A world of zombie madness is about to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting citizens of Platteville. After three years with an idea of a zombie world bubbling under the surface, student producers Justin Baumgartner and Kyle Caploe will premiere Zombie Rapture at a midnight showing Sunday, Dec. 7.

Zombie B-Movie fanatic Baumgartner, senior communications major, made his story a reality with the aid of fellow zombie fan Kyle Caploe, senior communications major. The characters originated from the original story, and the two worked over the summer to get the story on paper.

Photograph submitted by Robert Snyder
Producers Justin Baumgartner and Kyle Caploe chat between takes of Zombie Rapture. Baumgartner and Caploe have been filming since the beginning of the semester for an independent study project.

“The main focus is a biblical rapture, I wanted something epic and what is the one of the most epic stories? It’s the bible, even if your agnostic or atheist,” Baumgartner said. “Then we tied in the zombies.”

Although skeptical of the controversial story line, Caploe was caught by the zombie world Baumgartner had created.

“We got working and bouncing around some good ideas,” Caploe said. “I think it’s kind of cool, and has an interesting twist.”

Zombie Rapture is written as a pilot episode for a TV series, purposely leaving unanswered questions for the audience. The rapture occurs at the beginning of the film, and although a part of the overall story line there is an additional human component to the film.

“Our main story is Rita and her mom. Their story is the dramatic side, the humanized side you don’t normally see in zombie movies,” Baumgartner said.

Part of an independent study project, Baumgartner and Caploe have seen the project through from beginning to end. Production for the movie has taken place all semester, including script writing, casting, filming, and editing.

One of the major hurdles to overcome was securing cast and crew members who didn’t necessarily have the commitment the producers had. Due to the majority of filming being done over the weekends, roles were switched from the beginning process.

“It’s been a different experience, I usually hate being in front of the camera,” Jeremy Hach, senior communications major, said. Hach was cast as the hero of the film.

“It’s been great, an interesting experience. I would not do this normally,” Hach said.

Supported largely by the communications department, equipment has been sponsored by the department. Baumgartner and Caploe also collaborated interdepartmental, coordinating with the Professional Tools class to compose an original score for the film.

“This is the biggest project that I’ve seen in my time here,” Robert Snyder, communications technologies faculty, said. “They’re doing what good producers do.”

The original goal of the project was to make a fun film for friends, Caploe said. However, after getting the strong backing from the communications department, the support for the film has grown.

“Our goal is to make it suitable for a film festival,” Caploe said. “Our highest goal is if it gets picked up by a network and we get jobs because of it.”

Throughout the filming process, Baumgartner and Caploe included their cast and crew and sought out their input. Shooting, and overall direction of scenes were directed by the pair, yet their actors opinions were included, Hach said.

“They have a really great working friendship, they trust each other on shots and writing, it would be impossible with just one person,” Hach said.

Post-production will be underway until the premier of Zombie Rapture. The Millennium Cinema has been booked for the midnight showing, and the event will be free of cost.

“Take a break off studying and finals and come see Zombie Rapture,” Caploe said.

T-shirts will also be sold for fans of the film at the premier. If enough interest is sparked, a second episode will be highly considered, Baumgarter said. Another production will be undertaken by the pair following completion of Rapture.

“Anyone can do this,” Baumgarter said. “Come and see what students can do with a little motivation, the resources are already there.”