Fake blood And Prosthetics

For preparation of  my movie, fake blood was required so that we can have realistic cuts, blood spurts and almost anything to do with blood. I used a specific recipe that has been mentioned to atleast at one point to of been used in the production of blood in "The Walking Dead".

This fake blood recipe consists of:

• Golden Syrup
• Chocolate Syrup
• Cornflour
• Red Food Colouring
• Blue Food Colouring
• Green Food Colouring

I created some of my own fake blood to for use in some scenes of my own. I needed to test this blood to see if it looked alright and acted the same way blood is actually seen in movies, an effect which I think has been achieved, looking at my test footage.

Below is two skits/clips I created in an attempt to show off the fake blood before it is used/changed for the final product.

For the first clip, I wanted to see how blood looked coming out of the mouth of a dying character, giving it that realistic look to show he has coughed up the blood. The character also had blood over his face from coughing up blood which for me enhances the look and the authenticity of the blood. As for the second scene I wanted to have a fight scene between two character and one of them to die. I have the main character punch the bad guy in the face then immediately break his neck, killing him. Although this clip breaks the 180* rule, I feel like it works out for this scene as it shows the chaos of the scene and also shows the main character getting ready to hit the bad guy as it quickly transitions to him hitting him in the face and making him spit out blood. It was supposed to be a direct cut from an entire fight scene, so it would have that chaotic feel to it as he fights the bad guy.

As an overall look back on the fake blood test. I am pleased with the blood and how realistic it actually looks when it is used. I feel like it would be great for use in my final product although I will probably darken the blood as my scenes will be shot in the afternoon for my movie.


As for Zombie makeup, prosthetics were needed to create cuts and exposed flesh/wounds for my zombies. For this I created my own prosthetics using Latex Paste and liquid latex, alongside fake teeth, which I fashioned out of Polymorph Plastic. To make the latex paste I used liquid latex alongside cornflour. One thing to point out is that making latex paste is HARD. Latex paste starts drying into a rubber-like substance  very fast and latex paste is a very inconsistent thing to make as you have to slowly add cornflour whilst mixing the paste until it becomes rather Doughy.

To create the prosthetics I used clingfilm and added a liquid latex foundation then put down 2 big tablespoons of latex paste. I then dipped a finger in liquid latex which I used to mold the latex. To make the prosthetics transition to skin as smooth as possible, I made the edges of the latex paste go really thin so that the edges are not visible through footage. To add a more ripped, rugged appearance I used the tablespoon to create lifts in the prosthetics to make a harsher, rough edge and lifted skin (around wounds where flesh would look "pulled").

Example of Cut on cheek, ripped, dead, flaking skin, dried flesh and slashed throat

For my other zombie I created fake teeth as I wanted to expose the top set of teeth and give the effect that the cheek is ripped backwards as if the mouth has been chewed and started to almost rot backwards. To create the teeth I warmed a tablespoon of  Polymorph plastic beads in a cup of boiling hot water. This causes the plastic to go transparent, with the spoon I took a piece of the plastic out of the water (the beads stick together into a large piece of plastic) and morphed it into a tooth-like shape, after comparing it to the size of a regular tooth. After that I made more teeth to the same size as the original tooth so they look like a matching pair. 

 Next up, I started making the piece which would hold the teeth, to do this I made a thick piece to go over his top lip and then I pushed the teeth into it, after this I added a small cover to the teeth to make it look like the flesh is ripping and rotting away from the teeth exposing parts of the roots to the teeth. Next I created a part for his right cheek which would be where the mouth is ripped backwards, for this I created a ridge to give the effect that the jaw has a deep wound which has created a thick cut in his face.After creating the prosthetics, I left them to dry for 24 hours before peeling them off the clingfilm and letting them dry a further 24 hours.

Makeup of a Full zombie, seen in the first scene

To add the prosthetics to the actors, I add a layer of liquid latex to the bottom of the prosthetic alongside a layer onto the face of the actor and I apply pressure so that It drys and sticks to the face. A quick note to add is that if a prosthetic is used over hairs, vaseline must be added so the hairs aren't ripped out whilst taking off the prosthetics.

