Exclusive: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon director Daniel Percival talks "bioluminescent zombies" in season 2 finale

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, The Book of Carol, was a terrific season of television. The revolution in France hit a boiling point, with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Isabelle and Laurent at the epicenter, while Carol (Melissa McBride) flew across the Atlantic with Ash in hopes of reuniting with Daryl.

Following the conclusion of the season, we caught up with director Daniel Percival, who helmed three episodes, including the epic finale. Percival also directed the reunion between two of the franchise's most beloved characters. We asked Percival to explain what makes Daryl and Carol's partnership so compelling for audiences. "[It is] not a conventional love story but a love story nonetheless," he said. "They have a 'run-into-a-burning-building' kind of love. A deep care and compassion for one another that goes way beyond any romantic relationship. They will protect each other no matter what."

Percival also explained the collaborative process between Reedus and McBride, and how they get deeply involved in their characters' journeys. "Norman and Melissa collaborate not only hand-in-glove with one another but also with David Zabel and Jason Richman, the writers, and with me when it comes to how we realise the scenes. It’s an exceptionally constructive creative partnership," he said.

We went on to discuss more about The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2. Check out our interview below!

Winter is Coming: This series has given us a few firsts for Daryl. In the finale we saw him singing The Rolling Stones, which was one of my favorite moments. How did that scene develop? 

Daniel Percival: "David had written the scene originally featuring a different song. Norman suggested we use the Stones “You Can”t Always Get What you Want” instead. We all loved that idea but we had to see if we could clear it for the show in time too shoot it (these things can take weeks). We finally got clearance a day before we shot the scene, so poor Luis (who plays Laurent), who had learnt to play the other song, had to learn the chords for the Stones the morning we shot.

"Fortunately he’s a very natural player, and the slightly hesitant playing also added to the emotion of the scene. And this was a very emotional scene for both actors to play because in life as, well as in the story, as this was literally one of the last scenes we all shot together."

WiC: In recent years The Walking Dead has introduced several new zombie variants. I particularly loved the bioluminescent walkers in the finale. How did they come about? And how much of the design was achieved through practical effects, compared to digital enhancements?

Daniel Percival: "OMG! It was a crazy bunch of trial and error experiments involving every department. When I was first given the finale scripts and read 'bioluminescent zombies emerge" my first thought was “how amazing!” My second was “Holy crap! How do we do this?”

"Greg Nicotero and I went to work experimenting with luminescent paints, black light idea’s, LED’s moulded into suits, pill lights in the mouths of Zombies etc.

"It wasn’t just the glow from inside the Zombies we needed to create, we also needed to build the environment they inhabited, and make the luminance strong enough to light the scene and the cast. So we had to create all the the mats of luminous, pulsing fungi, and then build this 100 meter section of set a mile inside a giant tunnel on the shore of the English Channel, where all the power had to be played in on cables laid by us. And in the dead of winter.

"Between production design, special effects, camera department, lighting teams, Gregs prosthetics team, stunt teams, working over weeks and weeks of tests and rehearsals, with an army of crew, we eventually pulled it off."

WiC: Another element I loved was the hallucinations in the Channel Tunnel. Each character experiences a unique hallucination, deeply impacting their emotional state. How did you visually go about depicting each hallucination?

Daniel Percival: "Yes. Absolutely. When the hallucinations begin for each character we created an individual effect which I wanted to create practically within the lens and camera, i.e. not using post production cgi effects.

"This way we could all see immediately what was working and the actors could understand too how their vision and mind was being affected.

"Codron’s hallucinations involved a lens shudder, a vibration like the aftershock of a punch, which requires a lens that sits in a small cradle of springs.

"Daryl’s were warped and distorted. For this we used specially molded sheets of plexiglass that you hold directly in front of the lens (which we first used for his hallucinations in Ep 1 season 1).

"For Carol, we used something affectionately called a 'lens baby', which works like an old style bellows lens. Where getting the point of focus requires moving the lens forward and backwards. The effect is a very shallow depth of field with moving points of focus.

"I wanted to use techniques like this so the audience could subliminally connect each vision to each character, in what was otherwise a dark, surreal and potentially very confusing sequence of scenes.

"The more affected our characters became, the more real each of their hallucination became, and the distortions resolved into something more tangible to the character."

WiC: Filming in France must have brought with it numerous unique challenges and opportunities. What were some of the most memorable moments or unforeseen difficulties you encountered while working in Europe? I imagine it must've been a crazy experience filming the finale!

Daniel Percival: "For me the most memorable thing will be the people. The amazing French cast and crew, the friends we have made along the way, and all the lasting creative partnerships. I loved living in Paris too. It’s an awesome city to explore.

"There were so many challenges bringing this show to life. The night of the Apocalypse in central Paris, the community of surviving children, the uber Zombie battle arena, the rusting cargo ship at sea, the landing in Greenland, filming Mont St Michel, the creation of post apocalypse Paris (we shot at the Louvre for Goodness sake) etc, etc. All these experiences were glorious and daunting challenges. And it took every day of my experience as a film maker to begin to work out how to achieve them. 

"And now we have just embarked on a new adventure in a new country."

Naturally, we asked Percival about season 3, which is currently in the middle of production. The upcoming season takes place in England and later Spain. Percival is holding his silence on that one. "I’m afraid you will have to wait and see," he said. It was worth a try.

We thank Daniel Percival for his time. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, The Book of Carol, is now streaming on AMC.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.