We've got to survive! Somebody's got to survive!
Last time on Castle Grey Skullz...
So it’s been an interesting last few weeks. The creative juices have been flowing, university has been smooth sailing and everything’s just pretty good. I turned 22 recently which made me feel both fantastic and awful at the same time. We’re back to movies for this week, with the focus on mainly the Zombie genre. There’s a specific reason for this, being...
Zombies, Zombies, Zombies...
This year the film society at my university decided to put together their first ever production. I’m not entirely clear as to when they first came up with this idea, but I got a message on facebook from said society asking for scripts so as to start pre-production. I usually would have paid this no mind except for the fact that they asked specifically for a low budget zombie script. I was amazed firstly that no-one had come up with a script, and then was almost even more shocked they wanted to make a zombie movie. Since my first year I had been talking about doing that.
So I went to bed thinking about all the great zombie movies I’d ever seen and forming stories in my head like I usually do. Idea’s started flowing and I jumped out of bed to write down some notes, before jumping back under the covers. Then I just thought fuck it, jumped out of bed, turned on my computer and started banging out a story. This became Learning the Dead which I can proudly say is my first ever full completed first draft of a screenplay ever. I’ve started and stopped a lot, but this just flowed out of me. I started writing at like 03:30am, went to university at about 9 for lectures before coming back and finishing it.
18 pages long, it follows the main protagonist Claire, who after seeing her boyfriend with another girl at a party runs off to the woods, only to miss the start of what appears to be a zombie attack back at said party. She ends up meeting up with her boyfriend and a few others, banding together to survive what they believe to be a threat to their lives.
It’s a very standard story, I wasn’t looking for anything groundbreaking, I just wanted to write something that was scary. I used the old school Romero Zombies (slow and menacing) and made it set all around my university, in particular the library (a subtle reference to Resident Evil 2). It had a love triangle as well.
So anyways, I sent it in to the film society and eagerly awaited a reply. I got one, which was actually quite positive if everything I had expected. The quote that sums up the whole email for me is this;
“Overall, I really enjoyed it - but at the mo it's just a good script rather than a great script.”
What happened next was in 3 stages.
Stage 1: Learning the Dead becomes Dead Knowledge.
I showed Learning the Dead to a few people to get some constructive criticism. Most of it was about the fact that it is difficult to do anything ‘new’ with the Zombie genre, and this is true to some extent. But I’ve grown into the opinion that if you can’t do something new that you have to then do something old well. I had been told that the society was afraid of their movie being lost in all the zombie “white noise” which is understandable. I feel however that if they put in the effort and heart that all good zombie movies have then their movie would be better than the majority of crap you can find on YouTube or the dark and dusty corner of your DVD store.
So I took a printout of Learning the Dead and scribbled a load of notes all over it. I decided almost immediately that Dead Knowledge was a better title and that my characters needed serious work. I decided to go a different way this time, instead of editing the script I already had I started from scratch using my original script as a basis. It ended up being 28 pages, which was way over what I wanted. I aimed for 15 but that failed. At least I had achieved most of what I set out for.
I added a few more characters, individualising the ones I already had and working on that love triangle. I went seriously low budget with the majority of zombies out of view or obscured in some way most of the time. It was also mostly set in dark places to allow the film makers to really play around with the lighting. There’s quite a lot of running, which I felt gave the appearance of ‘action’ to what is basically a script based on suspense.
I sent it off and actually didn’t hear anything about it until a meeting was arranged to pick production roles and discuss the script. I was excited as this could finally be my chance to make a good film that has my name on it. A few days before the meeting I spoke to the producer who told me that another script was being finished.
For about half an hour this was the worst news I had ever heard in my life. I went through all the emotions you can imagine. I was upset that I now had competition. I was angry that until I wrote my script no-one had bothered. I was jealous in case she turned out to be the most fantastic writer ever. And then I was happy, because I actually had a chance to compete and better myself.
Stage 2: Dead Knowledge and the Meeting.
This meeting was one of the worst experiences I can remember having recently. We went to Brenda’s, our universities equivalent of a greasy spoon cafe, which was not the most ideal meeting space. It was loud and everyone was eating. Your voice doesn’t travel well in these situations. I think there were 14 people in all, including me and the other writer. They asked us to pitch our scripts as barely anyone had actually bothered to read them. I was unprepared for this and kind of stumbled through my plot and characters while sweating profusely (I don’t know why as it was actually quite cold).
As I said people were eating and most of them looked like they didn’t understand what I was talking about, so when we finished pitching I moved aside while they began to pitch for their roles. I spoke to a few of them about the script. I got the same talk about how generic it was while one said he didn’t think it was filmable; everyone said it was too long.
So I took it to another friend at university, and he made me start to think about the message that I wanted to send through this film. I began to see things on a different level. My zombies went from being dangerous and hungry to calm and passive. My human characters became the aggressors, attacking anything they didn’t understand. My zombies came to represent change and my characters the different way of dealing with it.
