The Walking Dead 2015-10-11 Tech Insider, Why 'The Walking Dead' decided to use black and white scenes in the season 6 premiere

http://www.techinsider.io/walking-dead-season-6-premiere-black-and-white-2015-10

Why 'The Walking Dead' decided to use black and white scenes in the season 6 premiere

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 11, 2015, 10:10 PM

Gene Page/AMC
Warning: There are spoilers if you haven't watched the season six premiere of "The Walking Dead."

Season six of "The Walking Dead" kicked off Sunday night with a huge episode.

Not only were fans greeted to the biggest zombie horde we've seen yet on the show, but the episode also played out in black and white as well as color as the episode flashed between the past and present on screen.

Tech Insider caught up with series executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed the season six premiere, to learn more about the artistic choice for the episode, and it turns out black and white wasn't always what they had in mind.

"We took sort of a rather bold move because we wanted to play with our non-linear timeline," said Nicotero. "We wanted to sort of make sure it wasn't confusing for the audience, so we had initially explored the idea of doing a desaturated flashback versus an oversaturated present-day."

AMC

AMC

That didn't exactly work, though.

"The present-day oversaturated makes the trees look very green and the zombies look very beautiful and 'Wizard of Oz,'" he explains. "It's so pretty, and you're like, 'Wow, that's sort of weird.' Adding color to zombies is not something that you immediately gravitate to. So we went with the idea of just taking all the color out instead of just desaturating the flashback ... just so you could easily follow the timeline."

Gene Page/AMC
Zombies are even more decomposed during season six of "The Walking Dead."

The black and white sequences also helped add another level of intrigue and mystery to the season six opener.

"The episode's a puzzle and what we're doing is we're giving you the final piece of the puzzle at the beginning and we love the idea that as the episode progresses, the audience is putting the pieces together, so by the time we get to the end of the episode, it's like, 'Ohhhhh, now I get what we're looking at and now I see how this is all working," Nicotero continued.

Nicotero says they were never really interested in doing the season six opener in a linear progression.

"I think the discussion had come up once or twice about recutting it, but I felt that it would have taken away a lot of impact of the story to just tell it in a linear fashion," he explains. "I know both [showrunner] Scott [Gimple] and I were very sold on just keeping the story structure and just finding a way to tell it visually that was appealing to the audience, and still got us through the story clearly."

"It really is a bold filmmaking storytelling style, but something that we all feel the show warrants after six years," Nicotero added. "We didn't want to do something that we had done before so we took a big swing and it was very exciting to be able to do that."

This isn't the first time "The Walking Dead" has played with time in its episodes, and it won't be the last.

At San Diego Comic-Con, showrunner Scott Gimple revealed we'll see more flashbacks in the first half of the season. Gimple also mentioned there's an entire episode in the works that will be a flashback.

Maybe we'll see more black and white sequences worked into the season.

Let us know what you thought of the season six premiere below.

Fear The Walking Dead 2015-10-04 Tech Insider, 'The Walking Dead' is finally going to answer a question fans have had for a long time

http://www.techinsider.io/fear-the-walking-dead-season-2-will-introduce-a-boat-2015-10

'The Walking Dead' is finally going to answer a question fans have had for a long time

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 4, 2015, 11:32 PM

Warning: If you're not caught up with the season finale of "Fear the Walking Dead," there are spoilers ahead!

Between "The Walking Dead" comic series, the popular AMC show, and the video games, fans have always had one question about the zombie apocalypse: Why doesn't anyone find a boat and set sail on the ocean?

Surely, the zombies can't get you out on the water, right?

Well, it looks like we're finally going to find out!

During the season one finale of "Fear the Walking Dead," the companion series to "The Walking Dead," we see the group head to the Pacific coast.

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While it looks like the eight are going to spend a lot of time at the mysterious Strand's (Colman Domingo) humble abode, he has a different idea.

Strand's prepping to take everyone onto his yacht, Abigail, and sail away!

AMC

AMC 
Say hello to your (potential) home away from home, Abigail!

It seems like a brilliant idea.

Maybe.

This is something we've never seen.

Do walkers swim? How do they deal with water? Will there be a bunch of walkers awaiting them on other ships they may run into? These are all things we don't really have answers to.

"It was important we ended up on the Pacific," said showrunner Dave Erickson on a special episode of "Talking Dead," "The Walking Dead" after show. "It opens some interesting options to us."

Justin Lubin/AMC
"Fear the Walking Dead" executive producer and showrunner Dave Erickson with actress Alycia Debnam Care on set of "Fear."

Erickson hinted that they're probably not the only ones with the bright idea to head to a boat.

If you've been reading the comics, characters have set sail out on the water but we haven't seen any zombies on the ocean or have been taken out to sea — yet! Creator Robert Kirkman hinted in "The Walking Dead" comic series we'll be "seeing some sea travel sooner" than we think.

Image/Skybound
A scene from issue #139 of "The Walking Dead."

However, the bigger issue is whether Strand is someone who should be trusted. This is a guy who abandoned a bunch of people to rot in some makeshift government holding cells to save his own skin.

"No es bueno," said Cliff Curtis, who plays Travis on "Fear the Walking Dead," when asked about his first reaction to Strand. "I don't like the guy. He's great for the show, but he's the antithesis of Travis. He's just got no morality ... I'd take Salazar any day over that guy."

"I like the suit, though," said Curtis, commenting on Strand's very overdressed apocalypse attire.

Justina Mintz/AMC
Strand seems like a man the group should keep a close watch on moving forward.

