I was sort of planning to do both, see the problem is that my camera mic pics up the tape motor sound and I have been able to get rid of it using digital noise reduction later but the noise reduction messes up ambient sound. I put ipod linux on my ipod photo and can record mono at 96kHz sample rate so I was thinking about using that and an external mic while shooting because its so portable. Condeser mics aren't going to be feasible and renting equipment is expensive (we're looking at no budget here). Any tips on home made "wind blockers" for mics?

Also we've been looking into how to make prosthetic makeup for scars/injuries. Does anybody have experience with this? So far we have a few options
1) Rubber latex - relatively cheap and already in skin colour
2) Gelatin - Not sure how well this works but found some online stuff
3) Silicon Caulking - Not sure if this is safe or not

We'd make molds for all of this stuff and then apply on the actors afterwards and put makeup overtop

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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca

A scar can be made using Derma Wax. Place a bit of the wax on the person and spread it out to the desired length with a wooden sculpting tool. Blend the edges into the skin using baby oil, pat dry and then cover with make up.

Build up the wax a bit, make a jagged cut with a wood sculpting tool and add blood for a nice looking cut.

Gelatins are used in a similar way. The gel is heated then applied and sculpted on the actor. Of course, be careful about how hot you let the gelatin get...

Liquid latex can also be used. Stretch the skin, apply a very thin coat, let it dry and then release the skin for a wrinkled look. Layer very thin pieces of tissue paper with liquid latex to create pealing skin.

I recomend buying one of those " Halloween" makeup kits that you can find in Party City. They have latex, paint, makeup, fake skin, and some cool patterns, for really cheap. You can make an allright zombie movie with just a few of them, and it will only ring you like 20$!

DeathToll is in shooting. Current budget- 100$, yeah, It's that sad.

Judging from your poster, I'd say you have a great visual concept for the film.

Pi was shot on 16mm B&W reversal film stock. When simulating this you should remember that noise will not show up in the highlights and shadows, just the midtones. This stock is also EXTREMELY high-contrast. I don't know the specific software you're using, but most NLE's contain an "add noise" or "add grain" filter. Try throwing this on your video and then pumping up contrast with a "brightness & contrast" or levels filter.

Good luck!

"PS I've figured out the grain effect so that no longer needs to be answered."

Yeah I had already figured out the grain thing but thanks anyway I still appreciate it. I'm using vegas 6 and I was able to mimic pi by punching up the contrast like you said, the only problem is when I burnt some test clips to DVD the grain had just a hint of "rainbowing" so I have to fix that somehow. I do a lot of photography with high contrast grain, I like the gritty feel of it.

Macdaddy41, you mention Party City, I've never heard of it. I live in Canada so we probably don't have one here but I'll see if they have an online store. This weekend we're planning to experiment with prosthetics using some liquid rubber latex so hopefully we'll learn a few things. Does anybody know where to get Alginate from for cheap? We want to do at least one head cast and I'm having problems sourcing it for a resonable price.

As far as our budget goes we're planning on having some "blood-drives" (beer nights) to raise money for the zombie movie. Most of our budget will be spent getting equipment like mics and cameras etc so the next movie will be alot cheaper. Last weekend I spent $30 CND on making a steadicam and I'd say that was some of the best spent money yet, I'd recommend it to everyone.

Thanks for the help everyone!

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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca