Zombie Walk

Many people associate zombie walk or movement by what they have seen on the Michael Jackson Thriller Video. But there is more to that little bit of movement you see there.

Yes, they can pop up a shoulder now and then but do you really think they would just hobble around in circle and move to a certain beat? You right, they don’t. That brings us to the question, How do you do a  zombie walk?

What do you think is a Zombie walk?

Well, for the most part, think of a child just learning how to walk. First they get standing up straight and then it’s time to put that first foot out. But they are nervous and forget one major thing during that first attempt.  They forget that they have bendable knees. Yup you guessed it. They put that foot out and once they start to put their weight on it, the knee buckles and down the go. They fall right on their butt. They get back up and try again, but this time they “lock” their leg straight and stick out their hands. They are sticking out the hands straight out in front just in case they fall again.

You can easily visualize a baby learning to walk easily can’t you? Well, this is pretty much the same mindset you need to be able to zombie walk.

Zombie Walk step One Complete.

Now once you have mastered the “learning to walk” zombie walk, then you can get on with learning how to do different versions of zombie walking.  It is all rather simple when you stop and think about it.

First you have to decide what form of zombie you want to dress up as. Each zombie character has it’s own style of walking, Depending on a wide range of scenarios. Here are just a few possible zombie characters to begin with.

• Male
• Female
• Young
• Middle Age
• Old
• Fat/obese
• Skinny
• Degree of Deceased (how much rigor mortise has set in and how much has rotted)
• Missing body parts (foot, calf, whole leg, arm, disemboweled)

Yes, the last one about missing body parts is crucial to how you would perform your zombie walk. Even something that doesn’t directly involve the legs or feet can contribute to a staggering zombie walk or a casual limp.

Think about a zombie with a missing eye. You wouldn’t think that would affect how it would walk would you?  But it would, see (no pun intended) the zombie would constantly be moving his head side to side so that he (or she) could see in front of him (or her). This head movement would then be amplified through the hips almost in an exaggerating way. Mainly due to the fact the zombie is dead and the joints and ligaments are dried up and stiffer.

Now that you have the basic principles of a zombie walk, go out and create you very own zombie walk style.

Good luck!