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The Walking Dead Does The ‘Virtually Impossible’ Each Week

By Adam Carlson

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We hear from some of the people attached to The Walking Dead all the time.  Heck, Robert Kirkman and Norman Reedus seem to always be in the news discussing some new project or aspect of The Walking Dead in an interview.  But what we don’t hear from enough is the crew of the show.

Thanks to a great interview on Variety’s website, we got a little insight into the filming process from the show’s cinematographer, Michael Satrazemis.  Satrazemis is part of the team that helps bring The Walking Dead to life for fans all around the world.  But the strategy that the show employs has become simplified over the years.

Here is what he said:

"“We’d make a plan and just keep shooting, and then it turned into a thing where (the scene) is better. The performances become really, really powerful when you let somebody run through the whole thing top to bottom and that’s something we try to protect now. That’s always in the plan is to let everybody run through everything top to bottom.”"

We’ve heard a little bit about this process in previous interviews from showrunner Scott M. Gimple and other members of the cast and crew, but understanding how the show starts from a traditional filming method and evolves into a natural progression says a lot for the level of professionalism of the actors and the skill of the crew, especially the editors, on The Walking Dead.

walking dead
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As the show went on, some of those scenes got dark. In fact, it

became a bit of a running joke

that some of the scenes during The Walking Dead’s fifth season were so dark that it was hard to tell what was actually going on.  However, it’s that kind of darkness that also added to the mood of the scenes and make things seem a bit more desperate for the survivors.

"“All our characters were in a dark place and even a little bit divided. It was nice to bring everything down and make it a lot moodier, even for a very moody show.”"

Michael Satrazemis is absolutely right about that.  The Walking Dead feeds off the intensity of the situations that arise and the ability of the actors.  When you add in proper lighting for the mood, you have a scene that could be a hit with fans.

However, some of those scenes that happen on The Walking Dead are more ambitious than others.  With the relatively small budget that the insanely popular show has, it’s astounding how the cast and crew can pull of these mind blowing episodes as well as they can.

"“Everything on our show is done by the skin of its teeth. To stay that big on a television schedule, it’s always virtually impossible. Then after a while, because the scripts are so massive for so long, you get used to doing the virtually impossible. It becomes a little more possible, which is nice.”"

It is nice.  The hard work that the cast and crew of The Walking Dead put forth to give fans the best show possible is appreciated by millions of fans worldwide.  We at Undead Walking would like to thank them for everything they do to help bring us the program that we’ve fallen in love with.

Next: Walking Dead 50 most shocking moments and deaths

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