More new prosthetics online

Just added a few new pieces to the website, and as usual orders have to be emailed in since it's the best method I've been able to work out. Payments made in Canada through PayPal or Email Interact (that's a lot better then PayPal) and everywhere else, PayPal.

Kandros Demon Prosthetic (includes 6 resin spikes, ears not included) And ancient race of Greek demons. Rarely seen nowadays, but occasionally they descend to this plane for fast food. Price $55

Child of Minos (ears not included) Believed to be descended from the original Minotaur, The Children of Minos enjoy a leisurely existence these days, mainly because most people are scared of them. Price $40

Horned Forehead Prosthetic (Ears and small horns not included) You can't disguise yourself as a demon without horns. Price $30

Sylf Demon Prosthetic (ears not included) One of many ancient races of demons. Sylf's are extremely peaceful, but very passionate demons, and are often muses to great artists. Price $30

Magnus Demon Prosthetic (Includes 6 resin spikes, Magnus Ears sold separately) Brilliant tacticians and problem solvers, Magnus Demons usually take up professions where they can use their deductive skills. Price $55

Behind the scenes, Secret Agent Demon

Had another awesome photo shoot this last week. My friend Dave was over from Halifax and I whipped up this shoot. You might recall Gregorio Chavez? That was Dave.

Again, I ended up with a pile of images totally unrelated to the final picture for the book, so again I will post more. And for those of you Islanders who might be wondering "Hey, that kinda looks like fun." You're damned right it is. If you're interested in doing a shoot, you can contact me here - just be aware there are some restrictions and limitations. The biggest one, no kids.


And now some pictures!

Man-Eating Hookers from Hell fake trailer casting call

I am producing a 60-90 second fake movie trailer, for a fake movie called "Man-Eating Hookers from Hell". The idea is a mash up of several bad 70s horror/splatter/exploitation type movies. If the movie were indeed real, I have to admit, it'd probably get an "X" rating. The trailer, most definitely an "R".

It's being created for a Scottish production company, Scottish Badlands, to attach to their upcoming zombie web series, The Dying Seconds - kind of like all those fake trailers in "Grindhouse". It's an opportunity for some great exposure and should be a lot of fun. There's no script, no lines to memorize in advance, nothing like that. We're creating ideas for shots that could be in this movie and hoping it all fits together. No major commitment is needed. We're shooting throughout September and October this year for a November 11th deadline.

So what I'm looking for are actors, actors who don't mind looking utterly foolish and getting extremely bloody and gory. This is strictly volunteer and open only to residents of Prince Edward Island, as well.

PLOT: A young woman is victim of a violent attack by 5 things who leave her for dead in the middle of nowhere.She is found and taken in by a strange group of prostitutes who convince her to take revenge on her assailants by inviting them to their brothel - where the prostitutes then turn into demons intent on eating them and stealing their souls for their demon overlord. All the while they plan on recruiting our lead into their demonic, man-eating, soul sucking lifestyle - which she doesn't take to very readily and fights back against the Man-Eating Hooker from Hell!

ROLES TO BE CAST: (there are no specific character names) 

Female Hero Lead: Our lead should be the average "girl next door" looking kind of girl. Mid-twenties, give or take. Athletic, there might be lots of running and fighting. Might involve a few costume changes, nothing as drastic as the prostitute characters.

Man-Eating Hookers: There will be 5-6, possibly more. They start out looking normal, and turn into demons. This role will involve one or two costume changes, from looking like an average movie prostitute to being put into prosthetic makeup (you'd be unrecognizable) and dressed somewhat more provocatively, in lingerie or something suitably more sexy - in order to make it a little more disturbing, since they will not look pretty as demons.


Thugs: 5 men, ranging in age, mid-20s to 30s. They'll be scuzzy, unlikable, violent types.

Possibly extras: this won't be confirmed until the shots are laid out.

Demon Overlord: Will be female, unrecognizable in makeup. Should be disturbing looking in many way, more so then the demon prostitutes. May or may not have much screen time in the trailer - still to be determined at this point. More information will be available soon. 

If you're at all interested (note, there are no off camera roles or crew needed) please contact us at casting@themonkeyrodeo.com and send a picture, and even a resume if you've any previous acting experience - although none is necessary. Please also make sure to properly identify your email as Fake Movie Trailer project and indicate what role you're interested in.

Because of my own personal schedule and time constraints, I'm looking to do this as effeciently as possible and that means if you're interested, please use the email above - expressing interest in any other fashion will simply get overlooked. And trust me, you don't want to get left out of this.

The Demon Gods

This was a bit of a silly, campy kind of photo shoot. I decided we needed some Demon Gods, and not just any kind of Demon Gods, but Greek(ish) Demon Gods. I normally don't post photos anymore, simply because I want the final product to have some newness to it when it's finally done. However in this case, the final image is miles away from the other photos I took so I felt it was worth it just this once.

So here's a video of the shoot, with an explanation of why it's a little more about the makeup then it is about the actual shoot.






And now for some pictures:

John MacDonald as Demon Hercules

Becca Pike as Demon Aphrodite

Heather Panton as Demon Athena

Even Demon Gods like ice cream.

