Journal Zero

My original design was to write a retrospective on the production of episode three, but as its conclusion coincides with the end of the year, it seems more appropriate to reflect here upon all that was Night Zero in 2009. I’ll try to avoid re-hashing too many of the specifics that I’ve already covered in posts throughout the year, and instead try and remain reflective of the experiences themselves… but no promises.

The year started right off with Jezebel, our first vignette, with three brand-new cast members and an ambitious shoot schedule. It was a learning experience about freezing temperatures, confined spaces, wonky costumes, and wow it was a blast. Even though episode two hadn’t begun online yet, we had already trumped the best of its shoots (thus far), and that’s really what would come to define the next twelve months. If 2008 was the year of “what the hell are we doing?”, then 2009 would be the year of “how can we do this better?”

When I think back on what it was to create Jezebel, the thing that stands out strongest in my mind is the trio of Sidney, Meagan, and Graham, who together made the piece everything that it is. The energy and enthusiasm they all shared, in spite of (or necessitated by) the numbing coldness and awkward, cramped quarters; the power of the emotional expressions they each brought without any rehearsals and barely a week with the script; and the genuine connection they had on set and on camera. My favorite aspect of Jezebel was the opportunity to work with the three of them, and the collective body of Night Zero is all the stronger because of them.

The benchmark set by Jezebel was readily met by our first serial shoot of the year, Yevgeniy’s house, in the beginning of February. This shoot brings to mind a sense of confidence, as though we were finally getting a handle on regular production. We had plenty of time to finish our schedule, plenty of people to manage the shoot, and a warm, well-lit location to spend the day. Not that every shoot previously had been in miserable conditions (although more than a fair share were so), but Yevgeniy’s house I remember as a particularly relaxed and well-oiled production, with top-notch photos on top of that.

All told, though, February was a busy and stressful month. We had four shoots within five weekends (Yevgeniy’s house, break, Claire’s dorm flashback, the alleyway escape, and Left 5 Dead), on top of our first book arriving and the epic release party that followed (not to mention the grueling hours spent preparing the “survivor packs” given away with pre-orders). In my other life, I was trying to move out of my apartment by the end of the month, but not into another apartment because I would be off to Germany and Austria for three weeks. February was brutal, for myself and those unlucky enough to help me, but we got some great product out of it and learned a good deal about advance planning and tempering our schedules.

The big game-changer of the year was the Emerald City Comicon, where we made our first attempt to reach the outside world with our bizarro “comic book”-type product. I’ve written in depth on the event itself in the past, but in retrospect, what stands out the most about that weekend was the quality of the Night Zero crew. Since my return from Europe I had been burning non-stop to get all the pieces coordinated for the convention, and it was a chaotic Saturday morning getting all the final parts where they needed to be before the doors opened and the throngs flooded in. I didn’t know what to expect from the show, but when the bell sounded and the show floor filled with eager fans, I was stunned to find that I was outside the chaos. Kelly, Alexander, Tara, Forest, and all the team at the photo booth were energized and in complete control; Jana was dominating the makeup station; and I was never prouder of my people. I could wander the show and talk to the crew and fans alike, I could leave the convention to fetch coffee and lunches for the team, I could step aside and chat about Night Zero in great depth to visitors from the film and production communities, and I could step in and out of the photobooth to help out, sign books, or just be in the way. In theater I’ve never been the kind of director who can open a show and then walk away, so it was a surreal experience for me to set the convention in the hands of my team and step back, admiring the incredible work they did with it.

A few more events peppered the year, as we tried to find our niche markets and spread the word about our project. The Crypticon horror convention was a great time, a much smaller show than the ECCC but much more intimate, with more time to actually meet and talk with people, make new contacts, and discover what other people are up to in the community. And there is no greater joy than working at a convention down the aisle from the [adjectives insufficient] Doug Jones. There was the world-record-breaking zombie walk in Fremont, a few appearances at the Fremont Outdoor Movies, and even a trip to Hollywood for a special event screening of Shawn of the Dead. At none of these events (not even the always-busy Comicon) did we net positive cash flow, or come close to breaking even, but they were a ton of fun and I look forward to returning to (at least some of) them in the coming year.

