Moonshine of the Damned, Production Journal #8

Day Two on shooting has come and gone quite successfully. We ran a little longer than planned, but that always seems to happen even on the simplest of shoots like today was. The scenes today were pretty complicated to set up. We only shot two, the first one required so many angles to cover what was going on, the second one actually ran pretty fast, thankfully.

There was an odd bit of luck that ran through today that happened long before we started shooting. Some Islanders may (or may not, I guess) recognize Tim Gormley here, who went above and beyond the call of duty for this. 

 Tim was very almost not involved at this time around. He was originally slated to play a totally different, demonic character in the full version of the story - but had to drop out due to a busy schedule. That was a huge upset actually, but I found a replacement and soon after (I don't fully recall the sequence of events anymore) I lost someone else or something happened that I had to cull back the script twice, the second time actually removing the need for that demonic character completely.

Upon doing that, and actually moving the original actor from his character to another role (who also) dropped out eventually anyway, Tim expressed interest again after seeing we were shortening the project and this look is what he came up with and since today was his only day out for us, I had to give him the "Line of the Day", and here it is:
So, onto the rest of it. We did a before cast shot:

John and Mary as Bo and Roxxy.

And some rednecks, Tim Gormley, Tim Wartman and Mark Wells as Luke, Roscoe and Cletus.

We needed a zombie for the shoot and there were some minor issues with our originally scheduled actor so we found a replacement, however since he was used before in a scene that takes place nearly opposite this one I decided to use an old silicone mask on him. It's not perfect by any means, but I like the weird clunkiness of it.

And he's gone.

And bloody.

And as I said, far from perfect, however it was easy to get him ready and clean him up.

Yeah, that my girlfriend.

There's something pretty messed up looking with the hollow, slightly bloodied head just lying there.

I had to remake the "axe in the arm" prop for Tim W., this one worked a little better anyway. I also remade the fake sledgehammer and gave it to Mark this time around.

But it's the same arm as last year. I tried to clean it up a bit.

And finally the bimbos, Jobeth and Ginger played by Ancelene MacKinnon and Julia MacDougall.

Tim usually has to play with all the props at some point.

The Bimbos meet Roxxy. This played out so differently over many version of the script. Roxxy would escape, meet up with the Bimbos, get caught again. She was knocked out at one point. There were different numbers of Bimbos as well in various versions. Finally were came up with this and I won't say too much about where it goes from here.

End of the day cast.

After the girls were free to take off we had a couple quick shots with the Rednecks to finish off the day.

And that was it. Overall a good day, we shot all we planned to. As I said it ran a little longer than planned, but we did get off to a late start as well. The footage looks good, pretty happy with it. And now onto the next shoot.

Top Search Engine Terms of the Year for 2012

I did one of these halfway through the year this time around and it doesn't feel like it was 6 months ago, but here we are at another year end and it's time to round up the thinks that freaks out there search for that land them on my blog.

Top Ten Search Engine Terms.

1. severed finger (along with a dozen or more variations)
2. s (I’m not really sure about this one)
3. fake axe (several variations on this as well)
4. fox henderson (seems logical)
5. monkey prosthetics (which is kind of funny since I would never make such a thing, but both words are relevant)
6. julie laforest (congratulation Julie, you are obviously the target of many a creepy internet stalkers) 7. vampire nose (nothing special there)
8. zombie photo shoot (seems reasonable)
9. monkey rodeo project (a name which hopefully no longer exists to cause confusion)
10.zombie prosthetic (perfectly reasonable as well)

So, those all seem like pretty straightforward search terms that would land someone on this blog. Now for the weird ones. A lot were misspelled or seemed to have odd grammar and whatnot, so what you’re seeing is how I actually saw them in the list.

retro bimbo – I get where this one would lead someone to me and I sort of get what they might be looking for, but it does seem a little bit of an odd phrase.

