"I am just starting out in film/video so any comments or suggestions about the whole aspect of this media would be appreciated."

My first comment would be: if you're going to shoot a zombie movie and want to get any kind of distribution, you'd better make sure it's a damn good one. Pretty much everyone with a DV camera is shooting zombie movies right now, so you'll need something special to get any distributor to look at it: also, shooting black and white is likely to turn most of them off.

On the other hand, if you're making it to learn and experiment, go right ahead.

Mark G. makes a good point. But for the sake of it being your first film and a learning experience i think a zombie or horror film is one of the best things to do.

My first piece of advice would be to go into htis with some sort of goal. Maybe "I want it to be suspensful" or "I dont really care about the plot right now but i want it to look scary". You also have to realize that the chances of making millions on this film wil be slim. But it can be a great learning experience. The best way to learn is to fail then try again. haha Im not saying that you WILL fail. but i think you know what im trying to say. Have fun and make this film. Try different techniques. I think going black and white is a good choice for your first film. Like you said it will allow you to not have to worry on makeup, blood look, and other things. That way you can focus more on getting the shots you want. Good Luck

ps. feel free to ask us more specific questions before production or as production goes on.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

My company is fielding more than 20 requests a month to find funding for Zombie movies - the DTV distributors I work with are seeing between 10 and 20 completed Zombie movies a month looking for distribution. That market is saturated.

But the biggest problem isn?t the sheer amount of zombie scripts and movies out there, the biggest problem is the lack of good zombies scripts and movies out there.

The look of the movie is secondary to the story. So many first time movie makers are spending their time and energy (and money) on the ?right? camera and the ?look? and not enough on the story.

It?s easy to get a good look - it?s very difficult to come up with a great, original zombie story.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

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But the biggest problem isn?t the sheer amount of zombie scripts and movies out there, the biggest problem is the lack of good zombies scripts and movies out there.

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Yeah. I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't make zombie movies at all, just that there are so many that only the very best will get anywhere: even a guy at Troma said a while ago that they're turning away the vast majority of zombie movies that are submitted.

One of the biggest problems, to be honest, is that most writers don't understand what makes zombie movies interesting: it's not being chased by hundreds of dead people, it's that they used to be people, and probably people you knew. Romero got that, most modern zombie movies haven't.

My favorite zombie movies, other than Romero's, are certainly the unusual ones: 'My boyfriend's back', for example, 'Return of the Living Dead 3' or 'Braindead'. I'm sure there's a lot more that can be done with the zombie genre, but most people aren't even trying.

First off thanks for all of the posts. Second, I guess I should have stated that while I would love to make a film and have it make millions I realize that is a very unlikely goal. This film mainly for learning purposes right now. I was just getting sick of watching movies and saying "You know I'm sure we could make something better than that", so now its time to try. I tend to find something I want to do and then dive into a project in order to learn it, this is exactly one of those cases. The goal is to get it shot and finished and then submit it to the local university's film festival and maybe Fangoria and some online ones just to get feedback.

I agree that for a zombie film to fly it's got to be original, my favorite zombie films are ones like Dead Alive (aka Braindead), Shaun of the Dead, and 28 Days later. I would say as far as directors go Robert Rodriguez would be the one I idolize the most simply for the fact that he does it all, script directing music editing etc.

I think the strong point in our movie is the dialog its Tarantino-ish
The movie is going to be called Dead FM, aside from the 2 main characters there is a conspiracy theory pirate radio guy that is holed up in his apartment/station and is giving updates throughout the movie. Here is a link to the "poster" I made up

Back to one of my original questions, does anybody know how to do the grain effect? Is there any virtualdub filters out there or vegas video filters?

Thanks,

Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca

quote:

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But the biggest problem isn?t the sheer amount of zombie scripts and movies out there, the biggest problem is the lack of good zombies scripts and movies out there.

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That is true. Story is coming second in even a lot of the recent blockbuster movies. If the viewer can relate to the emotions the characters in the movie are feeling and care about their survival, then you will have a good story for a movie.

Matthew Sconce

i know that if you dont light your shot enough you get a grainy look, which you could do on purpose. As for a filter...i got nothing. Sorry

ps. just a tip. if you let like 3 or 4 people outside of your production group read your script (like close friends) and have them tell you what they like and didnt like. I find this always helps figure out how to improve your story. Plus you can choose wheather to use their input or not bother.

"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick

Joe-Mamma. Your movie sounds like it has a decent topic but it really strikes a nerve. See I've been working on a movie called Drivetime of the Dead about a shock jock taking phone calls during a zombie invasion. Sounds a bit too similar. Mine is a comedy, I hope yours isn't.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

One thing that stands out to me is that the conspiracy theory pirate radio guy sounds an awful lot like '8 Legged Freaks'.

Well if there is one thing I've learnt from both photography and music every time you think you've created something new you have someone show you something similar. I'm not setting out to reinvent the wheel here, Zombie films as a genre tend to bleed together in certain areas. I haven't watched 8 Legged Freaks yet so I can't comment on that.

rjschwarz
It will have comedic elements to it but I wouldn't classify it as a comedy.

The character for the radio guy is actually based on the guy we're getting to play it. He had a show on our local college radio station that recently got cancelled after years of being on the air.

Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca

1. quick cuts.
- long static shots will kill any low-budget movie.

2. keep it tight.
- long shots mean more visible scenery, which means your low production values are going to get exposed.

3. keep it moving.
- keep the camera moving and kinetic. look into building a cheap steadicam.

4. keep it simple.
- a silent film may be the best way to go. bad video can be 'artistic', bad sound is just bad.

www.maketradefair.com
www.thehungersite.com
www.oxfam.ca

Thanks for the tips ourkid, I agree with everything you said. The tip on sound brings up a good question, I have a fair bit of experience with sound editing but I'm debating between using the shot sound or redubbing all of the audio after and adding foley effects. Do you have any ideas on that?

PS I've figured out the grain effect so that no longer needs to be answered. However I'm still having problems converting my DV footage which was shot at 29fps down to 24fps and having a decent file size. I'm starting to think I'm limited by using Vegas 4, it seems that vegas 5 and up include an automatic pull down that does this.

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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca

re: sound...

i think you should do both. there's no harm in trying to get the on set sound while you're filming. if it doesn't work, do it in post...

www.maketradefair.com
www.thehungersite.com
www.oxfam.ca

I would always try to get good sound while shooting: it's usually a lot better than recording sound afterwards, as the actors have to get into character again while staring at a microphone.