If there’s one way to describe the summer of 2009, it would be “pulling out all the stops.” From the three days of madness to assemble and shoot the skullhunters’ house, to the explosive growth and demands of the Sisters shoot, to the epic zombie takeover in downtown Seattle, all the way to the rainy day on the waterfront surrounded by stacks of shipping containers, we took no shortcuts and spared no efforts to get the maximum out of each endeavor. Thinking back, to the success of the skullhunters house I credit Eli, who was a carpenter, hauler, photographer, gaffer, and cinematographer all in one, and exceptionally so. To the success of Sisters I credit Jana, who assumed hands-on responsibility for costuming and makeup in what was our first attempt to seriously do either, while at the same time committing to a rigorous shoot schedule as one of the featured stars of the story. The success of the downtown shoot is undoubtedly thanks to Gina and Gale and Eric, who arrived out of nowhere just a few weeks before and descended upon the production with an army of energetic production assistants, not to mention the brains and the experience to coordinate them and a hundred zombies all at the same time. And as I recently posted, the accomplishment of the scratcher catchers scene is to the credit of Justin, who endured countless hurdles and rejections in his tireless attempt to find me the location I wanted.

Of course none of those shoots, nor any other, would have been anything without the one and only Kelly Ota, who has been a staple of Night Zero production since the beginning. Not only was she focused and patient through the longest of shoots, but the amount of preparatory work she put into each production made our work possible, from scheduling actors to following up on locations to creating the shoot schedule and shot lists for each day. Having wrapped episode three and the downtown photo shoot, she now moves on to pursue her own projects, and we all wish her the best of luck. I could not have asked for a better friend and teammate.

So when I think back on 2009, I see all the ways in which Night Zero has pushed the limits, not only of its own production capabilities and scale but in the forefront of photography and the photographic novel. We didn’t just make our way through the year, we crushed every obstacle and accomplished what would have been impossible to a lesser crew. Our family was joined by wonderful new people, our archives were filled with gorgeous new shots, and our benchmark has been set so high, I don’t know how we’ll ever top it next year.

But we will. That’s just what we do.

And so ends the third episode of Night Zero, and here’s how it tallies up:

• 52 hours of shooting across 9 dates
• 17 actors and 15 crew members combined
• $9500 expended
• 2,774 photos shot
• 290 frames on 52 pages
• 409 days from first draft to last page

Unlike our previous work on episodes one and two, wherein a single location provided the bulk of the content and repeated visits to that location were the majority of our shoots, episode three required a larger variety of locations and a longer list of shoots. Even though the number of pages spent at the skullhunters house is about the same as in the primary locations in each of the first two episodes, we didn’t have the time or the resources to keep returning to this location to shoot. We had to tackle everything here in one weekend, so that there would be time enough to scout and shoot the rest of the episode as well.

Producing this shoot was not an easy thing to do. The house itself was a property being rented by a quartet of friends (including Ben, who plays Blaze in the episode), who generously agreed to a weekend-long occupation of their home by the Night Zero crew. But while the space itself was as easy as walking in the door, revamping the exterior to be a fortified bunker and the interior to the look of a formerly-modest house taken over by two ruthless thugs… that was a bit more of a challenge. It was then necessary to work the timing of the set construction in with the availability of the cast, all of whom had here-and-there scheduling conflicts for work, school, rehearsals, performances, and the like. The piece of paper that held my scheduling notes became a mad mess of charts and diagrams, mapping actor availabilities with needed character combinations and interior/exterior locations based on time of day and sunlight. It was a mess, and going into that weekend, the madness never let up.

Which isn’t to say the shoot wasn’t a success, or that it wasn’t a fun and educational experience for the team, but it certainly was a nightmare of a weekend. The days were too long, the sun was too hot, the cast and crew overworked and under-rested. With the schedule so hectic, some things got missed (like whether a character was wearing their watch, or how a piece of clothing was worn), some things got mis-placed (the storyboards were a common delinquent), and some things got cut (significant portions of dialogue were sliced and diced just to keep the pace moving). It was a methodical madness, but plenty of good certainly came of it.

Part of the challenge we had on set that led to much of the frustration was the singular notebook with all the storyboards for the scenes. The complete skullhunter house production was broken into seven distinct segments, based on how they would appear in the final comic, but these segments weren’t storyboarded in order and were therefore not in the book in order. I needed the book so I knew what the actors were to do, Eli needed the frames to know what the camera was looking for, and Kelly needed the list of shots to know where we were and how to tweak the schedule to keep us on track. We definitely ran over schedule and I knowingly cut and merged shots on-the-fly to try and simplify the process, but it was apparent through and through that we needed a better way to handle complex shoots. We needed a way to organize all the information about the shots, and a way to share and reformat this information for everybody on the team to get what they need. We didn’t know what that solution was because it hadn’t been invented yet, and although we would move ahead to shoot Claude and the Trio before figuring it out, the insanity of the skullhunters house is unquestionably the catalyst that made clear the need for, and ultimately led to the creation of, the game-changing shot card system.

