So we started by making the actors face much more pale and darkening the eyes for dramatic effect, I wanted each zombie to have something different that made them stand out. Our model for this was Jemma who was one of my actual extras to be a zombie. Our issue here was Jemma wasn't comfortable with having contact lens in which meant we couldn't test the idea with having her eyes whitened. We added in a cut on her face to make it look like she'd been attacked and splattered some blood on her face as well. We then messed up her hair and began to test and practice her walking as a zombie.
We used wax to make the cuts since it was quicker than using latex but this also meant we had the possibility of the wax heating up and beginning to melt but this didn't seem to be an issue during the practice. When practicing Jemma made one of her legs limb and dragged it which really helped sell the part as well as looking emotionless and not actually looking anywhere just a fixed look. With the make-up it looked really good. Something we talked about was getting a vest top with blood on it for her and also adding more foundation to her neck and chest and we'd also have to have her hands white as well to help with it. Something else we forgot to do when making Jemma a zombie was the most important part... THE BITE.
The bite/wound is the one thing that always sicks out and makes each zombie a little more unique. So we tested the bite on me instead. I want Jemma to have hers on her neck but for another zombie I want it on their arm. So we tried using wax again since this isn't as time consuming as latex.
We added bruising and blood into this and it worked really well. Although you can't make out that it's a bite mark because there's no teeth marks in there, it works and it actually looks much worse than a bite mark which I liked. So we agreed to have Kim sort out some bloodied t-shirts for the zombies and that we'd try again but having the bite marks on the neck next time.
Our next practice was on my flat mate Grace. We did the same make-up effects but added in the bite mark and a small wound on her forehead to add more to the wounds. We also tested the bite mark on the neck, which we learnt that the actors can't move their neck around too much as that will cause it to break and ruin it. This isn't a worry since I don't need the zombies to move their necks around but good to find out to make sure the actors don't mess it up once the make-up has been applied.
With the fake blood added, hair messed up and a shirt added this looked much better than our last practice, I felt that we'd make her too pale so it looked more like face paint so this was noted down and Kim knew for the shoot. The bite mark on the neck works really well especially when we get the blood dripping down from the neck. We also added in some bruising on the neck as well as around the cuts and it just helped to really sell this as a zombie.
Blood on the window
One of the changes that I made to my script as a director was the scene above, Shaun walking into the shop and not seeing the blood stains on the window. Although I understand that this is for a comical element, I can't help but believe that he would see this so obviously. So I changed it, so that the blood would be on a car and he would walk past a car, keeping the comedy element but just making it more believable since I've never known anyone to actually look at a car window while passing but it's always in the corner of your eye. I had already asked one of my friends if I could use their car but the issue we had was would the blood work and would it be easily removed afterwards?
We got some of the fake blood that we were using for the zombie make-up and I covered my hands in it and draped it down my window at home. The effect looked good and then when I got a damp cloth the blood whipped off really easily and didn't leave any stains or marks.
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