The Zombie Project

Why limit yourself to a genre picture? George Romero came up with the whole zombie apocalypse idea after ripping off [i]The Omega Man[/i], which depicts a post-apocalyptic world where everyone who isn't Charleton Heston is a vampire.

So, find some elements from other films you like and incorporate those themes and settings and whatnot into your zombie movie.

There's never been a zombie cop drama, AFAIK.

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;998404]Film Saving Private Ryan in reverse and have them running from the bridge to the beach to get on the boats and get away from the nazi zombies!![/QUOTE]

I thought that maybe they could get to a boat and end the film on an oil rig.

I had this idea where we would see from the POV of an infected dog as it races through a house towards on of the characters. the last shot would be of the character hitting/shooting it, right in the face.

Hmm interesting I have been working on a zombie erotica recently

that sounds like an oxymoron.

I think I will contribute to this thread as soon as I get some time. I have alot of zombie likes and dislikes. But I have to know, first, what Nate said that got deleted. Was that it in post 3? Why would that get deleted? Good luck Bear!

Oxymoron, hell yeah I thought hey people like eroticas.. I like to laugh at eroticas what would be a bad move for an erotica writter... Zombies!

As for the movie I think you need a lighter scene. Where everything is black then the chracter lights a lighter an BLAM zombie comes outta no where. Also zombies and basketball runs hand in hand. Is this going to be serious or comedy?

[QUOTE=Spike;998412]Why limit yourself to a genre picture? George Romero came up with the whole zombie apocalypse idea after ripping off [i]The Omega Man[/i], which depicts a post-apocalyptic world where everyone who isn't Charleton Heston is a vampire.

So, find some elements from other films you like and incorporate those themes and settings and whatnot into your zombie movie.

There's never been a zombie cop drama, AFAIK.[/QUOTE]

[I]Omega Man [/I]came out after [I]Night[/I] dum-dum. really george got the idea from [I]I Am Legend[/I], which Im reading now for inspiration.

another influence for this project is [I]Children of Men[/I].

[QUOTE=bigshrimpn;1000367]I think I will contribute to this thread as soon as I get some time. I have alot of zombie likes and dislikes. But I have to know, first, what Nate said that got deleted. Was that it in post 3? Why would that get deleted? Good luck Bear![/QUOTE]

In response to my ending-on-the-beach idea he said that I should watch [I]saving private ryan[/I] in reverse that way everybody looks like theyre running to the boats. but he worded it a lot better, as always.

[QUOTE=ElStevo;1000370]Is this going to be serious or comedy?[/QUOTE]

serious with some black comedy thrown in here and there.

Ah alright serious is always good. In no offence to you but the low budget zombie flick does seem a tad bit done or maybe thats around here, in film class there were about 12 zombie movie pitches. I think the classic route is my fav. Night of the living dead is the best zombie movie "They're comming to get you Barbra" will never leave this skull

You've got to go way out of the box. I think the survivalist thing will always be there. Didn't the recent Dawn of the Dead remake end on a boat/beach thing?

Try to avoid the old cliches (we need object A - but it's across fifty feet of dark crawlspace/mall/street and there are zombies out there!)

How about a REVERSE zombie film? One zombie, everyone is hunting him, and he's fighting for his own survival?

[QUOTE=monkeywright;1000553]How about a REVERSE zombie film? One zombie, everyone is hunting him, and he's fighting for his own survival?[/QUOTE]

this is a great idea. it would be like following Bub from Day of the Dead after the movie ended.

i would like to see a walking zombie again, I've read about a new Romeo film coming up. i just want to see someone make the slow zombies scary again.

[QUOTE=bearchaser;1000371][I]Omega Man [/I]came out after [I]Night[/I] dum-dum. really george got the idea from [I]I Am Legend[/I], which Im reading now for inspiration.

another influence for this project is [I]Children of Men[/I].[/QUOTE]

Just a suggestion, but I'd stay away from other zombie stuff for inspiration as much as possible. It can become too inbred with ideas. Children of Men is a good starting point, find something with a moral or idea you want to express then figure out how to put zombies around it.

[QUOTE=Spike;998412]Why limit yourself to a genre picture? George Romero came up with the whole zombie apocalypse idea after ripping off [i]The Omega Man[/i], which depicts a post-apocalyptic world where everyone who isn't Charleton Heston is a vampire.

