Journal Zero

Here we continue with the photo-retrospective of the grand “protest shoot” from episode four. If you missed the first part, you can read it here. This is the second of three parts while we take a quick break this week, coming back on Monday with a brand-new vignette. Stay with us!

After working through the morning schedule, the crowd of protestors/infected receives instructions on how the afternoon will proceed.

The afternoon begins with a montage of infected & victim snapshots, directed by the 2nd AD. For speed and efficiency, the gaffer shot a single light onto the action and the extras moved around it.

The production supervisor and principal cast take a break while the crew works with the crowd.

After being attacked, the guards wait for makeup before returning to the fracas.  Each guard’s attack scene and injuries were designed based on how they would appear on camera, to not waste makeup time on wounds that would never appear.

During breaks, the extras and production assistants could hang out in the shade of the plaza, chat with the on-site police, and watch the principal photography up the stairs.

Towards the end of Sunday, the principal photography moved down into the crowd, where most of the protestors had already been converted into scratchers.

In some instances, whole families were gored up and entered the fray.

In addition to the two photography units, we had a video team all weekend shooting behind-the-scenes and interviews for a documentary project.

Head photographer Eli stepped in front of the camera at the end of the weekend for his role as Hall, squad leader of the 151st.

And that concludes Episode Four: Insecurity! I hope you all enjoyed the action-packed story, and can’t wait to show you what happens in episode five. This week we’ll be taking a quick break from the comics to share with you some of our favorite photos from the “protest” photoshoot, posted here on the Night Zero blog.

It started on an early Saturday morning in late September, at the US Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle.

To pull together a crowd of “protesters,” fans of the Night Zero photobooths at Emerald City Comicon and the Seattle Crypticon were emailed with details and an invitation to participate.

Armed with signs provided by the production staff, the “protestors” were grouped into teams and assigned to different quadrants on the courthouse plaza, under the guidance of team leaders from the production assistant “redshirts”.

Young and old, dozens of enthusiastic zombie fans arrived to participate in the shoot. Some could only make one of the days, but plenty more were around all weekend long.

Patience was required during the morning, the assembled crowd holding position while the main photography team shot Dariya’s speech at the top of the stairs.

While the main unit was shooting the principal action, the B-unit photographer was working inside the crowd, collecting ground-level photos of the protesters in action. Many of these photos were ultimately used in the comic.

One by one, protesters cycled through the makeup camp and came out scratchers… until the entire plaza was swarming with the infected.

The days were long, the makeup was sticky, and the sun was hot, but the protester/zombie extras all seemed to be in good spirits throughout the shoot.

For a while on Sunday, the 2nd AD took over principal photography and surprised us with a few whimsical shots.

Having two days to shoot in the middle of the city, with so many fun and enthusiastic zombie fans, was definitely… thrilling.