Print text 2

Here is the complete example of my print text 2 the film magazine review. I based the style, colours and fonts on reviews from the magazine 'Total Film' taking features such as the bold red titles and the 'See this if you like' box. I also tried to write my review in the same style, which was not too intellectual and with a sarcastic tone when criticizing. The magazine is targeted at young males, hence the swearing and striking titles like my short film is, therefore I felt this was an appropriate choice of magazine as their readers are practically the same audience as mine.

Strengths, Weaknesses and Final Summary

Even within my planning before I went out shooting, I began making some adjustments from my original storyline. First, when considering the rating of my film, making me rethink how I was going to carry out the fighting scene and how gory I made it, and then secondly replacing a crowbar with a survival knife. Sadly I could not get the people I originally wanted to act as my Zombies due to time constraints, when I had the opportunity to book a camera from college, so I had to rely on my younger brother filling the space. Although I was impressed by his performance and grateful for him helping me, I still felt one of my own friends who I had originally intended to fill the role would have looked more threatening. The people I originally chose were taller and bulkier than myself, which would have given a greater sense of suspense for the audience as it would have looked like an unfair battle between my character and the zombie, as opposed to my younger, smaller brother.
Also I should have edited the pace of the news report scenes to be much quicker and made each clip shorter than the last to build up suspense more quickly, rather than the repetitive and tedious scene I produced in the final cut. Furthermore, on editing criticisms, I should not have made the TV static footage so loud, as it made my classmates cringe and cover their ears when I presented the finished film to the class.
However I was overjoyed when people stated in their feedback that I had an excellent selection of props costumes and location, and that they even found it scary. I personally believed that my location especially worked well to portray the story and to convey the right emotions to the audience. Shots of the Donnigton locations for example were perfect as they depicted deserted urban landscape in broad daylight, like in ‘I am Legend’. I felt that the daylight helped to emphasise the absence of life.
On the whole, with what I had to make do with I was extremely pleased my Film, and from the whole experience I have improved on my filming and editing skills compared my project from last year.

Evaluation of Planning and its Affect in My Film

Although my story boards were to general on the scenes, rather than being specifying what each shot would display, I found it was sufficient enough as a guideline when I went out to film on location. I listed the different types shots that each scene would require, what music would be played alongside it and how it would be edited later on.
I had to carefully select which news reports I was going to incorporate into my film, as they were purposed to give the audience a gist of the storyline, when the actual reports where on entirely different subjects. I felt that I had chosen the appropriate clips and had edited them perfectly, so they were not misleading.
I decided to choose props that would look authentic and represent traditional horror film props. I decided to use a sawn off shotgun as one of the major weapons, as it is the stereotypical weapon used in almost every zombie film in the last few decades, which I decide to pay homage to. Also I chose short barrel gun after Terminator 2 inspired me, as if this choice of weapon would make my character to appear as macho as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I originally choose I crowbar as my character’s melee weapon during my early planning as I felt it gave my character a more raw and gritty impression.
However I later changed it to a survival knife, as it was simple to make a fake knife that resembled my real one, and also because it was more practical, both to carry around and when using it with actors.
In the end I felt the knife worked just as well, and the fact I used both a fake (and real) survival knife, gave my character a more deadly look, and come across as a more professional survivor.
I also wrote my own short script for my radio news report, covering the zombie outbreak, read out by my friend in a North American accent. I felt this choice worked well in my film, as I played the report over a black screen, helping to build suspense, as the audience could not see what was happening, also the decision of an American reporter, aided in giving my film a Hollywood feel to it.

Evalaution: Screenshot analysis

I got this clip off YouTube, its new footage of riot police attacking protestors at the G20 Summit camp and its original YouTube URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t244-zEENSs.
I used it because I wanted to give the impression of a mass panic outbreak in the cities. I felt it achieved this with the sheer amount of chaos, occurring in the clip. The main reason I choose this video is because of the extreme violence the police are using, and its appears as if they are trying to contain an evacuation, or an infected mob.
I am pleased with using this video clip in my film as I feel it displays what I intended and helps to give a hint of the storyline and setting of the outbreak of the infection. It managed to achieve the desired affect on the class when I presented it to them, as it seemed to grab their attention, which I feel is crucial at the beginning of a film.

