A word on tone

Er, several words on tone.

Tone can make or break a film. It's not genre specific necessarily. It's not that any one tone is wrong. It's just that if you don't strike the right, resonant tone throughout the film you end up with a big ol' mess. Sometimes this mess can be unwatchable. Sometimes it can just be comical. I aim to make neither.
When Girl-Morgan and I were brainstorming she asked a lot about what tone I was after. Fortunately we speak the same language and have seen the same films so I was able to say things like "Ring-ish, with a little Evil Dead in there" without translations or subtitles. Tone wise I'm not sure where we are now, which is something I need to wrangle a bit better before filming starts.

The easiest way for me to think about tone is to compare zombie films. Roderick Kills is not a zombie film, but the zombie genre has a rich and varied tradition to look at. There is nearly every kind of zombie flick out there, if you care to look.

Serious Zombies: 1968s Night of the Living Dead isn't slick or polished or modern. The thing is older than I am, but it's kinda the old American granddaddy of zombie movies (while admittedly not the first). It's not a happy flick, this is serious business. If there's a character in the story you like even at all, rest assured that they're going to die. It's dark, and crude and manages a low budget success that should be an inspiration to low budget film makers everywhere.

Funny Zombies: 2004s Shaun of the Dead is funny. If there's someone out there who thinks that this is supposed to be serious, they need help. It has classic lines, classic characters, and a lot of zombies that are apparently willing to wait patiently to eat them while two childhood best-friends argue. There are other funny zombie films (not all of them intentionally so). I thought New Zealand made Black Sheep was funnier, and more consistent. But Shaun of the Dead had some amazing cinematography. That's where it wins for me. In the beginning there's a series of composed shots that roll across the screen that are each perfect and charming. Even when they yield predictable visual punchlines, there are fantastic panning shots and the composition tends to be gorgeous.

Retro Zombies: 2006s Fido is pretty funny too, but it's more like the Pleasantville of the zombie genre. It's period, from the cars to the clothes to the music. It misses some opportunities, but the points it wins for style puts it into the good column.

Sci-Fi Zombies: 2002s Resident Evil took the video game franchise into the film world. I personally found the games scarier than the movies ever were, but I still get some solid enjoyment out of this sci-fi tinted zombie flick. It has a demented AI computer, and lasers that cut people into tidy little cube shapes, oh, and zombies.

Hardcore Zombies: For my money 2002s 28 Days Later kicks all their asses. It's hard and gritty and scary. It's not a happy film either, but it is a good one. It's also character driven. Just so good on every level for me.

I could go on for days, but I think you get my point. I think I may have to push it to come up with romantic zombie film... maybe that's what my next project should be?