BACKGROUND
Creator of the modern zombie genre and local Pittsburgh legend, George A. Romero attempted to mix social commentary, satire, and horror to provide a deeper view into the story instead of just the typical blood and guts.
Romero has a career of creating intelligent, non-stereotypical black characters in his films; while the rest of the US was in grips with the Civil Rights movement, he depicted that no one was safe in the original Night of the Living Dead (1968). While he may be labeled as a genre director, his influence on the filmmaking industry is quietly embraced by the recent outbreak (no pun intended) of zombie films.
Night of the Living Dead is the launching point of Romero’s career, and is also the highlight of what his vision of horror should encompass. Set within a rural town outside of Pittsburgh, PA, the film takes the idea of those recently deceased to reanimate, and then go on to kill the living. The movie deals with more ideas beyond the typical good versus evil in terms of the undead feasting on the living; it helped in setting the tone of equality—everyone is fearing this threat, and general acceptable social mores take a side-step in the hopes of surviving the onslaught.
Romero uses the technical and financial limitations to his advantage when shooting the film. The stark black and white creates a sense of drama and a chilling effect because of dynamic camera positions; the audience is always scanning the frame for something to come out of the shadows, while the sound—while subpar at times—only adds to the feeling of inevitably facing one’s fears. Cheap, yet effective, Romero has simple make-up applied, only enough to show that these creatures are menacing and hone in on the actor’s ability to sell the idea of the undead.
His career as a filmmaker has pigeon-holed his directorial works into one particular genre—horror—even though he has attempted other directing ventures. In any event, he is the driving factor for how horror films—especially zombie flicks—should be approached. The idea that the zombie as the slow-moving, inevitable death-causer isn’t the main theme; it has always been the idea of the modular family / group setting, where individual mores and folkways within the group clash with their ability to deal with the “ghouls”.
Romero always left me asking who would be worse, the zombies or the people?
And that’s what drew me to create a local festival in honor of our hero; here, I’ve created a myriad of elements that would be represented with the festival, from posters, website, app, swag, lanyards, security and uniforms, and even a take-home element for visitors to fight over trying to get their hands on the limited run.
A lot of thought and time when into this project—which was totally out of respect and passion—to showcase one of my personal directing heroes.
ZOMBIE FEST KIT
The idea of the kit was to be something that would not only look like it would be inside of an apocalyptic environment, but had to be relevant to all of the content, theme of the festival, and packed inside of a container that made sense—enter the ammo can.
Nothing screams “prep for the impending doom” like the old ammo can. Scoring one from the local Army / Navy store, this .50 cal can came in handy to stash all of the goodies inside. Hand painted lettering modeled after existing ammo cans, the inside was lined with all of the elements from the festival.
DVDs
Visitors’ goody bag would contain all six (6) of Romero’s films; each one shares the same visual cues of the gold foil effect in homage to the ZOMBIE KING, as well as textures to look like they are a series of old, worn books that would be stumbled across when looking for survival goodies.
Each DVD has the front and rear done for the case, showcasing content with the gold foil effect.
PROGRAM
Nothing says “I was there” like the ‘ol program to the event; done with 50+ pages, this book encapsulates the event, giving visitors time and dates of events, parking, hotels, directions, and a timeline of events going on during the festival.
Done in 8×10″ format, the program was done to fit within the ammo can—which it did snugly—and the imagery shared the same desolate imagery that Romero was known for.
