Okay...

1. For those of you who LOVE the Resident Evil game series.

2. (This is kind of a bonus, but not necessarily a front point) Those of you who hated what Paul WS Anderson did to Resident Evil.

3. People who love a good adapted game to movie/tv series/works.

I have an answer for you!

I, Andrew James Thomas (composer of Diaries of Olan and other fan scores, as well as director,writer, and producer) have put a resident evil fan show into development. The idea came to me last Summer, when the disgust of Paul Anderson's latest addition to Resident Evil's trailer appeared. I decided once and for all a web series should be made to honor the real FEELING of the games. Kind of like the Resident Evil Outbreak Series, minus the unfun crappy gameplay.
I bring you, THE RACCOON CITY CHRONICLES. The story of FIVE survivors and their stories of trying to live during the final days of Raccoon City. This takes place right after the first Resident Evil game, and a little before Resident Evil 2 (game). I have a low budget, but I'm working with the best I can. Right now, I present to you a full feature length TRAILER, and I would appreciate any and all opinions on it. Also if anyone could host a mirror to download the trailer, it would help me out a lot as I am quickly running out of webspace. And I want to make sure I have enough for Halloween when the first episode comes out.

As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated greatly. I hope you guys feel what I am doing and the true fans of Resident Evil have something they can enjoy from the series. Thank you for reading, and hopefully watching.

- Sincerely,
Andrew James Thomas (writer,director,executive producer)

URL: http://www.andrewjamesthomas.com/re/

Right click and download the file.

i am going to see extinction tomorrow

I sincerely hope I get more incisive feedback than that. After all, I just explained that this series does something right towards Resident Evil, rather than the films which did everything wrong.

The scenes seem to be in a residential area. Are you also going to film it in a metropolitan area? And how about all the monsters that appear in the game? Aside from that, the video looks okay.

The "Video" is shot in a very high format HD. Most of the storyline takes place in the outskirts of R-city... let's not forget that it is a small town, not a huge industrial city like the films portray. But there will be scenes inside the metro area. The first episode has a couple zombies; the second has Cerberus... and the rest would be spoilers. So you'll have to wait and watch!

the movies sort of kidna went there own way witch would have ben fine if they wold have elft main charaters alone i am downlaoding that trailor and going to watch it soon so leave you feed back then

it might work if you get soem good zombies and it seems more like the mmo game than the others

Some criticism - constructive, I hope:

1. Get a tripod/trolley. You don't need to spend mega bucks on a professional one, anything with wheels that you can strap a tripod to is good. Shakey-cam really only works if it's supposed to be from a human p.o.v. - it makes it seem like there is another character behind the camera, which ruins the suspense.

2. Don't use a cap gun. Use a model gun and add sound effects post production. Cap guns are too small, and you can obviously see the caps flare. Speaking of post production, on several of the scene changes you can hear the record button click 'stop' - you should probably film a little longer than you need to and cut out before this.

3. If you actually intend to publish this on the 'net, don't use the MPAA logo (you'll get sued) or the Capcom logo (you'll get sued).

4. The costume looks kinda silly. Instead of going for the 'video game' feel, try to imagine what your character actually would be wearing at the zombie outbreak.

Apart from that, it looks like you have the makings of a top notch production - you have an eye for sets, angles and pacing.

Extinction was pretty alright

I liked the crows scene!

Some criticism - constructive, I hope:

1. Get a tripod/trolley. You don't need to spend mega bucks on a professional one, anything with wheels that you can strap a tripod to is good. Shakey-cam really only works if it's supposed to be from a human p.o.v. - it makes it seem like there is another character behind the camera, which ruins the suspense.

2. Don't use a cap gun. Use a model gun and add sound effects post production. Cap guns are too small, and you can obviously see the caps flare. Speaking of post production, on several of the scene changes you can hear the record button click 'stop' - you should probably film a little longer than you need to and cut out before this.

3. If you actually intend to publish this on the 'net, don't use the MPAA logo (you'll get sued) or the Capcom logo (you'll get sued).

4. The costume looks kinda silly. Instead of going for the 'video game' feel, try to imagine what your character actually would be wearing at the zombie outbreak.

Apart from that, it looks like you have the makings of a top notch production - you have an eye for sets, angles and pacing.



