Why Zombies Are Terrifying and How That Effects Reality

A quick warning. There is a bit of a Spoiler in this blog, forgive me. It supports my main point.

Rick, the Main Character In The Walking Dead

A few summers ago I had a zombie week. Some buddies of mine and I rented a bunch of zombie movies and watched them, pondering how we would defend ourselves. It's one of the most fun things to think about, almost like a video game. Keep score with your friends in your bulwark, mighty and safe. However, I doubt that would really be the case. In all fairness, my friend's dad has a collection of weapons, including an AK-47 he built on his own, a safe with 10 rifles and innumerable handguns, a garage full of more guns and barrels, of the 60 gallon variety, of  bullets. (He's retired, give him a break). I have a feeling we'd be safe for a little while.

Think about it. At first it would be a joke. "Man that would be awesome if this virus was serious, we could ammo up and kill every one of them!" After that it would be a shock, it's real. Then weeks later, barricades and Marshall law are put in place, and you hear about it. The first person you know becomes one of them. Its Alex from down the street. The kid you rode the bus with in high school...he came to every birthday party you had growing up. And it hits you. Alex lived three houses down. What about your friends, family elsewhere? What about you?

Yet, isn't that what is addicting to think about? How would I handle that situation? It's just so outrageous we can remove ourselves from actuality and do it. But what is the first thing we do? Buffer. Buffering, its what we do when it comes to tough situations. Tossing up the barrier, keeping the thought out of our mind...we may have to kill, or rekill, someone we love. It's a thought no one would ever truly want to find themselves in.

I watched the first episode of  The Walking Dead, AMC's new series about zombies, or rather, survivors in a zombie-ridden world. The main character finds himself in the lucky situation of happening upon living people, a father and son. They are boarded up in a neighborhood with a pesky zombie issue. The first night he's at this place, they are peaking out the windows, looking at the zombies and the boy sees her. His mother is among the animated corpses. They meet the issue of family members head on. The father later has his dead wife in his scope and is forced with the choice.

That is it. The terrifying reality of zombie infested worlds means we have to make choices that are deeply connected to our subconscious. That is the first key to writing such infectious stories. Making your audience choose the outcome. Involving them emotionally in the story. Of course not everything always ends up the way you want it to. But that is the second punch, keeping an audience guessing. The Walking Dead had me hooked within the first few minutes with a "NO WAY" moment right at the beginning.

One of my favorite producers/directors, J.J. Abrams uses mystery to his advantage in pretty much all of his shows and films. He spoke at a TED conference a few years back, specifically about the mystery, check it out here: http://bit.ly/aY4QYA.

The Master of Mystery Himself, J.J. Abrams

The question, what's next, is the driving element in film. Its the question that runs rampant through our zombie filled nightmares, hooks us by the heart in sweeping love stories and drives our soul in the real world. What's next? Where do we go from here? Our soul craves the knowledge of what will be next.

Mystery is evident in everything. We may think we have some idea where it is going, but one of the things that springs us onward is the unflinching enigma of our destiny. It consumes us at a fundamental level. Where our destiny leads us is completely unknown.

The Walking Dead is not only an entertaining show, but it is also a captivating experience, begging the future to answer our questions. If you get the chance watch the show. I'm betting you will like it. And if you get bored with your day, ask the question...chances are you will find yourself pleasantly surprised.

The Woes of Writing Science Fiction, Especially Time Travel

Writing is a great way to escape from reality. Transporting yourself from your world into the extraordinary is electric. But it really becomes an ambitious task when you are writing about time travel. Not only is it difficult to write, but it has been written about so frequently that it is cliche, making it even more difficult to write in a fresh and exciting way.

To add onto the woes of time travel, writing is about research. As a senior in college, I'm used to writing papers and researching with intentions of packing the best information into the 10-15 pages required. However, research about time travel means you have to read about quantum and theoretical physics, possibly the two most dense and difficult subjects for anyone to understand(how many quantum physicists do you know? Its a difficult field to get into).

When writing film, or any story, if you want to have a world that is both convincing, intriguing and entertaining, you want to stick with the principles you invent for your world. Developing these principles is a major component for story structurists and writers. If you make time travel impossible past a certain age(say 60 year olds get fried in the process), stick with it. On a deeper level, if you have a character in a world where classism is present and he is a member of a lower class, you cant treat him like a king. The idea is staying consistent in order to keep your audience interested. Before you say "what about films that keep you guessing the whole time?" (i.e. Momento, Basic), these movies have a set of principles they follow. Think about it, Leonard can't create new memories. That is the guiding principle for the movie. With that said, if you write, no matter the subject, stick with your guiding principles.

This rule has been killing me while writing recently. Science fiction is so hard to write! Your world has to be unique, almost bulletproof when it comes to the rules, and consistent. The fact is time travel is breaking natural laws. Making my world I've felt like I'm making an entirely new theory about the science. I know, its a lot to credit myself for, but that is the thing isn't it. Writing science fiction almost places you at the brink of being an actual scientist. Honestly, when you think about it, how much technology has been inspired from science fiction? Last week I read an article about NASA's plans to send a manned mission to Mars...on a one way trip. Sounds an awful lot like Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" to me. How about cloning, androids, what about mind reading technology? Yes it is real! watch this: http://bit.ly/aZtRDB.

When it comes down to it the science of writing about science is an enormous task. Fanboys love to be pleased but hate it when you treat them like idiots. Writing to escape into another time or reality altogether can be exhilarating, but it isn't easy. If you can find yourself pleasing an audience with your strange new worlds, I commend you. Hey, maybe one day you're film's poster will be next to Star Wars in some nerds room. Here's hoping!