Personally I feel that the Prosthetics and the process of making them are much easier and for future reference, would be much better quality as I know the flaws of certain methods and how to make better looking prosthetics in general for future videos/projects.

Script

After finishing my storyboard I moved on to the script of my opening sequence of my movie "The Last Few". I started after doing finishing my storyboard because I was rather skeptical with my original Idea so to see if it actually could fit into the designated time whilst portraying the same emotions I wanted the audience to feel.

I used a website called "Plot Bot" to create my script so I set my script out properly and to a format I could understand.

I used asterisks to point out stage directions of the characters so they know what exactly they need to be doing in front of the camera. and when the camera changes, it is called on the script by a -CUT-

this lets the actors and the cameraman know when to stop shooting. I use lines that are called out by "SFX:" which means what sound effects are being played through the scene.

For my first scene I wanted the shot to start of with an extreme closeup of a zombies eye and for it to zoom out into a normal closeup, only showing the zombies neck and head. This is used as a stage direction for the camera and for the zombie which will be stationary in the center of the screen. As mentioned in the storyboard post, this is so the audience thinks that the extreme closeup is of a human, which is drastically changed by the time the camera has zoomed out to a closeup shot. This is to let the audience know that this is clearly a zombie movie.

After that I use stage directions to show when the main character (Ben Lloyd) Enters the scene and from what direction.

For my Interior Car Scene I wanted to use a Sound bridge of the two characters laughing to transition between the two shots, this would be used to move the shot from the Exterior Scene to the Interior Scene, this effect would be used as it would be good practice to learn when to and when not to use sound bridges to add emotion to a cut.

After this the two characters have a conversation on how lucky they are to be alive right now and I use indentation of the word "-CUT-" tells me that i will cut the edit to the other camera the other side of the car.

The next scene was crucial to the character development of Ben Lloyd, This scene starts with a low, wide shot which was intended to only show the characters feet as the car stops right in front of the camera, this quickly cuts to the character Jason walking towards a body which was propped up against an embankment to the side of the road with a rifle beside it, this scene was supposed to build up tension just before the next scene where the body quickly gets up and bites Jason on the neck, a wound which in later scenes kills him. 

This scene takes place straight away from previous scene, as the two characters are in the car, starting with match on action of  Ben Lloyd opening the glove compartment in the car to retrieve a rag to put over the wound on Jason's bite wound. Half way through this scene we see a fade which is used to show time progression has happened and that Jason looks more like he is about to die than previously seen. My initial intention for this scene was to use makeup on the character to give him a more pale, ill look to him with darker eye sockets to show how fragile the character has become because of the wound, something closer to what could be deemed more realistic if they were bitten by a zombie in real life. 

For the final scene, We have a transition from the last scene to the next via a fade to black, this is to show a short time jump to Jason's Dying scene. This starts of with an over the shoulder shot of Jason looking back on Ben as he grabs something from the car, quickly cutting to Ben walking up to Jason and holds out a gun to him. This is supposed to be a kind gesture to Jason as he stated in the previous scene that he wants to go out his own way. The significance of this scene is to show that Jason was a strong enough character to end his own life rather than force Ben to do it or let himself turn, something. This was to show that the world has lead astray too much from reality and that they could possibly never come back to a normal society.

Storyboard

I finished the full storyboard for my opening sequence entitled "The Last Few". I had a few shifts within my story as my original plan just wouldn't fit into the two minutes we actually had. I created a new start to my movie (Indicated by the section in between the **) In the storyboard, I gave myself a few extra seconds to give myself some leeway when it came to filming. My opening sequence will fit within the two minute mark.

I decided to hand draw my notes just for a so I could get a feel for the main plot. I will mainly be referring to my script for stage-directions and obviously, the script. I will only use my storyboard for camera angles/ movement.

Below is my storyboard, quick sketches were used to plot out a basic view of the actual scene.

