Starving Zombies

Q: How do these zombies differ from the ones you created for Romero?

A: We used the graphic novel certainly as inspiration. We've always tried to push the envelope, and because I've done so many other projects it's always one of those things where you finish a movie and go, "Oh man next time I know how we can make it better. And after that I know how we can make it even better than that." We've taken everything that we've learned on all these other projects, and applied them in terms of using new materials and new techniques - even something as simple as a zombie getting shot in the head: We really sat down and worked through the best way to make that look realistic and practical.

Q: What was your solution?

A: Well in the '70s they just put squibs on extras' heads and detonated them. Then you got to the point where if you had to use explosive squibs it could only be on a stunt person. But for The Walking Dead, we're going for a very specific physical type: Every zombie that we see is really tall and really thin and really gaunt looking. One of the story points is that these characters have been dead for so long that they're starving, and will eat virtually anything. They'll eat a horse, they'll eat a rat. So we built this self-contained head-hit rig that runs off compressed air. You fill a tube with blood, and then you use a foot pump to get a really great blood spray. You can clip it on to anybody that you want, and then all of a sudden you have instantaneous head wound.


The Walking Dead blog.