Here is an example of my favourite shot of the film. During the climax where my main character is in a prone stance, unaware of the zombie that has just emerged from the shrubbery ready to pounce upon him. I filmed this shot at sunrise, so I could achieve this fantastic effect of the zombies outline casting a horrific silhouette against the rising sun, as if they are rising together to bring chaos.
The inspiration for this shot came from this image I found on the website www.houshaunters.com/products of a Halloween window silhouette which itself, is purposed to give houses an eerie sense to passers by on Halloween.
As I was impressed by its effectiveness, I wanted to recreate my own shot that looked as similar to it as possible to build up tension as the zombie in my film is lurching forward towards my vulnerable character.I accompanied this shot with the strings segment of ‘The last Spartan’ score from the Halo 2 soundtrack. The brief section I used is composed of a string orchestra and choir which both build up in noise to quickly create a spine-chilling sensation to play alongside the zombie lurching towards my character, making the overall scene even more eerie.

Evaluation of Research

I began my research by studying the history of short films, and their significance within the industry. The main thing I gathered was that modern short films are deliberately different than mainstream feature movies, in their topics and how they are made, so from this point I wanted to make my own production which included aspects from typical feature films but still retained distinctive elements.
I then started to look at an overview of the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ sub genre, noting what aspects they included to make them fit into that category. I could then incorporate them into my own short so my audience would recognise it as an apocalypse film.
The first popular media about zombies I looked at for inspiration was Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video. However, I did not find it particularly useful for my own project because it wasn’t really scary or realistic. I then decided to look at the depiction of zombies in popular culture throughout history. I took particular note on the novel ‘I am Legend’ and the Romero’s film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ which together formed the zombie stereotype of western culture.
I also looked at more recent production such as ’28 Days Later’, the TV series ‘Dead Set’ and the film adaptation of ‘I am Legend’. All of these have aimed to defy the common stereotype, the most notable new feature is that the zombies and infected people in these productions are capable of sprinting, as opposed to the traditional shambling monster.
I found all of these extremely useful, for the concept of my own zombies, thus helping me to formulate which costumes to use and how the actors should act.
The final part of my research involved me searching for a suitable location to shoot my film, I considered many different Brownfield sites across Telford each with their own advantages. I also had to bear in mind accessibility to certain locations, as it was difficult to arrange my cast and crew to meet up at locations that where awkward to get to. However, even though I settled on using the Lightmoor location for my fight scene, I still used footage of each of my considerations in my final film.

Evaluation: Audiences Review

After presenting my finished production to my media class, I happily received positive comments from everyone in the room. However, after carefully reading my classmate’s feedback, it intrigued me how certain sections were disappointing to some viewers but praised by others. For example one persons feedback who liked the music, felt the fight scene looked too amateur, whilst another despised the music but was thrilled by the final battle.
On the other hand I found common positive trends, as everyone thought the props and costumes I used where up to standard and in some reviews regarded as excellent, which I am pleased about. Also, I was satisfied when the main ‘scary scene’ of my short, made several people jump, which I was trying to achieve.
One negative trend I noticed on practically every feedback sheet was that the TV static was far too loud, which I will admit myself, as I used it repetitively, it became tedious, and made me cringe let alone my classmates. On the whole I am pleased with my classmates opinions and agree with the majority of criticisms, which I will try to eradicate when making another production.