It was still a good time on set, despite the chaos, and I’m pleased with the results. It was our first extensive work with Christian, playing the role of Edge, and he and Tamara were a great team together, and it was also the first time we’d seen Ben since the warehouse shoot back in Episode One. The weekend was a challenge we faced and overcame, and was the first in a set of increasingly-complex shoots leading up to our end-of-summer extravaganza.

And so, indeed, ends the third episode of Night Zero. Next week kicks off a vignette of a different sort, and I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Eli uses a remote monitor to preview the shot

Tamara takes a call while the shot is set up

Scene instructions with Christian and Tamara

For expediency, I ran a second camera parallel to Eli

Elmo pays a visit to the set

Jana gives some special attention

Eli and Elmo hang out together...

...but also work together

Ben and Elmo on a break

That puppy saw the shoot from all sides

During the course of Episode Three production I was often reminded of my experiences directing in theater, and one of the ways in which I found parallels between the two is in unwritten action. A stage script contains strictly the dialogue spoken by the characters and the essential (required) elements of stage directions. There are no instructions on how the characters carry themselves, or when they stand and move about the room, or even the mood and tone with which they deliver their lines. Everything is subject to the director’s vision and the actors’ interpretations, which is one of the reasons why a single show can be produced so many times and still be a different experience (for better or for worse). I don’t have as much experience on film, but I do know that (for the sake of storyboarding and cinematography) the stage directions are much more abundant and precise.

Through three episodes of Alexander’s scripts, the production team has gotten more comfortable with the logistics of shooting and can spend more and more of their energies focused on their particular unique tasks. Having story cards, the camera operator can spend less time worrying about what the angle is going to be and instead think about which lens and cropping to use. Having shot setup lists, the director of photography and gaffer can spend less time figuring out where the lights will need to be and instead work with more complex setups faster and more efficiently. And having an experienced team to handle all these aspects of the shoot and keep the production rolling, I can partially step out of the producer role and put my energies towards the finer aspects of directing. One such aspect that I’ve been pleased to explore (in episode three particularly) is the non-central action of the story– everything that happens that’s not in the script.

Episode three, like episode two before it but very unlike episodes one and four, develops primarily through dialogue rather than action. From a production standpoint this is simpler, as shooting characters in conversation is easier than shooting characters in motion, but from a design standpoint it provides a different set of challenges. Looking back at all of Edge’s scenes throughout the episode, in conversation with both Blaze and Claire, he discourses on a broad range of topics without being required to DO anything, and never having necessity to move outside of the main areas of the house. There was still a lot he had to say, though, which meant a lot of photos and a lot of pages. The challenge for me in storyboarding, then, was to keep his character (and those around him) engaged and active without distracting from the conversation of the scene.

There was more to it than just filler, there was meaning. In his first scene with Blaze, Edge does very little of the speaking, which immediately says something about their characters’ relationship. To play off that, I drafted the setup where Edge would be the active one and Blaze would be talking and talking but not participating hands-on. The same is true of their second scene, and Claire is certainly better off for it. In her scenes with Edge, the conversation was more balanced between the two of them but was still divisible into Claire-centric topics and Edge-centric topics. I wanted to keep their non-central actions simple, so there are really only two elements to compliment their dialogue. When Claire is asking about Edge’s past she is exploring on the reader’s behalf, so for those portions I wanted to have her physically exploring as well, walking through the house and piecing together the whole of his life. When the conversation moves back towards her story, I chose to emphasize tea as her comfort, not only with the script but also as it appears on camera. Leaving the characters in the background while the teapot sits in the foreground, or cropping a shot at her hands around her cup rather than at her face—not only do these shots break up the monotony of talking heads, but they help to provide associations with who each character is (beyond what they say).

The scene in Yevgeniy’s house was much the same principle. In the conversation between he and Marion, the only scripted action was the reveal and draw of the silverware-drawer pistol (scripted because its integral to the conversation of the scene). For this scene I wasn’t going to do a lot of closeups and object-shots like with Claire and Edge, mostly because that was already done on the opening “montage” for this scene. Instead I would focus on the characters as I would during a normal scene, but keep them engaging in ‘trivial’ activities to prevent the scene from stagnating. Marion remains fairly static in the scene as a status choice: if she can break into his house and confront him without lifting a finger, it gives her more leverage in the power balance. Yevgeniy, on the other hand, is quite mobile and active, not just to make the scene interesting but also to contrast with his stern, stoic demeanor in the office scenes. He’s always got something to do, from setting down the bat to putting on pants to pouring a glass of wine, his motions in the scene directly reflect the levels of tension and respect between himself and Marion.

