I've begun experimenting with creating 3D models now. Since I'm likely wanting to create a full outdoor scene of the house and surrounding environment, I've first created a very simple model of the house's exterior using thin white card. For this I had to essentially create my own origami design which I could fold into the correct shape and have interlocking joins in places. For an extremely basic construction, the result isn't too bad, however the strength and robustness of it needs to be much better as it is prone to warping with such thin material. The interlocking technique I used on the additional pillar piece proved to be very strong however and this is definitely something which I'll have to use more frequently to ensure my model is stable. Doing this also means the need for adhesives isn't necessary to stick things together. And obviously if I was creating my actual final model it would need to be infinitely more detailed and layered.

Creating a set for my 3D outcome is probably one of the most important parts of the process as you can't have a model without a set to place it in. Since my film is primarily filmed at what appears to be night-time, and all my previous thumbnail sketches suggest dark backgrounds, that is what I've tried to achieve here.

As I was searching for things to use, I came across my collection of old sketchbooks of various sizes, A3, A4 & A5. Anything above A3 would be too small to work with and photograph, so I gathered a few A3 ones and begun taking the covers of them as they were matte black in most cases, ideal for what I'm trying to achieve. Once I'd taken the four covers off, I had all the panels I needed to create a rectangular box. The three panels you see in the second image are held together simply from behind with tape, so they can be collapsed easily when needing to move my set and for storage purposes. The top panel does not need to be attached at all as it can just rest on top of the box already there. Although having a roofing panel might seem silly and awkward to work with, it acts as a medium to block out the light, thus darkening the set even further. Also, if and when I need to add text to the set, it can hang freely from above without any complexity.

I've started creating some initial thumbnail sketches trying to gather ideas on subject matter and composition. A lot of the posters I'd seen for the actual film were very contrasty and dark, appropriate considering the films nature, and I am trying to go for a similar thing here. Choosing a subject matter has been particularly challenging however, as the original posters featured the plain old characters and nothing else. I've taken a different approach here and made my examples more relative to the film's title and storyline including things such as a graveyard, zombies and their crashed plane, all of which are viable ideas. At present, I'm leaning towards creating a more scenic model of the exterior of the mansion they come across and the surrounding environment of shrubbery and jungle. I would've ideally liked something more symbolic and typical of zombie films, however since the zombies in this film feature no gore, blood or torn clothing etc like your stereotypical ones, I'll have to shift my focus more towards the storyline in this instance.

Currently I am leaning towards having a stereotypical zombie representing the film, but I need to be careful how I approach that as the zombies in the film aren't of your typical nature; they don't feature torn clothing, blood, uncomfortable sounds etc, so I'll carry on presenting ideas for now and see where it goes from here.

I've gathered a selection of images from online showing various examples of things such as sculptures, posters and stop motion animation sets to further gather more ideas for this project. As I don't have the resources to do anything like clay sculpting or dolls for use as figures, I may have to resort to paper/card cut-outs and sculptures possibly. One thing I do like about some of the examples here is the use of layering with paper and cardboard etc to create the illusion of a 3D environment. Another thing I'm going to have to experiment with is types of lighting as that can have a dramatic impact on how a set looks. With my film being in a predominantly dark environment, obviously filmed in black and white, there is a lot of high contrast and harsh shadows within the film, which I want to replicate in my poster too.

Here I've compiled a selection of various original posters and artworks from the movie which I hope will help provide some insight into the kind of composition, text, colour palette etc. that I may use in my own outcomes.

Here I've gathered a collection of the key frames from the film and arranged them in chronological order, starting with the opening title frame. I hope to use these as inspiration when it comes to actually putting together some illustrations.

The task for this project is to create a final outcome of a 3D for our given film. In this case, my film is going to be 'King of the Zombies'.

'King of the Zombies' 
Initial release date; 14 May 1941
Director; Jean Yarbrough
Screenplay; Edmond Kelso
Nominations; Academy Award for 'Best Music'

Cast;
Dick Purcell as 'James 'Mac' McCarthy'
Jon Archer as 'Bill Summers'
Mantan Moreland as 'Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson'
Henry Viktor as 'Dr. Miklos Sangre'
Joan Woodbury as 'Barbara Winslow'

Background;
Inspired by the success of the film 'The Ghost Breakers' in 1940, 'king of the Zombies was announced in January of 1941. It is an American zombie comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough, Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury and Mantan Moreland. Produced by Monogram Pictures, it was very much typical of its 'B Films' at the time. In 1943, a sequel was released under the alias of 'Revenge of the Zombies' which included two of the original cast members.

Plot;
In 1941, captain James 'Mac' McCarthy pilots a Capelis XC-12 airplane flying between Cuba and Puerto Rico when the plane begins running out of fuel and is blown of course by an incoming storm. Unable to pick up any radio signal over the Caribbean, he suddenly hears a brief transmission from what he assumes is a nearby island. After crash-landing on this remote island, McCarthy and his crewmates Bill Summers and Jefferson Jackson soon take refuge in a nearby mansion, courtesy of Dr Miklos. Sangre. The witty servant (Jefferson Jackson) soon notices odd happenings within the home and begins to be convinced that the house is haunted by zombies. The 2 crew-members and their servant enlist the help of Barbara Winslow as they go in search of the mysterious events going on in the mansion. While exploring, they stumble upon a voodoo ritual in the basement, being conducted by the doctor himself, who in actuality is a foreign spy attempting to gather intelligence from a captured US admiral who had also previously crash-landed on the island. McCarthy succumbs to the doctor's spell, however Summers soon comes to his aid, interrupting the ceremony just as Barbara is about to reveal information. This causes the zombies to turn on their master (the doctor). The doc shoots McCarthy multiple times but gets forced backwards into a fire-pit by the zombies and subsequently dies. Now, with the doctor dead, the zombies are released from their spells.