Becoming A Zombie

This highlights the long process of turning an actor into a torn apart zombie girl.

- Katy Volpenhein

Marketers Using The Zombie Crazed Audience

Marketers are using “The Walking Dead” to reach male audiences 18-34. As Ryan spoke about the other post, Hyundai launched “the Walking Dead Chop Shop” which enables fans to customize 3 vehicles into zombie-killing survival machines. As of August 5^th, nearly 43,000 vehicles have been designed through the app. The creator of “The Walking Dead “, Robert Kirkman designed the one below: 

Hyundai isn’t the only one taking advantage of the zombie obsessive audience. Hasbro and USAopoly will start offering “Walking Dead” editions of the “Monopoly” and “Risk” board games in September. The traditional player tokens are replaced by Sheriff Rick Grimes’ hat, Dale’s RV, a telephone, Michonne’s katana, a bat, and bucket of body parts. Cash has been replaced by fuel, food, knives, firearms and first aid.

The Walking Dead will also be the overall theme of Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resorts event Halloween Horror Nights. It will be interesting to see how other brands take advantage of the zombie crazed audience.

- Katy Volpenhein 

'Walking Dead' - Alive on Social Media

This week’s premiere of ‘The Walking Dead’ season four generated a ton of social media buzz.  On Sunday, ‘The Walking Dead’ was the number one program in terms of TV-related social media activity (not to mention it’s record-setting TV ratings).  Data gathered from Nielsen’s SocialGuide revealed some startling numbers.  The season four debut drew a unique audience of  7.5 million twitter users with a total 1.17 million Tweets related to the show.  Facebook was also buzzing as a result of the premiere.  More than 5 million Facebook users generated a total of 9.3 million interactions related to the series premiere. 

Below is a chart showing Nielsen’s weekly Twitter TV ratings:

Live Twitter feed during the series premiere:

Live Facebook feed during the series premiere: 

Live feed from AMC's Website: 

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/14/the-walking-dead-returns-to-record-viewership/

Environmentalism During The Apocalypse

When somebody looks at The Walking Dead, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Zombies? Violence? Weapons? For Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, the answer is staying green! Gale, a long-time Hollywood producer who jumped on board The Walking Dead from it's start, has been an active advocate for maintaining a green, environmentally-friendly present during production of the hit tv show.

Hurd introduced the production team of the show to a phone application called Doodle, which allows for paper-free call sheets and production guides to be distributed digitally. Due to this app becoming popular among the members of the production crew, the production of The Walking Dead has become almost entirely paper-free, thus making much more environmentally-friendly than many other tv shows if this day and age.

In addition to the Doodle app, Hurd has also been an advocate for using hybrid and more gas-conservative vehicles both for transportation and on set during scenes, which ties into the constant Honda product placement within the show. Fluorescent lightbulbs are also used once she introduced the idea, saving both on waste and electricity. Lastly, Hurd has been big on recycling old sets, which saves on lumber, lighting, and many other products needed to make new sets for such a high-budget show.

Hurd has been attached to the show thus far, and hopefully will continue to make The Walking Dead as environmentally-friendly as possible!

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/01/25/the-walking-dead-gets-green-executive-producer-gale-anne-hurd-on-how-zombies-are-saving-the-world/

Hyundai Elantra - Zombie Style

'Walking Dead' creator, Robert Kirkman, illustrates his very own "zombie-proof" Hyundai Elantra Coupe.  See more at Hyundai's "Walking Dead Chop Shop" Web page.  

Record Ratings for ‘Walking Dead’ – Again

Season Three

Season three of ‘The Walking Dead’ garnered enormous success – 10.9 million viewers with a 7.4 household rating – setting the record for the biggest telecast for any drama series in the history of basic cable.  ‘Walking Dead’ viewership rose more than 50 percent over its season two premiere.  

Highlights From Nielsen – Season 3 ‘The Walking Dead’

• 9 pm premiere: 7.4 HH rating, +54% vs. season 2 premiere
• 9 pm premiere: 10.9 million viewers, +50% vs. season 2 premiere
• 9 pm premiere: 7.3 million Adults 18-49, +52% vs season 2 premiere
• 9 pm premiere: 6.1 million Adults 25-54, +46% vs season 2 premiere
• 9 pm,10 pm, and midnight encores: Grossed to 15.2 million viewers

Season Four

Season Four of AMC’s hit series ‘The Walking Dead’ set yet another viewership record.  With last night’s debut, the zombie-thriller achieved even greater numbers than its previous season – 16.1 million total viewers with a household rating of 8.1.  These numbers, according to Entertainment Weekly, are up 30 percent from season three’s premiere.  Moreover, ‘Walking Dead’ out-performed all broadcast and cable entertainment series – for the second time – literally “infecting” viewers and pulverizing broadcast networks.  James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly, mentions that, “if you combine all the broadcast dramas that aired on Sunday night … they still don’t match The Walking Dead’s demo rating.”   