Which isn’t to say that such is always the case. For the opening scene between Claude and the Trio, the actions of the scene were thoroughly detailed in the script because there was such a back-and-forth between the dialogue and the action. For the scratcher catchers scene, the central action was enough to keep the brief scene consolidated into a small area, and just moving characters to and from, in and out of the truck was enough to keep it dynamic. And the brief scenes with the Nazarovs (sisters and brother alike), a few close-ups of some of their objects brought some diversity but the scenes were so short it wasn’t much of an issue. So there’s a bit of everything in this episode, which is how we like it. Just wait until you see what we did in the next one.

Forest as Katrina's stand-in while the shot is setup

Don't mess with the cameraman

Our first shoot with a live monitor took some setup...

...but was a huge help in setting up complex shots.

Flynn watches the crew in action

More opportunities for sitting than a normal shoot

The man at his craft

The boys show off their guns

This week, a special guest blog post by a longtime friend of Night Zero, mister Jon Axell.

I’ve been a part of Night Zero since day zero. I can even remember the first day that the project had officially begun (day zero), and I still had the nerve to ask why it was not going to be named “Day Zero.” And if the pilot issue is, in fact, canon, then I am the first casualty of Night Zero to appear on the page. So that hour I spent lying face-up in the rain while the blood ran into my eyes made me famous, I hope.

Needless to say, I’ve been involved in the project as much as anybody, if you’re counting consecutive months of at least some involvement. But I’ve probably donated fewer hours than anyone who has appeared as more than just a scratcher. You see, I am afraid of commitment. I’m surrounded by suspiciously hard-working friends who have devoted a great deal of their time and capital to this endeavor, and I was thrilled to see it take form as a full-fledged production at ComiCon Seattle, and the record-breaking Fremont Zombie Walk.

I don’t think people realize why this graphic novel series looks so much better than the one written by your friend with the corpse fetish. But I know why. It’s because these guys put in twice as much effort as they need to in order to ensure they don’t end up like something drawn up by expert programmers whose hobbies include “perversion.” Every action the franchise takes is put forth because these guys want to take their dream there. Their creative drive is all that can and does sustain them. They’re their own little New City within our working, thriving society, pushing hard to spread their work, as well as Night Zero’s message of “drink alcohol or you’ll become a destructive force that kills everyone around you.” I could never do it.

Anyways, I had been dipping in and out of the world of Night Zero as a scratcher or a corpse, walking in on weekly staff meetings, and digging what needed to be Dugg for a long time until my girlfriend (a very pretty scratcher and friend of the franchise) took on the role as a lead heroine in a vignette piece. Forest and Anthony were then kind enough to give me the role of “her boyfriend” over many handsome rivals, who I assume went home crying, or reported to scratcher call and devoured my guts alongside Sara. Because, let’s face it, there’s no chance of a happy ending in the world of “Night Zero.” From what I’ve read and what I’ve done, every life spent in the fictional post-apocalyptic Seattle is either a life that finds itself devoured by scratchers or devoured by survivors. The only choices they have are which, and when. Ironically, that’s what gives a future to this project: the struggles of hope and anti-heroism have countless narratives to be told, and I think this frightening canvas is the way to do it.

For the “Flynnette” (so-called because it was short, and written by a guy named Flynn), I sacrificed a few weekend hours and my beard to tell the story that went on to be known as “untitled vignette.” We shot on the UW campus on a spring weekend, so the place seemed apocalyptically empty. The rain helped stave off hackey sackers and frizbee-loving quad-goers, so we had the slick brick pathways and grass all to ourselves. And as the sugary blood of our scratchers and victims pooled in puddles, I thought about the benefit of being on the Night Zero set: I am being trained for the zombie apocalypse. When I’ve been used as a scratcher - and covered in that fake blood the crew makes that could easily be re-sold under the brand name “Bees Love It!” - I’ve been coached on how to think as a scratcher, how to hunt as a scratcher, how to die as a scratcher. As a survivor, I’ve seen characters around me slip and fall, or not plan multiple escape routes. I’ve endured the heat and endured the cold, all while these guys pour hours and hours into production meetings and photoshopping sessions. And I’ve come out of it with this conclusion: the crew of Night Zero is from the future, sent back to prepare us for what’s to come. Why else would they do this? What besides the drive to ensure our species’ survival would lead them down this road? Pleasure? Creative vision? This isn’t “Penny Arcade.” This is much more real.

What I’m saying is this: give it a try. Put aside raking this weekend and come out and eat somebody. If you don’t like it, don’t ever come back. I promise you will look awesome no matter what, and you’ll probably gain a slight advantage over your oafish roommates for when the zombie apocalypse does happen, and everyone else you know gets eaten.

