With 3 days to go before hand in, I made the decision to stop the editing for the film and restart work on a trailer instead. There were many factors behind this decision, plot inconsistency and poor acting, but the main decision was made because after after trying my best to sort it out, the audio was beyond poor.
Some of the scenes were ok, the outside scenes which we filmed on the first day came out ok but the rest of the film was barely audible. I had chosen to use the Kodak Playsport to make the film with as the quality of the video (1080 HD, 60 Frames Per Second) came out really well whilst testing it before we started filming, but I had not thought about checking the quality of the audio until it was too late.
This is obviously a massive lack of preparation on my part, and something that I am deeply frustrated about. As I said, the outdoor scenes were actually ok because we were far from any interfearing noise such as traffic but the audio for the scenes inside The Kings Arms was impossible to hear. I spent a few days taking the audio out and playing around with it in Nuendo, an professional recording program, but there was nothing I could do to save it.
Without the scenes from the pub, the rest of the film was pointless. It was these scenes that were meant to set up the rest of the film.
So I stopped the editing and began work on making a trailer instead. I think the trailer turned out ok considering, but it certainly wasn’t what I had intended to make. I used what I could from the footage that I could use but it ended up not featuring much of the original audio, and I provided a voice over for it instead.
The trailer completely defeated the point of what I had set out to achieve. The soundtrack we had made for the film was ditched in favour for some music from a CD I have that is a compilation of music from film trailers.
In a way it’s kind of interesting to see how different the film looks with the music I ended up using in the trailer. It comes across as a very cheesey film, almost like a chick-flick, which is not the vibe I was getting when editing the original film to the music we made. That was meant to be a lot darker but you don’t get that at all.
I’m obviously very disappointed with the way things turned out. If I had thought about doing some tests with audio beforehand this would have turned out very differently. Instead, the final product is something I can’t say I’m proud of but I have learned some very valuable lessons in terms of pre-production. I hope these are mistakes I can avoid in the future.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
'The House That John Built'
Here is the video for my FMP. You may notice that it is a trailer and not a full film. This will be explained in my evaluation
Building The Set
Here are photos that we took whilst building furniture for the place our main character will be living. This took 2 days and although it's not quite as glamourous as we had originally envisioned, it certainly looks like its been thrown together by one guy with items he has just found lying around.
This next photo shows a storage area we made, but didnt end up using in the film.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Filming Day 4
Today I managed to film some more scenes at The Kings Arms. There wasn’t that much to film, we just had to alter some scenes so that it the story would make sense. Also, I have had to step from behind the camera to act out the scenes for the character of ‘Frank’ which was meant to be played by someone else. I really don’t enjoy being in front of the camera and I can’t say I enjoyed acting all that much.
That being said, all the scenes I needed got done and I spent the afternoon just getting some cutaway shots that I realized I needed whilst editing the film.
Now I can begin the editing properly.
That being said, all the scenes I needed got done and I spent the afternoon just getting some cutaway shots that I realized I needed whilst editing the film.
Now I can begin the editing properly.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Intro Credits
Here are the intro credits for the film so far. I have decided on the name 'The House That John Built' as the title to film, a play on the popular British nursery rhyme 'The House That Jack Built'. The editing is still early on in the editing process so the audio of the dialogue isn't great. I hope to fix this with an audio recording software called Nuendo. I have used this before to alter audio in other work I have done and have managed to get good results.
Also the quality of the video in this footage will not reflect the quality of the finished product. I have been filming in 1080 HD with 60 frames per second and it looks really good, but for this I did a quick mixdown just to show the progress I am making so far.
Also the quality of the video in this footage will not reflect the quality of the finished product. I have been filming in 1080 HD with 60 frames per second and it looks really good, but for this I did a quick mixdown just to show the progress I am making so far.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Filming Day 3
Today I filmed the final scenes needed for the film at a friends house in Plymouth. After having to rewrite much of the film yesterday, I was a little bit unprepared. The scenes today involve the character ‘Sally’, played by Laura Murphy. Again, I had another issue with an actor not turning up and had to rewrite the script yet again. This meant that ‘Sally’s’ role was downsized greatly and now just involves her character speaking on the phone.
