Right away you can see that Episode Three moves to a more broad storytelling approach than its predecessors. Rather than directly following Marion and Claire on their adventures together, we now explore the larger world that they inhabit. This episode splits our main characters into new pairings, adds introduces nine new characters, and features seven all-new locations. To start off, it’s Claude and the Trio at the quarantine processing and holding cells.

This scene was a long time coming, the ultimate conclusion to the course of action established at the beginning of episode two. It was shot in June of this year with a skeleton crew and cast of first-time roles, so there was a heightened level of challenge for the whole team. This happened before the “Sisters” vignette, making it also our first use of prosthetic makeup on-set. We were back at the University of Washington, not far from all our episode one exteriors, but a year later and unimaginably better prepared. It was the weekend of UW Commencement, so we were without Kelly and Forest on the set. Eli was our photographer for the day, and assistant-director duties were managed by the wonderful Chloe.

The shoot began with an early morning call and some doughnuts. As the Trio all arrived for their first Night Zero shoot, Jana introduced them to their costumes and took care of their transformations. Before assuming the role of Claude, our production manager Justin helped the crew rearrange the location to suit how we wanted the quarantine space to be laid out, and with some final makeup touches and a light kit, we were ready to roll.

Aside from the green cast and crew, the shoot was as straightforward as any could have been. Kelly had provided a shot schedule, which is a detailed scheduling of which shots are to be taken in which grouping and order. These seemingly simple lists are far from easy to compile, but Kelly always does a tremendous job and they keep our shoots flowing with minimal backtracking and maximum efficiency. With the list in one hand and the storyboards in the other, newcomer Chloe stepped up to the challenge and guided us through the day, while Eli and I focused on the shot-to-shot setups. As we started shooting the opening of the scene, our scratcher for the day arrived and Jana got right to work crafting his gruesome visage.

This shoot took place a few weeks after our grueling weekend at the Skullhunter’s House, so by comparison Claude and the Trio was a simple enough task. Working with such a small crew and brand-new actors certainly provides a new challenge, though, but even though it was a hard day’s work, the whole team put in a great show and I’m quite pleased with how it all wrapped up. Our next shoot with the Trio is just over a week away, for a scene that will appear online around mid-November, which will take us to another gorgeous new location and introduce our final major cast member.

Finally, on a side note, this past weekend the Night Zero team pulled it’s full might together for the most epic zombie production in Seattle’s history. Featuring over a hundred zombies and victims over a two-day shoot, we pulled out all the stops and brought to life a truly incredible event. A hundred thanks to the veteran and visiting production heads, the army of crew redshirts, and the incredible patience and enthusiasm of all the crowd participants. It was a shoot eight months in planning, and with a budget greater than all our previous episodes and vignettes combined, and it was worth every second and every penny. I’ll drop some occasional blog updates about it here and there, although the scene itself won’t appear until episode four (early 2010).