Monday, June 28, 2021

Flesh of the Dead: The Journal

 

Flesh of the Dead: The Journal

Prologue

Flesh of the Dead: Conceptual Title Card



The Origin of the Idea




'Flesh of the Dead' began as an idea that I intended to pitch as a possible group project at the university I was currently studying at, Escape Studios, which specialises in 'The Art of Computer Animation'. Originally, it was called 'Dishonest Burgers', a horror-comedy with the premise being a young drunk who comes across what looks to be the only shop that was open within the perimeter of the street he was walking down in the middle of the night and decides to go in there hoping to be served, only to his discovery to finds that he would be on the menu when approached by the shop's manager: a large, disproportionate, savage cannibal. I was heavily influenced by 1970's-80's horror movies, especially 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) 'The Evil Dead' (1981), and 'Evil Dead 2'(1987), as well as smart-dumb comedy humour from The Simpsons (1989-present) and scenarios similar to what you'll see in the finished product from their Treehouse of Horror episodes and some of the splatstick humour from their Itchy & Scratchy segments; simply summing all of these influences up with the tagline 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set in a McDonalds in the UK, but with the dark, twisted, comedic edge of Evil Dead 2.'

Chapter 1 - Burger Royale

The Proof of Concept

Burger Royale: A Short Prologue to 'Flesh of the Dead'


In my second attempt to pitch the idea for the second group project, I evolved the idea a little more over the two-week break in between the two animation projects that were part of my module towards my degree. I tirelessly, and desperately wrote a short script that would later evolve into a lengthier film, and saw the potential of what could become of this idea which I thought was so vivid, different, and so unique to this medium which got me really excited. I completed the script for the short in less than a day, along with completed storyboards which I drew and edited together into an animatic with sound and music, found all the sets, assets, and set up a production schedule keeping track of my progress, and a shot list within that two-week gap. I was over halfway through completing the pre-production process of my idea before I set out to pitch it at the beginning of the second part of my module, which was sadly turned down a second time.


Rough Breakdown/Draft of the Script




Finalised Shooting Script

  









Pre-Production


Moodboards



Moodboard by Gary Roche


Rough Thumbnails



Storyboards/Beat Sheets

       

       

                                           Storyboards/Beat Sheets by Gary Roche


2D Animatic


Edited/Sound Edited by Gary Roche


Colour Script

I originally had colour scripted myself when I originally pitched the idea a second time to my fellow peers, but I was not overly satisfied since it was rushed, and had little time to polish it. I had given Tsvetelina Kumanova the role of art director based on the artistic value that she had to bring to the project and instead had her produce some beautiful colour scripts that imitated my influences from such cult classic horror movies like 'The Evil Dead', and 'Evil Dead 2.'


Layout by Gary Roche


Colour Script by Tsvetelina Kumanova


Production Schedule


  

 
                                         Spreadsheets produced by Gary Roche


Production

Luckily, I was able to assemble a small group of animation students who were willing to help make my short prologue to the film over the summer break. I offered to take on a huge workload, and take on as many hats as possible such as production designer, layout, cinematography, texturing, editing, sound design, colour grading, voice acting, as well as my main roles as director, producer, and writer. I even acted out all the live-action video references for all the shots and made an ident of the fake branding of our production company name. I did everything I could to make the crew's involvement light and easy, as well as enjoyable as possible, and a fun one based on the style of animation I was going for was more over-the-top, pantomime animation, as well as them being short easy shots which I broke up the thirty shots and put a handful together into eight project files. Three which I had worked on and the other six were split up among the six crew members I had who were on board.

Rough 3D Layout


Reference Animatic


All live-action references were performed by Gary Roche

Finalised 3D Layout, with 2D Animatic and References


All 3D Animatics were edited by Gary Roche

Layout Shots

                           Scene 1

                                 Shots 1-9

 

                           Scene 2

Shots 1-4                                   Shots 5-7                           Shots 8-11

      

                           Scene 3

Shots 1-3               Shot 4          Shots 5-6         Shots 7-11

        

                            3D Layout/Camera Layout by Gary Roche


Cinematography Influences











Cinematography Tracking List

              


Post-Production

After completing the two-week window I set the animators to work on their shots, they were then all imported into Unreal Engine, along with the textures, and the lighting which I sat and oversaw with my director of photography-in lighting, and fellow texturer, Molly McCabe, before doing render tests. We spent a week online working on each set of contained shots until they were finalised for me to put into a rough cut of the finished piece.

