Short Zombie Video

Zomg Okay

You could do the handheld camera thing from the point of view of the survivor. Like a video diary of life after Z-Day kind of thing?

X_ShinyDrums_X

I'll be honest, I know nothing about the filming of movies so if you say it'd bring up too many problems then that's good enough for me.

Ok, I would. But do you know how long this extension is likely to be? I'm off to France Friday and have exams between now and then. Admittedly not ones that are overly strenuous or ones I particularly care about (TY FTW :P).

Also my mum knows a family that'd probably die to get in on this, so I'll ask her to tell them about it.

Don't know if there's any plausibility in the idea. But what about writing to the Irish Film Board (or whatever they're called) to get some money to help towards cost?

I think it's a fantastic idea. And I'd love to come up (not for acting mind).

I don't know how to add videos, but look up I love Sarah Jane on YouTube for a good short film. Not the type of film that you're after but its well worth a watch and deserves all the support it can get.

Degrassinoel WoZ 'Ere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYxs7Y7ulrM

ScumLord

It's not that I'm against the handheld look (although I don't like it's overuse), I'm just pointing out it's not as easy as it looks and comes with it's own set of problems.

Can't say what the extension would be that's up for discussion.

degrassinoel

i have a very basic little bit done. Tbh, it's more of a short story than a script. In-fact, it IS a short story. An incomplete short story.

Sorry, but I've no clue on how to write a script. I'm guessing it could be altered to be one. To give you the jist of it. It's in the form of a written account (omg it's diarrhea of the dead!)of the weeks after a fatal infection took out most of the human race. Anyways.. some are carriers, some die, and even more rise again as Z, or maybe devolve is a better word.
The setting is city burbs.
The plot has the main character going about his daily routine, surviving, making journal notes and trying to stave off boredom and insanity through various means.
It doesn't go much further than that as I've pretty much hit a wall with writing, and tbh i just don't have time for it everyday.

So there ye have it, if you's are interested in reading it for a giggle, let me know and i'll try to put some kind of ending onto it. I'm fairly certain that with the content i have on paper you'd get maybe 10 minutes of film at a push..
May not be to everyone's liking as it's quite depressing and lonely. But.. who said the end of the world was ever going to be sunshine and lollipops eh?

DakotaYoda

If you're looking for a free, handy script writing software tool checkout Celtx - it's what I use for all my stuff. It's free and works well - it is also now online based, there is a local client install that has a bit more functionality, so it is easy to share and collaborate with others.

For reference, in my experience, figure 1 minute of movie run time for each page in your script. It varies a bit but that should be close.

degrassinoel

I'll give that a shot.. and yeah in that case, i have 3 minutes of footage done xD

DakotaYoda

degrassinoel wrote: »

I'll give that a shot.. and yeah in that case, i have 3 minutes of footage done xD

Most certainly a start! And my 1 min/page thing sure isn't exact. It depends on the writer. Some put lots of notes/stage directions in. So - your exact mileage may vary.

Shane-KornSpace

who can I send my script idea to?

ScumLord

Shane-KornSpace wrote: »

who can I send my script idea to?

boardszombieproject@gmail.com

Realistically we should probably be looking to start filming this time next year. The summer is always the best time to film due to more sun around for longer. If we tried to film this during the autumn/winter you'd have tiny windows of daylight to try and film in. Even night scenes would probably be better shot in daytime and edited to look like night time.

If we where to aim for next summer, that would give us up until new year to finalise a script and the spring to do pre-production work. Given that we're all doing this in our spare time we might need that kind of time frame. Unless we can come up with a script in the next month to make use of this years summer.

DakotaYoda

If you are planning for shooting next summer that would be grand. We've got a full length we are shooting this summer/fall and I don't think we could squeeze another one in.
Once you guys get your general idea locked I'd like to work up a US version that takes place at the same time - just in a different place. Same general theme and feel as the Irish version...

X_ShinyDrums_X

I've also started work on a script. Not sure how quick progress will be on it though. How would you be set for close up gory scenes? Would you be able to do them?

Old Tom

Ok, I've sent my stuff in.
I hope at least a small part of it can be used in the project.

ScumLord

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

I've also started work on a script. Not sure how quick progress will be on it though. How would you be set for close up gory scenes? Would you be able to do them?

Gory might be easy enough to do with some help from the local butcher.

To be honest we don't fully know what we're capable of. If you where to go to videocopilot.net you'd see a range of what I can achieve with special effects.

So basically write your story and we'll deal with the filming of it when we come to that. That's why I said in the opening post that stories may be rewritten to suit our abilities.

We do have a few scripts in now I see so I'll have a read of them this evening and see where we stand.