Finishing Touches to Print Text 1

For the style and font of the title text I want to use something similar to the logo title from the 'Left 4 Dead' computer game series, here to the right I have included the title for 'Left 4 Dead 2' as an example.
The reason I am using this logo for inspiration is firstly because the 'Left 4 Dead' franchise is a popular Zombie series, but because I liked the shear contrast of

bright colours. The use is white writing against a dark background, with blood splattered across looks admirable to me because of how bold it is, with the blood giving a hint of the films horror content, which is more subtle opposed to the whole poster being bright red like the '28 Days later Poster'.

Here I have drawn out a rough draft of my ideas for the poster, where I have compiled the two images into one picture of what appears like an immense zombie face emerging out of the night sky ready to pounce upon the unsuspecting main character at the bottom of the poster.

It made realize that when I come to making the real thing on photoshop I need to edit the image to be darker to suit the topic of the film, and that I should use the font 'Impact' for the title to make it more bold and intimidating.

After compiling together all these features, I finally devised this poster for my film using the programme Photoshop. As well as editing the lower screenshot, I also edited the above image of the Zombies face, making it paler so it looked as if it was actually dead.
I also added several fake reviews and fake Warner Brothers logo to make it come across as more profesional.

Inspiration For Film Poster (Print Text 1)

After watching my film, I noticed some shots of me walking alone through Tweedale (During the sequence of the main character wandering alone) resembled the promotional poster for the film adaptation of 'I Am Legend', in that a lone character is walking down the middle of road in an abandoned urban landscape.
I always thought the 'I Am Legend' poster was captivating and appropriately advertised the film's content. I feel it has many features I wanted to incorporate into my own poster. The fact its the protagonist being the only person in the poster helps to establish who and what the film is about, and what kind of audience it is aimed at; obviously a male audience.
I feel I need to edit the colour of the still from my own film to a lighter more yellow colour as the sepia tone in the 'I Am Legend' poster gives a sense of death, like plants that turn yellow when they lose life, and the lack of diverse bright colours makes it seem more serious.

Another poster I will draw inspiration from is the '28 Days later' poster, pictured right, which also displays the lone protagonist characters walking through a deserted London skyline. I like how the extremely bright red background symbolises blood and gives the impression that the film will contain extreme violence and gory imagery. However, I feel this choice is too intense for my own poster, so will stick with editing the above still with a yellowier feel.
However, I really like the use of two massive eyeballs, which represent the infected humans positioned towards the top of poster, as they give the notion that the characters in the bottom of the photo are being watched and are therefore, unsafe.
Also, the diverse proportions of the eyes compared to the human figures at the bottom creates a more threatening feel, as if, whatever is hostile towards the protagonists is more dangerous and numerous in numbers than them.

Again, I want to incorporate a similar feature into my own poster, so I used this screenshot (pictured to the right) where one of the zombies is pouncing from the darkness onto a survivor. This is the main scary scene within the film, which is intended to shock and frighten the audience through its surprise. I am using this image to insert in my poster above the screenshot of myself walking in the empty streets, as it will look like some giant menace, similar to the yellow eyes in the '28 Days Later' poster, posing as a watching threat, that looks as if it will pounce on the character positioned below at any moment.

Target Audience

My film is targeted at young adolesant males, typical fans of both action and horror movies, although unlike typical horror films, I do not want my feature to be rated as an 18. This would result in limiting my potential target audience. Here I may have to alter and re-plan some of my scenes to fit the rating criteria of a 15, as I believe my film will appeal to boys around that age as well.
As I mentioned when looking at BBFC ratings, I feel that the subject of an apocalypse and such a focus on death is too disturbing for a younger audience and would be suited to more mature audience.
I believe my film is fitting for a premdominatly male audience, as males are typically stereotyped to enjoy violence and action. This is possibly due to males leading lifestyles that involve active elements such as contact sports. Males are also naturally more aggressive and engage in fighting each other far more when compared to similar aged females.
On the other hand, horror sometimes appeals to a wide range of female audiences, so perhaps some teenage girls will enjoy the horror elements in my short film.
Although my audience is mainly young males, my film should be enjoyed by males from both well educated backgounds as well as less financially disadvantaged lifestyles as elements such as the classical music is more suitable for intellectuals, whilst working class audiences may relate to the setting of urban decay backdrops.
However, I would say my target audience is more swayed to the more educated males as I feel the television and radio news reports at the beginning of my film are appropriate for those with a taste for intellectual media such as news broadcasts and newspapers.