My main character Claire is a good example of this. At the beginning of the script we see her looking out onto a pond at night coming to terms with the change she must now deal with since seeing her boyfriend cheating on her. She doesn’t ever attack a zombie like the others do, and she seems to be the least fearful of them as well. The others are all afraid of the change these peaceful zombies present to them, while she is so bold as to accept it at the end of the film (spoilers!). I cut out all the extra characters I had added except one and cut the dialogue down as much as possible.
I knew it was ambitious but I was certain this was a film that could be made and that it would be worth doing.
Stage 3: Dead Knowledge and the Deadline.
I was starting to get the feeling that I wasn’t going to get my script chosen somewhere around the middle of stage 2. My friend had opened my eyes to the potential I had left untapped and that kept me upbeat for a while. I read the other writers script, which was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it, and was surprised that hers was nearly as long as mine. It was also a very different approach, more Shaun of the Dead than Night of the Living Dead. She had much better characters than I did, but I wasn’t so taken back by her script that I wanted to give up.
So now it was the battle of old school horror VS comedy horror. I cut the script down some more to 22 pages mainly by taking out a lot of dialogue and lessening the amount of individual focus on some characters. I took out all the cheesy lines to give it a more realistic feel. With my zombies symbolising change I felt my characters needed to act more realistically. The guys that had originally been my macho “Let’s save the day!” type guys became more concerned with self preservation than being considered heroes. The dumb blonde that I had included mainly for stereotyping purposes became deeper. She stopped crying constantly and actually found her place in the story. I had managed to get across the idea that humans are the ‘real’ danger, no matter how cliché that idea may be.
I won’t say I was happy, I think satisfied is a better word, but I slowly became disheartened again when I found out that two other scripts had been written just before the final deadline for scripts. Both of them went for a more post apocalyptic approach and were set after a zombie invasion as opposed to during like mine and the other one was. I’ll be honest, one was basically the same as the other one I was competing against, and the other one was a half finished version of their idea, so I wasn’t too messed up by it. At this point I had put too much work into my story to change it anyway. So I marched forwards, cutting it down to 19 pages which ended up being my final draft. I sent it off and waited for the deadline to pass and the votes to be counted.
I figured I wouldn’t vote for my script so I told the society I thought they should mix two of the similar scripts together as both had parts that were very good. I don’t know how many votes I got but I didn’t win. I think something like 7 people voted in all, and the majority vote was for the half finished script I had been so quick to brush off earlier. I was a bit upset, I’d put 2 weeks of hard work into it for little more than experience. A few days later still there was another deadline passed around for scripts to have another go but I had given up. They were looking for something innovative and different, and that just wasn’t how I approached this task.
I’m not really certain as to the point of the story, so take from it what you will. I didn’t get the movie, but I did get said experience and it’s led to a good few weeks of consistent writing. I’ve also started work on another two screenplays, both of which are at about 10 to 15 pages right now. I’m also still working towards writing this comic as well as finding ways to make this blog more interesting for you the reader.
Anyways...
So here’s what I’ve been watching lately:
My love for Norway has increased immensely since I came to university. I cannot tell you how much love I have for all my Norwegian class mates. So of course I had to check out a zombie movie from their home country. I saw a trailer for this a while back and sent it to Castle Grey Max quickly as you can imagine. The plot via IMDB,
“A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.”
This comes about because they find a box filled with Nazi gold under the cabin they are staying in, which leads the dead Nazi’s to rise and reclaim it. My next sentence needs a line of its own.
This film is EXCELLENT.
Please, don’t think I’m being crazy. You’re probably asking yourself how a zombie film can be excellent, especially one with such a silly idea. Well I’ll tell you in short form, as this film is one you NEED to see.
Lighting – This was the first thing to stick out to me. This film is perfectly lit, and that is so, so, so important in a movie (especially the horror genre). So many times I have found myself watching a horror film where I just can’t see anything that is going on because it’s so badly lit. There is none of that here, all the shadows perfectly placed to show you only what they want. The outside scenes where the moon hits the snow are amazing to look at, and you really get the feel of warmth and safety from the cabin they occupy. It’s very rare to get this these days, and it’s something I feel you should take note of.
Acting – I think even more surprising than the lighting is the level of acting in this movie. It’s actually really good and all of the characters are pitch-perfect in their delivery. Though I had to watch with subtitles, not being Norwegian and all, it just seemed like everyone was bang on it and their chemistry is undeniable. The acting added to the fact they are all playing medical students stops this movie from being really stupid when you know in your head it should be. I was also really feeling that these characters didn’t react like idiots. I love the old school horrors when people are running up stairs instead of out their front doors but in modern horror that doesn’t hack it. Running away is exactly the same for me. It’s fine for slasher movies but it doesn’t make sense to me that so many characters are hesitant to stand up and fight some of the monsters of today. Either way, there is very little of that in this movie. The characters are scared at first, of course, but that fear soon turns to anger and acceptance. It’s really nice to see, and their chemistry goes a long way to making this as funny as it is.