richard allen poppe – just by placing this here I will incur more hits. He’s the fellow who I had long ago purchased some Lovecraft inspired props from. While I had two more or less decent transactions with him, a lot of people seem to really rag on him on having ripped them off. I can’t say I’m surprised since it did take the better part of a year to get three book props out of him after repeated excuses – maybe they were legit, I don’t know. It’s too bad whatever the reason he’s vanished from the net, he made good stuff

cool forehead prosthetics – ah, that explains why I’m not selling enough, I label mine as “lame forehead prosthetics”. Really, this is kind of stupid

severed finger props – I can only assume the word “props” was added because they were seeing way too many real severed finger

real bone hammer - ? I actually had to look this one up myself to see if it was a real thing or someone out there was just a little creepy. It is a real thing, but also a video game thing

hookers for sale – as opposed to just for rent. I guess someone was hoping to find a Pimp “going out of business” sale

cad finger – I’m guessing a 3D thing or the finger of a roguish fellow

prostetic good - Because for a minute – not sure if there’s more to this or this wasn’t intended to be a search. Also, you spelled prosthetic wrong

things that are 10lbs – sure, why the hell not

troll foot – makes me thing I really need to remake my baby trolls feet for resale.

demons with horns face – nice grammar

male finger – uh, okay

pictures of severed fingers – Okay, there were definitely looking for real ones and that’s kinda messed up

brittleness object – the hell?

sweet hell – ah yes, sweet, sweet hell. ?

monkey head for sale – someone was watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom again, weren’t they?

5 piece ear spike project – that seems very specific and I’ve no idea what it is

horrible monster images – hey, I resent that, I make nice monster images, they’re not horrible. Can't tell if they were looking for images of horrible monsters or shitty images of monsters.

real severed silicone finger props –someone is very confused here, I only sell fake props – they don’t actually exist, if you want real props, go somewhere else. ?

how to make a troll in clay – I appreciate the fact people might be looking for “how to”s online, but do they really thing they’d find something this specific? I mean would they have accepted it if it was just a goblin made of clay?

thumbor – I got nothing

well done prosthetic horns – again, mine are all labeled as shitty and will most likely cause gingivitis. I really need to label my stuff better

a severed finger painting – amidst the literally dozens of variations on severed digits, this one actually seems original for a change. They don’t want to see a real or prop severed finger, and not a picture – but a painting of one. Very nice choice. I believe it was Monet who went through a severed finger period.

finger monkey for sale – really? I don’t want to know

hooker hell – I can only assume it would be filled with either gay men or men with only 2 cents in their pockets

men eater monkey movie – this is just an example of random words or bad grammar

double malefinger – I don’t know about this one and I don’t think I want to

best werewolf prosthetic – again, I knew I should’ve went with this instead of “worst werewolf prosthetic”

male to female silicone – this just creeps me out for some reason

It’s a gortch” - Nope, no idea either

hooker man – that just sounds funny. Man-whore is the preferred nomenclature however

movies about hookers – yup, plenty of classy stuff came out of this search to be sure

foamy axe – it probably won’t work well

Why do I have demon ears – I think I posted this one before, it’s awesome.

witch doctor monkeys – hell yeah, that sounds awesome.

brilliant uzukler - ?

As usual, nearly every female I’ve worked with was searched for at least once and sometimes with “PEI” or “Charlottetown” following it – so yeah, some of you have stalkers perhaps. Or you’re searching for yourselves.

Severed fingers and fake axes had, I’d say, a couple dozen variations each. It’s pretty impressive actually.

As well, several variations of prosthetics, types of prosthetics – ears, horns, noses and whatnot. They all seem pretty reasonable.

Overall it wasn’t too disturbing a year at least.

Props, lots and lots of props.

I've been making movies now for over 14 years. And today as I was working on some props for a shoot tomorrow, on the Bimbo Zombie Killers! web series (was making a impromptu MacGyvered bow and arrows), I started thinking about just how many props I've made over the years.

I've made some weird ones, like a plywood board with severed penises nailed to it (Man-Eating Hookers from Hell), some huge ones that took up a large portion of my living room, specifically a cockpit for a one man anime looking jet (The Supposed Prophets) to simple stuff like a gateway key to Hell (The Conspirators).