I will have to go back to The Kings Arms to reshoot some of the scenes we filmed yesterday in order to make the story work.
I will have to go back to The Kings Arms to reshoot some of the scenes we filmed yesterday in order to make the story work.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Filming Day 2
Today we filmed all the scenes in The Kings Arms. Two of the actors that were required in the film didn’t turn up, which meant we had to rewrite a lot of the scenes. This was obviously hassle I could have done without, but it actually worked out well as it forced to squeeze information that would come in later, perhaps unnessary scenes, into earlier scenes.
The script rewrite shouldn’t affect the scenes that we filmed yesterday but tonight I’m going to have to go over the script again for the scenes that we film tomorrow.
The script rewrite shouldn’t affect the scenes that we filmed yesterday but tonight I’m going to have to go over the script again for the scenes that we film tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Filming Day 1
Today was the first day of filming. We have got a huge bulk of the film done and it went pretty smoothly. We started at 11am and were done by 5pm. The scenes we filmed today were the outdoors scenes when our main character ‘John’ decides to live in the wild. Even though these scenes come later on in the film we had to shoot them first because Ross Clarkson, the person playing John, needed to have a beard and messy hair. He will be shaving the beard off and trimming his hair for the rest of his scenes which we will film tomorrow at The Kings Arms.
We used the script that I wrote, although only loosely as I like to leave room for improvisation. Sometimes ideas will come to me when we are actually shooting that wont come to mind when I’m sat in a room writing. This obviously doesn’t always work when the film goes into editing but I’m confident that the improvised scenes will fit very nicely.
The scenes that were storyboarded came across well and although I haven’t always stuck to what I’ve drawn in the storyboards, it definitely came in handy when trying to direct my actors.
After watching the footage back, it has come out well, although the audio isn’t as perfect as I would like. Hopefully this won’t be too much of an issue when filming scenes over the next few days.
We used the script that I wrote, although only loosely as I like to leave room for improvisation. Sometimes ideas will come to me when we are actually shooting that wont come to mind when I’m sat in a room writing. This obviously doesn’t always work when the film goes into editing but I’m confident that the improvised scenes will fit very nicely.
The scenes that were storyboarded came across well and although I haven’t always stuck to what I’ve drawn in the storyboards, it definitely came in handy when trying to direct my actors.
After watching the footage back, it has come out well, although the audio isn’t as perfect as I would like. Hopefully this won’t be too much of an issue when filming scenes over the next few days.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Storyboards
I have nearly completed the storyboards for the film. Here are some of the scans. Click to enlarge.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Scoring Session
Once I had decided on the final idea for my film, and i'd completed a rough first draft of the script, I began thinking about what kind of music I wanted for the soundtrack. I wanted the music to be very lighthearted and quirky so I started listening to certain film soundtracks to find the right sound, but I was struggling to find anything I really wanted in the film, but mainly grew more against the idea of using music from existing films.
The soundtrack to the 2008 film 'Step Brothers' was one that came very close to the style of music I was looking for, but a soundtrack album was never released for the film. The only piece of music from the film I could find was this youtube clip...
In the end I decided that I would write my own soundtrack for the film. However, the idea for the main theme didn't come out intentionally. It came from a random jam I had with my friend Anthony Clifford. It was a complete accident, but we played it for about a minute, I knew it was perfect. I recorded a rough version of it on my phone, and a few days later we recorded it in Anthony's kitchen.
This is a video of us recording the first take.
We did 3 takes of the track. We deemed take 3 to be good enough. The rest of the evening was spent recording a few more tracks that I had written before hand. They all have a similar vibe to this and I'm pretty happy with how the soundtrack has came out.
The soundtrack to the 2008 film 'Step Brothers' was one that came very close to the style of music I was looking for, but a soundtrack album was never released for the film. The only piece of music from the film I could find was this youtube clip...
In the end I decided that I would write my own soundtrack for the film. However, the idea for the main theme didn't come out intentionally. It came from a random jam I had with my friend Anthony Clifford. It was a complete accident, but we played it for about a minute, I knew it was perfect. I recorded a rough version of it on my phone, and a few days later we recorded it in Anthony's kitchen.
