A look back at Zombies

If there was anything that practically everyone knew about me in my days of undergrad at Carroll University, it would be these two things: I was a photographer, and I loved zombies.  People who didn't actually know my name, still knew me as the "zombie loving photography chick."  

How did this get started? It actually began when I started having zombie apocalypse nightmares weekly when I was 16.   And when my parents found out I chose Carroll as my university, they nonchalantly decided that they just HAD to share this movie with me. 

Dawn of The Dead 2004 (The Beginning)

(Start at 8:00) 

Intro one of my first graphic design projects, a candy box!  And what would it be other than Zombie Bites, Deliciously Tasty Gummy Brains?  Manufactured in B-EATINU Candy Company, the ingredient list includes zombie saliva and brain stem.  Each box comes with a capsule that allows you to"Grow you own life size zombie!" Complete with "amazing snapping jaw action."

The QR code says "My Teacher is awesome, please give me an A." 

November, 2010

(Recognize this image?  I had never seen The Walking Dead at this point!)

A few years later, I started my 52 week project, the goal of which was to create a portfolio worthy photograph once a week for a year.  I was inspired by the Resident Evil (even though I had never seen them), and the idea of telling a full story through a series of images.  I thought a comic book would be a cool way of sharing this story.  

January 8 2012

And 52 Weeks later, I decided the best way to end the series was how it started-only better.

January 12, 2013

(Finally started the Walking Dead!)

And if your taking any notes, you'll notice that things keep getting bigger...

April 27, 2013

And more elaborate...

July 20, 2013

 Until finally....

March 12, 2014
(Watched Resident Evil)

My biggest zombie shoot ever!

My big final for my Graphic Design major was to create a board game.  And of course what could I do but zombies?

Two makeup artists, 12 zombies, 7 survivors, and a number

of confused campus staff later, we had an awesome shoot!

A few days prior to this shoot, I went to the campus safety office to let them know that I would be photographing a group of zombies and people with baseballs bats and such around campus.  They said that all that was fine.  I asked if they wanted to know my name, and they replied with: "Oh.  We know who you are."

I wanted to create a game that was more open ended than most zombie games.  Half of the apocalypse is surviving what is left of humanity!  I wanted to create a game where humans could be just as dangerous as the zombies.  

I created several characters for the players to choose from, each with their own back story that talks about their hopes and dreams.  My hope was that if I created relatable, realistic characters, people would be more invested in their survival.

A player can play as a survivor, or as the zombie master.  I didn't want the zombies to be left to chance-I wanted them to be a force to be reckoned with. 

Player card

Zombie card

The game board was created with a combination of The Sims, and Photoshop.

The game was a huge success, everyone loved it! Definitely one of my proudest moments to get in front of the class and present this to everyone.  (Between you and me, someone else had been planning on doing a zombie game, but when they heard I was doing one, they changed their mind!)

Every one was great to work with and I have to admit

 it is one of my favorite photography projects ever!

One of my more interesting self portraits was done as I re-watched
one of my favorite shows-The Walking Dead.

June 25, 2014

I felt that this moment with Amy was terrifyingly beautiful, and so I wanted to re-create it. 

And finally, we come to today.  I T.A.ed a lighting course, and they had the assignment to recreate a movie poster as exactly as possible-like I could resist that assignment!

October 30, 2014

Over all though, my zombie days are slowing down.  I very rarely have zombie nightmares anymore, and I'm sort of growing tired of the Walking Dead.  I think I will have to find a new source of inspiration.  Don't get me wrong, I still have a few zombie ideas up my sleeve, but over all, I think that I'm off in a new direction, and I'm just fine with that.