ALL - Podcast 4

Here we talk about recent changes to filming plans and cast.

ALL - Conventions of the Zombie Sub-Genre

These are some of the key conventions in the zombie genre:

• Post-apocalyptic setting.
• Word zombie never used, however it is used satirically in the film "Shaun of the Dead" where Shaun tells Ed not to use the "z-word".
• Normally revolves around a group of different characters e.g a white racist paired with a strong black character.
•  Low Budget
• Urban setting is used
• Big, isolated building

KM - BBFC Rating

BBFC 15 Rating Criteria - 
Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory

language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not

promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily

accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,

aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and

self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be

copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,

‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be

acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated

use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without

strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a

non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.

There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,

but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable

unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is

sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is

appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction

of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to

be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also

unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence

but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and

have a strong contextual justification.

BBFC 18 Rating Criteria - 

In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public

consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the

BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override

the principle that adults should be free to choose their

own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the

following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law,

or has been created through the commission of a

criminal offence

• where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to

risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour,

to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of

violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use,

which may cause harm to public health or morals.

This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised

violence which might, for example, eroticise or

endorse sexual assault

• where there are more explicit images of sexual

activity which cannot be justified by context. Such

images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in

‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined

to that category.

In the case of video works (including video games),

which may be more accessible to younger viewers,

intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at ‘18’

Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and

educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer

sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may

be permitted.

Sex works at ‘18’

Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual

arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material

which may be simulated are generally passed ‘18’. Sex

works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish

material, sexually explicit animated images, or other

very strong sexual images will be confined to the ‘R18’

category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work

at ‘R18’ is also unacceptable in a sex work at ‘18’.

How these criteria effect our film rating:


Our film "Suburban Zombie" will contain strong gore and horror, which suggests that the BBFC Rating will be at least at 15, if not 18. Other examples of zombie films that have received these ratings are; Zombieland - 15, Day of the Dead - 18, 28 days later - 18 and Shaun of the Dead - 15. These films contain all the same gore and horror features that our film 'Suburban Zombie' also contains, so this gives more evidence for our BBFC rating to be 15.

KM - Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) Practice Evaluation Task

Budget - $63m

Box Office Gross - Worldwide - $108m

IMDB Rating - 8.8/10

For practice for the evaluation question detailing what our group has done in regards to using, as well as challenging conventions of film openings, not specific to genre, I have analysed a film (Fight Club) which is a different genre from our coursework film (Zombie).

Production company ident

The company idents first appeared on screen starting with the Distribution Company - 20th Century Fox, followed by the Production company - Regency Enterprises, the titles then start with a secondary production company "A Linson Films Production", the Director (David Fincher), then the three main actors of the film (Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter) before displaying the film title "Fight Club". This is a standard convention for film format.

Title- Director

The titles continue, naming the lesser known actors, as well as the music composers, film editors etc. the titles then transition into the opening scene, in the form of the camera panning backwards over the top of a gun after the last title has been displayed. This is similar to the feature that appears in a lot of Romantic Comedys, where the titles are in the diagetic world, however in this case, the titles aren't directly diagetic, but transition into the first scene.

A convention of normal film format is challenged here, as the first few shots don't contain a long, or extreme long establishing shot, which is commonly used in film. Another convention is also challenged through the fact that no non-diagetic is used over the opening scene, only dialogue from the two characters, as well as the narrators thoughts being heard aloud.

SB - Reshoot

We have changed our plot and are now planning a re shoot on thursday this week and have almost finished are old rough cut for friday but by the friday after half term our film will be completely finished and ready for the examiner. Our soundtrack is finished as well, Kyle has re-recorded L490 by 30 Seconds To Mars

ALL - Podcast 3

In this podcast we talk about filming and cast

KM - Film Titles

For the opening titles of "Suburban Zombie" we are going to use large, white, serif font. The reason for this is because this style of font and colour is used frequently for the opening titles, as the serif font signifies the serious nature of the film, and the white colouring signifies decay and it reinforces the seriousness.

Here are a couple of examples of zombie films that have used this style and colour of font:

Day of the Dead (George A Romero, 1985)

Night of the Living Dead (remake- Tom Savini, 1990)

KM - Salex Productions Blog

I have recently set up a separate blog for our production company "Salex Productions". This blog will contain posts about "Suburban Zombie" that relate to the production company, such as Ident ideas - http://salexpro.blogspot.com/

ALL - Podcast 2

Our 2nd podcast , we talked about make up, locations and inspiration from a deconstruction:


Podcast 2 from Alex McCluskey on Vimeo.

KM & AM - Podcast 1

a podcast about filming times and locations, cast and scenes:

KM - 2nd Day of filming

Conor O'loughlin (Zombie)

Yesterday (1st February) was our media group's second day of filming for our feature film opening "Suburban Zombie". We were filming the zombie scenes, as we had already shot the solo scenes of the protagonist (previous blogged). One of the things we found when filming was that sinse it was at night, the camera was skipping frames when trying to get a light focus. We have decided to try shooting again in the day time, and compare the footage. Here are some pictures of the shooting:

Sam testing out different angles with the boom mic