This is a video of us recording the first take.
We did 3 takes of the track. We deemed take 3 to be good enough. The rest of the evening was spent recording a few more tracks that I had written before hand. They all have a similar vibe to this and I'm pretty happy with how the soundtrack has came out.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Home From Home Script: 1st Draft
Here is a copy of the first draft of the script. This definately needs a few more drafts yet, and I am struggling with finding a good ending for the story. I've tried numourous endings now and I haven't been happy with any of them. The ending in this draft involves the main character eating someone's dog. It's very deus ex machina, which is not what I want. It has been very frustrating but I will carry on and hopefully something will come to me soon.
Home From Home
Home From Home
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Project Proposal
For my FMP I have decided to make a short film which looks into the role that music plays in setting the mood for scenes. The story is fairly straight forward: A 20-something slacker loses his job and his girlfriend so decides to retreat into the wilderness to get away from real life. The working title is 'Home From Home'.
Nothing particularly nice happens to the main character and I have decided to play the film straight and not write the script as a comedy. However, with experimenting with the sound and the score, hopefully I will be able to find the right tone that works well with the film which will give it a comedy feel.
There are two main locations which I will be using for the film. The first is a pub in Torpoint called 'The Kings Arms', which is where the main character works. The second is a small wooded area next to my house. This is where the main character will retreat to once his life has gone downhill. The wooden area will be decorated to make it seem like someone has lived there for a few weeks. This will take a few days of preparation.
The shoot will take place over 4 days. The first day of filming will be in the woods, as the main character will need a beard for the scenes where he has escaped to. The second day will be spent filming at The Kings Arms. The third day will be spent filming at my friends house in Plymouth, where the main character's girlfriend lives.
The fourth day of filming will take place a week later, for cutaway shots and anything else that might need to be added.
I will be editing the film on Adobe Premiere as it is a program I feel very comfortable with. I intend the film to be no longer than 15 minutes.
Nothing particularly nice happens to the main character and I have decided to play the film straight and not write the script as a comedy. However, with experimenting with the sound and the score, hopefully I will be able to find the right tone that works well with the film which will give it a comedy feel.
There are two main locations which I will be using for the film. The first is a pub in Torpoint called 'The Kings Arms', which is where the main character works. The second is a small wooded area next to my house. This is where the main character will retreat to once his life has gone downhill. The wooden area will be decorated to make it seem like someone has lived there for a few weeks. This will take a few days of preparation.
The shoot will take place over 4 days. The first day of filming will be in the woods, as the main character will need a beard for the scenes where he has escaped to. The second day will be spent filming at The Kings Arms. The third day will be spent filming at my friends house in Plymouth, where the main character's girlfriend lives.
The fourth day of filming will take place a week later, for cutaway shots and anything else that might need to be added.
I will be editing the film on Adobe Premiere as it is a program I feel very comfortable with. I intend the film to be no longer than 15 minutes.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
FMP Ideas
I am currently trying to decide what to make for my FMP. I have a few ideas at the moment and these are some.
1. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, 5 years after a Humans have won against the Cyborgs in war, an elderly man discovers the remains of a cyborg amongst wreckage and takes him in as he loses his own son in the war, much to the annoyance of his fellow survivors. It's kind of like Of Mice & Men meets Universal Soldier.
2. A story about 20 something slacker who's life falls apart when he loses his job and his girlfriend. He has enough of a conventional life and decides to live in the woods.
3. A music video for the song 'Nintendo' by my band, The Hobby Horses, inspired by James Houston's video for 'Nude' by Radiohead as well as numourous animated video such as The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl by Michel Gondry. Will use 8-bit style computer animation.
1. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, 5 years after a Humans have won against the Cyborgs in war, an elderly man discovers the remains of a cyborg amongst wreckage and takes him in as he loses his own son in the war, much to the annoyance of his fellow survivors. It's kind of like Of Mice & Men meets Universal Soldier.
2. A story about 20 something slacker who's life falls apart when he loses his job and his girlfriend. He has enough of a conventional life and decides to live in the woods.