Highlights From Nielsen -- Season 4 'The Walking Dead'

• 9 pm premiere – 8.1 HH rating with 16.1 million viewers
• 9 pm premiere – 8.2 HH rating with 10.4 million Adults 18-49
• 9 pm premiere – 7.3 HH rating with 8.8 million Adults 25-54

*More ratings data to be released

Talking Dead

The Walking Dead is very popular drama series, but it is not the only part of the brand.  After the showing of each episode, a live after-show discussing the events of that episode takes place.  This show is also accompanied by even more content in webisodes that can be found on the web.

Beginning during the second season of the drama, the Talking Dead is hosted by Chris Hardwick.  The 30 minute show was so popular that it was increased to an hour long show in the middle of the shows second season. (the Walking Dead's third season)  A main reason to have the show was so fans of the Walking Dead could interact with it in a unique way.  Joe Stillerman, an AMC programmer states, “Fans of The Walking Dead are incredibly engaged with every aspect of the show. They tweet, blog, and post comments in very large numbers, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to interact with the show in a way that they don’t currently have — a kind of live water cooler.”

The Talking Dead's content consists of a discussion about the episode, online polls, episode trivia, behind-the-scenes footage, and questions from fans on the phone, social media sites, and audience members.  This is AMC's first live after-show and is doing quite well.  For the recent premiere of season 4 of the Walking Dead, the Talking Dead had a 2.7 HH with 5.1 million viewers.  This was a premiere high for the show.

It seems the Talking Dead is a very popular after-show and helps keep fans attracted to the series with all of the extras.  With this success, will other TV shows begin creating after shows?  Only time will tell.

The Walking Dead: Cinematography Across the Series

The Walking Dead is a tv series on AMC developed by Frank Darabont. It follows the travels of Sheriff Rick Grimes and his group of survivors during a zombie apocalypse. The story progresses through losing members, gaining members, and ultimately surviving the zombie hoards.

The cinematography over the course of the series has changed drastically, but not necessarily for the better. The creator of the series, acclaimed director and writer Frank Darabont, had a very cinematic look in mind when creating the series, as he is normally a feature film director. The first season which Darabont helmed and partially directed had a very distinct visual style, such as using many smooth tracking shots, many crane shots, and very sparingly using handheld camera movements, only to show more intense, action-y, or emotional scenes. One shot from the first episode that sums up the style of the first season cam be seen here:

Typically television does not have such large wide shots, usually being more conservative with their camerawork. On a side note, this also shows the show's bigger budget, as achieving this shot (albeit using special effects and was actually shot in a parking lot with the skyline and traffic being added back in later) would be costly, which is very uncommon for most tv shows!



Starting with Season 2, Glen Mazarra, previously a lower-level producer on the show, replaced Darabont as the showrunner for The Walking Dead. With this, much of the show's signature cinematic style was lost. Seasons 2 and 3 suffered from this lack of distinct style that Darabont helped provide, with the show using only a few basic tracking shots and no real "creative" camera tricks.


THANKFULLY, with the start of Season 4 last night, there seems to be a renewal of the cinematic look! Last night when I watched the first episode along with previews and trailers for the new season, I was faced with interesting shot composition, bigger crane shots, longer takes, and many more visual tricks. Before in Seasons 2 and 3, when a zombie would be killed the camera would be an average length away, nothing interesting happening with the framing of the camera. In season 4, the shots are framed in a way that lets us see the action, but is eye-pleasing as well, especially in respect to the rule of thirds (more can be read on this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds )

Here is a shot that illustrates this:

While it may seem simple at first, this shot is composed to show the stark contrast of the survivors and the zombies, using more saturated colors on the human side and bleak colors on the other. The camera is framed to show this well, as well as balances the shot, giving a good amount of coverage to both "sides" of the fence.


All in all, the cinematography in Season 4 seems to have improved greatly from the previous two, giving respect to the original start to the series.

