Research into Similar Products and Conventions
Our Sequence's Genre
As a group we decided that our sequence's genre is a hybrid Action/horror, as it involves a serial killer and a chase sequence, with a prominent Post Apocalyptic sub-genre due to the overall setting.
We then had to look at a range of different films and TV shows of the same genre and identify the ways in which they are similar to our sequence, this could help us take inspiration from different conventions to really emphasise our genre's effect.
The Terminator (1984)
The Terminator is a science-fiction action directed by James Cameron and distributed by Orion Pictures.
Whilst this film is a sci-fi action film rather than a horror action, both projects involve a Post-Apocalyptic world and feature a lot of similarities between their main characters.
Similar Characters
The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) + The Hunter;
The character of The Terminator is a cyborg assassin from a future post-apocalyptic world in 2029 who is sent back in time to 1984 on a mission to -terminate- young women of the same name, but only targets one of them in this film (Sarah Connor).
The Hunter from our sequence is somewhat similarly a motorcyclist/murderer currently living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland who sets out to kill a young woman (The Survivor).
Both characters are then survivors of a past apocalypse on missions aimed to kill a similar target, they share themes of a ruthlessly violent nature with no visible remorse and seem to be overall efficient killers who know what they are doing (as well as both sporting a rather cool-looking black jacket).
However, in addition to some obvious differences, these killers have different motivations for their crimes; The Terminator is carrying out this murder as part of a mission mandated by a will separate from his own and only lacks mercy due to being a cyborg incapable of human emotion, whilst The Hunter is motivated to kill of his own volition/for his own benefit with no real obligation to kill that specific woman and lacks mercy as part of his character riddled with murderous tendencies.
Sarah Connor (Lina Hamilton) + The Survivor;
The Survivor from our sequence is overall very different in her backstory as she is simply another survivor of the apocalypse that has been striving for survival over the last few months of her life, and only really exists to be killed as the victim of a typical slasher horror style sequence (to be clear, our sub-genre is not a slasher, but does contain some similarities structure wise to a slasher opening).
Looking past the clear differences, both characters share a thriving instinct for survival and are obviously determined to outrun their killers to stay alive.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A Quiet Place is a post-apocalyptic horror directed by John Krasinski and distributed by Paramount Pictures (and produced by Michael Bay!)
This film as a whole is very different from our sequence in terms of character, plot, and most themes... however, one very interesting similarity that I spotted was a certain shared theme.
Similar Theme
I am aware that this may come off as a reach but its somewhat meaningful to my perception of this project; the main source of fear from both projects is very centred around sound;
A Quiet Place takes place in a nearly deserted world where three confirmed creatures that crashed onto earth from another planet roam freely on the hunt for human victims, these creatures are blind and track down any survivors through an extraordinarily acute sense of hearing, the main characters therefore live in almost complete silence through a carefully planned system of living and communicate in sign language. The film very efficiently builds fear from a lack of sound in even the most tense of sequences, it puts the audience on edge as they sit in uncomfortable silence just waiting for a sudden jolt of terror if any character makes a single noise.
Our sequence however creates fear through a single uncomfortably prominent sound, whilst the beginning of the sequence isn't exactly a calm situation as the Survivor scrambles to collect resources and tend to a severe wound, it looks to be somewhat safe and doesn't appear to have any active threats as it plays in relative silence. This safety is then disrupted by the growing sounds of a distant motorcycle revving, which clearly terrifies the Survivor as she scrambles to start sprinting for her life to hide, and even whilst hidden, the revving grows to a very loud level as it physically surrounds her new 'safety' setting, trapping her in. Motorcycle revving is also generally a very unsettling sound on its own as it's naturally extremely loud and distorted, resembling other sounds of danger like chainsaws or the roaring of a large predator.
Obviously these uses of sound as a primary source of fear are in direct contrast to one another as one thrives off of a frightening sound whilst the other works off of nearly no sound at all, but I find the overall theme of relying on specific sound as the main scare rather than creepy visuals a great contrasting similarity.
Monsters (2010)
Monsters is a science-fiction horror film (in a post-apocalyptic setting) directed by Gareth Edwards and distributed by Vertigo Films.
This film is, in my opinion, a very underrated project simply due to how it saw the typical narrative of 'monsters' taking over the world in a new light - the main takeaway for how it resembles our project however was the actual production itself.
