"Shaun of the Dead" Movie Review

As I was talking about Working Title, why not have a look at one of their films. A favourite of mine and I'm sure many others is the horror-comedy parody of Night of the Living Dead; Shaun of the Dead.

Shaun of the Dead follows our main character Shaun, played by Simon Pegg, whose life basically has no direction. He's in a dead end job of selling TV's, has a rocky relationship with his stepfather Phil, Bill Nighy, a tense relationship with his flat-mate Pete, Peter Serafinowicz, because of his best friend Ed, Nick Frost, and his girl-friend Liz, Kate Ashfield, isn't happy with their social life because it will usually be involving going to the pub The Winchester all the time. Things don't look good for Shaun as he forgets it's his and Liz's anniversary one day so she breaks up with him. Plus to make matters worse his flatmate is going down hard on Shaun for having Ed around. So Shaun drinks away his sorrows in the Winchester that night.

Next morning it turns out the dead have come back to life and are attacking the neighbourhood. So its up to Shaun to save his friends and Liz's life as well as their relationship. It does have a hilarious sense of "Oh by the way zombies are attacking, hope that isn't going to ruin your plans" which I think is great. As a parody it's great and really throws the zombie genre in the air. The zombies are perfect it's just how Shaun and Ed react to them that makes it funny. They're these terrifying re-incarnations of humans and yet Shaun and Ed are outside, about to be eaten, arguing over what vinyl disc records to throw at the zombies. Not something you'd be doing in that situation. One of my favourite parts is actually re-visit of the same scene but from earlier in the film. Towards the beginning Shaun goes out to get ice-cream from the shop and then comes back. Its all done as a 1-shot scene as it never actually cuts, it stays as one camera that follows Shaun all the way to the shop and back. Everything goes on around him like kids playing football, people jogging and people just generally walking to the shop. This scene is before the zombies attack. My favourite part is the reprise of this scene where Shaun goes to the shop the next day, unaware there's a zombie outbreak and its the same 1 shot but everything has changed and he's completely oblivious. It's hilarious and really clever. The camera goes to his side so we see inside a garden where there's a corpse and Shaun just walks straight past. He pushes an actual zombie out of the way and says "sorry, don't have any change". It's so surreal to see it in a zombie film and its so well done and funny.

It's a parody of zombie films sure but I think it also parodies society in it too. Before the zombie attack everyone is acting like zombies anyway, the intro with the title screen just shouts this. That's why also Shaun mistakes a zombie walking up to him as a regular homeless guy because of how similar he looks. It takes a zombie like society and adds real zombies, that's where the real parody lies for me. The script is hilarious, the characters are great, really cleverly filmed and the zombies in it are great. If you're not so much a horror fan it's worth the watch anyway because of it's humour and if you liked the Living Dead series of films then you'll laugh even more at this.

Research: Working Title Films

Something a little different to TV research. As I actually watch a lot more films than just TV. One of my favourite companies has to be Working Title because every film I've seen that Working Title has been part of have been great films. They just seem to have the best consistency with their films. Working Title have been part of films such as Hot Fuzz, Johnny English and Senna. 

Working Title is a British company founded in 1983 and belonged to PolyGram Films and produced many films  for PolyGrams London-based company. Due to the company's success PolyGram was merged and sold to Universal. Working Titles parent company was now NBCUniversal. Working title isn't a huge company and is known for its limited employees. In 1999 Working Title launched a subsidiary company called WT2 which has been involved with making films such as Shaun of the Dead and The Calcium Kid.

Just to give an idea of Working Titles success; their films have grossed more than £1.12 billion in the past 12 years, and that's a rough estimate. Their success is mostly thanks to their 2 main founders Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The two have been described as the "Brit flick's twin towers of power". These two have been listed as the most powerful figures in the British film industry. They have been described as "energetic, not naive, not arty-farty or up their own arses" by actor Hugh Grant who has with worked with Working Title who has worked with the pair on 4 films.

