Journal Zero

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.

The first days of shooting were cold. Very cold. This was before we had a real production team, so a Night Zero shoot was just four people, sometimes fewer. Forest took pictures, Anthony directed as well as acted, Kelly held the light discs, and I was the actor guinea pig. Because the area in which we shot the bulk of the pilot episode experienced heavy amounts of traffic during the day, one of our shoots there was at 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning. It was still January and it was colder than the night shoots we’d had before. Conversations between Kelly and I often drifted to heat lamps and campfires while the boys were figuring out how to set up the next shot. As time went on my hands started to freeze up and I had trouble holding my prop gun. We were forced to end the shoot when Forest’s fingers got so cold he could no longer work the buttons on the camera.

We got back to Anthony’s apartment for some watered down hot chocolate and I fell asleep in the middle on his living room floor amidst yet another discussion over which buildings would be easiest to defend in case of a real zombie attack. I was frozen, hungry, and tired, and I had just given up most of my Saturday. But I remember that even then, curled up as I was under a fleece blanket, I was having a lot of fun.

Now the shoots are longer, the crew is bigger, and the locations more controlled. There are permits and storyboards, scheduled breaks and printed scripts. While it may have changed, for me working on Night Zero is just as fun as it always was. We discover something new each time we go out there, and with the Jezebel vignette I’m discovering for the first time what it means to be a fan of Night Zero, not knowing what the next page will be. It’s been a great ride thus far. I proud to say that I’ve been there from the beginning, and hope it will be a long time before we get to the end.

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.

Retroactive revisions are something we generally don’t make a big fuss about– if we have to go back and fix a typo or tweak a photo, we do so under the radar. A revision this substantial however, must be mentioned not only to explain the jump between the previous update and the current one, but also to encourage the reader to return to the beginning and see the comic anew.

Aside from the Jezebel revamp and a follow-up photo shoot this weekend, last week saw the wrapping up of the Night Zero: Volume One preprint preparations. A bundle of proofs arrived from Chicago for final review, and pending a couple of minor tweaks, our first book will go to print and be delivered within weeks. If you haven’t already preordered your copy, I encourage you to do so right away.

No major blog update this week, as I’m out of town on a business trip and wrist-deep in preparations for Episode Three. I’ll be back next week for more, so see you then.

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.

Dramatic flow is another fun element, because not only does each episode have its own flow and balance, but the series as a whole has a flow that rises and ebbs across the episodes. Episode one, the introductory, was particularly up-and-down simply because we wanted both to set a precedent of action and fill the reader in on backstory. Episode two covers more forestory, exploring the plot elements established in episode one and introducing the pieces that are going to play for the rest of the series. Episode three is much more active and mobile, as characters break into new pairings and new locations and we explore more of their world and relationships. Episode four, the primary focus of last weeks’ discussion, is going to be incredibly action-heavy, enjoying the powerful scenarios the zombie apocalypse can bring into play. Episode five recovers from that but throws off the balance so that episode six can come to the dramatic climax and conclusion befitting the characters’ investments in it.

If 2008 was the year of discovery, then 2009 will be the year of growth. Over the past fourteen months we’ve invented, learned, and refined the skills and techniques necessary to create an HDR photographic novel, while producing one at the same time. In 2009, concurrent to producing another three episodes and at least as many vignettes, we’re going to be scaling up our productions and beefing up our size. Two weeks ago I thought our plans for episode three were ambitious… now they already seem simple compared to episode four. We’re going to go to the streets of the city, to the heart of the new world, and we’re going to bring plenty of bloodthirsty scratchers with us. The development cycle on our episodes is a healthy six months, so it’s none too soon that these pieces are coming together. If you’re in Seattle this summer, keep your eyes open. There will be chaos…

As “Jezebel” continues its dark and gritty run for the next few weeks, I’ll talk a bit about the process of creating and publishing a book, the preproduction system of episode three, and invite some of our cast and crew members in to write about their experiences with Night Zero. In the meantime, stay alert to stay alive, and don’t forget to preorder Volume One today!

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.

The distinction between bright HDR and comic noir that I discussed last week is already evident in the Jezebel vignette, and more striking examples are yet to come. With such a small shooting space and a more powerful light kit, we were for the first time able to shoot the entire sequence at ISO 100 for richer, cleaner blacks and less grain. Forest and I played to the strengths of the shadows, building tension and contrasting emotions through the use of darkness, and I think the results speak for themselves.

For the vignette we had an all-new cast, featuring the fabulous Graham Downing, Sidney Hunt, and Meagan Karimi-Naser. It was our longest and most ambitious shoot schedule, and still freezing despite being under shelter, but those three kept their energies high and their faces smiling as they worked through their first (and hopefully not last) Night Zero experience. It’s always a joy to work with new people, as every person involved has new ideas and a unique energy that makes this project what it is.

I’m keeping it short this week, because my brain is overloading on the book. Instead of behind-the-scenes photos, I invite you to check out the latest episode of the Webcomic Beacon, a weekly netcast about the world of webcomics. Forest Gibson and yours truly sat down with the Beacon to discuss the concept of Night Zero, the challenges of production, and photographic novels in general.

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year, from all of us at Night Zero. See you next week!