Similar Products and conventions research post

 We are making an action/horror opening sequence with a sub genre of post-apocalyptic.

How it ends (2018) 

'How it ends' is about a man fighting through thousands of kilometres, in the middle of an apocalypse to get back to his pregnant wife. it is directed by David M. Rosenthal and stars Theo James, Forest Whitaker, Nicole Ari Parker, Grace Dove, Kat Graham, and Mark O'Brien. 

Even though it has a completely different story line it still has some major similarities to our opening sequence. 

The setting and location is the most similar as it is obviously set in an apocalyptic environment. it has also got the same colour grading that we are looking to put in ours as well (more of an orangey dusty tone).

The costumes are also very much so what we are going for as it instantly shows that the characters are trying to survive, and don’t have barely any other clothing options, due to them being so scruffy. 

A shot that i am hoping to use in our opening sequence is a mid shot with a side shot of the character, when they are in the rusty shack in our sequence. i like this shot due to the background being so dark creates a fear towards the audience of not knowing what is there.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad max is an Australian post apocalyptic film with action packed car chases and violence. It was directed by George Miller and stars Charlize Theron, Tom hardy, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz and more. 

The setting and location in Mad Max relates heavily to what we are trying to replicate in our opening sequence, not including the desert environment, but the tone and theme given to the audience. 

Some props in Mad Max, for example the cars used, are very similar to some of the post apocalyptic vehicles we are likely feature within our sequence (as seen of the left here). The use of these cars instantly tells the audience that the sequence is based in a post apocalyptic environment. This is due to them being rusty and with some extreme modifications to make them stronger and more scary. 

The lighting in Mad Max has also got that same lighting and more orangey tone that also adds too that post apocalyptic vibe.

This here (to the left) is a shot I would love to use in our opening sequence when the girls realises that someone is after her. It adds suspense as the audience can only see the character and not the person or thing they have just seen, another use of 'the fear of the unknown'.

Cargo (2017)

Cargo is a apocalyptic film based in Australia where a father slowly being infected by a pandemic, tries to carry his child to safety before it's too late and the infection takes over. The film is directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, and stars Martin Freeman, Simone Landers, Lily Anne McPherson‑Dobbins, Finlay Sjoberg. By Netflix

The costumes and make up in the film is exactly what my group had in mind for our shoot, where the characters look as if they have been outside trying to survive for weeks. The clothes having rips and tears in them showing the characters have been through various tumours before we see them, for example, fallen over or even been attacked. Even the tree branch the man is holding shows he is having some kind of difficulty walking.

In our opening sequence i would absolutely love to use a shot like this to establish the area that the girl is in, but instead of being Australia, it being either an open field or in the woods somewhere depending on how it appears on camera.

The Walking Dead (2010-2022)

The Walking Dead is a TV series which has had a massive following over the last 11 yrs it has been running. It is about a zombie apocalypse were multiple survivors are roaming around struggling to survive. Over the 11 seasons that have currently been released, there has been many directors, including Frank Darabont, Michelle MacLaren, Billy Gierhart, Julius Ramsay, David Boyd and a couple more. It stars Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan and many more. It was produced by AMC Studios.

The costumes and makeup in The Walking Dead are very similar to the clothing that we have bought for our actress to wear for the shoot. They look dirty and torn/ripped in places, showing that the characters are surviving in a wasteland.

Also some of the props used in The Walking Dead are exactly what we are looking into using as our killers weapon (the battle axe). The rusty look of the one in the photo (to the right) makes it look hand made and more likely to do some proper damage. The rusty look also gives of the post apocalyptic vibe as stereotypically tools, vehicles and other objects made in post apocalyptic films are made of rusty metal. The rusty metal also fits in with the rusty shack we are filming around and in, on our shoot day. So therefore connoting to the audience that the killer is related to the shack or made it from the metal of the shack.

I think all of these products fit perfectly with the genre we have chosen and add a mysterious and dusty tone to the films. Some elements from our sequence are different for example the main character being female and that it is not the same plot line, as ours follows the killer instead of the victims or ones trying to escape danger. But overall they carry the same conventions from the post apocalyptic sub genre and stereotypical traits.