How to Train a Zombie - ID# 367
Homewood-Flossmoor
Comedic Narrative
Entry Description
A comedy spoof about a zombie learning how to be a zombie.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 3/24 12:20 pm - Works well - This was a very funny premise that mostly works. The structure of the story was good. The ending was a clever twist. Needs work - The mask lowered the production value and was a little distracting. You should have done some basic face makeup / blood instead. The mask made it look more like a prank or homemade video. The text at the end was funny, but the font and misspelling of "zombie" again lowered the production value.
- 2/21 2:03 pm - Camera: camera work was good - you had a ton of shots and angles. Lighting: consistent lighting Sound: great sound; clear dialogue and music used appropriately Editing: nice pacing; this video gave us a complete story in a short, concise format. Well done! Story: I think this is one of the most clever and original comedy concepts that I’ve seen in the video festival. I love how you incorporated the Rocky montage with your own spin on it. I want to applaud the ending; THAT was a funny twist, and you killed it with the freeze frame.
Judge 1
Positives: Fun premise. "Can you be a 'bad' zombie?" Good structure - attack, realization, training montage, congratulations, zombie doing its thing. And glad this was complete - setup, middle, escalation, resolution, closer.
Improvements: This type of scene depends on contrast - the scary seriousness of zombies vs optimistic training montage. The training montage was the correct tone, but it would have benefitted from a little more "serious zombie stuff." (I know, I know, but bear with me) - Maybe make the initial attack terrifying, OR take away the zombie's ability to speak OR make the trainer's fear more real in a few bits. Ideally, this type of piece has hard moments between zombie stuff and training stuff - the last beat "you know i have to eat you" "what? Ahh" is what i mean, that kind of quick switch energy was needed throughout.
Judge 2
Positives: nice natural performances from actors
Improvements: establish storyline
Judge 3
Positives: I had a great time watching your film. The simplicity of the narrative was refreshing, and the twist at the end was a delightful surprise. Overall an enjoyable ride. Keep up the fantastic work!
Improvements: While the training montage was definitely a highlight, I think you could have tightened that up a bit, or added in a few more zombie jokes at a rapid clip. Great opportunity to cram in gags. Additionally, I would have liked to have seen more of the zombie being bad at zombie'ing to sell that a bit more in the first part of the film. Again, great work, and I hope you keep making films!
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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