Zombie Film Locations

[USNFilms]

Hi,

I'm scripting a zombie short film and was wondering about good locations to film a zombie film. Obviously, filming in town or where people roam the streets is out of the picture, for it is a post-apocalyptic world in a sense.

Anyway, I live in Maine and I know you can't give me exact locations so I'll give you an idea of what I'm asking:

For example, you tell me that an abandoned railroad station might be a good location for a zombie film, then I spend the time searching for one in my area and if I find out there is one then great, and if theres not, no harm is done.

Thanks in advance

 

[harpsichoid]

It's not the worst place to be, Maine is Stephen King territory. Most of the books are set there, including the couple I remember actually being about zombies (Or equivalents of)

Are there any corn fields around? You should do some scenes in one, they scare me to death.

'Abandoned railways in Maine' gives a lot of results on google, some of which are pretty cool.

http://www.abandonedrails.com/Maine

And this next article is awesome, I want to go there now.

http://www.eastcoastrover.com/Trains2000.html

 

[USNFilms]

It's not the worst place to be, Maine is Stephen King territory. Most of the books are set there, including the couple I remember actually being about zombies (Or equivalents of)

Are there any corn fields around? You should do some scenes in one, they scare me to death.

'Abandoned railways in Maine' gives a lot of results on google, some of which are pretty cool.

http://www.abandonedrails.com/Maine

And this next article is awesome, I want to go there now.

http://www.eastcoastrover.com/Trains2000.html

Thanks so much man for your response, those are some great links! I completely forgot stephen king is from Maine, and now I think I can get some great locations

 

[NickClapper]

To shoot the abandoned street scenes in 28 Days Later they filmed very early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, when the streets were pretty much deserted. That was in London so it was still very tricky, would that not be a workable effect for your zombie movie? It depends on how urban your location is but I imagine that with clever and patient camera work you could get a lot of cool, usable footage just by turning up early in the morning...

 

[wheatgrinder]

stone quarry
farms
little islands, off season maybe?

old mills.. read this ...
Quite a few of Maine's towns were built specifically to house employees of factories and mills during the industrial age. Follow any of the major rivers and you'll probably encounter dozens of them, yet very few are still in operation- most of these mill towns are struggling to survive in the shadows of these old Victorian husks.

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/abandoned_woolen_mill_maine_1.htm

Dont forget about movie magic.. several shots of a different deserted streets, build a mental image of a deserted town. Just have your car "break down" at an intersection Jump out shoot, move on..

 

[USNFilms]

To shoot the abandoned street scenes in 28 Days Later they filmed very early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, when the streets were pretty much deserted. That was in London so it was still very tricky, would that not be a workable effect for your zombie movie? It depends on how urban your location is but I imagine that with clever and patient camera work you could get a lot of cool, usable footage just by turning up early in the morning...

stone quarry
farms
little islands, off season maybe?

old mills.. read this ...
Quite a few of Maine's towns were built specifically to house employees of factories and mills during the industrial age. Follow any of the major rivers and you'll probably encounter dozens of them, yet very few are still in operation- most of these mill towns are struggling to survive in the shadows of these old Victorian husks.

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/abandoned_woolen_mill_maine_1.htm

Dont forget about movie magic.. several shots of a different deserted streets, build a mental image of a deserted town. Just have your car "break down" at an intersection Jump out shoot, move on..

Thanks for that advice, I'll deffinetly consider time when filming, I never even thought about that!! There is no one awake early in the morning in my town.

And Wheatgrinder great point, I live right on a river with "Fort Andros" an old mill/factory, although now different parts of it are used for retail, there are still probably some parts of it that are empty.

 

[Khristopher]

You could also use abandoned factories or industrial areas, not sure if Maine would have a ton, but the possibility is there. Another great location would be near a lake, if I'm not mistaken, Maine has quite a few and most are surrounded by cover of large trees. That would be ideal for zombies running out and suprising survivours.

 

[ThatGuyFromThatPlace]

I'm fairly well off if I ever need to film a zombie film of some sort, because I live in a village inhabited by old people - even in the middle of the day the streets are fairly empty. As someone said before though, time is fairly important, especially for the atmosphere of the film (night time is classic horror territory, of course).

Abandoned buildings are okay, but you have to be extremely careful (especially in the older ones), and make sure you have permission to shoot.