I wished I thought to catalog all these things. I supposed I could just go back and capture stills from the movies, but it's not the same. 

I've even had some costumes made, although not by me, a cloak for the Grim Reaper (The Last Days of Death), 5 identical dresses for a demon band (Bert Palmerro's Addicted to Love) and even some Viking and Barbarian garb (The Secret Lives of Demons). I myself made 4 demon suits of leather armor and various bits for 4 Lord of the Rings looking fellows (Malice).

I have probably most of my props, going all the way back to the Happy Fun Beer from Supposed Prophets, I wouldn't drink it, it's a little cloudy looking these days. I'm kind of curious just how many I've made in the last 14+ years, so I went to my film resume (as pretentious as that sounds) and went all the way back to the beginning.

My first completed movie (and hopefully lost to time),Grey, I made a few things, but I can only really remember this weird, bulbous device with an indent of a hand in it. Part of that stuck around all the way to shooting Cronus.

The Last Days of Death I don't think I made anything, I think even the cloak was from Grey. Aside from a noose and a letter of dismal from the DOD, I don't recall making anything.

Getting Dead, I don't think I made anything for that, aside from maybe a few weird little alien props - I don't really remember though. I think I took some parts from an old video camera that looked odd out of context, but I didn't really make anything that I recall.

The Conspirators I made "The Gateway Key", a black obelisk that would supposedly unlock the gates of hell.

Grim...Nope, don't recall much about that movie, other some it made no sense and I did make some fake blood for it.

The Supposed Prophets I think was my first prop fest of a movie. The whole cockpit was bizarre. We made a plywood shell, all constructed and housed in my living room at the time. We got a funky looking car set and scavenged parts from several different electronic devices. Made some guns. I know there was other stuff, but nothing's coming to me at the moment - aside from the Happy Fun Beer. There was a lot of digital stuff in that movie, so I could be confusing it with that.

Bad Karma was an attempt at one day filmmaking with my brand new GL1. No real props made, but I did make fake spit that got drooled on Greg Webster.

The next few, I won't bother mentioning because they were very simple "quirky" little movies. I bought, but didn't make stuff for Sinister Consequences. And then moved into some animated movies and more simple stuff. They That Did Dream has some weird little rocks that looked like large Skittles.

For The Scourge, a movie that worked so much better on paper, I made a whole leatherbound journal with Kim Bradford and a 4 or 5 foot seal painted with runes. I think it's finally long gone since I've moved.

I guess really until Malice I didn't make that much stuff now that I look back on it. Most was purchased Even with Malice I remember buying a shitload of stuff and probably only made a handful of things. I had a book stand made, a plant hanger reworked to stand alone on its own. The Voodoo Spirit Bombs were the first real prop I made from nothing I think on that movie, mostly it was a lot of makeup and props bought online. And a lot of weapons. There was a funky little Hellboy inspired talisman I made with a fingerbone inside - which I've since redesigned and now can mass produce.

There were some odd little background trinkets and stuff. The "prophecy" scroll which I still have framed and I was quite proud of. And still am, it looks awesome. A huge warhammer and lots of costumes for a flashback scene as well.

Demon Rum saw the creation of the Demon Rum bottle, which I still plan on recreating for mass production some day. I've the plans worked out, just need to put it all into effect.

For Cronus I did a lot. I would have to say that I did a lot. I reused the Gateway Key, but the entire office was almost a prop. The most detailed were the framed pictures you never really got to see that had Cronus photoshopped into real images of celebrities and prominent figures of the 1930s and 40s.

For Bimbo Zombie Killers! I made my first fake weapon, a foam axe. That was pretty cool. I had David Bennett make some authentic ceramic moonshine jugs, which I then moulded and produced almost a dozen duplicates.

The Invasion of the Horrible Alien Brain Monsters from outer Space in 3D, I created a lot. From the alien masks, to a lot of the funky gadgets Dr. Hammer used. That was kind of cool. I even created a little cheap-assed looking UFO and model of Earth.