Walking Dead, SC-Fi Genre

The Walking Dead achieved what few T.V. shows and even movies achieved in the Sci-Fi, which was creating a relatable story, even through nearly all the story revolves around fictional content. I had to write a paper in an English class of mine last year about a genre, of which I wrote about Sci-Fi, and how very little video based media was able to appeal to a broad audience in this genre. Many people have “trouble” watching movies and T.V. shows of the genre because they cannot relate to the content. The word relate strikes confusion to most when we are talking about pure fictional media, but when go further into the production of a T.V show like The Walking Dead. One of the most important aspects of a T.V. show or movie is emotional appeal, which directly correlates with reliability. The characters in The Walking Dead have many conflicts. In the first season, it’s the conflict of accepting current reality. Even the characters in the show were confused to why there was a zombie apocalypse; they believed it was a fairy tale idea. In the second season, it’s the conflict of man vs. man and man vs. self. The characters seem to struggle more if the trust of their fellow humans rather than the zombies threatening them. This idea of reliability and emotional appeal in The Walking Dead can be confusing to most, sense we are talking about a fictional genre. However, if we think deeper into the content of the movie, it is easier to see that it’s not really the zombies we have come accustom to in the show, it’s the struggles between the characters. Building off what I said approve, this “reliability” The Walking Dead has achieved, allows the audience to imagine themselves in the characters shoes. It sparks the audience’s imagination and creates a sense of “What would I do if I was him/her?” With that question in mind, the audience is then able to almost accept the reality of the movie and they believe that something like this is real, that it could happen. Posted By. Tyler Tillinghast

Walking Dead Comic Comparisons

The AMC hit-drama "The Walking Dead" was not just an idea conceived to make a great TV show.  Rather, it began as a comic book by Robert Kirkman (also the director for the TV series) under the same name with the first issue released in 2003.  The show, however, is not an exact copy of the comic book.  With most of the characters the same and the beginning story line true to the comic, there are some key differences.

Fans of the comic may be confused or even startled by differences of between the two due to the major plot twists.  Some of these differences even come straight from the Kirkman, the creator of he comic book series.  Kirkman remarks that when he is in a room with the writers, he is not protecting his baby. He states, "I sometimes am the loudest when it comes to let's change things up and let's make things different."  Kirkman is big supporter of change between the two stories because he realizes that the "television show is a different animal."  He wants the show to be new to the tv audience, just as it was fresh and new to the comic book audience.

The new showrunner, Scott Gimple, shares the same throughout process of Kirkman, but knows that season 4 will definitely have pieces from the comic and will be relying on the source material from the comic for the 16-show season.  Gimple expresses the main idea with his statement; "it's like we're remixing the comic"  Gimple also acknowledges that there will be even more character development and studies than usual, making season 4 even a little more different.

Website about season 4 changes

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57607187/the-walking-dead-creative-team-talks-what-to-expect-in-season-4/

'The Walking Dead' -- Brought to You by Hyundai

The fourth season of AMC’s hit cable series ‘The Walking Dead’ airs tonight at 9.  The show, according to Nielsen figures, set the record for the most-watched drama series (Adult 18-49) in TV history.  With the debut of its third season, ‘The Walking Dead’ beat all broadcast and cable entertainment series – with more viewers than popular shows like ‘The Voice,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ and ‘Modern Family’. 

The success garnered by ‘The Walking Dead’ has flipped TV conventions upside-down.  Moreover, advertisers are turning to less mainstream modes.  Traditionally, big brands stuck to family-friendly programming, in hopes of attracting broader audiences.  As gritty programs like ‘Walking Dead’ prove their worth, many marketers are taking heed. 

Since its second season, ‘The Walking Dead’ has had an ongoing relationship with popular automaker, Hyundai.  Hyundai’s Tucson SUV is featured throughout the series – the only “cast member” that pays, instead of gets paid, to be on the show.  While some consider this “gutsy product placement,” it seems more “genius” than gutsy.  The auto company partnered with the show to create a sweepstakes – Drive to Survive – offering fans the chance to win the “actual Hyundai Tucson from season 2.”   Hyundai  extended its partnership for the fourth season of ‘Walking Dead’. 

Hyundai created the “Walking Dead Chop Shop” app, asking fans of the show to design their very own “zombie survival machine.”  The “Chop Shop” created a perfect avenue for interaction between ‘Dead’ fans and the Hyundai brand.  Fans were given the opportunity to compete for the best design.  For the contest, Hyundai considered over 82,500 submissions.  The winning design was showcased at the recently held New York Comic-Con.  

Steve Shannon, Hyundai’s Chief Marketing Officer, says that “’The Walking Dead’ has key ingredients you want in a show these days: not only huge ratings, but social media chatter and a loyal fan base.”   For some brands, the risk is too much and the cost is too high.  Many brands are “wary of gory content,” so they maintain a safe distance from shows like ‘The Walking Dead’.  But, for Hyundai, the risk has proven worth the outcome.    

Walking Dead Trailer - Season 4

A look inside the new season of AMC's "The Walking Dead" premiering Sunday, October 13 at 9:00.