7 Things You Should Know About The Walking Dead

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Of all the upcoming serialized television shows on the radar, AMC’s The Walking Dead is the one that currently has us the most excited. Maybe it’s because we finally have a new group of survivors to help us move on from (but never forget) the ones from Lost.

But we all know that it’s more than that. Almost everything that has come out from camp TWD – be it interviews, promotional material, casting news, trailers – has been totally on point. Then there’s the source material, which seems to have everyone excited, even those who have only recently heard of it.

So in preparation for October when the show finally lurches onto our screens, during AMC’s Fearfest, we’ve compiled a list of 7 Things You Need To Know About The Walking Dead. We want to prepare you for what is sure to be an epic and emotional journey, because in the zombie apocalypse, one of the most important things to do is to prepare.

The story wont bore fans of the graphic novel

If you’re a hard-core fan or just familiar with the graphic novel that The Walking Dead is based on, don’t worry about the show being too predictable. Executive producer, director and writer, Frank Darabont, explains that while they will use the graphic novel as a template, they’re also going to expand the saga in exciting ways.

“[were going to] take every interesting detour that we feel like taking. As long as in the long term we’re still following what Robert [Kirkman] has done, I don’t see why we shouldn’t bring every other good idea to the table and expand the narrative [..] There’s a lot of stuff gonna happen that [the fans] are not going to see coming, and there’s a lot of stuff they know that will be there too.”

The character story will make it work for TV

One of the inevitable questions concerning The Walking Dead is whether the story would be better suited to the big screen. Not according to Executive Producer and writer of the original graphic novel, Rick Kirkman.

“I didn’t want to do a movie, for obvious reasons. You can’t do the zombie movie that never ends as a zombie movie – that doesn’t make any sense.” Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd agrees, saying: “This is big and delivers on a dramatic level. This is the benefit of doing television. At times you have to cut back on character and story in movies. In television you get to delve very deeply into characters”.

The zombies will look REAL good

You can’t have a zombie story without convincing-looking zombies. The show will use the graphic novel as a gauge to ensure that the visuals are as authentic as possible. But it’s not all about the look – a zombie must also walk, or lurch, like a zombie, explains Special Effects Make-Up Designer, Greg Nicotero.

“We lined everyone up against the wall and said Action, and we had one girl who didn’t move and one guy who walked out of the room [..] so we sort of picked the faces, and Frank gave me a lot of responsibility in terms of saying: ‘these guys would be great as featured zombies’ because of the way that they looked, and we’d augment it with prosthetics.”

It wont just be about surviving the zombies

The zombie apocalypse is just the device – it sets the world of the show and tests the human condition.

“[It's an] expanded saga, following a group of people which is very character-driven stuff”, Darabont said.

Explaining the character of Lori Grimes, actress Sarah Wayne Callies offers further insight into the heart of the story.

“She’s trying to protect their humanity. She’s trying to make sure that just being alive isn’t [the only thing] they’re doing [and that they] retain some sense of what they want to be”

Before the Apocalypse

The show hopes to illustrate the impact of surviving in impossible circumstances on the humanity of the characters. This will be explored throughout the course of the apocalypse, but that’s not all we’ll get according to actor Jon Bernthal who plays Shane.

“You’ll see a little bit of what life was like before the apocalypse hits”.

Don’t expect a cliched score

Former Battlestar composer Bear McCreary (also working on The Cape) says that he’ll bring something unique and unexpected to the sound of The Walking Dead.

“It’s going to be a really beautiful sound and not at all the kind of sound you’ve heard associated with zombie stories in the past.”

Huge release

If you’re worried about the series not getting the exposure it needs to reach a large audience, don’t sweat it, the show is going to get a huge world-wide release.

“We’re in partnership with FOX on the global launch of The Walking Dead,” revealed AMC SVP of Original Programming, Production and Digital Content, Joel Stillerman. “It’s going to launch in 250 million households, 120 countries and over 30 languages, almost simultaneously in October”.

So now that you know what to expect from The Walking Dead – are you as excited about the show as we are, or do you need more convincing?

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Tagged as: amc, comic con, The Walking Dead