I can't explain this.

And then we went through the drive-thru. That was amusing, the girl at the window was a little overexcited about it all, which was kinda cool in it's own way.

So that's it. It was a fun shoot, the video and the pictures don't even come close to giving you a clue about the final image, so be warned and don't anger the Demon Gods. Tomorrow got another shoot lined up, should be just as awesome.

Some new stuff in the online shop.

Melicor Demon Prosthetic Melicor Demons are musically inclined creatures with particularly lovely singing voices. Price $50

Pointed Demon Ears Prosthetic Demon ears come in all shapes and sizes, these particular ones are of the pointed variety. Price $20

Ragged Demon Ears Prosthetic Some broken down, raggedy looking demon ears. Price $20

Magnus Demon Ears Prosthetic Spikey demon ears! Comes with 6 resin spikes. Available in dark and light spikes. Price $26

Double Pointed Demon Ears Prosthetic Two points are better then one. Price $26

Medium Demon Horns (TypeA) Some of your typical pointed demon horns. Price $10

Medium Demon Horns (TypeB) Somewhat dramatic horns. Price $10

Small Demon Horns (TypeA) Some funky small horns. Price $6

Small Demon Horns (TypeB) Sharp and pointy little horns. Price $6

Foam Head Hammers! Need to crack some skulls? But don't want all that messy brain and bone matter everwhere? Try a Foam Head Hammer. The Hammer Head is made of soft foam, the handle is real wood. Soon total foam hammers will be available. Price $40 per hammer

Bimbo Zombie Killers 2! Undead by Dawn finally online

Not much else to say. Other then, enjoy...or not.



Or you can check it out on The Monkey Rodeo site.

In the aftermath of BZK2!

Calling it BZK2! sounds like a virus of some sort and while normally I hate it when movies shorten their titles, this one is just too long to always type out. At least it's not shortened to B2K! which would be short for Bimbo 2ombie Killers! That would result in douchbaggery of the highest order and my demise would surely follow at the hands of people with good taste.

Anyway, that wasn't the point of all this, the point is the movie is very nearly done. I think I broke a personal record for completion time on a project like this. About 2 months from beginning to end, from coming up with the vague idea to finally posting it online.

All that's left is a run through of the audio to clean it up and make sure the levels are alright and then convert the video into HD. Probably a good day's work, but I won't be doing it today probably. I'm finishing a rough SD version to show the author of the Zombie Encyclopedia and that's it for now. No one will be able to see it until I've arranged a private screening for the cast and crew, and then it'll be posted online.

So now I'm left with this slightly less then rushed feeling I've had for the last 10 days or so since we shot the movie. It's done...ish. Now what? I've got a short project I'd like to do end of August, nothing too strenuous, should be a decent shoot - fairly elaborate since it's all one single take and about 3 1/2 minutes long. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime I'm hoping to get back to the photoshoots, I've got quite a few lined up and hoping for the outdoor ones that the weather cooperates. It's been a bit of a bugger lately.

And then I'd like to start sculpting some new stuff. Not prosthetics, but props. I've been wanting to just attempt a small statue or something. I don't know. I feel like I've been neglecting the business in favour of other things lately and I want to add some new stuff to the store over the next few months and get things ready for Halloween.

I missed the boat again on getting more wholesale clients this year, but that's alright. I've still got a lot of bugs to work out in my whole production process.

So until I post BZK2! I'll be working away on updating the websites, making a few new pieces and doing a few more photoshoots.

Bimbo Zombie Killers! Dead in the Water

Alright, here's the first official word on this. Next summer on Sunday, July 8th (that's 2012) we will be shooting first the first 2 episodes in the 10 (maybe 12) part web series Bimbo Zombie Killers! Dead in the Water. I'm hoping that's enough notice for everyone. Note that it's not called part 3, simply for the purposes that it's a different format then the first two and watching the other two is not necessary to understand this.

Sure it's a ways off and most will forget, but those of you who have repeatedly asked me to be in a project or showed any interest but backed out last minute for whatever reason - you got no excuse now. So suck it up and get ready to to get bloody.

I'll be working on the script from now and into the fall. Working on locations, special effects and casting over the winter. Come spring I'm hoping everything is ready to go. Should we have an early summer, I might advance the shooting date - but it will mostly be on Sundays throughout the summer for a fall release, with an occasional unscheduled shoot depending on who is available and what's needed.

In order to pull this off I need to make sure that anyone who makes a commitment, (outside of my regular crew, who I know I can count on) is willing to commitment 42,000%. These things are a lot of work and when folks half-ass commit and drop out like it's no big deal, it's really disappointing and throws things out of whack big time.

I appreciate things get in the way, like work or personal emergencies - but if you're not willing to make the time, then don't pretend you are, please, it's not too much to ask. And trust me, if you show up, it'll be awesome. We had a great time making part 2, as rushed as the whole project was. Part 3 is going to be 10 times better.

Throughout the winter I will be posting notices on the Facebook page for casting. Again, yes it's early, but since I need a huge commitment, you've been given more then adequate notice - and I would appreciate the same courtesy should you have to drop out.