For the first part of my opening sequence, I wanted to make the audience feel like the zombie is the going to be the main character of the scene, this is why the camera fades from black onto an extreme closeup of the zombies eye. After that it zooms out and you then see that it is just a zombie, I will have the eye look human but when you get to the mouth of the zombie, it is ripped open and all disgusting, to show he is dead. The main character then comes from behind into the scene and kills the zombie. I did this to "replace" the zombie as the main focus on the screen to the actual main character, shifting the focus.

After this the scene cuts to a side on static (or dolly) shot of the characters making their way to the characters car. My thought process is that it shows that the characters are skilled at killing zombies whilst also showing them as a big threat as the characters are trying to make their way to the car fast.

The scene then cuts to a shot of a zombie standing next to the car, and I've taking inspiration from "The Walking Dead" as they show that zombies are literally EVERYWHERE. I feel like that is a good approach to my movie.

Another reason to me filming the scene like this is because Legally  my character cannot drive without someone above the age of 18 in the car and 3 years driving experience so an adult will be the actual one driving the car.

For the Interior shots in the car, I will have the windows green screened and the car stationary. I will have footage of the car driving so I can just cut the footage behind the glass so it appears to be driving as many films never actually have the actor driving and sometimes do use this method to filming car scenes.

I will film the whole sequence three times over from three different angles so I can shift the camera to show each characters facial expressions.

For the Second page I have a low, static shot of the car pulling up in front of the camera and I will have the character "Jason Wright" get out of the car. Only his legs will be visible on the shot. After that the shot cuts to "Jason" looking around, observing the area. I feel like this would be good as he is just making sure to see if the coast is clear before he goes towards the body that is in the middle of the road.
The camera then cuts to Jason walking up close to the body (which is now the main focus of the camera). This is when tense music starts as the character draws closer to the body and bends down to grab the gun. This is to give the audience the feeling like they KNOW that the zombie is going to get up and reach for the character. It's a common theme that is used in zombie movies and TV shows almost like a stereotype to say "yeah, this is when the character gets grabbed by the body which is obviously alive". For mine though, I want the tense music to stop when the character believes the zombie is just a body whereas its going to jump up and bite him on the throat just as he lets his guard down.
There will then be a Match on action shot of the zombie moving its head back from his throat showing a bite mark and blood dripping from the mark and the zombies mouth to give the effect that he just bit him on the throat. I feel this is the best way of doing it as it is not financially viable for me to actually show the zombie rip flesh off the character plus I think it's better to show a bite mark rather than meat actually being pulled from his throat creating yet another piece to the risk assessment as the meat would have to be cooked properly and masked into the characters makeup.

After this, the shot cuts to the character holding his throat as it bleeds as he runs back to the car (after retrieving the rifle), the character called "Ben Lloyd" (the main character) gets out of the car and shoots the zombie in the head. For this is will have a cut where the zombie is shot and we will stop recording, add the prosthetic for a gun shot and make the zombie fall back giving a really cool scene. I feel like this would be a cool way to do it as we will then see a slightly zoomed in shot of the zombie with a bleeding gunshot wound on his head to show he has actually been shot and died.

The next scene cuts to an interior car scene. There is match on action to show that the glove compartment is opened to get a rag to put on Jason's wound to stop the bleeding and apply pressure. However this does not stop him from becoming a zombie, and both characters know this...

For the final page of the storyboard we see a shot of the car driving away with dialogue of the character Ben Lloyd demanding that Jason doesn't die on him. This scene fading to black gives me the thought of the character slowly slipping away from Ben giving the audience the feeling of loss of the character.
The next shot is Jason in the car, with a blood stained rag telling Ben that he is ready to die. Shot reverse shot is used in this scene to show of the emotions of both characters, first to show the audience that Jason is weak with no energy as his life force is literally being sucked from his body and secondly, so the audience know that Ben (even though he knows it will happen) is reluctant to let Jason go. It then comes back to Jason Saying with what little energy he has left "Yes" and that he wants to go his way, and not become one of those "Things". the scene then ends with the car stopping and Ben getting out of the car, still showing Jason in the car holding his wound.