So, find some elements from other films you like and incorporate those themes and settings and whatnot into your zombie movie.

There's never been a zombie cop drama, AFAIK.[/QUOTE]

thats retarded because

a) ooops, bearchaser already made my first point

if Bearchaser wants to do a zombie story, by god he should do a zombie story. I just finished shooting a film a wrote called Davy Crockett Battles Kung Fu Vampires, and had fun almost every step of the way. my next will be a Prom Rom-Com (prom romantic comedy) except the guys favorite passtime is running over small critters with his car and shoving them into peoples mailboxes. those scenes wil be shot like a slasher film. My point is that I wouldnt have gotten the idea if i wasnt playing with genres. Bearchaser may also stumble across some novel ideas whaile working in the zombie genre. heck, messing with genres worked for Chuck with Lulliby.

oh, bearchaser, check these clips out.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PKWQzfvL8[/url]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfHTwao42-U[/url]

I was specifically refering to the world-wide zombie apocalypse as seen in [i]Dawn of the Dead[/i]/[i]Day of the Dead[/i]. We don't care about a zombie apocalypse in [i]Night[/i], we care about the people in the farmhouse. It's implied at the end of the movie that everything is taken care of simply by getting a bunch of guys together and shooting all the zombies, The End.

Dude, zombies don't run. Zombies that run aren't scary, they're just crazy. Rep Dawn '78, which was proof that zombie movies can be 10x more than just zombie movies.

I think the important thing is not hoiw fast the zombies are, but what they stand for. the Romero films stand out in large part because the zombies take on metaphorical status.

although i think an army of creature from the black lagoon style monsters would be wicked.

[QUOTE=Spike;998412]Why limit yourself to a genre picture? George Romero came up with the whole zombie apocalypse idea after ripping off [i]The Omega Man[/i], which depicts a post-apocalyptic world where everyone who isn't Charleton Heston is a vampire.

So, find some elements from other films you like and incorporate those themes and settings and whatnot into your zombie movie.

There's never been a zombie cop drama, AFAIK.[/QUOTE]

no, but MANIAC COP comes pretty close

I like Beach Party movies. you should have Frankie Avalon/ Annete Funacello type zombies crash a beach party.

The zombies should be more dangerous, because realistically, who wouldn't survive a zombie situation? Everyone with a gun would have a decent chance. Rappers, gangsters, cops, hunters. Every gun shop would be a safe house. Everyone that lives in the country would most likely survive. Anyone that could get out of town in a vehicle would survive. You probably think you would survive, and you might.

In an actual zombie outbreak, we would pwn them. That's why I like Zombies RUNNING. 28 Days Later was more frightening for me than just about any zombie flick. And what I like even more is intelligent zombies. Not very intelligent, but if Hannibal were a ten and Jason Vorhees a five and one of those slow ass zombies from the first Romero flicks a 1, I'd like my zombies at about a 2 or maybe even a three. They don't have to talk, but they should be methodical. They should be diseased to the point where you're fucked if you touch their blood, Cabin Fever fucked yo.

They should annihilate fucking EVERYTHING, and your main characters should be the only people alive at the end of the movie. Leave the possibly that there could be survivors in other states, etc, because how could you not.

Personally I would make one character a martial artist and include a kickass fighting scene with him kicking zombies away until he reaches his (sword? sticks? three piece staff? spear? it's all good) weapon. Why not? Though I don't consider this solid advice on account of the population's amateur distaste for the arts of martial variety.

I don't like your ending. There's always a similar feeling at the end of a zombie movie and it's the feeling I think your ending could portray. It's sad and calm and somehow hopeful, and it's great, but it's been done. Why not have your main characters -the last people on earth- enjoy a world where anything they want they can have, anything they want to do they can do. Of course, the higher your budget, the more cool shit they could do, because honestly imagine the shit you would do if you and a group of friends were the last people on earth, or close to it.

I love your dog scene. Somehow making a zombie movie seems to suit you.