In the spring I'll begin to hunt for extras. We'll need zombies for this, lots of zombies. Not all will be needed for every shoot, some may only require a weekend here or there. There will be makeup again this time so I'll be doing a couple makeup crash courses so we're not wasting time when it comes to shooting.

Other then that, if you have any interest in helping out, behind the camera as well - locations, writing, props, whatever, start letting me know now.

Normally when folks work on a project with me, they get a DVD copy when it's all over. I'm hoping to plan something a little better this time around then just a DVD, so there's some extra incentive - but it's not money, so don't even ask.

Story Details: Nothing too concrete just yet, but the story will involve 4, possibly 5, bimbos on a canoeing trip - sort of like Deliverance. They'll encounter some evil rednecks, zombies and god knows what else. And finally, they will actually discover why moonshine turns people into zombies!

BZK2! Behind the Scenes Stuff, Part 4

Got the first round of redubbing or relooping, whatever you choose to call it done today. Went pretty quickly despite the fact my setup here was working against me for awhile - got that mostly sorted out though.

I thought I'd do a quick post about one of the more experimental parts of the movie, so if you're not into spoilers - you might want to skip reading the rest of this and definitely DO NOT watch the video.

There's a scene where Pervis (Tim Gormley) gets his hand eaten off at the wrist by Tula (EmilyAnne Fullerton) and of course I wanted to show it - with some editing. And the main gag would be Pervis waving around his bloody arm stump squirting blood everywhere.

So my challenge here was to figure a way to easily create that. I chose to do a silicone prop. I sculpted an arm stump, made a two sided mould of it, then I figured I could do a couple thin coat of silicone before jamming in the padding and and the plastic rod (where the blood tube would run through). The padding was added to lessen the amount of silicone needed, as well I used some old cured silicone chopped up into pellets to further the little amount I had on hand (no pun intended).

The original sculpture.

Making the two sided mould.

This was pretty experimental for me, in all logic it should have worked, but I had no way of ever really knowing for sure until I pulled it from the mould. And luckily it worked out perfectly. After a little paint job it was ready for testing.

Here's a quick video of the blood squirting arm stump:



The stump was then inserted into Tim's sleeve, where is real arm came out through a hole in the elbow. Worked decently well and was a suitably cheesy effect. My goal was to make an effect that felt like it was from an old 70s or 80s movie, and I think it turned out pretty damned well.

BZK2! Behind the Scenes Stuff, Part 3

There was definitely no shortage of blood on the shoot. Nearing the final part of the shoot it was time for Heather and Julie to get soaked in blood. I actually had 3 different types of blood; a thick gory bright red blood, a runny, more normal looking bloody we used in the pumps and an edible blood.



I have a near final edit done now, just a few shots to clean up because of some mistakes, but otherwise it's ready for the audio. I'm aiming to get this finished by next Wednesday. Here's hoping.

BZK2! Behind the Scenes Stuff, Part2

One thing that sets this apart from my other projects is that this is the first time I had other folks doing the makeup - totally untrained, maybe they observed it a few times or something before at best. Overall I think they did a decent job - especially when you consider, they really had no idea what they were doing, other then a quick run-through a few days before.

While we were waiting around for the last couple zombies to show up I shot this:



I'm in the middle of editing the movie right now, it won't be long, it moves pretty damned fast. I shot it handheld and pretty much made things up as I went since I kinda wanted it to feel a little awkward and amateurish - I think it worked. As well, it does heighten the panic a little bit and made the shoot faster.

In terms of where I am with the editing, rough editing, I'm on about page 12 of a 17 page script and I just hit the 8 minute mark. I reckon it'll be about 12 minutes. The original was around 11.

To be continued...

BZK2! Behind the Scenes Stuff, Part1

First off, the shoot went well, really well. For the first time in a long time, we didn't hit any snags, there were not problems or unforeseen crap that hindered shooting - it went really smoothly. That's not to say it wasn't exhausting.

I myself was up at about 5 or 6am that morning - having spent most of the last 2 week prepping everything that I didn't do over the last 2 months - and I believe we got out final shot at around 6:30pm. The weather was a little pissy, 4 different forecasts all said it was going to be a nice sunny-ish day, they were all totally wrong. It rained a little, off and on, until about 11 or so, we didn't start shooting until about 10, since I was hoping it would clear up.

So we were off to a delayed start, but still things moved pretty quickly throughout the day. The zombies all arrived pretty much right when I needed them as well. All the practical effects worked out perfectly and even a little more gory and sillier then I'd hoped. The actors all did a great job, although EmilyAnne definitely stood out with that scream.

The only injury, aside from a couple scrapes was Pete Murphy getting bonked on the head with a hammer - the hammer head was fake, the handle wasn't. I think he survived.

Still converting all the footage right now, should be done in a few hours or so. I'm heading back out to the location this afternoon to do a few quick pick up shots we purposefully didn't bother with yesterday simple for time.

And now, how about a few pictures:

Heather Panton as Rider

Julie Laforest as Honey

EmilyAnne Fullerton as Tula

Draper Bulger as Harlon

Tim Gormley as Pervis

And once more, all three girls.

To be continued...