I appreciate all criticism... but this is a lot for just seeing the trailer. First off, I was using a tripod on most cuts (the trailer I used more hand held shots for action). Second, it wasn't a cap gun, it's a pistol with blanks. And third the costume was for an ex-militant character who's stuck in the situation. But thank you for the compliments, I have been going for film school just as long as I have been learning to compose. The final result of the episode will look a lot more professional I promise. And I did get permission from Capcom, and all my legal stuff is in order, including MPAA approved clips and episodes.


Thanks friend!

SPECIAL UPDATE! The final trailer is up and online. Visit the same address and you'll see two new files to download. A lower quality smaller file for people with less patience and/or slower connections and a full quality HD trailer. This will be the final release before the actual episode this Halloween.

Thanks again!

too bad for the nw fans i guess

What?

oh wrong thread

Awesome! You got Dominic Purcell to be on this project. I'll be sure to watch it.

Uh... my window got closed down when I was typing my first post so now I'm typing again...

First of all, all my comments pertain to the shorter of the 2 official trailers as my connection is not too great right now.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how professional the trailer looked. You actors and actresses did a very good and believable job. I especially enjoyed the dark atmosphere and I think this can be very good if you keep up the quality. There are just a few things I'd like to comment on:
- Bittersweet Symphony for the beginning just doesn't seem to do it for me. I liked all your other music, however.
- The zombies are not very believable to me. For the one under the sheet it might help to make it so the bed doesn't wheel when the female character jerks around. I know it's SUPPOSED to move, but a presence that's easily movable is just so much less terrifying if you know what I mean. As for the female zombie that appeared later, she moved too much like a human being for me to be believable. Oftentimes zombies and other unnatural beings are harder to act out than normal characters. It's not that what you have are bad, but they could be better.
- CG's and sound effect. This pertains to the ex-militant part. Viewers are spoiled today with high quality CG's so try to avoid using them unless you can get your special visual effects better. Otherwise they will do nothing to help and only make your product look like bad Sci-fi series. Also, the gun shots sounded very fake to me, it'd be great if you can make it better.
- Scenic progression. I got a bit confused with the part where the male and female characters are exploring a house together, then the female character seemed to have gotten attacked (did she??), then she somehow appeared on a bed on the second story. Visually this part didn't make sense to me.

Other than that I thought everything looked great. The bloody sheets effect in the beginning was pretty cool (one thing about blood though, try to make them darker if you can). Your actors/actresses are surprisingly good and I think it's pretty awesome that you got all the legal stuff in order. This is not an easy project and I wish you good luck on it.

I must point out that the second trailer used clips from a film called "Grave Dancers" Starring Dominic Purcell. I got permission to edit clips to spoof up the hype from the resident evil project. Two scripts are now finished and I will post an episode listing with synopsis soon.

I also need to mention that while I value all of your opinions and appreciate feedback... I think some of you are taking this way too far. You have to understand that I am not Hollywood. I don't have $50 million dollars to produce the epic atmosphere Paul Anderson did. I have a decent camera, a decent budget and semi-decent actors. I am writing and directing mostly everything as well as editing and scoring. The show will be what it is, it won't be perfect like you want it to be, but I can promise I won't ruin the continuity with the games like the film did.

So please don't analyze this stuff to death and try to appreciate the fact that you're getting a decent quality Resident Evil series. It's better than nothing and definatly better than the films Hollywood gave us. In turn, you're going to have to overlook the minor flaws that is what low budget film making is. If you cannot do that, I suggest you don't watch it at all. I hope we get enough support to keep it going though, and you guys have been great. Our funds are running short and our main actor (guy in the vest) was just terminated for coming to work intoxicated on heroin.

So again, please understand that I am going to make the show in the fashion that I am going to make it. I'll try my best to make it look good, but I'm not going to change anything based on suggestions of anyone, especially deep critical reviews of trailers. At least wait for an entire episode before you decide to dissect everything.

Again, count your blessings... this thing could go away. And it can always be worse... look at BMB Finishes Zelda fan film.., now THAT is garbage.

Thanks for reading.

I know you guys are anxious to see some of the main characters appear in the series, but I must remind you that this show is based off of 5 original characters and their story surviving Raccoon City.