Grayson and Gortch I made a few things. This was pretty makeup heavy as well. I made some severed Trolls feet, several of them still linger about in various place of the house. The Tibetan Fire Starter, used by Grayson. Some fake demon drug paraphernalia and some weird demonic CSI device.

Home Sweet Hell was meant to be assembled from stuff I already had, so there was really nothing new created there.

Man-Eating Hookers from Hell...yeah. This was weird. There weren't so many props as various makeups and stuff. Aside from the severed penises the best thing was the Fangina. I think I still have one copy, but I've since given the original away.

Bimbo Zombie Killers 2! Undead by Dawn, I made a pretty awesome (also goofy) severed arm stump. Reconditioned the backpack from The Alien Brain Monsters and parts of the cockpit from Supposed Prophets into a moonshine cannon. And some pretty nifty foam hammer heads - the handles were real wood, so they were only so stunt worthy.

Finally with Bimbo Zombie Killers! Undead in the Water, I've got a lot of stuff on the go, from prop zombie frogs, to the aforementioned bow and arrow. I'm doing a fake arm this week and eventually a fake severed hand. And a lot more I don't want to mention because it'll ruin some of the surprise.

I'm sure there's been way more, but I've also collected about three times as much stuff as I've made, and still have most of it all packed safely away. Might never use it, but it's cool it's there should I need some background stuff.

PEI Needs Zombies!

So, we're shooting a web series this summer, based on the two Bimbo Zombie Killers! shorts (you can see them here and here) called Bimbo Zombie Killers! Undead in the Water. It's the final chapter and will undoubtedly be the most elaborate web series ever produced here on PEI to date, until next year maybe.  We have a cast of almost 20 people and another 30-40 zombies (and still more are coming onboard each day).

We're doing all our own FX, and we're not talking crappy half-assed face painted zombies - but fully made up in custom made foam latex prosthetic makeup. There'll be strange voodoo props, fake weapons (shotguns, axes and sledgehammers), as much blood as we can possibly produce. Fake arms and legs, as much gore and odd little bits and corpses as we can stand. Even an undead frog.

And a whole lot more I don't want to mention since it'll ruin the surprise. Now the thing is, there are some folks who would love to be involved but simply can't because they live too far away. NOT A PROBLEM! I have a few friends who live out of province and  overseas even who are going to be in it. I'm sending them shots of the areas we'll be shooting, they will then go out and find something comparable in their area. I will send them a care package of zombie makeup and a description of some shots I can use. Using an HD camera they'll simply shoot their own zombie footage, send it to me and after a little editing and colour correction, they're in the movie.

So if you think you might be interested and have an HD camera (and a good internet connection to upload the footage) get in touch and let me know (foxhenderson@themonkeyrodeo.com). If you have any questions, please let me know. We'll be shooting throughout July and August and possibly September with an October 31st, 2012 release date in mind.

And, if you are on PEI and you wanted to get involved, we have a Facebook group we're using to keep track of everything. And remember, while it's awesome to have more zombies, keep in mind we are tying to make a movie so you will be expected to act accordingly.

CASTING for Bimbo Zombie Killers! Web Series

This is really only open for folks who are going to be on Prince Edward Island this summer. For the most part, if you're not and you'd like to be in a cheesy horror series, there's more info at the end. The goal is a 12 part series, each episode 5-6 minutes long. It may be fewer episodes, but it the script is not totally finished at this point.

INFORMATION:
As of today, May 10th, we're still casting 3 more of the lead(ish) female roles.
Ginger: doesn't have too much dialog, the character's a bit of a prissy beauty queen type so it's more about her actions then how's she's written - at least at this point in time. ALREADY CAST

Roxxy: quite a bit of dialog. She's not part of the main group, but is used to bridge the gap between the main characters and what's going on. Lots of exposition.

Daisy: one of the evil rednecks, the only female of their group and it's unclear exactly what the relationship between her and the other area. Sister, wife, cousin? I don't know, doesn't matter. Sort of abrasive, den mother sort of a group of idiots. CAST on MAY12th.

