A Zombie is:a creature that continues to roam and tries to devour
all in its path - even though its natural life is over.
However, the cast and crew say 'zombie' all the time.
Actors who play walkers have to go to zombie school.
At the beginning of each season, 150 to 200 extras
audition for the chance to appear as walkers.
The Walkers are evaluated on:
Look- are they gaunt and emaciated?
Performance- Have they brought
the walker character to life?
While most TV extras earn about $100 per
episode, Walkers make between $300-$350.
Meet Special effects guru,
Greg Nicotero!
Winner- Primetime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series,
Miniseries, Movie, or A Special for The walking dead.
Nicotero got his start on the
1985 film, Day of the Dead.
He has worked on over 400 TV and film
projects over the past 31 years.
One episode takes 8 days to film, and much of
that time involves the show's makeup team.
Makeup & Prosthetics - With up to 70 walkers on the set, The makeup team gets up as
early as 3am and works for more than 6 hours.
The Mouth: The inside of a walker's mouth is dark because, as Nicotero says, 'A pink mouth signifies that something is alive.' To create this effect, walkers swish food coloring and black icing around their mouths.
The EYES: First, the artists paint the hollows with dark burgundy.
Then, they paint the surrounding area with a color called, 'dead.'
To create the walkers' eyes, Nicotero looked
at photos of rotted eggs, with 'that kind of
yellowish-brown with little red veins in it.'
It took 5 hours to create the 'French Kiss' Walker's makeup; the actor spent 4 hours wearing it for about 3 seconds of screen time.
The walkers' skin is intentionally made to look dull, while the livings' skin appears shiny to show that they are sweating.
The Walking Dead Wardrobe is a psychologically driven arsenal of color, style, texture, and accessorizing to enhance character and Plot development.
Clothes are intentionally burned to make the walkers look like they've been set on fire.
Costume designer, Eulyn Womble, uses specially made graters to tear at the zombies' clothing, making them appear tattered..
THE BLOOD of the walking dead
The color of zombie blood on the show is known as 'Zombie Dark.'
CLASSIFIED! The exact 'zombie dark' formula is top secret.
the inside scoop: the team is said to use caramel color in order to make the zombie blood appear dark brown and more authentic.
The Walking dead has received15 behind the scenes emmy nominations (Makeup, Special FX, Stunt Coordination)
2 behind the scenes wins for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For a Series
In The Walking Dead,
the word 'Zombie' is not mentioned once.
the zombies are
referenced as: Walkers, Roamers, The Herd, Lurkers, Floaters, and biters.
In zombie school,
walkers are asked to imagine how they died and consider how they came about their wounds.
Walkers in Zombie school go through an obstacle course.
Each walker has
to learn 10-12 different ways to move around obstacles.
All walkers have custom dentures and contact lenses.
The makeup team
uses conditioner to make the walker's hair look as dirty and ratty as
possible.
The Makeup
team uses a lot of
dirt—for the undead
and the survivors.
Spray paint,
dark colors, and ash are used to make the costumes look
worn.
The crew doesn't
use liquid food coloring
to create fake blood, because it stains. Instead, they use powder.
Season 7 walkers
casting requirements:
18 and over, very slim, large eyes, thin face, small nose
and slender necks.
In the
show's 6 seasons,
there were over
600 deaths
on screen
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