Archive for January, 2009

Night Zero: Beginnings

Posted: 23rd January 2009 by Katrina Hamilton
Categories: Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Guest Posts
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Katrina Hamilton on the origins of the Night Zero project and her involvement in the early days

I still have the email Anthony sent me, dated November 30, 2007. It is titled “Night Zero,” and contains no explanation. Only his original three paragraph pitch about how the infection started and spread. At the very bottom he wrote one word, “Interested?” I thought he was inviting me to see a new movie.

Back when Night Zero was just a name and an idea, the entire team was Anthony, Forest, and me. At first it was all talking – emails, phone calls, coffee shop conversations. We were building an entire world. There were maps of how the infection spread, lists of occupations in the new city. We would talk for hours about how these creatures behaved, how people survived, and what might have happened to the world outside Seattle. I remember once meeting at a local bar to talk character development with Anthony. Eventually the bartender came over to tell us we had to leave, the bar had been closed for 15 minutes. We had gotten so wrapped up in Night Zero, we didn’t realize we’d been there for over four hours.
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Jezebel Post Hoc

Posted: 16th January 2009 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Jezebel"
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On proofing Volume: One and making retroactive adjustments to the “Jezebel” vignette

Sometimes things change, and while transition can be messy or confusing, some changes are all for the best.

Now that Volume One is out of our hands, we’ve turned our attention back to Jezebel and given a major overhaul to the pacing and interactions of the story. Montages have been condensed, layouts have been tightened, and the underlying relationship conflicts between the characters has been brought more to the surface. These changes are based on long-standing wishes we’ve had for the comic, the perspective gained from some time away from Jezebel, and feedback from our fans and readers.
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A New Year for Zombies

Posted: 9th January 2009 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: Concepts & Development
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Reflections on the first year of Night Zero production, and aspirations for the second

You may have noticed a new item decorating the top of the page—it’s time to preorder Night Zero: Volume One. We’ve finished all the preflight checks and production has begun, with expected arrival in early February of this colorful tome. If you’ve been following along you’ve heard me say a hundred times, the look of Night Zero on the printed page is unbelievable, and now’s your chance to see it for yourself (as well as support our little production) for only $14. And if you preorder the book, we’ll even ship it to you for free.

Over the holidays I spent some time talking with Alexander Theoharis, the writer of the “City Planning” serial comic story. He’s a charming and creative fellow who writes Night Zero stories as a means to procrastinate in law school, which guarantees that the heavier the school load is, the more writing he’ll do.  We primarily discussed the long-term future of the serial story, developing a roadmap for both the artistic vision and the production approaches to fulfilling it. Conceptually, the story has been pieced together for some time, and we’re still in good shape to finish it out in six episodes. As the vision for each episode advances, elements fall into place for later segments, and the whole work grows stronger. At the same time, however, each new addition inspires its own set of new scenes—interesting explorations into characters that unfortunately extend the story more than we were expecting. If we don’t break into seven or eight episodes, they could start getting very long.
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Off to the printers

Posted: 2nd January 2009 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Jezebel"
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On printing our first published volume, and finding the perfect tone and cast for our first vignette

It feels good to be back in the flow of a regular comic, after two weeks of other charming content. This “Jezebel” vignette is the result of a fast-track production schedule, having been conceptualized, drafted, coordinated, and shot in a mere sixteen days. It’s taking the place of another story that cannot be shot in the current Seattle weather, so look for the original vignette after Episode Two finishes its online run.

Production of Episode Three has been put on the back burner while all our resources are focused on the  last round of proofing the book. Night Zero: Volume One heads off to the printers in its final form this Monday, and shortly thereafter we will begin accepting preorders for this fantastic piece of art. Ninety-six heavyweight pages of full-color Night Zero will be coming your way at the end of the month, so keep your eye out for that preorder form.
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