While there is some post-production work done on the video — Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects — the buildings used for the teaser were already available, courtesy of New York City. The result is a haunting look at a potential future, and because it’s made using real buildings and locations, it hits a little closer to home. It should be noted that the first video, called The Silent City serves as a teaser of what’s to come. If the preview is any indication, the final project should be a treat:

When an unexplained event decimates the human race, the survivors fight for their lives in the ruins of civilization.

A decade later, the dangers of the new world taken their toll. Hopelessness and isolation have felled many of the original survivors, and now one man walks alone, determined to endure against all odds.

There’s also a explanation of what’s to come, including an explanation of why they selected a web series as their method of content delivery:

The most exciting factor about the web series medium is its ongoing interaction with its audience. You, the viewer, can effect the story as it progresses. We want to take this to the next level, and bring you into the process by showing not just how we make films but why we make them.

Along with the 5 episodes we will be releasing in April/May 2012, The Silent City will be uploading new tutorials and behind-the-scenes videos every week from Feb 2012 until the first season wraps.

As indicated, donations are welcomed, with certain amounts receiving various rewards for their help. For instance, if you pledge $100, you could be an extra participating as a member of the zombie horde, if that gives you any direction the web series is headed.

If you pledge $500 or more, you can play a zombie that might get killed on-camera. As you can see, there are opportunities abound. I’d love to see someone like Tom Savini put some of his career earnings up to help finance this project, because with that kind of influence, there’s no telling where a project like this could go.

H/t to Boing Boing for pointing this out.

Remember, shoot them in the head.

By my count, the movies featured in Eclectic Method’s video are Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead (both versions), Shaun of the Dead, The Plague of the Zombies, I Am Legend (which is not a zombie story, but I digress) and AMC’s The Walking Dead. A quick scene from a video game is present as well, but I’m not sure which one it is. I know it’s not Valve’s awesome Left 4 Dead series, so it could be from the Dead Rising series, or, perhaps, Dead Island.

If anyone knows, please correct me.

It should be noted that the video contains some awfully violent images, especially for the “Shoot them in the head” scenes, which features a menagerie of vivid head shots. While the video may not be for everybody, it’s hard to ignore the creativity on display in Eclectic Method’s creation. Let’s just hope they don’t get hit with a cease and desist for using other people’s intellectual property, even though it’s being done to celebrate these movies, as well as the genre itself.

Perhaps the most awesome pumpkin carving I’ve ever seen.

As you can see from the lead image, the result of Ray Villafane’s pumpkin carving is just an incredible scene that makes use of one of the Internet’s favorite horror subjects. According to reports, Villafane used two massive pumpkins to complete his carving. For the zombies, a 1693 pound pumpkin was used, and the sculptures from that huge gourd were transferred over to an even bigger pumpkin — 1818 pounds — which served as the base.

The carving was done for at the New York Botanical Garden, and the associated blog post has a 13-image slideshow of the creative process involved in such awesomeness. Here’s another example:

Boing Boing, Laughing Squid and Neatorama have all thrown links at the carving, and “zombie pumpkin” has a lot more coverage at Google News.

Of course, finding such worthy content is the real trick, isn’t it?

Now that they’ve apparently addressed whatever server overload issues that plagued that attempt, the CDC is back on the zombie bandwagon, just in time for Halloween. This time, instead of relying on a generic survival guide — hey, the CDC is not above shilling for pageviews — they’ve released an impressively-drawn web comic that plays on popularity of zombies. The comic is presented in the standard PDF format, and, truth be told, after skimming it, the comic is essentially a reminder for people to make an emergency kit, one that prepares people for potential disasters, whether it’s in the form of an all-out zombie attack or, well, bad weather.

