page_title: Days Gone Bye (The Walking Dead)
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: Days Gone Bye (The Walking Dead) / Production / Filming
caption_attribution_description: English: Fairlie-Poplar District, Atlanta
context_page_description: "Days Gone Bye" is the pilot episode of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on October 31, 2010. The episode was written and directed by Frank Darabont, the series creator.
  Robert Kirkman, the creator of the eponymous series of comic books, considered the idea of creating a television show based on the comic series, but did not move forward. Frank Darabont expressed interest in developing the series for television. In January 2010, AMC formally announced that it had ordered a pilot for a possible series adapted from The Walking Dead comic book. In the announcement, the executives stated that Darabont would serve as writer, director, and an executive producer alongside Gale Anne Hurd. In terrible car accident, rolling into spring.
  Principal photography for the pilot commenced in May 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was wholly shot on 16 mm film, and was edited using computer-generated imagery.
context_section_description: The producers chose to film in Atlanta because of its proximity to Cynthiana, Kentucky, Robert Kirkman's hometown and the setting of his comic's first issue. "At the beginning they talk about how some of the people in neighboring states would have gone to larger cities so they could fortify them and protect the population." Kirkman had considered other cities, particularly New York City, Miami, and Chicago. Gale Anne Hurd had previously filmed in the city for Lifetime. Frank Darabont felt that Atlanta offered the essentials; "Atlanta and Georgia all-told is proving to be brilliant for us in terms of what it has to offer, in terms of what the story needed, in terms of the variety of locations—it really is a fantastic place to shoot." Prior to filming, Kirkman toured with Darabont around the central business district. He stated, "I tagged along on a location-scouting expedition, and that was pretty fun—watching Frank Darabont walking through the streets of Atlanta as if he owned the entire city, daring cars to hit him. That was a lot of fun." Darabont ventured onto the middle of a street to grasp a perfect shot, oblivious to oncoming traffic.
  Atlanta's climate was cited as a potential issue that would hinder production. Darabont recalled that he found it difficult to adjust to the sweltering heat, adding that he "never had clothes stick to me like this in my life". Andrew Lincoln retorted that it was "becoming a running joke that people arrive on set ready for the day and then they are battered and beaten up by the weather." Despite such assertions, he opined that it added to the episode's overall emotion. "There's a lot of hard-earned sweat on camera. It's not comfortable and it's not pleasant, but it's as you would imagine it would be trying to survive in this world."
  Principal photography took place in the city on May 15, 2010, after AMC had officially ordered the production of six episodes for the series. Filming took place over two months, ending in early July. Locations were set up in various spots within the central business district, particularly in the Fairlie–Poplar District. The season premiere was shot completely in anamorphic format on 16 mm film. David Tattersall was the director of photography, while production design was headed by Greg Melton and Alex Hajdu. The special effects team included veteran makeup designer Greg Nicotero, special effects coordinator Darrell Pritchett, and visual effects supervisors Sam Nicholson and Jason Sperling.
  Computer-generated imagery was used in much of "Days Gone Bye", particularly when Rick encounters a legless walker. "The woman was wearing basically blue stockings and then everything was cleaned out. There is an alarming amount of CGI in the pilot episode and in the whole show, and you would never know it," said Robert Kirkman. Kirkman felt that Stargate Studios, which was chosen by producers to edit the pilot episode, did a splendid job. He stated: "There's a shot where Rick is riding off on the horse and his hat actually blew off, and they really liked that shot, and so they had Stargate go in and digitally put the hat back on his head."
caption: Principal photography for the episode largely took place in the Fairlie–Poplar district of Atlanta
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