Jon Axell

The rain and pale skin were natural side effects of laying out in the January rain

Sticky and smiling on the hottest day of the year

Getting ready to take down a messenger

Jon ends up dead more often than not

Covered in sugar syrup? Covered in bees!

Our Hero

Afraid of nothing, Jon stands tall

Welcoming with open arms

Playing around with his new friends

Smile, everyone!

It's not ALL bad, being in Night Zero

Scratcher catchers has the distinction of the longest script-to-shoot leadtime (12.5 months), and up until recently Jezebel held the record for shortest script-to-shoot (2.5 weeks). Sisters is probably going to forever hold the shortest shoot-to-online turnaround (6 hours), and here we finally get to see Yevgeniy’s house, which tops the chart for longest shoot-to-online turnaround (10 months). It seems so long ago that we all got together to shoot our first scene from Episode Three, and yes, that’s because it WAS so long ago. And thanks to the shift from single-storyline to segmented scenes, this one photoshoot comprised the entirety of Katrina and Ben’s commitments for the Episode. Good for them, getting it out of the way early, but still a bit sad for everyone not having as many excuses to work with them throughout the year.

Sometimes I write my blog posts immediately upon completion of the shoots, other times I write at the time of posting for some retrospection. This is the latter, which means while my memory may not be as sharp, my perspective is, and the first thing that comes to mind is what changes first came along at Yevgeniy’s house and what we’ve learned to change since then.

The most significant shift with this shoot is that it was our first with Eli as the principal photographer, rather than as production goon and behind-the-scenes guy. Among his bag of tricks was a larger variety of lenses, enabling us to do some great wide shots and closeups that would have been impossible on our older equipment, as well as the live-view monitor, which gave the cast and crew a remote screen to preview the camera’s viewport. Having the dedicated photographer on set allowed me some freedom to step back and serve more producer-like roles for a change, and have some time to work with Kelly on keeping the production smooth and efficient. This was before the advent of the shot cards so we were still working off of page-restricted storyboards, but the perspective gained from watching Kelly work was part of what helped inspire the changes that (eventually) led to the shot card system.

Yevgeniy’s house was also our first chance to work with the ubiquitous Ben Andrews outside of the Episode One/Two office building, and this scene gave him some freedom to explore his character and personality away from the watchful gaze of the Nazarov sisters. While not as dirty or adventurous as his cameo in the Sisters vignette, Yevgeniy’s role in this scene is still a good development opportunity and our first genuine look into his relationships with the Nazarovs and Marion. For his costume, the dress shirt calls back to his suit at the office, but the deep red color is a direct contrast to his blues and silvers then, and compliments the wine, wood, and windows of his house. For Marion’s costume, darks to contrast her daytime colors and to emphasize her utility as a spy, with both her new costume and wet hair to contrast her ability to go home with Claire’s dependence on others.

More than any shoot before it, this shoot was a very casual and low-key production, despite the quantity and diversity of photos required. We had done a handful of other shoots at interior locations before, but always ones rented or borrowed or lent, and always with time restrictions on the part of either the cast or the location itself. For Yevgeniy’s house, we shot at a private property of our own, with a full day scheduled and no deadlines or cutoffs. Which isn’t to say we slacked our way through, quite the contrary, but it was definitely an easygoing and friendly kind of day. (My memory is fuzzy, but it may have been Superbowl Sunday.)

The opening of the scene is the type of visual sequence perfect in a film montage, and our attempt to recreate it in comic form has both its strengths and weaknesses. While we cannot fade from one image to the next, or slowly pan across an empty table with candles flickering low, we can overlap imagery and present a dark collage of deep, silent colors. Where a film could cross the room and lift itself up the stairs, we have juxtaposed the imagery to show the relative spaces without the motion in between. It’s less of a cinematic effect and more of a compromise for scene/environment establishment, but at the very least it’s got some pretty gorgeous photos. Our mysterious woman in the scene is the charming Lauren Logan from the local improv community, and she was a blast to have on set for her (all-too-brief) cameo. With her patience and Eli’s ingenuity, we succeeded in capturing the incredible overhead shot of her descent down the stairs– the kind of shot that’s easy in an illustrated comic but nearly impossible in photography. It’s dramatic, it’s different, and it is by far one of my favorite Night Zero photos of all time.

All smiles before the serious work begins

By grace of architecture, an incredible shot opportunity

Ben takes a break while Katrina gets her hood just right

Blam! Lighting the kitchen

Our first shoot with live previews of the shot

Pay no attention to the book in his hand, he's really a cool guy

Marion and the table steal the spotlight

I don't know what it is, but it sure surprises Ben