Posts Tagged ‘inertia’

To Reveal or Not to Reveal

Posted: 30th September 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Concepts & Development
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On the developmental question whether to include Jill in the ‘Sorority’ vignette, how much of her story to reveal, and what that meant for Jack.

As a writer and a consumer, I really like mysteries. I like the large unknowns with only hints and allusions, I like the unanswered “what happens next” more than a perfectly-wrapped package, and I don’t think it’s much of a secret that this type of storytelling is a big influence in Night Zero. Right in our first vignette ‘Jezebel‘ I went for the ending of ambiguous fates, rather than pegging down where Jezebel went, whether Tracey followed or stayed behind, and whether Clint died, turned, or survived. The entire backstory of ‘Special Delivery‘ remains a secret, as do Jezebel’s motivations in ‘Devon‘ and the fate of Tom and Sadie from ‘The Things You Take‘.

It was with this same desire for non-closure that I put together the ending of ‘Inertia‘, where Jill and Jack take their chances out in the world while Richard and Elisabeth remain in their room and await rescue or death. In a perfect fictional world, that would be the absolute end, but I already knew deep down that Jill would become one of the primary messengers in Episode Six, so it never was an air-tight ambiguity. That said, though, I thought leaving the time between ‘Inertia’ and Episode Six a mystery would be suitable, letting the reader wonder what happened to the two of them, how Jill ended up with the messengers, and whether Jack is still alive.
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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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