Completed/Rendered Animations


                     Scene 1 (Rendered)

                                Shots 1-9

  

Animated by Gary Roche


                      Scene 2 (Rendered)

                                 Shots 1-4     


Animated by Tsvetelina Kumanova


Shots 5-7

  

Animated by Gary Roche

Shots 8-11


Animated by Louis Chevis


                   Scene 3 (Rendered)


                                 Shots 1-3        
     

Animated by Liam Mann

 Shot 4

 

Animated by Gary Roche

                               Shots 5-6          
     
  

Animated by Molly McCabe

Shots 7-11


Animated by Eliezer Girma


                    All lit and rendered in Unreal Engine 4 by Molly McCabe


Finished Product

I spent the whole weekend tweaking and refining the rough cut into a final cut that I was satisfied with that was to a standard that was raw and something that I can use as a calling card to financiers that I can make a film of professional quality if given the support needed in making the longer film possible, as well as to honour the hard work, and the time and dedication that my crew has given in making the short possible. We overall had a smooth process with my commitment to organising the project and orchestrating the process, with their efforts in making it work and in result, the finished product turned out to be quite similar to the animatic, and the impression that I wanted to give that was true to my vision, as well as having fun working on a simple and rather effective short piece. All we need is to promote this short and hopefully find people who could see the potential, and have the belief that this would be worth investing in if given the opportunity. This cut is for promotional/presentational use only which I have done by showing it to financiers who were interested, as well as getting some financial support from crowdfunding, and Kickstarter websites. Essentially, I have been searching through and offering to show the short to nearly every production and distribution company; big or small, that could afford to invest in a small, independent, 35-minute animated film, and hopefully see the potential of what it is that I am creating.





One-Sheet for Festivals

This is the one-sheet poster used to help promote the short into festivals, particularly in short horror festivals where it would be more appreciated and respected by hardcore fans of the genre. The design was inspired by my love for horror movies of the 1970's-80's where movie posters use to be painted by skillful, and talented artists.



                                                   Poster designed by Gary Roche

Festival Cut

This is the same cut but with original music composed by rising talent, Stuart Bramwell. This cut would be used to be submitted into festivals.






The Screenplay

After finishing the short I quickly moved onto writing the screenplay for a much longer version of the short, spending just over two weeks constructing the story to making a final draft.



A Script Cover

This is a crude cover I whipped up after the completion of the final draft of my screenplay for the film.



Back Cover


The journey into getting the film made continues...

Accolades

1st Nomnimation:


2nd Nomination:


1st Award Win:


2nd Award Win


3rd Award Win


4th Award Win


5th Award Win


6th Award Win



7th Award Win


8th Award Win


9th Award Win



10th Award


11th Award


12th Award Win



13th Award Win




14th Award Win


15th Award Win




Honourable Mention


16th Award


17th Award


Chapter 2 - Beyond the Hedges

The Script












Character Moodboards

Pseduo-Characters





Villains



Environments


Conceptual Character Designs








Altered Character Line-Up



The Voice Cast







Thumbnails

Script to Sketch














Lining up the Thumbnails (First Pass)









My Education:

My virtual mentors and heroes who tutorials I have been learning and borrowing pieces of their methodology from to mix and make as my own while I was storyboarding out the whole pilot.




Beat Sheets (Polished Storyboards)
























































































My Education:

My virtual mentors and heroes whose tutorials I have been learning and borrowing pieces of their methodology from to mix and make as my own while I was storyboarding out the whole pilot.


Cutting the animatic together




Click the link to watch the full animatic on my Vimeo Channel:

https://vimeo.com/692771769

Colour Scripts




Anotations for my Colourist





Inspirations for the Colour Script





























My Storyboards

  My Storyboard Portfolio Burger Royale-A Short Prologue (Indie Investment Trailer) Animatic (2021)     Finished Product My Specialism Proje...