References – There are so many references to great films in this. They aren’t all so easy to spot either. Watch it closely. The characters talk about the Evil Dead movies, which are also subtly referenced in both the setting and camera angles used in later scenes. One character wears a Brain Dead t-shirt. Another does an excellent impression of Sloth from the Goonies. There are countless others including ones I probably missed. I’m also not entirely sure how correct the translations on the subtitles are so I might have missed even more. These little Easter eggs are fantastic and what all good genre movies need.
Action – This film has some great action sequences. The fights with the zombies are epic and brutal. It’s nice to see some ‘new’ ways to kill zombies, like actually trying to kill them instead of running away. It gets really crazy towards the end, two of the guys get locked in a tool shed and gear up to take on about 20 zombies. It’s gory but always fun and the best zombie action of the past few years, including the over rated 28 ... later series.
Zombies – Zombies, Nazis, Zombie Nazis. They run, they climb trees, they fight and they want their gold back. I don’t really know what I can add to that.
So yeah, Dead Snow is a film you need to see, especially if you love zombies, horror, comedy or Norwegians. I love all four so of course I enjoyed this. I kind of wish I had watched this before I wrote Dead Knowledge.
I know its borderline racist but I’m now very excited for The Thing prequel, also being made by Norwegians. I know me thinking that because Dead Snow was awesome every other film made by Norwegians will be awesome is like me thinking all German directors are shit because of Uwe Boll, but whatever. This film rocked, and I will be paying more attention to the Norwegian film industry in the future.
“Central to Unit 27. Jean-Claude Van Damme's robbing a post office. I need back-up."
I absolutely loved this film. I say that quite a lot, but it’s true. I’m not the biggest Jean-Claude Van Damme fan, Bloodsport is about the only other movie of his I can say I’ve sat through in its entirety. I’ve never considered him to be a good actor. This film changed all of that. Another in the line of movies featuring actors playing exaggerated versions of themselves, JCVD follows Van Damme as he takes a trip to the Post Office and gets involved in a robbery hostage situation. The acting is actually very good, helped by a good script and some excellent pacing. There’s even a 7 or 8 minute monologue given by Van Damme about his life and the problems he has overcome straight to the camera that doesn’t feel out of place or weird at all. I won’t give away too much, to be honest I don’t think any description I give you will be as good as watching it, but I do have to mention one thing. JCVD has one of the best opening sequences ever made. It features Van Damme making his way through some sort of military camp just beating the shit out of people, grabbing a girl and trying to make an exit to safety. It looks beautiful, the music over the top (don’t know the song) is perfect and the end of the scene sets up Hollywood and the tone of the movie very well. It’s actually almost worth watching just for that one scene. A very interesting movie.
“I don't know how you survived, slave. Prepare to terminate.”
This is one of those films you watch when you’re a kid and its fantastic. Return to it as an adult however, and you find it to be something visually stunning and full of potential that just doesn’t quite hit the mark. Or I did anyway. For those who haven’t seen it this is from way back in 1982 and is about a hacker literally pulled into a video game to stop a master computer from taking over the world. I love the visuals in this movie, for ‘82 they were groundbreaking, and they still look good in 2009. The acting is a little sub-par but I bet people didn’t notice with all the whacky colours and game references being thrown at them. Colourful and funny but not quite as good as I remembered it being. I’m sure the re-make (whenever it comes out) will be worth watching though, if only to see how they transfer a very ambitious story to a more modern setting.
“Rule number five... Show no love. Love will get you killed.”
There’s so many ironic quotes from this film it’s not funny. I’m not a big 50 Cent fan, it was about the same time he showed up that I stopped listening to music properly, and his acting skills can’t change my opinion. This is a fucking awful movie. I saw it on Channel 4 the other day and almost went out to buy the DVD so I could spend an entire post ripping it to shreds scene by scene. Then I decided that would be a waste of yours and my time, and that I would just say a few words on it. I really don’t know what’s worse, the fact he goes out of his way to look like Jesus in a lot of frames or the disgustingly over glamorised version of his life story. I can barely believe I sat through all of this and I would not recommend it to anyone except 50 Cent fans. I respect him for making his money and taking over the world but this film is about as much an epic fail as the majority of his music. Even if they set this film in Norway it still would have sucked.
“Jimmy, quit acting like an idiot and dissect your frog!”
I’ll keep the living dead theme going with an independent horror movie from 2008. This is simply low budget zombie fun. When a small town is attacked by hordes of zombies on prom night a bunch of high school kids, who normally don’t get along, band together to stop this evil menace. Sounds pretty standard, and it is, but this film actually has a lot to offer you. The script is fast and fun, the acting is pretty good considering its mostly local unknowns, and the zombies are pretty good considering the budget. Their intro when they come, literally, flying out the ground is very cool and actually pretty innovative. As far as I know this didn’t get a very wide release and I’m not even sure if it’s made it onto DVD yet, but if you like horror comedies that remind of Evil Dead and Re-animator then go out of your way to find this movie. If you forced me to make a choice between this and Dead Snow it would be Dead Snow, hands down, but as film fans you should try to see them both.
Television...
We were pretty TV heavy last week so I’ll keep it short and sweet this time in saying that practically none of my opinions have changed. Least of all about Heroes...
*Takes a bow*
Joe
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