3. A music video for the song 'Nintendo' by my band, The Hobby Horses, inspired by James Houston's video for 'Nude' by Radiohead as well as numourous animated video such as The White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl by Michel Gondry. Will use 8-bit style computer animation.
'Go Home'
Here is another video I made outside of college. My friend asked if I would help him make a video for his band 'Mr G & The Hyperbolic Paraboloids' and this is the end result.
What Makes A TV / Film Company Ident?
Every major film company, television broadcaster and production company have their own company ident. These are the very short (usually, but not restricted to, around 10 to 20 seconds long) production logo videos usually seen at the beginning of a movie or at the end of a television show. These 'idents' are to identify to the viewer the company that is providing the entertainment.
We were tasked with making our own ident for BBC 2. My idea was to create one with a wildlife theme to go at the beginning of wildlife documentaries and tv shows like Countryfile. But instead of showing actual wildlife, I was going to have footage of my budgie. Here is the original storyboard...
Having just got a new mobile phone with a HD video camera, that was what I decided to film the short video with. I filmed all the shots that I wanted without a problem, however when I arrived at the college to edit my masterpiece, the video files would not work properly with the version of Adobe Premiere installed on the computer. With the deadline looming, I had no choice but to use what I could with the footage. This is what I ended up with.
Because of the sketchy nature of the video, I figured the soundtrack to the video should be just as sketchy. I can't imagine the BBC ever wanting to use this iden
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| The Jumping 'Dog' BBC 2 Ident from the 90's |
We were tasked with making our own ident for BBC 2. My idea was to create one with a wildlife theme to go at the beginning of wildlife documentaries and tv shows like Countryfile. But instead of showing actual wildlife, I was going to have footage of my budgie. Here is the original storyboard...
Having just got a new mobile phone with a HD video camera, that was what I decided to film the short video with. I filmed all the shots that I wanted without a problem, however when I arrived at the college to edit my masterpiece, the video files would not work properly with the version of Adobe Premiere installed on the computer. With the deadline looming, I had no choice but to use what I could with the footage. This is what I ended up with.
Because of the sketchy nature of the video, I figured the soundtrack to the video should be just as sketchy. I can't imagine the BBC ever wanting to use this iden
Festival Of Fire
Recently my friends at Circus Stars, a Cornish based circus skills school, asked me to make a promotional video for their company. It was my first paid work in video and they were very happy with the result.
The Circus Stars put on a showcase in Torpoint, Cornwall with live music, stalls and entertainment as well as a huge firework display, all funded by the National Lottery. This is where I filmed the video. I have since been asked to make another video for the company to be filmed over the summer.
The Circus Stars put on a showcase in Torpoint, Cornwall with live music, stalls and entertainment as well as a huge firework display, all funded by the National Lottery. This is where I filmed the video. I have since been asked to make another video for the company to be filmed over the summer.
Title Sequences - The Walking Dead (2010) & Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
The Walking Dead (2010: TV Series, Frank Darabont, AMC)
The Walking Dead is a 2010 american television show based on the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. The series is produced by Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist. The story follows a group of people struggling to survive during a zombie apocalypse. The opening titles were made by Prologue Films who have provided credits for TV shows like Pushing Daisies, the opening for ESPN's World Cup 2010 coverage and many many title sequences for major feature films.
After a decade of zombie comedies such as Shaun Of The Dead, Zombieland and Dance Of The Dead, the zombie has become more of a comical horror icon whilst vampires have risen in popularity. This has oviously upset a lot of classic zombie enthusiasts, Frank Darabont being one of them. With his adaptation of The Walking Dead, Frank Darabont wanted to it to be a show that is taken much more seriously.
The Walking Dead's intro sequence follows a small 'teaser' scene in which the main protagonist, Officer Rick Grimes portrayed by English actor Andrew Lincoln, is confronted by young girl who just so happens to be a zombie. After being unsure of how to react to this initially, the young zombie girl starts charging towards Rick and he has no choice but to shoot her in the head.
Prologue Films' intro sequence then starts, and it soon becomes apparent that this isn't going to be your typical entry into the zombie genre. It begins with a couple of quick shots of a derelict room, followed by deserted locations (all of which are visited throughout the series) which become the running theme throughout the intro. The locations we see are places that have become typical staples of zombie lore, taking cues from the likes of George A. Romero with the abandoned shopping centre to the quiet empty streets from Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.