However, I WILL give you a little bit of spoilers if you're interested. I'm not naming any characters specifically... but ... BUT there will be guest cameos. I will PROMISE you this. They will be cast very well, nothing they do in these episodes will alter the game storyline in anyway shape or form. For instance, in the first episode the main character Shamus refers to his "police officer friend" who worked in the S.T.A.R.S division named Chris.

Again people, this is basically a show about Resident Evil Outbreak. We are trying to make it as realistic as possible, and anything can happen. We aren't dealing with pure heroism and characters that can do back flips and snap zombie dogs in half with their thighs. There could be an episode where a main character gets his head ripped off and it can happen by something really stupid like a window breaking and the glass cutting him. We are trying to be realistic and set the mood perfectly. Think of a soap opera that was like Twin Peaks but took place in Raccoon City.

I now release the Season 1 episode listing for you all.

Episode 1 - "Pilot" - Chapter 1: The Nightmare

WARNING: Spoilers below... not major spoilers, but some plot information for the episode's synopsis'.

Synopsis: The introduction of three main characters each waking up like from a hazed dream into the reality that is a true nightmare. The city is now home to the living dead, and they plan a rendezvous.

Episode 2 - Chapter 2: Dead Rising

Synopsis: Shamus, Jeff, and Sarah meet up in the Raccoon Sportswear Supermart "The Golfing Raccoon". There they meet the other two survivors, Peter and May. Before they can find a safe haven, and make a plan they are ambushed by over a hundred zombies and a few lickers. Everything and anything is up for grabs for a weapon as the splatterfest begins.


Episode 3 - Chapter 3: The Diary of Rebecca Chambers

The group relocates in an abandoned hotel. Jeff has been mortally injured and the rest of the team needs to make a plan to get to a hospital to find the right supplies to keep him alive. Meanwhile, Shamus finds a diary that reveals more information to what's going on... and also runs into the owner of the book.


Episode 4 - Chapter 4: The Stalker

Megan receives radio contact from a flight team that agrees to meet them on a roof to fly them out of the city. However the team runs into a huge problem, a seven foot all one... as the team is stalked by a Tyrant monster.


Episode 5 - Chapter 5: The Last Key

Betrayal, death, madness, and an unlikely twist leaves the group in chaos and possibly the end of their adventures through getting away or being incinerated in a ruined city.


Episode 5.2 or 6 - Chapter 5 (Continued): What if?

What's left of the group is stranded with little supplies, massive injuries and a lot of monsters waiting for fresh meat. Meanwhile as the countdown nears zero for nuclear devastation, the missile fails and the city is spared. Is the journey really over? or has something unforeseen about to begin.


Air dates - Youtube, andrewjamesthomas.com, (website cs).

Episode 1 Airs October 31st 2007. (http://www.andrewjamesthomas.com/re/Umbrella%20Chronicles%201.1-%20Pilot.pdf)

Episode 2 Airs November 30th 2007. (http://www.andrewjamesthomas.com/re/Umbrella%20Chronicles%201.2-%20Dead%20Rising.pdf)

Episode 3 Airs December 21st 2007.

Episode 4 Airs March 14th 2008.

Episode 5 and 5.2 (Ep 6) Airs April 25th 2008.

Both episodes (Screenplays) are online available to be downloadeed and read (with Adobe Acrobat Reader). Enjoy.

very interesting. i'll watch it. well, is it gonna be super gory? cause i don't like gore and if it is super gory, i won't watch it.

the woman in the trailer (the one at the end in the bed) reminds me very much of jill.

It's very graphical... but it's fun! I promise!

Double Post... sorry...


Read the scripts! The links are clickable now. Has anyone read any of the episodes? 1 and 2 are online (the scripts). I wrote them (duh).

When I click on the episodes link it says...

Not Found
The requested URL /re/Umbrella Chronicles 1.1- Pilot.pdf was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Also, what do I type to see the show on YouTube?

I know I haven't been around in awhile. But we ran into a jumble of legal issues among other things. Suffice to say the premiere will be on Thanksgiving. So you can eat turkey while you watch zombies eating people. It works, I guess.

Sorry for the delay.

PS, again do to legal issues, the scripts will no longer be available. Sorry.