picture’s up productions presents…
apocalypse: written by a nine-year-old child
Director’s Statement
When I was nine years old, I wrote a script in a composition book about a zombie apocalypse. I called it… “Apocalypse.”
At eighteen years old, I found that composition book in my closet and had an idea: Why not produce the script now?
What resulted isn’t just a shitty zombie-filled romp with childlike dialogue (it is that, but it isn’t just that). “Apocalypse” is a look at what makes childhood — and childlike imagination — such a special thing. I hope it makes you think as much as it makes you laugh.
Key Crew
Key Cast
trivia
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Director Sam Morgan: "The original Apocalypse script didn't have a date on it. I estimate it was written in the 8-11 years old range, but I don't know for sure. I just liked the way it sounded to say the script was 'now as old as I was when I wrote it.' Since that had a nice ring to it, I went with nine."
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Location manager Ty Cronan's real-life residence is home to a mechanic's shop (Ty is a real-life mechanic), acres of forest, a workout room, and several partially-constructed vehicles. Even WJ's large Game of Thrones-esque wooden chair and the Pledge of Allegiance sign in the gym are real items of decor in the Cronan household.
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Actors would usually lip-sync to a pre-recorded track of each line taken from their table read. In the edit, this allowed for cutting between table reads and cinematic portions whenever necessary. It also allowed candid bits (breaking character, incorrect line deliveries, etc.) to be re-enacted in the cinematic scenes, and for improvised riffing (ex: the Drag Queen Zombie, "WJ MTV Cribs") to be included in the final cut. All of this was done with the goal of blurring the lines between table read and cinematic re-enactment in order to create a natural and seamlessly comedic viewing experience.
As for the rest of the film's sound design, all non-dialogue elements (ambient outdoor tone, footsteps, gunshots, shuffling, prop handling) had to be manually added. This was achieved using a mix of foley sound effects and audio elements downloaded from an online SFX library.