Let me tell you something, it won't be pretty, it won't be smart, but it'll pull in the punters - a zombie sex scene. Naked undead broad getting taken from behind? I'd go and see a film just for that scene.

in the original Night of the Living Dead, they briefly mention several schools. At one point I considered doing a prequel to Night of the Living Dead titled Not LD (Not Learning Disabled) about an early zombie outbreat at an elementary school. early on the teachers, faculty, parents and students would divide themselves. naturaly, the Special Education students (or speds) would be deemed a burden and with the exception of a special ed teacher, a priest, and a janitor, everyone abandons the speds. naturaly, the Speds, drool, helmets and all, would be the last kids standing (all those arts and crafts projects really do come in handy)

I abandoned it before i even started and wrote other things, but i would love to see what someone could do with it.

I think a couple zombies should be figure out how to use an object together as a battering ram. Let them throw rocks and bottles. Let them figure out that long poles and such can be used as lances. Give them some problem-solving ability.

The whole anti-zombie fortress idea becomes more tricky when a bunch of them try to punch through the front doors with a telephone pole, and pelt you with road debris if you try to shoot them from the roof.

Give them fucking ladders, while you're at it.

[QUOTE=corellion;1001251]Let me tell you something, it won't be pretty, it won't be smart, but it'll pull in the punters - a zombie sex scene. Naked undead broad getting taken from behind? I'd go and see a film just for that scene.[/QUOTE]

Two zombies fucking or somebody raping a zombie?

Or a zombie raping somebody? Or a zombie fucking somebody and them both being into it?

[QUOTE]Anyone that could get out of town in a vehicle would survive. You probably think you would survive, and you might.

I don't like your ending. There's always a similar feeling at the end of a zombie movie and it's the feeling I think your ending could portray. It's sad and calm and somehow hopeful, and it's great, but it's been done.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking of having the characters driving and run into an empty blockade. you know, abandoned cars and stuff, like hundreds of the.

ans for the ending, Im keeping it like it is but it will be anything but hopeful. It'll be more like [I]well we're fucked, so what happens next?[/I]

[QUOTE=corellion;1001251]Let me tell you something, it won't be pretty, it won't be smart, but it'll pull in the punters - a zombie sex scene. Naked undead broad getting taken from behind? I'd go and see a film just for that scene.[/QUOTE]

theyre suppose to be doing that in neil marshalls new film [I]doomsday[/I]. but listening to the [I]28 days later [/I]commentary, danny and alex say that basically the infected were walking erections with all the adrenaline pumping through their vains and at some point in the film some infected look as if theyre sodomizing some guy. so I may do that.

[QUOTE=Spike;1001254]I think a couple zombies should be figure out how to use an object together as a battering ram. Let them throw rocks and bottles. Let them figure out that long poles and such can be used as lances. Give them some problem-solving ability.

The whole anti-zombie fortress idea becomes more tricky when a bunch of them try to punch through the front doors with a telephone pole, and pelt you with road debris if you try to shoot them from the roof.[/QUOTE]

good idea. I think Im going to have my zombies throw things and use blunt weapons and stuff like tire irons and bars. just simple stuff, nothing to complicated.

Im going to start outlining this after the [I]whiteport[/I] project.

How about a movie where the zombies are sitting around, watching TV and playing videogames all day. THAT would be scary.

Wait a minute...

every zombie movie ends up with people fortifying in some place. don't do that. keep it moving. maybe you could go back to the roots of the whole zombie culture and have the story take place in Haiti, with all the voodoo crap. have your main characters be christian missionaries (conflict there). or have the story take place in real time. i'm assuming its a script your writing, so just tell the story of one hour and a half about these people dealing with zombies.

one thing i'm getting tired of with zombie movies is humans turning against humans, the whole primal reflection of man against man in the zombie situation, its a staple in those movies. but when that happens the zombies just become a whole moral symbol, an inferior plot device. when that happens, the thrill factor dies. find a smart way to get around that.

and don't put any helicopter-blades chopping up the undead in your story either.

