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.

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:

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.

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

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.

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!

They had projectors aimed at two sides of the buildings to accommodate the large number of people that were expected. The zombies loved it!

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.

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

Locking Reel Two

The Book of Zombie - Backyard
Originally uploaded by Dave Zombie

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.

Fire Part II

Here's the behind the scenes video of the explosion shoot that I promised!

FIRE

Massive Explosion
Originally uploaded by PrestonDave

The Book of Zombie crew got the band back together this weekend to shoot some fireballs for visual effects. We shot late into the night in Scott's backyard with Bob's new HVX200 camera. The fireballs look amazing in HD, super slow motion! We used powdered coffee creamer, black powder and gun powder. (Don't try this at home) I'll post some behind the scenes video at some point. I really love blowing stuff up...

The Book of Zombie at Crypticon

Boothe Lights Up
Originally uploaded by PrestonDave

The trailer was screened to a live audience at Crypticon in Seattle. Adam and I were there to witness the event. It was very exciting to hear all of the applause at the end. They really like it! Here's the video:

I Like Making Movie Film

Still Editing

I'm shaping up Act II.

George Romero and The Book of Zombie

Seattle radio host, BJ Shea, talks to George Romero about The Book of Zombie in a live interview. Video includes the interview plus exclusive behind the scenes footage.

The Trailer Is Here

The official trailer has been launched!


The Book of Zombie from David Preston on Vimeo.

Also watch it:
http://thebookofzombie.com/
http://myspace.com/thebookofzombie
http://revver.com/video/651761/the-book-of-zombie/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9PRgw8DuTM

Trailer Launch Date: Monday, Feb. 4, 2008

The trailer for The Book of Zombie is complete. We launch on Monday morning! You can watch it here or on the website.

In the meantime, here's some more stills.

Building a Trailer: Screencaps

Tuesday
I'm working on the official trailer for The Book of Zombie. It's coming along well, and I wanted to share a few stills from the movie.

Wrap Party

Saturday
The Book of Zombie wrap party was a blast. It was also a great Halloween party. There were a lot of ghoulish costumes and delicious food.



I made the first trailer for a premiere screening at the party. It was the first time that our cast and crew got to see what we'd spent the last four months making. We watched it about a dozen times.


Karoeke in the blood-red basement where Scott does his best Creed impression.

Week 18 - That's a Wrap!

Friday
The Book of Zombie wrapped principal photography on this glorious day! We went to a new location in Auburn to shoot the final scene in the movie. I wish that I could write more about it, but the ending's top secret. I don't even want to spill the place we filmed at.
The scene started with a creeping, ghoulish, dolly shot and ended with an epic steadicam shot that would make Scorsese proud.
Wrap party this Saturday. Will I blog it?...