Working Title's breakthrough hit was the film Four Weddings and a Funeral and since then, after a dry period with a few international hits managed to prove that the British could once again fashion films with global appeal.

"Reverb" Show 2

So this week I was rocking it out on camera 3, the one with the pedestal. This week we had a grunge, rock band Tech Horse come in a play for us. have a look!

"Reverb" Show 1 Directors Analysis

So Reverb 1 was my first proper go at directing. That was a scary thought in itself! But I enjoyed and essentially I felt it went really well.

We had 2 great and talented people agree to be presenters and they acted calm, friendly, understandable and said their lines in a way that made them sound casual and comfortable. People the audience could happily listen and watch. Naomi Burrows and Johnny Weston did a great job!

The first shot had the 2 presenters standing in front of the stage with all the musical equipment in the background and I felt this would give a big hint as to what the audience was watching and it mixed it up so after the title sequence the camera wouldn't open up again on the same place. I felt it went well and the lighting at the start came in nicely.

Whilst the title sequence was playing all the cameras moved over to the stage to set up as well as the presenters and the band themselves. The 2 presenters were looking into camera 2 which had a medium-shot of the pair of them. Nothing fancy but I felt it was best to stay simple. The aston for the Twitter page came up a little late as Naomi says "follow us on Twitter @" and by that time the aston had gone. Also the Facebook aston shows up with no intro plus it covers Johnny's head a little bit so not great, for future tries it will be best to possibly have them lower down and to come in at the right times. No big deal though! There's a small cut just after this but there was just a hiccup with the script so again not really a problem. Setting up for the next part I had camera 3 get a wide-shot of all the cast so the presenters and the band on the sofa. This I thought would be a good shot to cut to to introduce the band. Camera 1 managed to get a shot of the band as a whole so when they were talking I could cut to that camera. Great camera work from the camera crew, very on the ball. The astons also came in at the right time and area of the screen. I had a slight problem there though with when the lead singer was talking I thought he would be talking a lot more so while camera 1 had the wide shot I wanted camera 3 to move and get a close-up as best they could with whoever was talking at the time. By the time I had the shot I had to quickly change back due to Naomi saying her next line. The worries with non-scripted parts! Essentially my plan was to have camera 2 on the presenters and with the band there would be one camera to cut to with a safe shot of the whole band while the other free camera would grab hold of a close-up of whoever was talking at the time. It went well I think, a couple of shakes but nothing major.

So we needed to jump to our next section which was the VT. Originally on the script we had it so the band would play next, the VT would play afterwards and then we would have the band play us out. We figured this had to change because from the interview to the playing there would have been a gap of nothing while the band was setting up so we swapped it around so whilst the VT was playing the band could set up and then the presenters would just introduce them. Which worked perfectly. The VT wasn't anything to do with me but if it was I would have drastically changed it. I felt the edit was awful! Not in a harsh way at all, the editor worked hard but they should have noticed that the intro just starts then suddenly stops and cuts the music like a parody of some sort, its just odd! The setting was good, being in a sound tech room and the discussion went well. I would have had a better camera angle on Alex and Nick but there may have been some issues with space and the cameras so no issue really.

Cutting back to the studio with the band all set up I cut back to camera 2 who had stayed on the presenters whilst the other 2 cameras were ready and set on the band. The plan was when the band started playing and we cut to either camera 1 or 3, camera 2 would then move and join the fray. One rule with filming a band is as soon as the singer starts the camera has to be watching them. If they have a lengthy musical intro then go crazy but as soon as the singers about to start, cut to them! as long as you have that your'e away. The same goes for different verses the singer will sing and such. I asked camera 3 which had the pedestal to grab some high-angle shots of the band and some movement around his area so we could cut to interesting high-angle shots or maybe a close-up on an instrument whilst being high up. Something different. Camera 2 had some good safe shots of the band and camera 1 was focusing a lot on the lead singer. The only issues I had with this scene is the fact that we couldn't really rehearse this section so it was very much up to the cameras with a few instructions to get some good shots. I think they did well but they shouldn't have been afraid to move a bit more. I felt they could have done a lot more moving shots and some more close-ups and such. Another issue is when one of them felt like something would make a good shot like zooming up on a guitar the problem would be is that the other 2 would have the same idea so the shot variety wasn't much. It was the movement that was the main thing. Its a band, its going to be lively and upbeat so movement is very important. Sure safe shots are good but a lot more movement would have made this look so much better in my opinion. They did really well though so it was all good. When the song was finishing camera 2 moved back to the presenters for the exiting lines and then we cut back with a same deal of shots on the band playing their last song.

