Tuesday, July 6, 2010

New Behind the Scenes Video

This is the behind the scenes video for The Book of Zombie that I made for the Red, White and Dead Zombie walk in Seattle.  It premiered after the world record setting zombie walk to thousands of zombie fans.  Watch the whole video below and see lead actor, Brian Ibsen along with Scott Kragelund, Marcel Banks and Erik Van Sant talk about making the movie.  Of course I’ve also added some scenes from the film along with plenty of exclusive behind the scenes footage.



4,920 Zombies came out with 4,233 verified which makes Seattle once again the world record holder for largest zombie walk.  Stop by my photoblog in the coming days to see my pictures of the event.

Monday, June 14, 2010

World Premiere

Last Friday night was the world premiere of The Book of Zombie at Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival – STIFF.  I couldn’t believe the massive crowd that showed up for the show.  I wasn’t even sure that I would be able to get the movie that I worked for three years on.  It turns out the movie was oversold.  The theater was filled to over capacity with some people sitting on the ground and well over forty people were turned away.  The movie looked and sounded great.  And it was loud.  The audience was really into it, laughing in all the right places and even some unexpected ones.  We were screened with two short films – The Familiar and Blue Moon Day.  Both were also excellent.  Afterwords we participated in a Q & A with the other filmmakers.  Representing The Book of Zombie was myself, Adam Gehrke, Paul Cranefield, Marcel Banks, Erik Van Sant, Adrienne MacIain, Andrew Loviska and Larissa Peters.  We’re going to keep sending the movie around the festival circuit while we work on the DVD release.  We have gone on to win the festival's Audience Award.

Here’s the crowd that stayed for the Q&A following the movie:


Some of our cast and crew: Marcel, Erik, Adrienne, and Larissa with the STIFF organizer:



More of the crowd listening to answers about the movie:



Our poster displayed in the front window of the theater:

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Film Festival Premiere

Join us on Friday, June 11 at 9:15 PM for the World Premiere of The Book of Zombie at STIFF - Seattle's True Independent Film Festival! Come to see the film and meet the stars and makers of a soon-to-be cult zombie film.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Venues/Stiff?film=3978568
You can also buy tickets for the early screening on Monday afternoon here too.

We're on Twitter and Facebook.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

We're on Facebook

The Book of Zombie is now on Facebook.  Become a fan and be sure to get regular updates on the status of the movie.  The premiere is coming this June and will will be announced here as soon as the dates and locations are confirmed. 
http://www.facebook.com/thebookofzombie

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Moaning to the finish line


The Book is almost closed on The Book of Zombie. The final edit has been locked for a few months now. Almost all of the visual shots have been turned in (I still have one on my plate). Our sound designers are working overtime on making the movie sound great. The score is about half done right now. I've heard it and it sounds really amazing. Adam says that the hardest parts are still ahead of him though. There's a section late in the film where there's going to be about ten minutes of solid music. I can't wait to hear it. As you know, the opening credits are finished. The end credits are currently being assembled. We've started submitting the film to festivals, so stay tuned to find out where you can catch the world premiere. You can also keep up on news by becoming a fan on Facebook.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Trailer Screening on the Side of a Building

Seattle broke the world record on the 3rd of July with the largest ever zombie walk. The event centered at the Fremont Outdoor Cinema and ended with a screening of Shaun of the Dead. The Book of Zombie trailer was screened before the feature on the big screen to thousands of zombie fans. What an awesome sight, seeing our movie on such a HUGE screen!
The Book of Zombie on the side of a building The Book of Zombie on the side of a building
They had projectors aimed at two sides of the buildings to accommodate the large number of people that were expected. The zombies loved it!
Corpse Bride

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Opening Credits Are Complete

The opening credits sequence for The Book of Zombie is complete. I finished rendering the last shots late last week and sent it on to the rest of the zombie team for viewing. I'm hearing that everyone loved it. Just this morning I passed it along to our sound team to begin the sound design and scoring process. I'm hoping to be able to post the whole open soon. In the meantime, enjoy some stills that I've pulled from it.
The Book of Zombie - Opening CreditsA short trek through the local cemetary
The Feet Have ItPiper Jogs to Work
Piper jogs to work.   Big mistake...Still Running
The Missionaries ArriveStop Looking at Me
Still Running. Getting Annoyed.The Approach
Move!Passed Unscathed
M.Z. FeetWalking through the credits
Behind Linderman'sBackpack
Exploding Mailbox!Bringing in the Groceries
CleansweepsWelcome to Linderman's
SleepyCharlie gets excited as Piper runs by
Darwin v. Mailbox 1Piper Running - work in progress
Click on that last one to see a cool work in progress comparison with the final product. It came a long way. The whole process took a little over three months and clocks in at four minutes. I know that I promised a making-of post a while back, but that's going to wait until I post the finished product.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Opening Credits Still

I've been spending most of my waking hours working on the opening credits sequence for The Book of Zombie. It's been such a huge project that I've recruited many volunteers to do the actor rotoscoping for me. The actors were shot walking on treadmills in a makeshift studio in a friend's carport. Thanks Brian! The smoke is dry ice shot over black in my basement. The background art is by my wife, Leah, then colored in photoshop by myself. Look closely and you'll notice the business in the background. Squawking Vultures Records is named after the studio where the film is being scored, Squawking Vultures Studio. When this is finished I'll be sure to write a lengthy post describing the process for those of you that are interested . As of this writing the sequence consists of 30 shots. I still have quite a bit of work left, but I wanted to share the first fully lit and rendered shot.
The Book of Zombie - Opening Credits

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Opening Credits



We here at The Book of Zombie have been hard at work creating an opening credit sequence for the film. This still is a work in progress concept from Piper jogging to work. It's a cool mix of live action and animation. With only one more scene left to shoot, it's really coming together.
We've been shooting for the last two weeks and our final shoot is happening next Saturday. Explosions, gunshots and fire. Stay tuned, we have a screening scheduled for June. Sign up for the newsletter on the website to find out when and where.
http://thebookofzombie.com

Piper Running

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Locking Reel Two

We've just locked (finished editing) reel 2 of the film. Only six more to go! It is currently being prepped for sound design work. Pick-up shooting begins tonight and will lead us to a finished product very soon. Details about where you can see The Book of Zombie will be coming soon. We're expecting to premiere in early June.