WARM BODIES Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

WARM BODIES (2013)PRODUCTION NOTESinjured patients can sometimes see the word in their head, but they don't know what it is or what itmeans, and it's hard to get it out. So, even when I'm grunting, I'm trying to make a word."R's thoughts are revealed via voiceover, which makes it clear to the audience what he's trying tocommunicate with his groans. "Sometimes the script supervisor read out the voiceover on set so Icould hear what the character was meant to be thinking during the scene," says Hoult. "It helps withthe timing of the scene to make everything link together."Another R's thoughts and feelings are expressed is through music. Levine, who worked closely withmusic supervisor Alexandra Patsavas ("Grey's Anatomy," Twilight), says R's use of records tocommunicate with Julie was a clever feature of Marion's novel that helped draw him to the project."Music really does help set tone," Levine says. "It's another way to have a shorthand with the audience.Music is, in a big way, how I access the world in a movie and the characters. It's really nicethat it was already written into the story."The cast and crew of Warm Bodies believe the film has pretty broad appeal—and not just becauseof its novel premise and quirky humor. "The character of R is written quite well, quite uniquely, andhis journey is a unique one," Malkovich says. "You know what percentage of teenagers feel alienated?How many of them feel cut off, excluded and not human? It's a pretty big percentage. This filmis a little bit of an exploration of that, rather than just a gory film."WARM BODIES might even be something of a game-changer in the zombie genre, says Morot."There's definitely something for everybody, even for zombie purists such as myself. It's the kind ofzombie movie that a guy can actually take his girlfriend to. The guys get the Boneys and cool zombieaction, and the girls get the sensitive, handsome zombie guy."Although Levine is aware that some horror purists might disapprove of the way the film plays withzombie-movie conventions, he hopes they will approach the film with an open mind. "I have a greatknowledge and love of films like 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Return ofthe Living Dead. But one of the great things about making movies is you can use genre and mythologyto tell different kinds of stories."© 2013 Summit Entertainment12