Make up test

Before we went out filming we tested the acrylic paint we had got, to see what effects we could do with it. Lauren tested it out on herself and created a zombie bite mark on her neck. The great thing about acrylic paint is you can build up texture and layers (which is why we got 3 colors) as opposed to just buying the cheap fake blood and letting it run everywhere. So Lauren applied the paint in layers using the different colors and came up with some pretty cool effects.





The wound looks fairly dirty and messy which fits in perfectly with the movie! So with this done, the zombie outfit made everything was all set to shoot the film scene of the movie!

My zombie outfit

When creating my zombie outfit to wear i tried to stick to the conventional zombie look of Torn and tattered blood stained clothes. I didn't have a big budget to do it on however, unlike most movie makers.
So before creating it I looked around the internet and found some images of people in homemade zombie outfits to see if there was anything I could re-create.



Whilst looking I found this image which I took some inspiration from, I thought it best to use scissors and cut up some old clothes and add some blood, and try to make it look as good as possible.

I managed to create this, although not perfect i tore up an old t shirt and added a small amount of blood splats, when we went out filming I did add some dirt and some mud to this to make it look more realistic. 

Props

So with the final scene needing to be filmed shortly we had to a quire some props and make up to make me look like a zombie. Based on our research we found that zombie films often included Blood, and lots of it. so with this in mind we wanted to try and create a fairly realistic looking wound/blood splats on my face and neck area. To do this we decided it would be good to use some acrylic paint, as it was easy to work with, and wouldn't be too runny, meaning we could create some realistic looking effects.

After we had the paint all I had to do was create a zombie outfit to wear, then the final scene could begin.



Here are the tubes of acrylic paint we got, we thought that to get the best possible effect we should get a dark brown and 2 shades of red.

Ideal audience member

We decided to sit down and think about what our ideal target audience member would be and build up a character profile of them.

We related things to horror movies and what other interests a person may have and came up with:



Young adult/teenager. Aged 16-24.
Interested in heavy music, band such as Bring me the horizon, Slipknot and My chemical romance.
Enjoys seeings horror films with friends, likes things such as comics and Tv shows like Supernatural and Buffy the vampire slayer. Enjoys going to see live bands and uses social networking sites (tumblr, twitter, Facebook) often.

Using this information it helped us in thinking of ways to advertise our movie, and also helped us with our choice of music in the film. We had chosen to use a song by bring me the horizon which are a very popular, and recognizable band on the music scene.

Music for the film

We wanted to use a copyrighted song in our media film as the background music, In order to make sure this was okay with the band i emailed them and asked if it would be okay.

The song we used was Blessed with a curse By Bring Me the Horizon.

I wrote in the email that if i didn't hear back from them that I assumed they were too busy to reply and that it was okay to use the track in our movie.

Above is a copy of the email that i sent to the band, although I never got a reply, we used the track in our film.

Second shoot in march

Later in the month we went to film some more, we decided to leave the final scene, as i had yet to design a zombie costume and have it made. We went to do do some more running/action shots. Since until the very end of out film you don't actually see any zombies on the screen, we needed to create the impression they were there. To do this I went and hid in a bush and made some loud noises whilst James was filming himself. The general idea was to get some snapped twigs, and create the impression something was there. To do this i had to be fairly close by, but obviously not on screen. Lauren took a picture of me whilst i was trying to get into position.



After this the only thing left to do was shoot the final scene where the zombie (played by me) appears and attacks. I designed a costume (pictures will be uploaded) and after that it was onto the editing process.

More filming - march

So the snow cleared away and the forest remained fairly similar so we went off and did some more filming, At this stage the project was nearly half way to completion.
In this session we focused mainly on getting some running shots of James as he runs through the forest escaping the zombie. Whilst we were there filming i took some pictures (which i will post below). These were difficult at first to get right because we wanted to try and vary the shots we used, but also make it looked like it flowed together and looked good on screen. With these shots completed it would just be the final end scene and a few more in between shots to do.






These are the photographs of James (Alex mason in the movie) fleeing from the zombie threat.
It was important here the James always wore the same clothes when we went out to film, and that he didnt get any radical hair changes or new piercings.

Possible target audience

We did a bit of background research and thinking and tried to build up a character profile of what people would want to come see our movie. We know (as teenagers ourselves) that horror movies are popular with young people. They enjoy to go see them in groups or as young couples. An accurate age for a target audience would be 16-24 year olds. The older generation don't seem particularly interested in the horror genre.

Other films of the same genre that have been popular with the younger generation have included Saw, The ring, Paranormal activity and 28 Days later.

  

This is just a rough idea of what a potential audience could be, and in another post I will be uploading a more detailed description and a character profile of a typically audience member that would see "State of emergency".

Film delay

So we so our media film half done and then there was a week and a half of snow. we were unable to go out and film anything, and we hoped that it would clear up ASAP so would could continue our work.
In this time we gave the camera to Lauren, so she could go off and film some In between shots ( that we intended to use for flashbacks). these were set to take place indoors and be the memories of our main character. This was done although as the final piece came together for editing, we did decide against using them. We felt that the final piece flowed better without the flashbacks as it could confuse the audience given the time frame we had to work in.

Filming!

These are the recee shots we gathered for our filming location and we decided to begin filming here. We thought the dark and dense woods would make a great atmosphere for our zombie horror flick! Fitting in with the convention of horror films where (from our research) we found a lot of them are set in woods.
The only problem we would face is that if the filming process were too long, the seasons would change and the trees/woods along with it. We tried to film everything within a couple of weeks and only went back if absolutely neccessary. Before we started filming we checked the weather, (for continuity) and focused on getting all the handheld perspective shots, and the narrative done first.

Blog Delay

 The filming process is now finished and the editing process of our film "State of emergency" is underway. Due to the busy filming schedule of our film, I have been gathering evidence o the filming process to be posted at a later date. Over the next few days I will be posting all of Evidence in photos and videos that have been aquired during the filming process.

Shortly following this I will be posting the Evaluation of our finished movie.