I've pretty much said everything I felt was good and what could be improved on in the future. One thing we decided afterward was the structure of the show. We decided that next time we'll have the band play first so the audience won't get bored straight away. Going to the interview first was a bit of a problem in that it wasn't bad but a little boring. If the viewer likes the bands first song then they may be interested in learning about them in an interview. Overall the show went well and we learnt a lot for our next show. Bring on being on camera next time!

"Shutter Island" Movie Review

The movie Shutter Island, based off Denise Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name, is another one of my favourites. I just think while watching it that there's so many interpretations that can be made and so many different things to look into besides just the story. It's a thriller and hell does it stick to that name well.

The plot follows our protagonist Edward "Teddy" Daniels, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his new partner Chuck, both U.S marshals, who travel to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Boston Harbour. The reason for the two marshals heading there is to investigate the disappearance of a patient Rachel Solando, put inside for drowning her 3 children. However, when he gets there and looks deeper into the mystery it turns out there's a heck of a lot more going on than Daniels first thought. The plot thickens and then there's back story into Daniels' past showing his wife who we assume had passed away. He starts to get more migraines, illusions and soon we come to question if any of it is real. I really can't say much else without giving the story away because I'll just end up spoiling the film but there's a huge plot twist at the end which makes Inception seem simple. 

The film really puts you on edge. It's not a horror but it has the suspense of one. The music is eerie, the camera angles are odd, the acting is spot-on so they seem genuinely scared and confused and the plot is just so crazy. It's simple at first but you only gather a fraction of it. Its high on atmosphere and great on the visuals. The flash-back scenes are filmed beautifully. When learning about Teddy's history with the army with one particular scene the screenplay is great. Just the perfect amount of slow-motion, close-ups and great music just make it for me.  That's just all me I suppose. I like a film that makes me think. I also like films that throw you completely off. They know the conventions so they really abuse them and change them. The scene I just talked about with the flashback has music that is actually quite fast so it elevates that feeling of panic. Its great. 

Overall I think its a great film. It's not one to sit down to on a Friday night with friends but definitely deserves a sit down and watch to later in the evening. The ending will blow you away too!

"Reverb" Show 1

So here's a good look at the first show of a brand new series of "Reverb". On our first show we had a fairly standard but talented local rock band called "Keep the Change" a good group of lads that agreed to be the first on our show. This was my first big proper go at directing as I was only a directing-assistant on the NACS christmas special. It was scary but I feel it all came together nicely. We've set the studio up so that the band goes and plays on a stage in the left of the studio and the presenters are sat in the right corner of the studio. Its easy this way as there is enough space for both the band and the interviewing area. All we had to do was while a VT played we would simply set cameras 1 and 3 onto the band while camera 2 stays on the presenters. Have a look!
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/21218069

Reverb

Just a small introduction onto the next project that we jump into. Stratcast is letting us take control of its flagship show "Reverb". Reverb is in essence a music show. Have you ever watched shows like 4music? It's basically a version of that. We invite local bands into the studio, we film them playing live, we interview them, play a VT  or two surrounding the subject and then they play us out with another song. Lots of local bands are interested in this as it means they can have their first chance of being filmed live in a studio and will help them a lot with promotion. It's an interesting brief for a show and we'll give it our all.