Gene Page / AMC
block the world — the most compelling characters onThe Walking Dead , which has its third season premiere tonight at 9 pm on AMC , are obviously the zombies . These shambling , bod - hungry undead are the institution of special effects makeup creative person Greg Nicotero , who uses a combination of prosthetics and CGI to convey the Walker to lifetime .
Nicotero generally nibble magniloquent , sylphlike doer with good bone structure to be Walker . “ If you start out with someone whose symmetry are already thin , it feels constituent and realistic when you add prosthetics , " he toldPopular Mechanics in 2010 . For more thoroughly decomposed zombies , Nicotero create decompose body parts out of latex froth from molds of the actors ’ head and bodies . When limbs have to come off , he clads them in blue or immature fabric , and ocular effects artists dispatch them in spot - output .
Fresher zombies have it much easier : They fag out partial prosthetics , and gory wounds are applied using 3D prosthetic transfers . But all zombies wear the creepy sensationalistic contacts that reckon like decayed egg , a variety Nicotero implemented after the second season ( the ruddy contacts used in season one made the Walker look too blurry - eyed , he told newsman at Comic Con 2011 ) . And they all go tozombie school day , too .
The face of the zombi has evolved over the course of the show , in part because Nicotero is constantly trying to improve on the makeup . Season three ’s next grade prosthetics include molder thorax and back ; Nicotero and his squad sculpted the rotted trunk , then glued them flat to the actors . Zombie puppets will play a bigger function in the novel time of year , but Nicotero estimates that he and his team still didas many as 6000 makeups .
Nicotero , who also serves as co - executive producer , will direct three episodes ofThe walk Deadthis season . Watch him give a tour of his storage warehouse — and detail the techniques they ’ll use to make season three ’s zombie kills more sick — in this video :
And if you need any of Nicotero ’s snake god make-up tips for Halloween , you canfind them here .