[QUOTE=meatball;1002854]every zombie movie ends up with people fortifying in some place. don't do that. keep it moving. maybe you could go back to the roots of the whole zombie culture and have the story take place in Haiti, with all the voodoo crap. have your main characters be christian missionaries (conflict there). or have the story take place in real time. i'm assuming its a script your writing, so just tell the story of one hour and a half about these people dealing with zombies.

one thing i'm getting tired of with zombie movies is humans turning against humans, the whole primal reflection of man against man in the zombie situation, its a staple in those movies. but when that happens the zombies just become a whole moral symbol, an inferior plot device. when that happens, the thrill factor dies. find a smart way to get around that.

and don't put any helicopter-blades chopping up the undead in your story either.[/QUOTE]

What Zombie movie do you think is best?

[QUOTE=misterwoe;1002471]How about a movie where the zombies are sitting around, watching TV and playing videogames all day. THAT would be scary.

Wait a minute...[/QUOTE]

they did that in Shaun of the Dead.

In the end, the remaing characters will be on a beach, wondering what they'll do next.

should I open in the woods or during the evacuation?

I also had the idea about some guy that hijacked a tank and is now wrecking havoc through the streets, killing infected and survivors.

[I]saving private ryan[/I] is somewhat of an influence now, thanks to nate.

also, go rent [I]Pulse[/I].

the original, not the american remake.

[QUOTE=bearchaser;1005163]In the end, the remaing characters will be on a beach, wondering what they'll do next.

should I open in the woods or during the evacuation?

I also had the idea about some guy that hijacked a tank and is now wrecking havoc through the streets, killing infected and survivors.

[I]saving private ryan[/I] is somewhat of an influence now, thanks to nate.[/QUOTE]

they should build a sandcastle, which they fortify. they could call it Williams Castle (only film geeks would get this)
:Thinkingo

maybe have someone say "let zombiegons be bygons"

oh, and take a cue from Fulci, the zombies are decomposing, so maggots are a must. maybe if you find that one of your characters are getting hungry, you could have them chowwing down on these maggots, and make sure the Mis-En-Scene is similar to the obligatory zombies cowing down on chumps montage to emphasize the breakdown of civilization, and because its just gross

[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILuP43jcaXw]watch this to get an idea of what Im trying to do.[/URL]

The zombie sex thing was done in Dead Alive, one of Peter Jackson's first films.

Maybe you could film the movie where there's only one zombie left, and no one can find it, and it's making everyone paranoid, and you can shoot the film entirely based around the zombie hunt in whatever lone fortified city you create.

You could do some real fucked up things with that one.

There was an episode of Angel where an ambitious police captain tried to clean up the streets of LA by using black magic to raise the corpses of dead officers and turn them into zombies. The cop zombies actually did lower the crime rate, until they [I]got out of control![/I]

I go for that scene as well. Zombie sex = HOT.

Ive almost got the faintest semblance of a story but I still need ideas, things that havent been done in a zombie film before.

so far the story goes like this: It opens up just as the army are evacuating a neighborhood. they leave in the convoy and then something happens, maybe an explosion but Im not sure how that will work. survivors flee and then skip past the parts I have no idea about to them all sneaking around the city looking for a means of transportation. there will be somewhat of a car chase where the group gets boxed in by a horde of infected. skip later to them getting stopped by and abandoned roadblock, hundreds of car empty cars and no way around. they have to go through it and find another car up front. see the objective of this is that the survivors are trying to get to the coast where theres a naval base or maybe they just assume theres a boat they can get on. (Ive toyed with the idea of them hearing and APB about a boat that will leave in a few days). skip forward to a car crash near their destination where a lot of people die unexpectantly. skip to the end with the last survivors on an empty beach or on an oil rig.

the more I think about it the more I realized that my main influence it terms of the overall mood and cinematography is not so much [I]28 Days/Weeks Later [/I]as it is [I]Children of Men[/I]. a very spare documentary style to it with long takes. I almost want it to feel like youre another, although mute and unnamed and ignored, survivor. when they get out of the car in a hurry, we dont just cut to a shot of the exterior with them getting out, the camera follows them out. can anybody understand where Im coming from?

And There Will Be No Zombie Sex Either!

[QUOTE=bearchaser;1087705] when they get out of the car in a hurry, we dont just cut to a shot of the exterior with them getting out, the camera follows them out. can anybody understand where Im coming from?[/QUOTE]

Sounds good actually, but the plot sounds like it's been done before. The army evacuating people, etc. But the camera thing I really like, it could work brilliantly. If you want to do stuff that hasn't been done before, make it tongue-in-cheek zombie stuff. Like, and I'm just saying, but we're overdue on some pervy zombie sex. Get a zombie woman, tie her up, or put a ball-gag on her, and then, you know. Stick it in.

