn't let her guard down in opening
• Wears athletic, tight clothing (like Lara Croft)
• White vest top, slightly cropped, rip by neck
• Black skinny high waisted jeans
• Black leather jacket

X SEMIOTICS3 Semiotics rap

OUR TASK 

We had to make a semiotics rap.  This is in order to help us remember these terms so we can use them regularly.  It's a fun and easier way to remember these different terms.

LOUIS'S VERSES












Semiotics rap this is the way to go
Lots of different terms a bit like juxtapose
I’m guessing you want to know what that means
Well it’s something you see often on your tv screens

The places of two images on either side
Of an edit, creating a divide
This means there is an effect caused
That’s a pretty smart term, how bout you give me an applause

I think it’s about time we look at our next term
Connotation, that’s one to learn
The symbolic meaning of every factual detail
Knowing this, a levels are not something you will fail

Let’s look at the main man Roland Barthes
When it comes to effort, he worked the hardest
Born 1915 and died in Paris, France
Now give us a few seconds this is the semiotics dance
















Now that that’s done we can move on
We can research binary opposition
a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite
That’s pretty cool, isn’t it

MY VERSES

We look at a picture and we denote
But then you have to write some notes
These note are signifiers and connotes
Idk what to say so eat some oats

Many signifiers leads to an anchor
We needed that or it sank her
Signifiers have many possible meanings
Polysemy can be good on screening

There is preferred reading
Negotiated reading
Oppositional reading
Don’t know what it means, do some reading

Spooky scary narrative enigma
Gives the character a bad stigma
With intertextuality, everything links
Like episodes of the Simpsons, don't you think?

Narrative enigma gives some mystery
Making people wonder who is he?
The point is that we don't know
Because on screen we don't let it show

OUR VERSES TOGETHER

We keep it hidden till the very end
And then the connotations are what we send
The symbolic meaning of every factual detail
Connotations even found in Donald Trump's email

Proppian archetypes are a base
I'm about to spill my metaphorical briefcase
Each media text has its archetypes
For example the hero bringing the hype

Equilibrium is where it all starts
Keeping it chill until it all falls apart
Todorov is the owner of this theory
Now we don’t have to query

X SEMIOTICS1 applied to Warp films

TYRANNOSAUR

Tyrannosaur poster

• Rule of thirds, centrally framed connoting this man as the protagonist
• However, prop (wooden baseball bat), lighting, mise-en-scene etc connote he could be the antagonist
• Own binary opposition - creating narrative enigma
• Serif font signifying a drama genre
• Wrinkles - older man - older audience
• Skin head, vest top - working class
• Terraced houses on edge of poster - working class
• Dark weather - drama
• High key lighting on only one side - reflects his two different personalities - drama
• Small 'a film by Paddy Considine' denotes auteur theory
• 2 awards won & reviews to lead promotion
• High angle - surprising for protagonist
• Bare tree - drama 
• Violence - in this shot - violence to himself - self-loathing
• Contemplating - not stupid like the stereotypical working class
• Narrative enigma - what is he regretting?
• Names but not big or bold
• All upper case

LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE

Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee poster

• Bright colours with title, stars, graffiti (not serious)
• Fat character signifies comedy in this case
• Wearing scruffy clothes, therefore not glamourising the working-class
• Underwear hanging connotes a comedy genre
• Setting = covered in graffiti (connotation of rough area) + (typical warp)
• Intertextual reference of 'Spinal Tap' 
• Stereotypes = short hair, relatively masculine colours
• rule of thirds - centred on the cover (protagonist)
• more inviting as character is directly referencing the character with hand gesture
• Text = scruffy serif font
• Narrative enigma as we don't know who the character is + his eyes are covered by sunglasses
• Long-shot/extreme long-shot
• Mid angle
• Shane Meadows made clear on cover = denotes the auteur theory
• Small text showing the actors (not famous actors, therefore no need to have their names clear on the cover)
• Not a star vacuole + film ratings on cover
• Showing off film festival ratings
• intertextuality with name (Martin Scorsese)
• Two shot