How to Shoot a Zombie Movie - a Story Approach

Zombie movies are one of the single most popular genres of films in the world today. The factors that aid this phenomenon can be narrowed down to just a few basic concepts. Understanding these concepts will allow you to create a better Zombie movie.

This article does not deal with the Zombies, but rather how the Hero is crafted in response to the Zombies. Understanding how your hero is crafted allows you to better understand how your Zombies should be crafted to take advantage of the Hero's weaknesses.

Also, realize, there are no steadfast rules for Zombies, there are just some generally accepted concepts and some things that push the Zombie idea into parody-ville. For example, a Zombie driving a car or doing a complicated act which does not directly relate to their trying to assimilate the Hero.

Tip #1: Zombies are a universal threat. Ever culture on Earth has a myth about the after life, wanting to go to the afterlife and a common understanding that anything brought back from the afterlife against its will is going to be really upset about it. Since the Zombie is already dead, killing it by normal means is going to be difficult; in fact, there is only one way to kill a Zombie....take off its head. Anything else and you are just wasting your ammunition. You can slow down a Zombie by shooting out its knees but that is only a temporary measure. Knowing this, writing it in your story, creates a dramatic problem for your hero. He has no other option but to take off the head of an apparently living creature. Instinctively he will be conflicted and try everything else except "the ultimate measure". This is directly related to the story as a whole, as the heroes will try everything except "the ultimate measure" to survive. Whatever the ultimate measure has to be clearly defined and discarded as a possibility early in the story so the audience knows what is eventually going to have to be done.