Undead Essay :D

The making of Undead  illustrated many challenges of the film making. And im going to talk about the different challenges they faced and my opinion about it. Undead is a 2003 Australian zombie horror comedy film written and directed by Michael and Peter Spielberg and starring Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay and Rob Jenkins.

First of all they have been doing T.V commercials for three and a half years, so they decided to go and do undead and they decided to take that very big gamble and invest there entire life saving for this film, they sell there car and do everything they needed to do to make the film. The main challenge they faced is there budget for making this film and another thing is that they have been told from government funding bodies that they shouldnt be making genre pictures, which doesn't make sense to them because theres a huge market out there for it and genre pictures are alot easier to sell foreign than pretty much any other type of movie if you dont have major stars.

After principle photography wrapped, a smaller second unit would continue shooting for an additional 19 days, with the reduced crew, shooting became long and extremely difficult. A number of complex action sequences still had to be shot including a car crash at night. The cast and crew entusiasm and dedication for the project made this very difficult days and night possible. However the most difficult obstacle was still ahead which is the visual effects. Over 305 visual effects were created.

Though faced different challenges but there were still able to finish the film the way they want it. They also faced extremely difficult situation that they thought that they wouldn't finish the film. But in the end they gave their best and finish with a beautifully made film that won many awards.

Production Roles

Production roless

Producer:
A producer in the film industry overwatches the project, they attempt to preserve the vision and integrity of the production. During the pre-production stage, they usually take a financial risk by supporting the film with their own monetary funds before the film itself is fully financed. They are involved in the production from it's beginnings to it's development, completion and delivery.
Their role through production includes coordinating, supervising and controlling major aspects of the project. This includes raising funds and hiring key roles such as the casting director or film director. They will also influence the hiring of other personnel.
During post-production, they arrange for distribution. The producer would also collect any Best Picture award rather then the director.


Composer:
The composer compiles the film score of the production, they usually enter the creative process towards the ending of the filming, usually around the time the film is being edited, although on some occasions, the composer will be on hand throughout the entire shooting. They first see the unpolished version of the film and from there they discuss possible wants and ideas with the director or/and producer of the film. The film will either require specific music to coincide with specific moments, known as 'spotting' whilst also attempting to sync the audio with the film. On occasions the developers will edit the film to fit the score.
Then the composer will go through the process of writing the score and then continue on with the actual orchestration of the score. It is then performed by an orchestra and conducted by either the composer or an arranged orchestrator.
Eventually the process of recording is reached and the orchestra performs in front of a large screen depicting the movie, which will result in the final product. Composers take a heavy involvement in the production, not so much in the post and pre like other roles.
Notable composers include: Ennio Morricone, John Williams and Hans Zimmer.


Distributor:
A Distributor is responsible for coordinating the distribution of the finished movie to exhibitors, as well as the sale of video, DVD, BluRay and other media on which the movie will be made available.
For theatrical distribution, they must work with the exhibitor and secure a written contract to be paid to the distributor by the exhibitor. They must also ensure enough film prints are to struck to service all contracted exhibitors on the contract based opening day and ensure the delivery to the theatre. Also, the distributor is responsible for ensuring a full line of film advertising material is available on each film which it believes will help the exhibitor attract the largest possible audience. If the film is handling an imported or foreign film, it may also be responsible for securing dubbing or subtitling of the film and securing censorship or other legal/organisational approval or rights for the exhibition of the film in that area.
Some distributors only handle the home video distribution or some sub-set of home video distribution such as DVD/BluRay. They must arrange the creation of the artwork of the film. They must also contract wholesalers who sell/ship the DVDs to retail and online stores and arrange for them to carry the DVD. The distributor will also place ads in magazines and online and send copies of the DVD to reviewers.
These means they are involved in the post production stage, not so much pre or the production, like the composer.


Graphics/Titles Designer:
The majority of Title Designers come from a graphic design background. They are involved nearing the end of the editing/post production process.  They discuss their ideas with the editor and director of the themes and ideas of the film that will ultimately influence the creation of opening titles, graphic captions, end cards and the end roller.  They may include the use of specially designed fonts, animated segments or live-action sequences. If they work for a company they will usually draw on the expertise of their colleagues. For example if animated sequences are required they will usually work with digital compositors. They will continue to work up and refine their ideas until they are approved and the digital artwork files can be composed with the film background.