Props

As previously mentioned in my storyline, my character will be using a shotgun. These guns have become the stereotypical defence weapon featured in many zombie films, due to them having devastating effect at close range.
For a more authentic prop, I felt plastic toy guns would appear unrealistic, and shotgun and BB guns seemed too expensive just to use for this film.
I chose to resort to this real 19th century pistol that belonged to my family, which has been deactivated, which will look truly authentic as it is made of the same materials that would be used for a real shotgun as well as it bearing a resemblance to a sawn off shotgun.

However, I did not feel it had enough bulk to it, not to mention it only has one barrel. So, I decided to tape two plastic tubes over the real barrel to resemble a double-barrelled shotgun. Here I have taken a photo after I stuck the tubes to the gun with black tape, although it seems to have lost some degree of realism due to the odd proportions. I feel it now looks more powerful and will help to give my main character a more menacing persona (like Arnold Schwartzenegger's shotgun in Terminator 2). Also the college cameras I will be using to shoot my film would not have enough detail to make them out so I would create the right impression without resorting to expensive props.

For my characters melee weapon, I have decided to replace the crow bar with a survival knife, as I can make a convincing prop knife out of card and tin foil that will resemble my real knife pictured here. For some scenes such as shots of drawing the knife from its sheath, I will use the real knife, so the audience can establish that it appears authentic. Of coarse for scenes of combat against the zombies I will be using my fake tin foil knife, as whilst acting, it is too dangerous to use safely with my actors. Again as it will be used in action shots, it be continuously swung, so the audience will not be able to distinguish whether it is real or fake. I decided to choose a knife over the crowbar in my original storyboard, as I felt it seemed more professional for a survival rather than using a random tool like a crowbar. I also realised it would be easier to take a fake knife to my locations than crowbar, as I may be reported to the Police by any passers by whilst filming.

BBFC Ratings

As my film will be extremely bloody, gory and generally scary I will have to consider what rating the BBFC will class it as it may affect the broadness of my target audience, which are male youths in general.

12A/12 – Suitable for 12 years and over
Horror- Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.
Violence- Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context.

15 – Suitable only for 15 years and over
Horror- Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Violence- May be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

After reading these boundaries, I do not believe my film should be rated any higher than a fifth teen. On the other hand some scenes I have been planning in my script are quite extreme, such as smashing a crowbar into a zombies face, which I may have to remove from the film or re-plan how they will be acted and filmed. However I am still unsure whether a rating of 12 is appropriate as the main theme of death, desertion and dead bodies in the opening sequences may be too disturbing even for young teenagers, so I believe a 15 is more suitable.

Using Copyrighted Music

For the soft piano music lasting through the background of the opening scenes of my film I will use the final 2 minutes of the Muse song 'United States of Eurasia' which ends the song on a short piano symphony played by Mat Bellamy. This music will be suitable for my film as it has been relatively unused in other films and videos, therefore making my own production that much more unique.
•However it is still copywritted music, even if its use is only for educational uses rather than me distributing it as my own work, I must contact either the artist or record label, requesting permission for me to use their product in my project.
I can do this by sending them an email, either to the bands fan base or email the record label directly. Another option is to leave a comment on Muse’s MySpace page, requesting permission for the song, however it is more likely to be ignored compared to an email sent straight to them.
I will also be music other music for the action sequences of my film to make them more exciting a keep the audience thrilled with the accompanying action footage.
For this I will use the track ‘Masyaff in Danger’ off the ‘Assassins Creed Official Soundtrack’, as it is the music used in the game whenever the player engaged in combat, again to make it more exciting, and I believe it will work extremely well for my film.
Finally I will also include a short segment of the track ‘The Last Spartan’ off the ‘Halo 2 Official Soundtrack’ as this musical score was used for a dramatic effect in the cut scenes, I feel it will emphases extreme suspense as the first zombie pounces on my unsuspecting main character.
Even though these are merely soundtrack used for games and were not music released in the chart like Muse’s work, it is still copywritted material I must contact the distributors via email before I finish my film.

