I went through Darabont's original scene and read through my script again paying close attention to the props I will need for my adaptation. These include:
- Medical equipment: Rick's nasal cannula and bandages, and the IV stand stood out the most for me - I will be able to get these from my sister who conveniently works at a nursing agency (which is also one of my filming locations). It would also be very good to have access to some medical machinery, such as a heart rate monitor. The nursing agency has some machines available, but I was also considering using old VCR and DVD players to plug wires into to give the impression of some sort of monitoring equipment.
- Hospital Bed: Again, this is something that will be at the nursing agency, although I will likely buy some plain bed-sheets as the ones available may not distract from the tone of the film.
- Clock: Straightforward, I have clocks.
- Corpse: Not as straightforward, I do not have corpses. There are two ways I could go about this. I could be faithful to the original scene where the corpse is mostly eaten with most of the skeleton on show - this would mean I would have to make the corpse using Papier Mâché and then painting to look like it is covered in blood. Alternatively, I could recruit an extra (several of my friends have expressed an interest in helping, which would save time hiring an actor to play something that does not move or speak), who I would "decorate", for lack of a better term, with blood and gore to look like the corpse. Ultimately, this comes down to time and effect against practicality, therefore I will try to make the corpse, but if this because too much of an issue, I will ask a friend to do this for me.
- Blood: I must consider both realism and practicality as it can be very easy to get the blood effect wrong which would transform it from a dramatic device to a farce. I will endeavour to get the most realistic blood as possible: I have found several places to buy fake blood, and this site is looking like the best available option.
- Matches: Something small, but vital for the final part of the film - easily obtainable.
- Barricade: I will need objects to barricade the double door, such as wood planks and perhaps a chain. These can be obtained easily - the wood can come from virtually anywhere, probably from some old fencing in my garden; and my dad has some chain from his work as a locksmith.
- "Don't open dead inside": This will need to be spray-painted, or at least look like it is spray-painted on the double doors. I have a lot of spray paint from my art days, which I can write out the words on a large acetate sheet (which I also already have) that I will be able to attach on the face of the door so it looks as though it is written on the door itself.
- Flowers and vase: The flowers and vase will be easily obtainable, but I will need to buy two identical bunches of flowers several weeks apart from each other. This will allow me to create the feeling of time passing in the same way that this was shown in the initial scene.
The costumes and makeup will also be vital in achieving the realism of the scene and for building the characters.
Rick Grimes
In the original scene, Rick wears a hospital gown and light blue shorts with a bandage across his stomach; he is also not wearing anything on his feet. This is something I will keep faithful to the original scene: it's important to see Rick in this vulnerable state so it would not make sense to change it for any reason, and they are inexpensive to buy.
Shane Walsh
Shane wears a US sheriff's deputy uniform without the over-shirt - a light grey T-shirt tucked into beige trousers with a belt. Since the acting talent will speak with an English/London accent, it makes since to Anglicise Shane's uniform too. Therefore, I have opted to dress Shane in a white short sleeve shirt with a black tie and black trousers, closer to what an off-duty British police officer would be wearing.
There are three predominant lighting styles I want to use in the sequence.
The first scene where Rick is hallucinating Shane speaking in front of him will have the biggest change from the original. Rather than Darabont's usual cool and crisp lighting, I want to create a more dreamlike feel to this scene so that there is an element of surrealism to the hallucination, which will contrast to when Rick has awoken and back in the real world. I would like to use soft, warm lighting to create a comfortable and escapist tone, so when Rick returns to consciousness, the audience has another way of knowing Rick has been thrown into a world he knows nothing about any more.
I was inspired by a scene from the final season of 'Breaking Bad' in which Jesse Pinkman is dreaming about making a wooden box in a workshop, somewhere he feels calm and content before snapping back to reality as he is working under slave conditions for a white supremacist gang to cook meth. The lighting and orange colour palette really work well to separate Jesse from reality, which is something I feel would translate well if I create a similar lighting set up in my scene.
The second stage in the lighting is a lot closer to the original scene, as is the third. For the second stage, I will aim to enforce the realism of the scene, and so I will use much cooler lighting. I will likely start with a standard three-point setup and alter it to the layout of the room where there will be light coming through the windows. This will be the main lighting setup of the whole sequence.
The third stage will only last for the scene in which Rick is making his way down the stairwell and trying to light matches to illuminate the way. In this scene, the matches will be the only sources of light in the frame so I will either just use the light from the match, or use a spotlight so we can see some of his face.
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