Although the fall season has only just begun, Joone Studios and Zombie Army Productions are already into deep into Halloween, with Season 2: “The Days of the Living Dead,” a weekly webisode series starting Sept. 16.
Season 2 covers a “meet-the-zombies one-by-one as they transform from the house of the living to the house of the dead,” says DP Jayme Joyce, who cofounded Joone Studios last May with director Jessica Christopher.
The Wicker Park company has created a niche in America’s second largest consumer holiday with its documentary style show of the thrill-seeking adventures of haunted house entertainment at Statesville Haunted Prison, located in Crest Hill, near Joliet, and the Fear on Navy Pier.
Season 2 highlights seven main renegade zombies, but also captures more than 200 Statesville and 50 Fear actors.
The series features Gonzo (John LaFlamboy, Statesville founder founder) T-Virus (Tresa Walker, stage manager), Rebel Rouser (Technical Director), Skinmaster (Dan Stempien, production manager), Ninja D (Dana Packley, technical director), Nutt (Peanut Sanchez, Actor), and Stalker (Jeff Walker, Assistant Manger).
Joyce used a Canon 1D Mark IV camera in order to film in the low-light conditions throughout Statesville’s 30 maximum-security cells.
The series “has to have a very dark atmosphere. I need to be a fly on the wall to show how scary the house is,” says Joyce. “The camera’s extreme sensitivity to light makes it incredible.”