This next scene is Ben coming to terms with what has to happen and allowing his friend, his BEST friend to go through with this. We see Jason laying beside a boulder whilst Ben gets something out of the car, the scene then changes to Ben walking over to Jason and bending down, offering him the pistol, with the line "Do you want this?". This line is special as this shows Ben is okay with his friend going the way he wants to go.

Risk Assessment

After Completing my Location Recce, I decided to return back to the location and complete a risk assessment sheet, looking at all of the potential hazards in the location and how severe each hazard could be in a worst case scenario, also talking about who would be at risk and how likely the hazard would cause a problem alongside what measures would we put in place to reduce risk.

I started off dating the time when I completed the risk assessment and giving the location of where the risk assessment

Time and date of shoot: 12/01/2017  Location: Dartmoor Quarry

Description of what will be filmed : It will start out with a zombie on top of one of the characters, he will then

Hazard	Person/s at risk	Likelihood of hazard (1-5) 1= least likely	Severity of outcomes 1= lowest risk	Risk level Likelihood + severity ÷2	Measure to reduce risk	Final risk level acceptable?
Sharp Metal Objects, could cut people on location	Everyone on Location	1	4	2.5	Sharp objects have been carefully moved away from the filming area, just seen within the background of the shot. People will not be allowed near the sharp objects.	Yes
Rock Quarry rocks possibly falling onto people or equipment	Everyone on Location	1	5	3	The Rocks Have a very, very slim chance of falling. They have been there for years and have never fallen before, they are secure from falling randomly.	Yes
Trip Hazards like small rocks  and other small objects	Everyone on Location	4	2	3	Small, loose rocks have been moved from the filming area so we do not trip over them. Actors follow a path which has no tripping hazards so it is all safe.	yes
Rocky Environment lead to hurting feet	Everyone on Location	2	2	2	These rocky environments are only leading up to the filming area, there is a safer, more risk-free way of getting to the set.	yes
Slippery surfaces due to wet environments	Everyone on Location	5	2	3.5	Film only when it is dry otherwise there is a chance that the grass is slippery.	yes

After completing the risk assessment, I had a few people check it to see if they could find any faults with my assessment and if they thought of any other risks, nothing else was added. Next I asked someone to Countersign my risk assessment as confirmation that people have checked my risk assessment.

Location Recce

My next step was to find the perfect location to film my production, I wanted to use a place on the moorlands to film my movie, there was one specific place which I thought could be used for the entirety of the starting sequence, I ended up doing a location recce for a specific area near a Quarry in Dartmoor. I felt that it was perfect for my media production as I could show the passage of time and distance throughout the entire scene just by how diverse the specific location was.

Below I created a Location Recce for the specific requirements and drawbacks to using the area.

Description of the chosen location

Large Opening  near Dartmoor Quarry stacked with rocks, large enough for filming with diverse environments which give the sense of traveling a large distance although it is merely 30-40 metres away

Issue	What to look for	Notes
Access	Bus stops and train stations	There are no Bus Stops and Train Stations near the area so it would have to be accessed by car.
	Parking facilities	It is possible to park next to an inn that is close to the location.
	Lifts/stairs	No lifts and stairs required, although a walk up a rocking hill is required.
	Doorways (Width – consider equipment as well as people)	No Doorways to exterior shot.
Space	Enough room (for cast/contributors, crew and necessary equipment)	plenty of room for staff and the equipment required
	Immovable objects (Are there any that will get in the frame?)	There are certain terrain features yet they are not obstructive to the scenes.
	Set dressing requirements (esp. for dramatic production)	Nothing is required as there is scrap metal which dresses the scene well.
Lighting	Windows (Are there blinds/curtains to minimise changes in daylight during the shoot?)	There are no Windows as it is an exterior shot.
	Lighting appliances (Fluorescent/tungsten? Can they be switched on and off?)	Lighting equipment is needed as exterior shot at night.
	Plug points (If lighting kit is to be used)	None as it is exterior shot.
Issue	What to look for	Notes
Sound	Traffic noise	Traffic cannot be heard from the location of filming.
	Air conditioning (If yes, can it be switched off?)	No as exterior shot.
	Computers (These have a low level of hum that, if in use, will affect nearby audio recording)	No as exterior shot.
	Other people on location (Might people who live/work on location be disrupting the shoot?)	Possible hikers near location. Filming can be halted whilst waiting. People on location are rare.