What is most notable about The Walking Dead's opening titles though is the lack of any zombies, strange for what is supposed to be a zombie based show. This was a deliberate choice by the producers as it indicates to the audience that although this may be classified as a zombie show, it is much more about the characters and how they deal with being thrust into a world that is completely unrecognisable to the one they are used to.
Although there are seven credited main characters on the show, the credits during the sequence place emphasis on three characters in particular. The first credit goes to Andrew Lincoln who plays Officer Rick Grimes. A newspaper with a picture of Officer Grimes appears on the screen with only the word 'SHOT' being completely visible. The newspaper is splattered with blood and dirt, indicating that it may have been there for some time. This becomes relevent to the story later on, as Rick Grimes is critically injured in a shootout shortly after the opening credit sequence and upon awakening after a lengthy period unconcious, discovers the world has been turned upside down and infested with zombies.
The second credit goes to Jon Bernthal. Jon Bernthal plays Officer Shane Walsh, a colleague and good friend to Officer Rick Grimes. A framed picture of his character appears next to the actors name. The glass is shattered, but the picture still hangs on the wall, perhaps to show that whilst everything around him has gone bacon sausage, he still holds a position of authority amongst his fellow survivors.
The third credit goes to Sarah Wayne Callies, who portrays Rick Grimes' wife Lori. As with Jon Bernthal, a framed picture of Lori appears next to the actresses credit. Again the glass is smashed, but this time the picture appears to be on the floor with stones and dirt covering it, perhaps to show that the character of Lori is broken, believing that her husband had died in hospital during the zombie outbreak and that her old life is no longer more than a memory.
The rest of the main cast are credited quickly throughout the rest of the sequence, but not with their pictures like the three mentioned above. This shows the prominance of the three main characters, who will eventually go on to form an awkward love triangle throughout the series.
It isn't exactly the most original title sequence, but it perfectly summarises what the show is about. The bleak visuals accompanied by the dramatic soundtrack also set the tone; very serious, tense and creepy.
Dawn Of The Dead (2004 remake: Film, Zack Snyder, Universal Pictures)
'The Walking Dead' wasn't Prologue Films' first title sequence in the zombie genre, as they also provided the opening credits for Zack Snyder's 2004 'Dawn Of The Dead' remake.
Although it is again based on zombies, it is a polar opposite to the opening credits of The Walking Dead.
Dawn of the Dead opening titles
Uploaded by mactiste. - Watch original web videos.
Whilst The Walking Dead's intro sequences places emphasis on the character element of the show along with a very serious tone, Kyle Cooper's intro for Dawn Of The Dead does is very different. It makes no secret of the fact that it is a zombie film.
The very first image that appears on the screen after the initial 'Universal Pictures presents...' is that of a huge mass of people praying. Numerous religions believe in the idea of the dead being resurrected when the age of apocalypse is upon us, although they do not nessecarily mean in the form of the modern zombie, this is a theme that is very prevailent in modern zombie lore. The song that accompanies the intro sequence, Johnny Cash's 'The Man Comes Around' makes numurous biblical references, especially to The Book Of Revelation which describes how the worlds of Heaven, Hell and Earth collide in the final confrontation between good and evil.
This is followed by people armed with gasmasks and weapons combined with quick loud noises of screams and war sounds. Throughout the title sequence, real life war footage is mixed with footage shot specifically for the sequence made to look like archive footage. Kyle Cooper: "In Dawn of the Dead the brief was: 'I want to show there's this chaos, a zombie outbreak all over the world". The way the sound cuts out as quickly as it cuts in, as well as the hectic images on the screen that accompanies it, achieves this perfectly.
By featuring the scenes of the initial outbreak, and the mayhem that followed, during the intro sequences allows the film makers to be able to get on with the story they want to tell, rather than having to add an extra 20 or so minutes to the film on explaining what is going on, something most viewers will be able to figure out on their own anyway.
