Archive for the ‘“Inertia”’ Category

Trapped!

Posted: 19th August 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", "Jezebel", "Midnight", "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Concepts & Development
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On the theme of zombie stories with characters ‘trapped’ together, how the common motifs of these stories draw parallels to our experiences, and how Night Zero tries to avoid rehashing while continuing to explore this topic.

One of our favorite things to do in Night Zero storytelling, it seems, is to trap some people in a room in the midst of the zombie apocalypse and watch their relationships develop or collapse. We had first considered a “trapped” scene as early as Marion’s flashback in Episode One when her boyfriend comes home wounded, but in that case (for pacing reasons) we decided to jump straight into the action. So, our first true “trapped” story was our first vignette, ‘Jezebel’, and in the following years, we visited variations on this theme with the ‘Midnight’, twice over in ‘Inertia’, and now again in ‘Sorority’… not to mention the handful of unproduced scripts and treatments in our back-catalog, all addressing a small group of survivors stuck together in a collapsing world.
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Relationships and Origins

Posted: 1st April 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Concepts & Development
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On the relationship origins of the “Inertia” vignette, and the upcoming origin vignettes.

In my previous blog post on the development of the “Inertia” vignette, I discussed how the story was conceived around the sudden relationship between two students on the night of the zombie apocalypse. In the early development stages, I tried many different variations: the age difference between the two characters, which character started with a better weapon, what kind of prejudices or respect each character held for the other.

True to the butterfly effect, changing just one aspect of the initial conditions started divergent paths that spiraled out into entirely different storylines. Some of the storylines I rejected because they shared too many similarities with stories we’ve already told, while others I rejected because they went in dark and unsettling directions.  Read the rest of this entry »

Inertia Part Two: Loew Hall

Posted: 25th March 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location
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On shooting the students’ half of the “Inertia” vignette

There are times when the Night Zero schedule is relaxed, structured, and done well in advance. This February, with the production of “Inertia”, was not one of those times. Between proofing Volume Three (now shipping) and on the eve of a 2 1/2 week trip to Europe, there was not a lot of time available for the vignette, and while early plans had us shooting the two halves on consecutive weekends, the availability of the cast (on which I did not want to compromise) pushed us into shooting both halves on consecutive days. And due to the building schedules at UW, our second shoot day was moved to a new location that we didn’t see until the night before. It was going to be a tough day.
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Inertia Part One: Denny Hall

Posted: 18th March 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location
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On shooting the professors’ half of the “Inertia” vignette

The production schedule for “Inertia” was rigorous, to say the least. Shooting was done on location at the University of Washington on a single weekend, with each half of the vignette taking one day. The first shoot, Saturday, was spent in Denny Hall, home of the Germanics and Anthropology departments and much of my undergraduate studies. In past years I’d spent many hours in this particular classroom, discussing Goethe and Lessing. For this day, we would be discovering the story of Richard and Elisabeth, professors and colleagues on the night of the zombie apocalypse.

In a typical film production, shoots are split between on-location and sound stage, with as much as possible being done on stage because it’s easier, faster, and cheaper. At Night Zero we shoot everything on location, so for us we can only grade difficulty relative to other locations. The University of Washington is a very friendly and accommodating facility, so gaining access to the space is about as painless as could be hoped for, but working in actual classrooms in a building well over a century old, there are other challenges to face.
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Students and Professors

Posted: 25th February 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", Concepts & Development
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On the development history of the “Inertia” vignette, and how it came to be two tales side-by-side.

Unlike nearly every Night Zero vignette before it, the final product of “Inertia” is very, very close to the original concept from which it developed. The inspiration first came about when the production team moved in to shoot the military segment of Episode Five’s “Three Speeches,” in a mid-century building on campus at the University of Washington. Even though the scene itself had nothing to do with school or college personnel, seeing the environment prompted my brain churning. I wanted to visit the college campus on the night of the zombie apocalypse, and that’s where the vignette development began.

Some vignettes grow from a particular visual I want to actualize, some are inspired by a particular location I want to use, others by a particular actor I want to work with. My favorite vignettes, though, begin with a relationship, and grow into something from there. For “Inertia” that relationship was between two students, meeting for the first time as the world collapses around them.
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Everything’s Turned Sideways-Face

Posted: 18th February 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Inertia", Concepts & Development
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On the choice to present “Inertia” with a landscape orientation

I had originally planned a blog post for today that discussed the development and creation process of our new self-published collection Night Zero: Volume Three, but with “Inertia” taking such a dramatic turn (figuratively and literally) from our usual comic format, I thought it’d be best to talk about that first. But don’t forget, Volume Three is available for pre-order if you’d like to support Night Zero and keep our production going.

Like nearly all Night Zero vignettes, “Inertia” saw many variations before it became the story it is, and while I’ll discuss some of the conceptual iterations in more detail next week, there’s one element that simply cannot be ignored. The entire comic is sideways, utilizing a landscape-orientation that’s actually better suited for (most) computer monitors but very rare in printed comic form. So what’s the deal?
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