Similar Techniques
Monsters worked from a considerably low-budget of "way under $500,000", which is fairly impressive in comparison to other films of the same genre, managing to maintain low costs despite the film's concept typically requiring a larger budget to pull off, such as the use of CGI creatures.
Edwards achieved this through unsurprisingly using cheap equipment, but more interestingly;
- The entire crew was made up of only six people who filmed this in five different countries, but of course proceeding to shoot in the vast majority of these locations without permission.
- Most of the extras featured were actually just people that were already at the location, all of whom he somehow persuaded to act in his film, yet surprisingly not coming off as cheesy or awkward.
- He wasted no time in producing a script or storyboards and rather came up with a general outline with specific points that every scene had to mention, before handing it to the two main actors to fully improvise
The editing process was also fascinating as Edwards would have to tediously download all of the footage from the camera's drive every night to then delete the original data so that it was ready to reuse the next day, this finished footage was then edited at the same time as filming.
He also used knock-off software to produce all 250 extensive special effects over a five month period, which he completed in his own room on a regular laptop.
Of course, the manner in which Edwards approached low-budget filmmaking for this genre is very different to ours; he had a more chaotic mindset of outright going against any necessary production norms in order to achieve his original vision in order to stay within budget, rather than simply working the execution of his vision around said budget in a more 'refined' manner like our group has.
Despite this, I actually found it quite funny how his solutions resembled something that I would also come up with at my age and experience level, and the shared techniques of shooting a typically high cost genre on a low budget (yet still managing to pull it off as a perfectly "expensive-passing" film, for lack of a better term) is something I find somewhat comforting and inspiring.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road is a post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures.
Despite the very similar genres, this film as a whole is sadly very unrelated to our sequence, but I used it as one of my references when coming up with ideas for costume design.
Similar Costume
The character of Imperator Furiosa in this film is one of the main protagonists, and coincidentally a character who's design I've always had a soft spot for.
I first came across a website that fully broke down her costume, which I found useful for coming up with specific clothing items for the Survivor from our sequence to wear as it helped me understand what physically made up a typical 'tough female apocalyptic survivor' character.
- A neutral toned, fitted, and fairly run down top with uneven sleeves (as one of them is ripped off at the start of the sequence)
- A dark brown belt nearly identical to the ones wrapped around her waist
- A 'slouch' fitted and worn down practical pair of dark green trousers
- Standard black leather boots
Whilst I would have loved to take inspiration from the more unique aspects of her costume like her prosthetic arm or buzz cut hair, for obvious reasons I couldn't attempt to get our main actress to shave her hair or try to pull off a green screen prosthetic with our budget.
The 100 (2014 - 2020)
The 100 is a post-apocalyptic science fiction drama TV series developed by Jason Rothenberg and also distributed by Warner Bros Pictures.
(Continued) Similar Costume
However, the simplicity of our final costume (at least compared to other apocalyptic survivor costumes)
can also be compared to those featured in The 100, which is a lot more plot-driven and relies on simple but solid costumes.
can also be compared to those featured in The 100, which is a lot more plot-driven and relies on simple but solid costumes.
Our final costume design more closely resembles that of this series due to its more basic composition, despite our sequence being very visual as well as plot driven, we are unfortunately slightly limited due to budget and time.
Overall
Throughout my research, I was surprised to find how strikingly different most post-apocalyptic plots tend to be; it was only surprising to me because I thought of this particular sub-genre as quite specific, but after some thought I figured that the concept of a post-apocalyptic world tends to be primarily used as a simple setting for world building or a general plot device, rather than a strictly convention-driven genre like slasher-horror.
Somewhat strangely, the main aspects I found that these films/TV series had in common were nearly entirely visual, specifically when it came to costume design as so many of the -often female- leads sported run down practical clothing items but were also completely covered in unnecessary accessories like multiple belts, satchels, waist-bags, bandages, etc.... This focus makes sense for most genres as certain costumes have their own connotations (e.g. lab coats would make you think of sci-fi), but I'd say it's fairly uncommon for a (sub)genre to be so centered around costume - I'm not complaining however as costume/character design is oddly one of my favourite aspects of filmmaking.
No comments:
Post a Comment