Gary Roche Productions: 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.