Stage Manager:
The Stage Manager is the director’s right hand man during pre production They keep track of rehearsal schedules, scripts, props, and actors during the pre production process. Once production begins, the Stage Manager is in control of everything that happens throughout the whole project. The Stage Manager conducts each performance by calling cues. This means the Stage Manager follows the production in the prompt book and tells the light board operator and the sound board operator when to execute a cue. Each cue call begins with the word "standby" to indicate that an action is imminent and, in response, the technician who will perform the action acknowledges readiness to perform the action. At the appropriate time, the stage manager will prompt immediate execution of the action by saying "go". They are barely involved in the post production area of the film.

JAWS QUESTIONS :)

1. Where did the idea for Jaws originate? How did it become a film? Who contributed to the screenplay?
- The Idea was when Peter Benchley about a shark fisherman who caught a 4,550 pound shark off the beaches of long island. It became a film when Dick  Zanuch and David Brown saw and read the book and decided that its gonna be a good movie.
2. Why were particular scenes removed from the film?
- In the first third of jaws they didnt like it because it was too bloody and they thought it was on bad taste so they cut it out.
3. During the pre-production stage what sort of footage did the producers commission in preparation for the film? How was the script changed as a result of this footage?
- They wanted to get a real footage of live sharks, they changed the script because no one was in the cage when the shark got caught and went crazy which made it look like it was attacking.
4. What was involved during the casting process?
- Main Cast of Jaws, I believe they were looking or thinking for the names of the cast.

• Roy Scheider as Martin Brody
• Robert Shaw as Quint
• Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper
• Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody
• Murray Hamilton as (Mayor) Larry Vaughn
• Carl Gottlieb as Harry Meadows
• Jeffrey Kramer as Leonard "Lenny" Hendricks
• Susan Backlinie as Christine "Chrissie" Watkins

5. What is location scouting? Why did Steven Spielberg choose the locations for the film?
- Location scouting is like looking for a place to shoot the movie and Steven Spielberg choosed a location where no other movies has shoot. He choosed that place because in a different camera angle the place looks like in the middle of the sea.
6. Describe how actors contributed to the production of Jaws.
- The actors contributed by helping the producer do the film and also to help him to make the script.
7. What does a composer do? What considerations were taken into account when writing the music for Jaws?
- The composer is the one that makes the sound and other music stuff for the film, they consider that they want a suspense sound to let the audiences know that a shark is coming and the result is a low to high key notes playing repeatedly making the "Duh-dun-duh-dun-duh-dun" sound.8. What did Spielberg do as a result of test screenings?
- Spielberg watched the film play out to an audience from the back of the theatre.Spielberg, eager to get more screams out of his film after the audience test cards were wholly positive, added the shot of Ben Gardner’s head coming out of the hole in his boat. Subsequent test screenings were even more enthusiastic.
9. What is a director of photography? How was the director of photography involved in the production of Jaws?
- A director of photography is someone who supervises the filming of movies, commercials, television series, or any other sort of filmed production. They look for a location to shoot the film which is in the island of Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, chosen because the ocean had a sandy bottom 19 km out to sea and never dropped below thirty-five feet
10. What does an editor do? Who was the editor on Jaws and what was her responsibility?
- An editor is a part of the creative post-production process of filming. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. The editor was Verna Fields her responsibility are to decide the camera angles, lens effects and lighting.
11. Based on the documentary, what are the responsibilities of a producer?
- They are the one who supervise everything and making sure everyone are doing the right thing and their job. Richard Zanuch and David Brown are the producer of this film they both saw and heard about the book at identical times. They both read it overnight and got on the phone with each other the next morning and decided to make it into a film.
12. What does the producer do once principal photography has finished?
- Top arrange the distribution of the film.
13. What did the production designer do on the film?
- They sent there Production designer out with a team to give them some ideas and some photographs and pictures of where this town should be shot