Reason for the decision to use the chosen location:

The location near Dartmoor Quarry, large hills of rock give excellent nighttime backgrounds for the movie. Whole Film Shot here. Perfect location for every scene within the introduction sequence, giving us a range of views which can be used (Night time shots do not show much of the background, yet the layout of the area is perfect for film.

I looked at everything that would be essential for everyone to get to the location, addressing parking facilities, train and bus stops. I also looked at specific drawbacks that could end up ruining the production. These issues included Traffic noise, other people on location and other background noise that could potentially ruin the scenes.

In conclusion I used this specific location as there were no setbacks and the location only gave me the added benefit of filming the entire shot in one place. the specific location had ease of access, traffic could not be heard and there was a limited amount of people traveling to the set which helped increase the flow of the filming period.

Shift in Story

After part-way creating my storyboard I am realizing that my original Idea just wouldn't work for the time I actually have to create my 2 minute piece. I changed my story so that ("Character 2") is not killed of straight away from the get go so the audience start to have a connection towards the character, being the best friend of the main character. I feel that the end of the 2 minute piece should be his death, that puts the emphasis that this world they live in is dangerous and no one is safe.

My initial idea was for This character to die off straight away by having his throat bitten by a zombie as he tries to grab a rifle that was found with the body of the zombie. After this they would start speeding down the road trying to get the character help but they are apprehended by bandits. The (Character 2) would be shot in the head as he is turning and the other character would be knocked out. The main character would wake up in a base controlled by these bandits. He would escape with the use of zombies around the perimeter, being the end of the clip.

 Looking back at this, the audience wouldn't care about (Character 2) at all, it would just be a way to show that world is dangerous whereas I want the audience to feel a sense of loss of this character and the importance of this characters death as it takes a toll on the main character for the entirety of the movie. Due to this I have changed my story so it starts with my 2 characters showing their connection and how important they are to the narrative of the story and how there is this shift as (Character 2) dies, also giving this effect that the world is dangerous and no one is safe.

Storyboard Mockup

As a quick update to my movie I created a fast mock up of my storyboard.

I started to do a mock up of my movie as a quick test to and get a possible idea for how my film. I started off by making a quick template for my storyboard. After that I started from Scene 1: A and created a fast, makeshift scene, as I want the main characters car to pull up right in front of the camera and Character 2 gets out of the car, only showing his lower half to the camera. This is because I wanted to give the effect to show that this guy is suspicious yet well coordinated.After this scene there would be a fast cut to another shot which shows character 2 looking around looking for zombies or other dangers, as he prepares to go towards the zombie that is dead on the floor with a rifle on him.  After this, Character 2 walks towards the body, being cautious. He checks the body as he comes close and quickly grabs the gun, with a sigh of relief the zombie isn't alive, at least he thought. The zombie grabs him and bites him on the throat, The main character quickly shoots the zombie in the head as character 2 runs back to the car, holding his bleeding throat and the rifle.

 I feel like this would be a good way to start my film as it gives the introduction to the zombie universe and kills of a character very fast to show just how deadly this world full of zombies is. It puts an emphasis on who the main character of the production actually is as from the get go, you think it is someone else just for him to be killed off straight away.

I have moved on to making my actual storyboard and creating the script for my movie, fleshing out the characters and detailing the characters for my movie.

Audience Research

To further solidify my target audience research, I created a questionnaire in which could be used to either prove/disprove my research prior. Below is the results of my questions.

