THE FOUR MAIN THINGS: - Dialouge track: sound of the
characters talkind - Wild track: natural sound that surrounds the
environment - Foley track: additional dialougue recording [ADR] - Sound track:
music track
We pitched our presentation for ‘CiviliZed’ to the class. We created the presentation on Prezi as we
felt it looked smoother, and was easier to place everything in to an organised
simple way. We received feedback on our presentation, what was good about it,
what could be improved on and what people felt wouldn’t work. The budget was a
major issue raised by every group, we later changed this from the original
£6million to £12million. This was mainly due to the number of high profile
actors we were using in our film.
From the feedback we were provided with, our pitch went relatively well and put across the idea of 'Civildead' in a way which made it clear for the audience to understand. One of the things that worked well with out film idea was the storyline, it was clear to the audience what the main storyline was based upon, and people said that it worked well, especially with the comedy aspect of the film. Also, people felt that the target audience was relevant to the genre and idea of the film.
Things that didn't work well with out film idea were things like the budget, many people said our budget was far too low considering the actor's we wanted to take part in our film, so we decided to raise the budget of our film adequately, and change a few of the actors so it wasn't clustered with 'high profile' actors.
We began working on our presentation for our film. After a
discussion with the group, we agreed on calling the film ‘CiviliZed’. I felt
this was a good choice as it provides the audience with an idea on what the
film is about, and it really emphasises the zombie theme with the capitalised ‘Z’
in the title. We also agreed on the budget of the film, and different actors
who we wanted to play the parts of the 4 survivors, and 4 main zombies, the
relatives of the survivors.
Leanne split us up in to different groups for the coursework;
I was placed in a group with Elle Meade and Fex Orumwense. We were asked to
create a title sequence for a film, over the half-term we all came up with
different ideas for a film and then decided which one we would go with after. After
looking at all 3 ideas, we decided to come up with a new idea. A film following
4 survivors of the zombie apocalypse attempting to find a cure for their
families who have been affected by the apocalypse. The zombies now have their
own civilisation and are living like regular human beings would.
The title sequence I chose to analyse is from Shaun of the
Dead. The title sequence is used to help the audience identify what genre this
film is. The title sequence is animated to give it a comical and child-like
feel; this gives the audience the impression that it is suitable for a younger
audience, as well as an older audience, this film is most likely aimed at a
male audience as it involves lots of red connoting death, as well as violent
images which can be used to attract a male audience. The genre is depicted
clearly in the title sequence, it clearly shows that it will contain comical
scenes combined with horror, this can be seen by the colours used, dark red and
black, showing death or darkness associated with the horror genre along with
the cartoon-like feel to show the comic side of this film.
The music used in the title sequence is used to help the
audience identify the genre. When put with the animated images, we can clearly
see the filmmakers have chosen this track to give a calm feel, the music is
contrapuntal to the images we see. The music is of a happy tone, whereas the
images we see are full of violence and blood.
The typography used in this title sequence is relevant to
the genre of the film. The title we see right at the beginning of the title
sequence immediately gives the impression of a horror film, with the title in
bold capitals, looking slightly worn down or as if it’s been attacked, with the
‘a’ in ‘DEAD’ used to identify the zombies theme in the film. As the title
sequence continues, the worn down effect is continuously used, often splattered
with what the audience could perceive as blood. The font colour is always white, black or red, the black and red are used to show the danger
involved within this film, the white can show the contrast between the humans and
the zombies, and the fight for survival.
The title sequence used at the beginning of Zombieland is
used to introduce the audience to the genre and the cast of the film, and shows
us what we should be expecting throughout. The first scene in the title
sequence consists of a policeman being thrown off of the top of a prison tower
by one of the cellmates which has turned in to a zombie, this is used to show
the dark comical nature of the film, and straight away shows us that this film
will consist of a lot of blood, gore and comedy. The camera is facing directly
upwards, as if the policeman is falling directly towards you, this can be used
to portray weakness in the human race, and it shows that the zombies are very
powerful. It is also in slow motion, this adds to the dramatical nature of the
title sequence. Whilst falling, the ‘Colombia Pictures Presents’ sign is
destroyed by the falling man, this can symbolise the destruction and chaos that
we will see throughout the film, this is a recurring theme throughout the title
sequence as all of the signs seen throughout the sequence are destroyed.
The next part of the sequence is very simplistic, but gives
the audience a very good idea of what to expect. It shows a zombie spewing
blood from his mouth in slow motion, it’s very dramatical and can make the
audience feel uneasy, it also connotes that the film will contain lots of
blood, correlating with the horror genre.
After this, we see a woman attempting to evade the zombies, this
could create an enigma amongst the audience regarding whether the film will be
based around escaping the zombies or killing the zombies. During this scene,
the woman is holding a milkshake, the pink liquid is sent flying through the
air, this could be representative of females being weaker than men as pink
connotes femininity.
The next scene further indicates the dark comical nature of
this film, we see a man holding a sign which reads ‘THE END IS NEAR’, whilst
being attacked by a group of zombies. This is ironic, and also shows us there
could be a theme of betrayal throughout the film, as in the background we see a
couple fleeing whilst leaving the man to die; this shows the desperate nature
that the humans have been condemned to during this film.
After this, we see a man running from a burning car,
possibly his, and 2 zombies. The car has been engulfed with flames, and there
is a thick black cloud rising from it, black can connote death and loneliness,
as if the humans are now alone and have been left to fight for themselves and
have been placed in an ‘every man for himself’ situation.
Several more scenes continue to portray the comedy horror
genre of this film, with the themes of betrayal and loneliness depicted again.
But towards the end of the title sequence, we see two firemen, one being chased
by a burning zombie whilst the other puts out the flames on the building. This
again creates an enigma amongst the audience as they begin to wonder if these
creatures are destructible or whether they are invincible, but once again the
theme of betrayal returns as one fireman leaves the other for dead.
Following on from this, we see a man in a suit using a gun
to kill zombies, this again comes back to the theme of loneliness as he is all
alone, trying to fight off the zombie’s singlehandedly, but we see a zombie
approaching him in the background so we can assume he dies too. And finally,
the last clip shows a zombie flying towards a window; this could portray the
end of the zombies. Overall the title sequence could be an indication of how
the whole film pans out, from the zombie’s overtaking, to them being eventually
wiped out.
