<P> Props and special effects were fairly simple and limited by the budget . The blood, for example, was Bosco Chocolate Syrup drizzled over cast members' bodies . Consumed flesh consisted of roasted ham and entrails donated by one of the actors, who also owned a chain of butcher shops . Costumes consisted of second - hand clothing from cast members and Goodwill . Zombie makeup varied during the film . Initially makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes; but as filming progressed mortician's wax was used to simulate wounds and decaying flesh . As filming was not linear, the piebald faces appear sporadically . Eastman supervised the special effects, wardrobe and makeup . Filming took place between June and December 1967 under the working title Night of Anubis and later Night of the Flesh Eaters . The small budget led Romero to shoot on 35 mm black - and - white film . The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black - and - white filming as "guerrilla - style", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime newsreel". Maddrey adds, it "seem (s) as much like a documentary on the loss of social stability as an exploitation film". </P> <P> Night of the Living Dead was the first feature - length film directed by George A. Romero . His initial work involved filming shorts for Pittsburgh public broadcaster WQED's children's series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . Romero's decision to direct Night of the Living Dead essentially launched his career as a horror director . He took the helm of the sequels as well as Season of the Witch (1972), The Crazies (1973), Martin (1978), Creepshow (1982) and The Dark Half (1993). Critics saw the influence of the horror and science - fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style . Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock...and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling - in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits that "Night of the Living Dead takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry . Romero describes the mood he wished to establish: "The film opens with a situation that has already disintegrated to a point of little hope, and it moves progressively toward absolute despair and ultimate tragedy". According to film historian Carl Royer, Romero "employs chiaroscuro (film noir style) lighting to emphasize humanity's nightmare alienation from itself". </P> <P> While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer R.H.W. Dillard claimed that the "open - eyed detailing" of taboo heightened the film's success . He asks, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously". Romero featured social taboos as key themes, particularly cannibalism . Although zombie cannibals were inspired by Matheson's I Am Legend, film historian Robin Wood sees the flesh - eating scenes of Night of the Living Dead as a late - 1960s critique of American capitalism . Wood asserts that the zombies represent capitalists, and "cannibalism represents the ultimate in possessiveness, hence the logical end of human relations under capitalism". He argues that the zombies' victims symbolized the repression of "the Other" in bourgeois American society, namely activists in the Civil Rights Movement, feminists, homosexuals, and counterculturalists in general . </P> <P> Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and post-production, participating in loading camera magazines, gaffing, constructing props, recording sounds and editing . Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, who stated in an interview that a "number of cast members formed a production line in the darkroom for developing, washing and drying of the prints as I made the exposures . As I recall, I shot over 1,250 pictures during the production". Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact . Columbia and American International Pictures declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers . Romero admitted that "none of us wanted to do that . We couldn't imagine a happy ending...Everyone want (ed) a Hollywood ending, but we stuck to our guns". The Manhattan - based Walter Reade Organization agreed to show the film uncensored, but changed the title from Night of the Flesh Eaters to Night of the Living Dead because a film had already been produced under a similar title to the former . While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film . </P>

Where was night of the living dead made