 From this Pie Chart, I can see that about 70% of the people who filled in my questionnaire were male whereas there were only 17 females who answered.

The next question asked for the ages of the people who answered my questionnaire and the decisive age group was between 15 and 18, with many above the age of 18 as well, leading me to believe that a 15 rating would be the most appropriate age.

My Next question asked which types of horror films do they prefer the most, The most predominant being the zombie category, followed by action horrors then Sci-Fi. This will help me when it comes to creating my script as I now know that I should try to add action and I could even add a little science fiction to the mix. 

The next question asked which is the audiences most favorite Horror movie. I had some varying answers which pointed more towards post-apocalyptic/dystopian movies alongside many Sci-Fi movies in the mix. From this I can tell that my audience sample love movies which reference the end of humanity, be it from aliens or zombies. This suggests that I should use more themes commonly seen within other horror sub-genres when I make my movie.

Another Question which had some notable answers was "What makes a zombie/horror movie good", I had many answers which could help in the long run when it comes to creating my opening sequence. One of the most common answers was realistic looking zombies. This suggested that I would need to use gore give off the effect that my zombies were realistic and were actually dead. Another recurring answer was that Jumpscares and tension-building music help to make my audience feel on edge and scared to live in a world similar to this.

Target Audience

The Next step to in the pre-production process was to explore my target audience, for this I created a basic Target Audience sheet to talk about the aspects of my audience and see research what exactly they want in a horror/ Zombie / Thriller movie.

After Research, I released that the majority of Zombie fans are above the age of 15, meaning that I can allow my movie the level of gore that can be seen within a 15 movie, this also suggests that I could use more mature themes within the final edit of my opening sequence.

Institutional Research

Who Could Distribute my movies

Looking at recent films in the zombie genre, I think that it would be either Paramount or Warner Brothers would distribute my film; if it was made to a blockbuster standard. Another route that could be explored is Universal Pictures (Universal Studios) as they have many great films under their belt but have no BIG zombie movies, a place which I feel they would like to explore, after distributing films like "Warcraft". Looking back at films, I think almost every one of the big six (Minus Disney) would consider distributing my film. This is because most of the big distribution companies have dabbled in the zombie genre with similar motifs as my own. Although I feel that many other distribution companies would consider distributing my movie, I feel like either Paramount or Warner brothers would be my best bet, as they have released previous films like "World War Z" and the up coming "The Girl with all the Gifts" Due to the films having similar Target Audiences I feel that Paramount And Warner know how to supply these types of films to the masses.

As for Production, I feel that as the big Distribution companies own many production companies, I feel that whichever company takes on my media text, they would bring their own production companies in. This is so these companies maximize their total income from the movie, something which is very common for these big companies to do. Certain actors own their own Production companies, these companies would also be used if specific actors are in films. For example Brad Pitt owns "Plan B Entertainment" and Adam Sandler owns "Happy Madison". Other than that I feel that A production company like "Legendary Entertainment" Would take on the task of producing my movie. "Legendary Entertainment"  have produced many big movies for instance  they produced "Warcraft" "300" "The Hangover" and "Interstellar."

I think Legendary Pictures would want to produce my media text because the last zombie movie they made (Dead Rising) was not really well received nor was really made as a "blockbuster" movie. Legendary Pictures would want to rebuild their reputation for zombie films by making a good one which would be more widely known.

The next step is how much would Paramount supply for the creation of the movie. For this I researched how much they usually supply to a movie to for their blockbuster movies. below is a list of movies and how much they cost to produce.

Interstellar (Jointly distributed with Warner brothers) - $165,000,000

World War Z - $125,000,000

Titanic - $200,000,000

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $200,000,000

Forrest Gump - $55,000,000

Star Trek - $150,000,000

War Of the Worlds - $132,000,000

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - $145,000,000

These numbers suggest that a brand new blockbuster could see a budget somewhere between $100-150 Million. This allows the director enough money to hire A-List celebrities alongside produce a high quality production that could span worldwide for incredible, realistic scenes alongside incredible Computer Generated Imagery.