References
http://prologue.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_%28TV_series%29
http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/06/30/dawn-of-the-dead/
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.06/cooper.html
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/01/play/stories-that-work-in-150-seconds
http://www.eatmybrains.com/showreview.php?id=19
The Walking Dead is a 2010 american television show based on the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. The series is produced by Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist. The story follows a group of people struggling to survive during a zombie apocalypse. The opening titles were made by Prologue Films who have provided credits for TV shows like Pushing Daisies, the opening for ESPN's World Cup 2010 coverage and many many title sequences for major feature films.
After a decade of zombie comedies such as Shaun Of The Dead, Zombieland and Dance Of The Dead, the zombie has become more of a comical horror icon whilst vampires have risen in popularity. This has oviously upset a lot of classic zombie enthusiasts, Frank Darabont being one of them. With his adaptation of The Walking Dead, Frank Darabont wanted to it to be a show that is taken much more seriously.
The Walking Dead's intro sequence follows a small 'teaser' scene in which the main protagonist, Officer Rick Grimes portrayed by English actor Andrew Lincoln, is confronted by young girl who just so happens to be a zombie. After being unsure of how to react to this initially, the young zombie girl starts charging towards Rick and he has no choice but to shoot her in the head.
Prologue Films' intro sequence then starts, and it soon becomes apparent that this isn't going to be your typical entry into the zombie genre. It begins with a couple of quick shots of a derelict room, followed by deserted locations (all of which are visited throughout the series) which become the running theme throughout the intro. The locations we see are places that have become typical staples of zombie lore, taking cues from the likes of George A. Romero with the abandoned shopping centre to the quiet empty streets from Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.
What is most notable about The Walking Dead's opening titles though is the lack of any zombies, strange for what is supposed to be a zombie based show. This was a deliberate choice by the producers as it indicates to the audience that although this may be classified as a zombie show, it is much more about the characters and how they deal with being thrust into a world that is completely unrecognisable to the one they are used to.
Although there are seven credited main characters on the show, the credits during the sequence place emphasis on three characters in particular. The first credit goes to Andrew Lincoln who plays Officer Rick Grimes. A newspaper with a picture of Officer Grimes appears on the screen with only the word 'SHOT' being completely visible. The newspaper is splattered with blood and dirt, indicating that it may have been there for some time. This becomes relevent to the story later on, as Rick Grimes is critically injured in a shootout shortly after the opening credit sequence and upon awakening after a lengthy period unconcious, discovers the world has been turned upside down and infested with zombies.
The second credit goes to Jon Bernthal. Jon Bernthal plays Officer Shane Walsh, a colleague and good friend to Officer Rick Grimes. A framed picture of his character appears next to the actors name. The glass is shattered, but the picture still hangs on the wall, perhaps to show that whilst everything around him has gone bacon sausage, he still holds a position of authority amongst his fellow survivors.
The third credit goes to Sarah Wayne Callies, who portrays Rick Grimes' wife Lori. As with Jon Bernthal, a framed picture of Lori appears next to the actresses credit. Again the glass is smashed, but this time the picture appears to be on the floor with stones and dirt covering it, perhaps to show that the character of Lori is broken, believing that her husband had died in hospital during the zombie outbreak and that her old life is no longer more than a memory.
The rest of the main cast are credited quickly throughout the rest of the sequence, but not with their pictures like the three mentioned above. This shows the prominance of the three main characters, who will eventually go on to form an awkward love triangle throughout the series.
It isn't exactly the most original title sequence, but it perfectly summarises what the show is about. The bleak visuals accompanied by the dramatic soundtrack also set the tone; very serious, tense and creepy.
Dawn Of The Dead (2004 remake: Film, Zack Snyder, Universal Pictures)
'The Walking Dead' wasn't Prologue Films' first title sequence in the zombie genre, as they also provided the opening credits for Zack Snyder's 2004 'Dawn Of The Dead' remake.
Although it is again based on zombies, it is a polar opposite to the opening credits of The Walking Dead.
Dawn of the Dead opening titles
Uploaded by mactiste. - Watch original web videos.
Whilst The Walking Dead's intro sequences places emphasis on the character element of the show along with a very serious tone, Kyle Cooper's intro for Dawn Of The Dead does is very different. It makes no secret of the fact that it is a zombie film.
