Author Isaac Marion?s breakout novel, Warm Bodies, started as a short story and has blossomed into a feature film. I sat with Isaac to discuss his involvement in the film, what characters he identified with, and where he would go in a real zombie apocalypse.
I read an interview you did with Wired where you talked about being involved with the Warm Bodies movie. What was that process like?
Isaac Marion: Coming to the set wasn?t really involvement; it was a courtesy to invite me to watch. My involvement was earlier in the process where they would consult me on people they thought about casting. They didn?t ask for my approval, it was more or less ?This is what we?re thinking?, and it was giving notes on the script. When Jonathan Levine was writing the script, he would call me up and ask me what I thought. I gave notes on the script and notes on an early cut of the movie. It wasn?t collaboration, but they were interested in my opinion. It didn?t feel like a courtesy brush of either. It was surprising because I heard that doesn?t happen often.
I hear that a lot. They?ll invite authors on set and tell them, ?Thanks for coming, but this is the direction we?re going with this movie?.
IM: If I had a problem with the direction maybe we would?ve bumped heads. I knew what direction they were going to go. I understood why, so I didn?t have a problem with it. It was more about the execution. It was apparent to me from the beginning they weren?t trying to mangle the story.
When you started with the Warm Bodies short story, did you have any idea where it was going?
IM: No. Even less so than anything else I?ve written. When I wrote the story it was a departure from the regular stuff I write. It was more lighthearted and more pop culture-y. Using zombies isn?t something I normally do. It was a very short story about a zombie talking about life in the apocalypse. I didn?t even know if I wanted to post it. I was thinking, ?This is dumb.? [laughs] I put it out there and people loved it. It got me thinking a little more and wondering if there was a deeper story. That story became apparent as I expanded to write the novel. When I first started that was the furthest thing from my mind. Even as I was writing it was like ?Hey. I?m writing a zombie novel?. I never thought this would be my creative find.
I think people relate to zombie stories like The Walking Dead or Dawn of the Dead the same way they do with Warm Bodies. R?s character in Warm Bodies is on this path and he desperately wants his life to change. He?s going around in circles and he?s not sure how he got there. A lot of people live that life.
IM: Warm Bodies ended up becoming one of the most personal relatable things I?ve written. As I was figuring out the story, it lined up with a lot of feelings I was having at that time in my life. It was actually about my experience with the world and trying to figure out who I am. It was trying to establish a connection to the rest of society and humanity. I understand people not expecting to take it seriously. Most reviews that I read start with ?This sounded like a stupid idea, but it went in a different direction?. I?m glad it?s a surprise and is catching people off guard.? With the movie, the promotion is geared a bit younger. You go expecting a lighthearted movie, but it?s a lot deeper than the trailer suggest. The book is even darker and heavier than that.
Most of the personal stories we tell are a little dark.
IM: When I was writing I wasn?t thinking ?Let me write this zombie novel?. I was thinking about this really dark story I had in my head and it somehow ended up coming out through the vehicle of zombies and I wanted people to see it how I saw it. From the outside it looks like dumb concept. At best it looks like silly concept that could be a entertaining romp.
What character in the book do you relate to the most?
IM: R is somewhat based on me, or at least an earlier version of me before I figured out how to function in the world. I put a lot of myself into R. The combination of R and Perry is more or less who I am. I put a lot of my feeling and experiences into them. I was much more alienated when I was younger. My gap between what I thought in my head and what I expressed was much more pronounced back then so I drew on that experience.
Have you always been a writer?
IM: I started writing with serious intent when I was 14 when I started writing a book. I always dabbled in it and wrote little books. It occurred to me that I could write a book when I was 14 so I created two installments of what was going to be an epic fantasy series, but they?re terrible. Nobody is going to see them as long as I?m alive. In my early 20?s I wrote one more that?s a bit more serious.
I feel like each thing I?ve written is drastically better than the last thing, sometimes by huge leaps. Hopefully that trend will continue.
Did Warm Bodies present any crazy reactions from your friends and family due to the subject matter?
IM: There were two sides to that reaction ? one of them is from people like my mom or grandmother. They hear about it and want to support. The book keeps getting pitched as a Young Adult book, but there?s stuff I didn?t want my parents reading in there. I had to grit my teeth and deal with it. On the other side is the reaction from my smart friends who say ?You?re writing about zombies huh? That?s where you?re going with your literary career?? [laughs].
I was on Twitter watching people?s responses to the Warm Bodies trailer. A lot of them were turned off because it looked like Twilight with zombies.
IM: You should?ve seen the reactions before the trailer came out. A lot of people were put at ease by the trailer because before that was a promo image that looks a lot like the Twilight poster and everyone though it was a joke. The image was never intended to be the poster, but it got out there and they put it side-by-side with Twilight. They told me to leave it on and it would all go away [laughs].
I know some of your original story had to be omitted because of the PG=13 rating. Was there anything you hoped they kept in the film?
IM: As far as content, I knew they were planning to go for the PG-13 rating. It wasn?t going to be gory or have creepy necrophilia sex. I guess it?s not necrophilia if the two corpses are having sex [laughs]. I knew that stuff wouldn?t be in the movie. Honestly, they got away with a lot more than I thought they would. I was happy with that.
The rating system is all over the place.
IM: They have some bizarre rules. There is actually a number of times you can say certain words. Technically you can say the f-word once in any PG-13 movie but it?s related to what else is in the movie too.
There was a f-bomb in X-Men First Class.
IM: The great thing about is they used it in the perfect moment.
Was there a scene in the film that you were happy at how it turned out?
IM: I was really amazed at how rich the environments were with the budget they had. I Am Legend did it well, but they had a $100 million budget. I feel like Warm Bodies achieved similar effects with clever locations and getting the angles right. One of the biggest parts was this abandoned airport they found in Montreal. I always thought they would never find an airport, and they?d have to replace it with a coffee shop. The airport was already run down and they dressed it up some more. Most of the time I was on set was when they were shooting there. It was just how I imagined it with the fog, sun coming through the windows, and debris all over the place. It felt like a different world.
If there was a zombie apocalypse, where?s the first place you?d go.
IM: It depends on what type of zombies. Fast or slow?
Fast zombies and the disease isn?t airborne. You have to be scratched or bitten to get infected.
IM: Probably go gather up as much supplies as I could and head for the country. It?s a tough question. In Warm Bodies, they find stadiums and hold up in there. In that world it?s not only the zombies you have to worry about, it?s the people. It?s probably smart to be walled in.
Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/peoplescritic/2013/01/29/qa-with-warm-bodies-author-isaac-marion/
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