Locations Continued

Underpass to Madeley, Woodside

Although it would mean my scene will greatly divulge from what I planned in my storyboard, its and interesting and spooky location. It would be good to have suspense filled scenes such as my main character being corned by zombies from both entrances. Its is the closest location to where I live.

Snedshill, Oakengates

Outside Oakengates there was once a large factory on Snedshill which also got burnt and demolishes, leaving a massive pile of rubble. Although it gives the same effect as the Fugly Uker's location except on a much grander scale it is awkward to get to, arrange all my friends to meet and film there. Also its is fenced off, and I not sure getting permission to film there will be allowed.

Possible Locations for main footage

I looked for appropriate locations around Telford to use for the main fighting sequence in film. Any locations I do not choose I will still shoot footage off, to use at the beginning of my film when footage of Brownfield sites and other useful locations will be shown on screen.

Rubble of Fugly Uckker's, Dawley
There was once a bar in the town park area outside Dawley called Fugly Ucker's, however it was burnt down and all that remains today are piles of rubble and overgrown vegetation. This is a vary appropriate location as it gives the appearance of urban destruction, and with the absence of people its has become overgrown. It is also useful as it is within reasonable walking distance from my house where my friends live, so it would be easier to arrange everyone going there to film.

Tweedale Industrial Estate
This industrial estate is even closer to where I live than the Fugly Ucker's location, and for most days a week it is quiet or even deserted. The most of the building has been graffitised on and most of area is also overgrown, again giving the impression of human absence in an even more urban area. However, there are not many places in this location where zombies could hide, as I mentioned in the storyboard, the zombies almost appear out of no-where and surround my character.


Lightmoor Retirement Castle
Again this is close to where I live, and unlike the previous two locations this stretch of land is always deserted, and there is hardly any chance of any civilians interrupting my filming. Also there is plenty of long dead grass, perfecting hiding places for zombies, which the audience will find believable. I also like how there is a random container, roadblocks and a torn down telegraph pole, all interesting features.

Script

Apart from the speech from the news reports, there will be very little dialogue in my film, apart from what I have written here for my own news report. Although I mentioned earlier that it will be awkward for me to film my own studio report, I will also include my own audio report that will be read out by one of my friends with no visual footage.
This report can be either a radio broadcast or an unseen television broadcast, which I will play in the background when the credits come on screen, as I feel this will make them more interesting. I have decided to write and include my own report as I feel the channel 4 news reports will not be able to give enough information for the audience to get the gist of the story, as they have to be edited to hide the fact they are real reports on entirely different matters. Also my own audio report will be read out in an American accent, to give an impression that the infection has become a global crisis.
Here is my simple script which I will use in the opening of my film:

Report 1: "...They're still unsure of exactly how it's spread to epidemic proportions. Quarantine was enforced on the city by the police this morning with road blocks across the major highways and riot police outside the hospitals.."

Report 2: "..Dismissed report of the deceased re-animating and becoming hostile to civilians have now been proven to actually be true. Reports from the city morgues and from the streets.."

There will of coarse be other sounds by my characters in the film, such as the groans and screams of the zombies as well as my main character making various anger or fear yells and other noises during the action scenes. I believe this will create an atmosphere of tension and realism.

Other people's footage

For the news reports and other short clips at the beginning of my film I will use footage of real news reports of featuring civil unrest, war, terrorist disasters and other chaos, although I will only use around a second of each clip in my film. I am resorting to this as I soon realised the logistics involved in creating realistic reports was currently beyond my ability. I instead, used the camera to record a few seconds of news reports being played on my computer.