The very first image that appears on the screen after the initial 'Universal Pictures presents...' is that of a huge mass of people praying. Numerous religions believe in the idea of the dead being resurrected when the age of apocalypse is upon us, although they do not nessecarily mean in the form of the modern zombie, this is a theme that is very prevailent in modern zombie lore. The song that accompanies the intro sequence, Johnny Cash's 'The Man Comes Around' makes numurous biblical references, especially to The Book Of Revelation which describes how the worlds of Heaven, Hell and Earth collide in the final confrontation between good and evil.
This is followed by people armed with gasmasks and weapons combined with quick loud noises of screams and war sounds. Throughout the title sequence, real life war footage is mixed with footage shot specifically for the sequence made to look like archive footage. Kyle Cooper: "In Dawn of the Dead the brief was: 'I want to show there's this chaos, a zombie outbreak all over the world". The way the sound cuts out as quickly as it cuts in, as well as the hectic images on the screen that accompanies it, achieves this perfectly.
By featuring the scenes of the initial outbreak, and the mayhem that followed, during the intro sequences allows the film makers to be able to get on with the story they want to tell, rather than having to add an extra 20 or so minutes to the film on explaining what is going on, something most viewers will be able to figure out on their own anyway.
References
http://prologue.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_%28TV_series%29
http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/06/30/dawn-of-the-dead/
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.06/cooper.html
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/01/play/stories-that-work-in-150-seconds
http://www.eatmybrains.com/showreview.php?id=19
Title Sequences - LOST (TV Show)
When Lost's pilot episode aired in September 2004, viewers weren't treated to a long extravagent title sequence. Instead, the first thing the audience saw was a mysterious 17 second intro which featured just a blank screen with the word 'LOST' spinning slowly towards the screen, with a soundtrack composed by the shows producer, JJ Abrams.
The intro was a perfect set up to what was to follow as the show would go on to confuse and infuriate it's viewers for many years with it's complex and mysterious plot. JJ Abrams' soundtrack to the intro is a truly uncomfortable piece, which serves to disorientate the viewer as it begins with a single low note before quickly adding layers of strings and percussion that purposefully do not blend well. This soundtrack, added with the 'Lost' logo slowly spinning towards the screen, gives off a warped mind bending effect. It created suspense and it let the audience know they were watching something big.
With a show that was so heavily guarded in secrecy, this intro sequence worked perfectly. It gave no indication of what the show was really about or any clues of what was to come. If Lost was to have an opening sequence akin to Prison Break's character highlight reel, it would have given the show an entirely different feel. It would have felt tacky while the simple approach they went for leant itself to the cinematic way the show was filmed.
In Japan, however, they did not use the same opening title. Instead they had a character highlight reel. Although it's fair to say that if they had gone this direction in the original US version it wouldn't have been as cheesey as the Japanese version, I feel this proves my point in that it feels extremely tacky and out of place with the feel of the show.
Here is the Season 3 title sequence from Japan:
The intro was a perfect set up to what was to follow as the show would go on to confuse and infuriate it's viewers for many years with it's complex and mysterious plot. JJ Abrams' soundtrack to the intro is a truly uncomfortable piece, which serves to disorientate the viewer as it begins with a single low note before quickly adding layers of strings and percussion that purposefully do not blend well. This soundtrack, added with the 'Lost' logo slowly spinning towards the screen, gives off a warped mind bending effect. It created suspense and it let the audience know they were watching something big.
With a show that was so heavily guarded in secrecy, this intro sequence worked perfectly. It gave no indication of what the show was really about or any clues of what was to come. If Lost was to have an opening sequence akin to Prison Break's character highlight reel, it would have given the show an entirely different feel. It would have felt tacky while the simple approach they went for leant itself to the cinematic way the show was filmed.
In Japan, however, they did not use the same opening title. Instead they had a character highlight reel. Although it's fair to say that if they had gone this direction in the original US version it wouldn't have been as cheesey as the Japanese version, I feel this proves my point in that it feels extremely tacky and out of place with the feel of the show.
Here is the Season 3 title sequence from Japan:
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