THE LIVING DEAD.

Undead is an Australian feature film, which was directed and produced by the Spierig brothers (Michael and Peter) in the year of 2003. Undead is a horror film starring Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay and Rob Jenkins.  This film also contains elements of action, sci-fi and comedy. The making of the film (Undead) highlighted the many challenges encountered during all three stages of the production process.

The story line for the film Undead is simple, the film begins in a normal simple peaceful small town named Rustic Berkeley, where life is sweet and people are friendly. But all that is about to change, when suddenly an avalanche of meteorites races through the sky, bombarding the town and bringing an otherworldly infection. The living dead are awakened leaving desperate survivors who were unharmed to find a way out, now caught in a nightmare of zombies hungry for human flesh. Together the survivors battle their way through a plague of walking dead and discover that there is more transpiring than just an infection.

Upon the making of the film the Spierig brothers were faced with a number of problems, during all three stages of the production process. The film was entirely funded by the Spierig brothers and their family and friends; therefore the major concern which was encountered during the pre-production and production stages of the film was the budget. On the first day of production both of the Spierig brothers claimed to have spent their entire budget on that one day, due to creating interior locations from scratch and having to create hundreds of makeup effect appliances. Due to the budget constraints every aspect of the film had to be planned carefully meaning that there was no room for mistakes or error. In other to overcome this situation the Spierig brothers were forced to incorporate cost saving techniques, which included gathering as many free resources as possible, such as paint, costumes, make-up and all sets had to be kept at the lowest cost possible. The majority of the film was shot in a warehouse located in Queensland Australia.

Not only were the Spierig brothers faced which budget concerns, casting took over two months during the pre-production stage because the Spierig brothers wanted to find the most suitable actors for the correct roles. Mother Nature also got in the way, many members of the cast and crew became sick and unable to work due to the extremely wet cold conditions meanwhile filming. With the reduced crew, filming became a long and extremely difficult task to complete; the Spierig brothers and crew were push to their limits.

Within the post-production stage, the Spierig brothers were tested once again. In order to complete the film the Spierig brothers were forced to take the work of editing the film themselves. Furthermore due to the limited budget the brothers were to create all the visual effects on their own personal laptops computers. Their computers lacked the industrial standard, which meant Michael and Peter working on their laptops battled with continuous hardware and software failures. Making the process time consuming and extremely frustrating, over 300 visual effects were created for the film taking over two and a half years of hard work and determination to complete the film.

Personal I believe that the concerns and problems myself and my group with face, will be during the production and post-production stages (filming and editing) this is because we lack the experience and knowledge towards editing. In order of completing and make a successful production all crew members, must work hard and be determined to completing the set task.  

X MARKS THE SPOT!

What does the classification board do?

-          The classification board is an independent Government body that classifies all types of material, such as films and computer games before they are viewed by the general public. The classifications PG, M, MA, 15+, R, 18+ OR X 18 and over are designed to help consumers decide what media material they will be consuming, now with this advice consumers are able to make an informed decision. 

-          The board is also decides what consumer advice is to be provide. The board also classifies internet context, referred by the Australian communications and Media authority (ACMA), and deals with material referred by the Australian customs.

How important is context in the decision making process?

-          Depending of the context of the film depends on the rating it will receive, for example the material of a film may contain violence, nudity, foul language. This will determine the classification of the film, the classification of a film, publication or computer game is about informing your choices. Before material is made available to the public, the Classification Board assesses the content to see where it fits within the classification categories. The context will affect the decision making process because depending on the context a rating will be allocated. The classification bored must comply with the Publication: film and computers games Act 1995. 

How is impact assessed?

-          While deciding and allocating classifications, the classification board must also asses the level of impact which consumers will be subjected to. Impact is assessed on the high force or shock a person will receive when consuming the media material. Level of horror or violence the film contains the same goes for computer games and other media material. 

Research some of the decisions the Board has made in recent years. What content has been refused classification or needed to be amended?

-          Grand theft auto was classified RC (refused classification) in Australia under the classification-publications of films and computers Act 1995.

-          The decision to classify GTA 3 RC was due to a number of reasons, which included a large content of violence, criminal activity and sexual animations.

-          During the course of the game, the gamer undertakes a number of missions which include stealing police cars, killing police officers, running over pedestrians and obtaining different weapons. When in the action of an attack on a pedestrian, police officer or criminal figure a pool of blood is seen coming from the victim’s body.  Victims maybe attacked in a number of ways for example, punches to the body or face, repeated kicking or killed with the use of a weapon such as a gun.

-          According to the game sites the preferred method of killing is shooting at close range.

-          In one scene, the gamer stops to pick up a sex worker. She agrees to get into the car and the gamer drives onto a grassed treed area, the car then begins rocking and the scene is then accompanied by the games money decreasing.

-          The review board took this imagery to be a suggestion of sexual activity. Furthermore the ministers are concerned that games, because of their interactive nature may have greater impact and therefore greater potential for harm on young minds than films.