Here are a couple of screenshots from the comic, which, regardless of the CDC’s motivation, isn’t that bad:

CDC has a fun new way of teaching the importance of emergency preparedness. Our new graphic novel, “Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic” demonstrates the importance of being prepared in an entertaining way that people of all ages will enjoy. Readers follow Todd, Julie, and their dog Max as a strange new disease begins spreading, turning ordinary people into zombies. Stick around to the end for a surprising twist that will drive home the importance of being prepared for any emergency. Included in the novel is a Preparedness Checklist so that readers can get their family, workplace, or school ready before disaster strikes.

So yeah, the CDC is deftly using zombies as a way to remind others to be prepared. Granted, if a true zombie apocalypse broke out, I’m not sure how much good a CDC-approved disaster preparedness kit would do, unless it was filled with unlimited food, water, and ammo.

Again, you can read the entire web comic in its PDF form here.

If you’re wondering just how effective the CDC would be in the face of a worldwide zombie outbreak, the fantastic television show, The Walking Dead covered that subject rather well during the season one finale, which is the resource of the lead image. AMC, the channel responsible for the show, has a “webisode” of how the CDC would fare:

In other words, if a worldwide zombie outbreak actually does hit, we’re all pretty much screwed. Sure, some would survive, but most of us would either wind up as one of the walking dead or we would get eaten. Who knows? Maybe the disaster kit would give you a few more days worth of survival, so there’s that.

Although season 2 is already a wrap, it looks like you might have a chance to play a small role in season 3 – as a zombie.

AMC has teamed up with Bing for the Walking Dead Sweepstakes, a contest to give one lucky person a chance to test out their limb-dragging, entrails-eating, vacant-expression skills with a walk-on role. The prize includes a trip for two to the set of The Walking Dead season 3, roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, and $500 cash.

Only the winner (not the guest) will win the part on the show. He/she will be “transformed into the flesh-eating dead by Greg Nicotero’s creature team,” and if you’ve seen the show, you know what awesome zombie-creators those guys are.

Did you guys watch the season 3 premiere? What did you think? Personally, I thought that it was great, and definitely sets up the possibility for an incredible season (and this is coming from a guy who was disappointed by season 1). Will it fill the Breaking Bad-sized void in my life? That remains to be seen, but I’m undoubtedly impressed.

If you want to relive the key highlights from the season 2 premiere, check out this video below –

Season 2 starts on Sunday October 16, but don’t expect to watch new episodes on Netflix. According to MarketWatch, the deal only allows Netflix to stream previous seasons. Past seasons will be made available right before new seasons air.

In other words, if you want to watch Season 2 on Netflix, you’re going to have to wait until AMC gets ready to air the season after that.

Of course, there are other viewing options for the upcoming season. You can watch it AMC itself or download episodes from Amazon or iTunes. New episodes are available the day after broadcast. It will cost you about $3 bucks for an episode on iTunes though (at least that’s what they’re still charging for Season 1.

Here’s a trailer for Season 2:

As previously reported, AMC is also making webisodes available leading up to the launch of Season 2:

Netflix recently revealed that 50 – 60% of viewing on Netflix is TV episodes.

But as soon as Breaking Bad wraps up for the season, I’ll be all-the-way thrilled. Zombie survival scenarios just continue to amuse me, no matter how many I watch or read.

If you are a big Walking Dead fan, you’ll be happy to know that AMC has produced a series of webisodes set to launch two weeks before the season 2 premiere.

According to AMC, the webisodes will tell the story of Hannah, the poor, crawling half-zombie that Rick kills out of pity at the end of the pilot episode. From their blog –

The webisodes will give fans the opportunity to explore the back story of Hannah (Lilli Birdsell), better known as “Bicycle Girl,” the infamous zombie from Season 1, who was shot by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in the pilot episode and who is one of the most celebrated “walkers” from last season. Fans will learn about Hannah’s life before the apocalypse, her struggle to survive and protect her family as the world begins to fall apart, and her ultimate demise into zombie-hood.

The web series will consists of 6 episodes that will all be available at the same time. They will launch on October 3rd at 2 pm EST.