[B]Edit[/B]: Oh, no Zombie sex....

[B]Edit2[/B]: Hah, I suggested it before. Typical.

Have stuff done that is equally parts sick and equally parts awesome. Like the broken wrist in Planet Terror was sick enough. The missing leg gun thing was funny. The giant Tarantino-penis thing wasn't funny, it was sick but not in a good way. Zombie tits = hell yes.

The two books I would look at first (if anything just to check out the competition and make sure you don't tread over old territory) would be Max Brooks' World War Z and Zombie Killer's Handbook (or guidebook, maybe). They are both quick, entertaining reads.

You should also check out [url]www.zombiehunters.org[/url]. These guys have started a tongue in cheek militia dedicated to surviving an outbreak of the undead. They argue that if a militia is prepared for an outbreak of zombies, they will by default be prepared for everything else. They have some entertaining videos that are sort of like the old Army "how to do whatever" training movies.

Survivalist fiction may also be useful for practical research like firearms, camping, hunting, and killing. The book, Patriots: the coming collapse, is basically a guide book on how to build a compound, stock it, and arm it, disguised as a novel. The author, James Rawles is very accessible and responds to e-mail questions promptly. The main drawback to this book is that it is heavily dressed in Christian Fundamentalism.

Make them intelligent but still driven. It would at least be different and make them a hell of a lot more dangerous

i want to see realistic zombies. either real zombies from blowfish venom, or zombies that decay and suffer rigormortis and whatnot as the keep trying to "live."

also, make sure you mention nazis, vampyres, werewolves, the x-men, the band cannibal corpse, and aphonicmessiah (hes the nazi-zombie general, and he can use a gun (desert eagle or sawed-off assault shotgun)).

[QUOTE=meatball;1002854]go back to the roots of the whole zombie culture and have the story take place in Haiti, with all the voodoo crap.[/QUOTE]
Every culture in history (well, many do) has stories of revenants so maybe it would be a credit to your story if you tried to research European or Asian "zombie" folklore.

I'd like to see you research Pandemic Protocol from the Homeland Security guidelines and incorporate some real-world procedure into your story. Depending on how much the zombie menace has spread, there are hundreds of different quarantine procedures along with procedures for homeland attacks.

[QUOTE=Vendetta;1091576]Every culture in history (well, many do) has stories of revenants so maybe it would be a credit to your story if you tried to research European or Asian "zombie" folklore.[/QUOTE]
the reference to the voodoo zombies, at least in this context, is relating to some crazy toxin that is found in a blowfish native to the mediterranean, which was brought to the americas for voodo-style medicine. the toxin of the blowfish causes the infected to go dormant. so much so, that they have no detectible pulse. the administrators of this toxin are often aware of this and exhume the "corpse" when the toxin begins to wear off.
the side-effects of the toxin leave the infected with no memory, and a childlike intelligence. they have to relearn communication skills and simple tasks, while retaining basic motor skills. the motor skills are said to be so basic, that when a fully-grown person is seen walking about, he looks stiff and drunk.

[QUOTE=chad orr;1091606]I'd like to see you research Pandemic Protocol from the Homeland Security guidelines and incorporate some real-world procedure into your story. Depending on how much the zombie menace has spread, there are hundreds of different quarantine procedures along with procedures for homeland attacks.[/QUOTE]
there was a huge quarantine in cambodia a few years ago. somehow, an entire village was infected by that toxin, and a task force had to quarantine and napalm the entire area so that it wouldnt spread.
dont ask details, because thats all i know.

The Serpent and the Rainbow (book and movie) is about the blowfish voodoo toxin.

as of now Im setting this project aside. Its given me a lot of headaches and endless fustration. I just have no beginning. I dont know really how to start it or where it will go after/ theres no real theme or message or substance or story to it other then people getting chased by zombies. and theres nothing to set it apart. so Im shelving it and Im going to work on another project, something easir that I dontthink anybody has really done so maybe I wont get any migraines trying to think of what to do different.