Not only am I resorting to using a real television report for a split second scene, but I soon realised that if I record a channel four news report of John Snow, viewers will recognise readily the reporter and therefore find the scene even more realistic and believable. The Youtube video I will be using will be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDX2nvwn-Rw which I have a screenshot of to the right. When I use this footage at the beginning I will edit the clip to where Snow is explaining about a mass evacuation, to give the viewers the impression that the report is about people escaping zombies when actually it is about an earthquake.
I will also use another channel 4 news report I found on Youtube of civil unrest in Africa, and edit it to where the reporter informs about the police shooting at people, to give the impression that he is refering to police shooting zombies instead. The url for this video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfG0vXO3qvc.

I will not only use other people's footage of news reports but also footage of real riots, the main one I will use will be a Youtube video of riot police attacking protesters at the G20 Climate summit pictured right. I have chosen this as it appears the police are trying to contain a mob of infected people.
The video url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t244-zEENSs.

Storyline/ Storyboard part 3

Then in a close up shot of the figure, it turns around to face the camera to reveal that it is actually a female zombie. At this point the main male character is in a prone stance over a pile of rubble aiming his gun at the hostile zombie, which is now emitting a horrific scream. However just before my character fires I will then use a low angle shot to show another zombie lunching over the main character, like some horrific silhouette against the sky. It will look similar to this image to the right here except with the protagonist character in the bottom of the shot. This will build up extra fear and tension for the main character as he is unaware of this new threat and is vulnerable to surprise attack.

Still oblivious to the zombie behind him and continuous to shoot at the female zombie in the distance. After the sound of the gunshot I will continue this now more exciting audio with some fast tempo music to back up the now engrossing events which are unfolding as the new zombie from behind lunches for the main character. Realise the zombies presence, my character drops his weapon and roles over to defend himself as the zombie grabs him. Whilst this is happening I will continuously switch between close up shots of the brawl, also using a range of high and low angle shots, again resembling this screenshot from a video game I have pictured to the right here.

However my main character manages to break away from his attacker unharmed, and draws out a crowbar and uses to strike the zombie in the head. As the zombie falls back defeated I will use a slow motion shot to show the gushes of blood flying through the air from its head. It will bear a resemblance from this screenshot from another zombie game here to the right again, although of coarse, my character will not be using cricket bat.

As the zombie crashes to the ground I fill fade out to black, then role on the credits, ending my short film.

Storyline/ Storyboard part 2

After shots panning through the ghost towns and wilderness, I will then continue with similar scenes although this time they will depict a lone survivor walking to an unknown destination, similar to this screenshot from the film adaptation of 'I am legend', although he will not be accompanied by a dog, and I may shoot this footage at night time to give a more eerie feel to the scene.
This wandering man will be the protagonist of my film, and at this point of the film the audience may begin to believe he is the only person left alive.

At this moment i had not decided if I myself well play the role of this character or one of my friends. Furthermore, this character will be carrying a shotgun (for this prop I will use one my old toy guns) and will have a rugged and war torn look to him, as I want the audience to get the impression that he has struggled to survive this long. All this time the calm piano music will still be continuing, so emotion is now felt for the vulnerability of this character and I will be using long shots to make him look even more exposed.

I will then use medium and close up shots of both the behind and front of this character as he treks onwards still in awe at the state of the world around him, relating to what that viewers first impressions were of my films opening minutes. I will also use many other dramatic camera effects such as single shots spiralling around this lone man, which will appear similar to this image of lone man in the desert here to the right. I am again capturing the barren background behind him again to emphasise the sheer lack of life apart from him whilst using different shots.

The mellow background music will then die down and sound effects such as the wind blowing will become louder as such an echoic mood will give a greater sense of emptiness in the scene. However this will soon be broken as in the distance a lone motionless figure will be seen, similar to this image of a woman dressed as a zombie I found on google to the right here.