To get you excited, here’s the latest trailer for the upcoming season 2 –

And just for fun, here’s one of the best scenes from season 1. You know how to fool a zombie, right? If you don’t, you’ll know after this (gross as hell) clip –

Season 2 will debut on October 16th at 9 pm EST with a 90-minute episode. Unfortunately, it will be split up into two parts – 6 more episodes following the premiere and then a break, followed by 6 episodes beginning on February 12th.

Now that we live in a world permeated by social media, it’s safe to assume that things like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube will play a pretty big part in the zombie apocalypse.

And that’s exactly what this video explores. Recently posted by the Pixelpersecond channel, #Zombies: Followers of the Dead takes on the form of a documentary, set 6 months after the zombie outbreak. Those who survived tell their stories. It becomes apparent that social media played a crucial role in the aftermath, as it both helped and hurt the cause.

Apparently, Twitter was a force for good – providing clever hashtags, spreading the word on safe zones and supply locations. But it was also a force for evil – spreading lies and rumors about improper ways to fight the horde. Crosses don’t protect you against zombies, idiots. That’s vampires – and it doesn’t always work with them anyways.

And unfortunately, their depiction of the purpose YouTube would serve during the ZA is probably pretty accurate.

Check out the extremely well-done video below –

Now that you’ve seen it, I can tell you that they claim (on YouTube) that the entire thing was unscripted. Pretty impressive.

Back in May, the CDC tweeted a link their own zombie preparedness guide, which was featured on their blog. This tweet resulted in the crashing of the blog due to the amount of traffic. Strangely enough, the preparedness guide makes no mention of good strategies fro the utilization of social media during the outbreak.

That’s a shame, because you better believe that the first thing most people will do after witnessing their deceased loved one rise, is tweet about it.

ZOMBIES, RUN is an awesome app concept, currently trying to raise the necessary dough through crowdsource funding site Kickstarter. As of the writing of this article, the app has already received a little over $12,000 of the required $12.500 through 455 backers. The project has 26 days left to get the required funding – so I’m going to go out on a limb and say this one’s a go.

ZOMBIES, RUN mixes an interactive zombie game with your daily run. From the Kickstarter page -

Zombies, Run! is an ultra-immersive game for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android where you help rebuild civilisation after a zombie apocalypse. By going out and running in the real world, you can collect medicine, ammo, batteries, and spare parts that you can use to build up and expand your base – all while getting orders, clues, and story through your headphones.

You receive orders and hear the story told through radio messages and voice recordings between your own custom playlists. Missions last around 20-30 minutes in real time and there’ll be over 30 unique missions in Season 1.

Basically, you plug in your headphones, and the game gives you directions and mission imperatives on the fly. You grab med supplies, weapons and help other people all while running from the horde.

Save little Timmy from the pack of zombies about to spill his (tasty) entrails? Or grab those extra shells for your shotgun. Hint: Timmy’s already a goner – go for the ammo.

The app also keeps track of your pace, distance, time and calories burned, in case you lost track of all that while trying to salvage what’s left of civilization.

Even though the app is close to full funding, extra money will not be wasted according to developers Six to Start. Overflow funds will be used to create more mission packs, web integration and multiplayer support.

Hat tip to All Things D’s Tricia Duryee for sharing:

Update: This was originally reported to be a PayPal commercial, but a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews it’s not actually one of their commercials, but was created by the PayPal community. Don’t expect to see it on TV (unfortunately).

It’s also worth noting how horror scenarios are being used in advertising these days. A couple weeks ago, we first saw a Woolite ad directed by Rob Zombie.

I still love this classic Freddy Krueger Fonzies commercial though:

Some stats subtly dropped at the end of the PayPal video:

• 100 million active users
• More than $3,500 per second
• $7.5 billion yearly via mobile by the end of 2013

By 2015, we’re all going to live our lives digitally, according to PayPal President Scott Thompson. That means without wallets:

PayPal also updated its iPhone app this week. With this, all app features are displayed on one page, transaction history details are “just a tap away,” and filtering of transaction history has been improved.