DIARY OF THE DEAD

Ok I'm not sure who has seen the movie "Diary of the Dead" but to those who have seen it, that's sorta what I imagined for this movie. Have people from all parts of the world film "their version" of the zombie outbreak and we all tie it together by a common theme. I posted something that tagged on someone else's idea when this forum first started about having the Governments POV and we cut back and forth from the main plot (the world's governments POV) to the POV of the everyday people (sent in zombie footage). This is a great idea but I have read a lot of good, and bad, ideas so I don't know it this idea will just get lost in the mass opinions but it's worth a shot....

Good idea.

No no no no no and no.
I cant stress how many times Ive said I dont like this idea at all.

Look, this only works with big budget films.

Why?

Cos even the shoddy "camcorders" they use are nearly 5 grand a piece and the sound is still enhanced and it is still a stressful process.
How can we do retakes or do a little bit of a shot over again when the camera is constantly shaking etc?

Expensive Movies = Using a cheap look to look more artistic/realisitic = works because we know they could do better in terms of quality, but they decided against that.

Our Movie = Using a cheap look to look more artistic/realistic = doesnt work because the people sitting at home knows we cant really do much better so we just give up and dont try doing it professionally and end up looking like royal twats on screen.

And another thing about normal camcorders:
It has to be kept VERY still in order to get the best quality of picture, even if its a good camcorder. So how would the audience see the actors if the screen is constnatly blurring up as we make one quick turn?

Sides, we would never get epic shots such as a birds eye view of the area they are in or the other types of interesting camera movements (e.g.: tracking shots) and we wouldnt get many close ups of the zombies since itd only be on for very brief moments if we chose a 1st person POV.

Well my two cents.

I think if interspersed with wee bits of POV the film would be ok, but I agree that it couldn't all be like that because we're not all high-tech millionaries who could pull something off that looks raw and amateur but is still good enough quality to watch.

Fuzileer wrote:No no no no no and no.
I cant stress how many times Ive said I dont like this idea at all.

Look, this only works with big budget films.

Why?

Cos even the shoddy "camcorders" they use are nearly 5 grand a piece and the sound is still enhanced and it is still a stressful process.
How can we do retakes or do a little bit of a shot over again when the camera is constantly shaking etc?

Expensive Movies = Using a cheap look to look more artistic/realisitic = works because we know they could do better in terms of quality, but they decided against that.

Our Movie = Using a cheap look to look more artistic/realistic = doesnt work because the people sitting at home knows we cant really do much better so we just give up and dont try doing it professionally and end up looking like royal twats on screen.

And another thing about normal camcorders:
It has to be kept VERY still in order to get the best quality of picture, even if its a good camcorder. So how would the audience see the actors if the screen is constnatly blurring up as we make one quick turn?

Sides, we would never get epic shots such as a birds eye view of the area they are in or the other types of interesting camera movements (e.g.: tracking shots) and we wouldnt get many close ups of the zombies since itd only be on for very brief moments if we chose a 1st person POV.

Well my two cents.

Ok, what you're saying is true but at the same time false. We ARE a low buget film crew. When people click the link they will know as soon as the movie starts, if not before, it's low buget production. So worrying about what they will think is pretty pointless. Also, if you edit things CORRECTLY it WILL work. I know what you're talking about in the sense of normal camcorders and stuff but that's part of editing. As much as Paperlilies wants to have EVERYONE in on this some stuff will be below par and we'll have to edit it out. Sucks I know but with a crew this large it WILL happen. Just have to work with the best shots and edit them according to script.

And if people don't know how to shoot a good quality shot then that's on them. Poor work gets edited out. If they offer to shoot then they should know how to shoot. I understand what you mean completely. Having worked on an independent film I understand what you mean on "how will we be able to do retakes?", easy have everyone send their clips with 3-5 (no more) takes and the editor(s) can pick the best ones.

It's really a lot simpler than your making it out to be. True we don't have a multi-million dollar buget but you can still get around things and make it look decent enough. I mean this movie is based off of one girl's YouTube video and wants to include HUNDREDS of people's opinions, it CAN work but it will take A LOT of it...

it's a fair idea, but I'd like it to be MUCH better than Diary of the dead if that were the case. Not in terms of video quality or anything, but in the sense of realism. Diary of the dead tried the "realistic camcorder point of view" bit, but they played dramatic music over it, and often changed camera angles, and was just so poorly done that it lost whatever feel they tried to go for. If this is in fact the way we go, the filming and editing would be very different than how some would be used to handling their films.

diary of the dead was stupid

"here is what happened to us, i've added music just so you can see how bad it was"

WHAT!?
WHAT!?

you stupid girl!
i mean Diary of the Dead was ment to be like blair witch with zombies, why the hell did they add music?
it makes me sick.

I liked Diary of the Dead. Romero taking us back to the beginning was great, but some bits did let it down such as the music and the over dedicated film maker holding the camera while he was being abused by the zombie at the end. Perhaps I just want to love all things zombie, who knows?

I've thought about Diary of the Dead a lot during this project because basically our script fills in the parts that their script glanced over in the first two minutes of the movie.

As for the cameras and such, it's been said from the start of this project that there will be crews with good equipment who will film the main story and everyone else will get to contribute vlogs with whatever cameras they have.

I haven't seen anything from Bryony or anyone else that's changed that.