Shocked by seeing what appears to be another person, my main male character will raise his shotgun and cautiously approach this figure (who will be dressed in white like in the above image) calling to the person to see if it is a human or a zombie. I will be continuously switching between close up shots of my main character and long shots of the mysterious white figure, which will get more frequent as the film roles on the build up tension.

Storyline/ Storyboard part 1

As I have already mentioned the film we be set after what seems to be the entire collapse of civilisation, with only pockets of human resistance left around post apocalyptic wasteland. Again as I previously mentioned, during the opening credits there will be integrated scenes depicting the outbreak and how the world has got into the current situation. I will use short scenes of news reports, people evacuating or rioting, law enforcement or soldiers fighting with the infected and shot of a person searching for survivors.

Although the scene is switching between depicting chaos and opening credits, I will back it up calm piano music. I will do so to break the audience in gently into the havoc of the film rather than have the shock of the busy and striking shots with fast paste music. I also feel that this kind of music will make it more dramatc and make the audience feel more emotional for the victims featured.

As my film continues on I will feature shots of abandoned settlements, piles of rubble and dead bodies littered around the wasteland. For these shots I will film various Brownfield sites around Telford. I will also make simple dead bodies from old clothes and newspapers as well as some actors to play dead people scattered around scene or simply splash fake blood on walls to emphasise the idea of mass human death.
Many of the shots for this scene will be panning ones and some zooming through the background, giving the audience a sense of scale of the chaos with the calm piano music continuing on.

I would also like to point out these are not my images but those found off google, as they resemble what my scenes will actually look like, rather than me drawing my own storyboard.

Planning of the plot and zombie depiction in my film

Setting and locations

I have decided to choose the zombie apocalypse scenario, and like in 'I am Legend' my film will begin during the apocalypse rather than depict the beginning and spread of the outbreak. However I will include hints to explain how the world got into the current situation, such as newspaper articles as well as short scenes depicting mass evacuation and skirmishes between the law enforcement and the infected during the opening credits.
This, therefore means that I will have to find several derelict urban areas for my locations, again like in the abandoned New York in the film adaptation of 'I am Legend' to show how the outbreak has led to the breakdown of society.
However, I also want to make my locations to show signs of conflict and destruction, as if the military have bombed some areas in order to kill off the zombies, so I will have to find buildings that are derelict, or heaps of rubble for some scenes.
For example, an abandoned park with various litter and overgrown vegetation would be ideal, as I will also be applying splashes of fake blood and fake body parts to give an impression of wide-scale death.

I will therefore title my short film as 'Deadscape' as it is a relatively unused name by any other productions and I came up with the name by combining the words 'Dead' and 'Landscape' as the majority of my film will focus on the wide scale death and the deserted landscape of a 'dead' urban landscape.

Zombie Depiction

The zombies in my film will be the result of an infection like in modern films as opposed to the traditional voodoo zombie, allowing my film to be a zombie apocalypse scenario as the virus has been passed on to thousands of people.
For their speed and agility they will be somewhere between Romero's shambling monsters and running zombies like in the 'Dawn of the Dead' remake, so they are fast enough to pose a threat yet incapable to flat-out sprinting. The zombies will be acted out by some of my friends so they will have to perform a sort of shambling jog or speed-walk, as I personally do not think that dead people capable of sprinting is believable for my target audience.
As for appearance, I will make my zombies have some degree of mutation like in recent computer games, however this will have to be limited as I do not have access to professional prosthetics. Instead I will have to do what I can to my actors with make up, liquid latex and useful equipment from costume shops.
Finally my actors will have to wear old, torn and dirty clothes, as zombies in films are barely conscious of their appearance and only seem to care about eating and infecting humans. I will have to dress my actors in a range of different clothes to show what occupations the infected people may have had when bit, such as soldiers, doctor or office workers.