Tzar Chasm

Just way he'd a film on horror channel called cowboys and zombies, the acting was fair to middlng and the sets and costumes were up to scratch, the effects were ok too, the plot was a bit formulaic but that's to be expected, what i found interesting was that according to imdb it was made for about 30k which is piddling ammount in the movie business

ScumLord

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

Just way he'd a film on horror channel called cowboys and zombies, the acting was fair to middlng and the sets and costumes were up to scratch, the effects were ok too, the plot was a bit formulaic but that's to be expected, what i found interesting was that according to imdb it was made for about 30k which is piddling ammount in the movie business

That is tiny however you have to take into consideration that American movies are often hampered by unions.

We may assume that much of the cost of making movies is in the equipment which can be very expensive but what your usually paying for is peoples time. Film and other artistic endeavours require some very experienced people to spend a lot of time doing tasks that are essentially easy but take a lot of time to get right which is where the experience is worth it's weight in gold.

That's why short films can look so good despite limited funds, because the work load is much, much smaller the people involved can give the time needed to make it look just so.

On the film project it is still in the works. I haven't had to much time lately but there has been a shocking development and I need to send some emails to find out what happened. I do think we need the extended time frame though and leaving a year to plan this out would mean a much better end result.

ScumLord

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

Just way he'd a film on horror channel called cowboys and zombies, the acting was fair to middlng and the sets and costumes were up to scratch, the effects were ok too, the plot was a bit formulaic but that's to be expected, what i found interesting was that according to imdb it was made for about 30k which is piddling ammount in the movie business

I had to go watch the film after this post.

The sets and customs are as good as you can get. The prosthetics on the zombies where also top notch, although I wouldn't in a million years use those type of prosthetics I think they look daft.

The special effects are beginner stuff, they're terrible. They got the action essentials pack (which I have) and used the effects in their most basic form. At one stage I doubted whether they actually had action essentials because they kept using the same blood splatter effect over and over again. The guins are real though, they are using blanks and there's nothing fake about the gun shots.

They did seem to have good equipment at some stages of the film, the tracking shots where they follow along with the action must have been done with some fairly expensive equipment it's awful hard to get a steady shot when the camera is moving.

I'd say time and money restrictions meant they had to make the most of each day, there's a lack of shots, where a high budget film would have used 10 different angles they where forced to use 1 or 2.

Special effects wise we can easily do better, I hope to get the chance to run a test on effects this weekend. I'll do a zombie getting shot in the head and will try to work out a blade to the head.

0utcast

sorry to post so late, but did anything happen, or is anything going to happen? or did this die a slow death?

Tzar Chasm

nothing is ever truly dead in the zonbie forum

ScumLord

The deadline for scripts was the first of this month and checking the official email no one has submitted a script. Old Tom that started this project (and since retired) has the start of a story but stops before zombies.


I did plan to have a plot line at the least done up but never got around to it. It's all in my head bar an ending.

We have a number of options.
1. Forget about it altogether. Retire to bunker. Await the inevitable.
2. Put up another deadline for script submissions.
3. Work on a script collaboratively either using Google drive or here on boards.
4. Create real zombies, switch to documentary.

Tzar Chasm

much as option 4 appeals to my inner madScientist, I think the reality/documentary style has been overdone at this stage.

how about option 3, as a start I noticed there were already a few short story threads here in the forum, how about we disect those to see if a cohesive narrative can be constructed

ScumLord

Can't hurt to have a good look through.

I did start reading "The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook", it goes into the actual practicalities of making a film.

We should be looking to keep locations to a minimum (as in one that can be reused), characters to a minimum (as in five or less), day time production (this can be fixed in post I have techniques for turning day into night).

We really have to look at each story and take into account how much it will cost to source costumes and so on.

0utcast

i'd love to help as much as i could, im in north kerry if thats any use, a good few years of photography behind me as well as artsy stuff i can help online or in person if possible, i reckon i could give any tasks needed a good shot!
collaborative sounds like a good idea....

ScumLord

I've uploaded a plot outline that I've been thinking about to the shared google drive folder for anyone that has access. I have the basic beginning and middle of the story but I don't know how to end it. There are a few options I was considering but maybe others can think of something better.

There's also no dialog only the jist of what needs to be said to keep the story rolling.

0utcast wrote: »

i'd love to help as much as i could, im in north kerry if thats any use,

It could be of use if you know the area.

a good few years of photography behind me as well as artsy stuff i can help online or in person if possible, i reckon i could give any tasks needed a good shot!
collaborative sounds like a good idea....

According to the book I'm reading we should be taking photos along the way during production. For special effects there would be a need for photos too.

Kash

Is there an invite for the google docs thingy ScumLord?
I wouldn't mind trying to flesh out some dialog now that my mini-Z is in creche

ETA: I'm pretty nifty with a sewing machine, and my special effects makeup ain't half bad either for whenever the filming gets that far