How will the new film improve on the original?
Locations:- This is one of the first steps of improvement. The majority of the original series is set in the countryside, the use of more 'urban' environments will help to add more grittiness and create a more claustrophobic atmosphere. The replacement of the small bedroom for an abandoned factory will also give us a lot more flexibility to be more inventive with the props, surroundings and lighting within the room. The general use of graffiti is something I want to remain within the story.
Story Development:- The story in the original is its overall downfall for me. Choosing to focus more on the visual side and the limited timeframe, I cut corners to complete this film. This time round I am not giving a required 'time length' to the film, no time limit on completing production and have recruited a writer to better project this story to the audience. We are keeping the underlying story and the ending but the rest is being torn apart starting from fresh. The end product will be an almost completely different film.
Soundtrack/Sound:- In the original I just grabbed royalty free soundtracks and just chucked them in there. During the first year of uni you discover this is a massive no/no and if anything, corrupts the story your trying to deliver. So for the new film I will be getting someone to produce the music for and will use a lot less of it to build up the tension in the appropriate places. The use of sound effects within the film (Zombie Growls, flashbacks etc) will be improved massively also on the original, hiring 2 members of crew to work on collecting sound during shooting and foley in Post-Production.
I will be keeping regular updates on my blog and Facebook page so keep an eye out for more details soon. Until then here is a couple links below to the original zombie short below:-