"We will learn much more about Strand in season two," added Erickson. "What was interesting to us was to have a character you don't see very often on 'The Walking Dead' — somebody of means, somebody who has money, a person of affluence. And we see that is his house, that is his boat. He definitely has a con man's charm, which is part of how he accrued his wealth and his fortune, but he's not somebody without his own plans and designs."

Do you think it's a good idea for our survivors to sail away from Los Angeles with Strand on his boat?

"Fear the Walking Dead" will return in 2016.

The Walking Dead 2015-10-01 Tech Insider, 'The Walking Dead' season 6 premiere is one of the show's most ambitious episodes

http://www.techinsider.io/the-walking-dead-season-6-review-2015-10

'The Walking Dead' season 6 premiere is one of the show's most ambitious episodes

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 1, 2015, 11:49 AM

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
Morgan (Lennie James) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have been reunited, but is that a good thing for season six?

Thirty seconds into season six of “The Walking Dead” you’ll be asking yourself, “What is going on?”

Within a minute, you’re sure to be grinning.

This is what fans have been waiting for.

Tech Insider has seen the first new episode of “The Walking Dead,” returning to AMC Oct. 11, and season six wastes no time launching into a huge action sequence which plays across the entirety of the premiere.

I can't say much, but back in March, at the end of season 5, “The Walking Dead” showrunner Scott Gimple told fans, “for a good while now, humans have been the bigger threat. At the start of our next season, that will change.”

Gimple delivers on that promise.

If you’re up to speed with Robert Kirkman’s comic series, you know what’s coming, and the season six premiere sets things in motion perfectly. (To be honest, it’s moving things along quicker than anticipated.)

Executive producer Greg Nicotero, who’s also responsible for the ever-decaying look of the zombies on the show, returns to the director’s chair for the premiere, so you know you’re in for a good ride. He’s delivered some of the series' best episodes. Season 3's "This Sorrowful Life" and season 5’s premiere “No Sanctuary” stand out.

Gene Page/AMC
A walker from season six of "The Walking Dead."

This is Nicotero’s 12th episode directing. He and Gimple have worked together on the previous two season openers, which have both been positively received.

While the season six premiere doesn't top the anxiety-ridden drama of the season five opener (seriously, how do you compete with an escape from murderous cannibals?), it certainly goes bigger.

I can’t divulge too much more about the episode without giving much away.

So what can we tell you?

The Ricktatorship is back!

Gene Page/AMC

You don’t want to mess with Rick. The fan-given moniker alluding to the way Rick governs over his group — generally it’s Rick’s way or the highway — lives up to its name in episode one. There's a scene with him where he gives a speech which may make fans of the series shiver in glee.

If you've seen the lengthy San Diego Comic-Con trailer, you've seen a hint:

And while you're excited and rooting for Rick, there's a part of you that may start wondering whether you're still rooting for the right side. It's slightly reminiscent of how fans binge-watching AMC's other hit, "Breaking Bad," began to struggle with justifying Walter White's decisions toward the end of the series.

However, unlike Walt, Rick has a few voices of reason on his side.

Morgan!

That first awkward moment when Rick and Morgan were reunited at the end of season five.

What a sight it was to see Morgan (Lennie James) reunite with Rick during the season five finale … at quite possibly the worst moment he could reunite with Rick: Rick had just killed a guy, RIGHT after Morgan gave an entire speech about all life being precious. Talk about awkward.

Creator Robert Kirkman has already said Rick and Morgan’s interactions will be integral to the story this season and that’s extremely evident in the premiere.

The return of Morgan from seasons one and three adds a somber voice of reason to the group which may have started to disappear the longer Rick and his crew were on the road, living off of instinct. His scenes with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have always been some of the series’ best. Fans have a lot to look forward to from his interactions with the rest of the gang, particularly Michonne (Danai Gurira).

For viewers, the return helps show the group from an outsider’s perspective. Morgan is someone who has survived the apocalypse, and on his own nonetheless. The guy has a zen-like vibe. Now, that he’s in contact with the two very different groups — the laid-back, inexperienced Alexandrians and Rick’s ragtag supergroup of trained zombie warriors — he’s perhaps the most reliable narrator on the show.

Eugene is so awkward, it's hilarious.

Gene Page/AMC

There’s really not much else to say about Josh McDermitt's character. His scenes really stick out in the premiere.

A few new characters are also added to the bunch.

Be on the lookout for Heath (Corey Hawkins, “Straight Outta Compton”), another big character from the comics whose casting was announced back in June.

Yes, Daryl will be there.

Gene Page/AMC 
The fan favorite, played by Norman Reedus, doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t need to. His actions speak louder than words.

“The Walking Dead” has a habit of focusing more intently on select characters in single episodes due to the large ensemble. That’s not the case here. You’ll get a nice amount of screen time with most of the characters.

To be clear, the season six premiere is not the series’ finest. It gets a bit predictable.

There's a particular style in which the episode is done which adds intrigue and mystery to the set up of the premiere. (Again, spoilers, so I can’t say more.) It's brilliant for the episode’s first half, but once viewers figure out what exactly is going on, the allure starts to fade after the 30-minute mark.

Despite that, the episode, titled “"First Time Again," has some great moments and will get you excited for where the season is heading over the course of the first eight episodes.

We’ll leave you with this: Fans, this is a good time to go back and get reacquainted with the "No Way Out" volume — issues 79-84. In fact, be on the lookout for a verbal wink to it in the season premiere.

“The Walking Dead” returns to AMC Sunday, October 11 at 9 p.m.