The script is still in development, so more roles may be needed. I'll post any updated information here or on the Bimbo Zombie Killers! group on Facebook.

And of course there's zombies, a shitload of zombies are needed.

The way the scheduling will work is this: we intend to shoot on Sundays. And since it's a series so not everyone will be needed for every episode, the plan is to alternate as many people as possible every 2nd weekend. So hopefully no one will be expected to show up every weekend, but every 2nd weekend. And alternate shoots will be arranged depending on schedules, we might shoot a night here or there, or a Saturday. Or even just shoot a few minutes with someone on a Sunday morning before letting them go and shooting with another group the rest of the day. In short, this should be as flexible a shoot as possible overall.

FOR NON-ISLANDERS!
Alright, so here's something we're offering. I've got a couple friends who are not local who are participating in the project. They're going to be zombies in the series. So how is that going to work? Well, the overall feel of the series is meant to be as cheesy and rather clumsy as the two previous shorts that were made, so I'm not at all concerned about continuity anymore and that makes filmmaking so much more fun and this idea should work pretty well.

So how are they involved? I'm taking a few selected scenes where there's random zombie shots and letting them know, and to keep the look consistent, sending them some prosthetics and shots of our local zombies. Using their own HD camera, they will then do a few shots of their own that they will then send to me and will be inserted into the final piece. I'll colour correct and whatnot to make it match as close as possible, so it will appear, if you're paying attention, that they were part of the main shoot.

And that's it. If you're not on PEI this summer and you'd like to get in the series in a couple shots as a zombie, maybe your and a few friends just lumbering towards the camera, running through the woods, or getting shot - whatever. I'll pick out a couple shots, 4-5 and you can film them yourself and I'll edit you in.

If you're interested, join the Facebook group and post something about what I mentioned here and someone will be in touch to work out the fine details.

This Year in Search Engine Terms

It's so amusing to check and see what search engine terms are used by people that find their way to my site, whether the online shop or the blog. Some are a little creepy, I noticed a large amount of the females I've worked with has all been searched for - chances are it's just a similar name, but when "charlottetown" or "pei" are added to it, it's a safe bet who they're looking for. So beware ladies, because as if you didn't already know, there are some creepy folks out there on the internet looking for you. They may not all be creepy, but you really don't want to take that sort of chance.

So, some of the terms, we'll start with the top 10:

1 - how to make a fake axe (and actually dozens of variations on this)

2 - severed finger (a few variations, "how to make" "thumb" or "toe" even)

3 - zombie photoshoot ( a couple variations on this)

4 - fox Henderson (makes sense)

5 - bimbo zombie killers 2 (also the first one and others with minor variations)

6 - demon ears (makes sense - a lot of other variations, even just "ear prosthetics" in general)

7 - demon horns (quite a few variations, type and size of horns)

8 - bimbo zombie killers (the 2nd most popular variation)

9 - monkey rodeo project (makes sense)

10 - vampire nose (and a few variations as well)

These all seem pretty reasonable. A lot of movie title searches, mostly my own movies. A lot of various types of prosthetics - demon, monkey, vampire, goblins, etc. All very reasonable and understandable, yet there's a few that just seem a little off. Some I get why someone might search for them, and why they'd land on a site of mine and some are just fucking weird. Here's some of the odder ones:

fake ad for hatchets - why a "fake ad" for hatchets? Real ads aren't good enough?

hookers casting - I guess someone needs some hookers in their movie and doesn't feel up to asking random women they know?

silicone male ass - I have no idea what the hell is this all about, nor do I want to.

demon wife  - Maybe something to do with a movie, or just curious what the benefits might be?

latex hooker - Are they looking for a hooker made of latex or one that specifically wears latex?

who the actor for thork - besides the poor grammar here, I've no idea what this is about. I used the term and it just came up with "Thor" stuff.

troll feet -  I was right in assuming at least one other person out there would be interested in Troll Feet. I'll be putting them online for sale this year. I hope he comes back.

most powerful hallucinogen - ???

zombie hookers demon pei - Just looking for all the best stuff at once I guess.

horned girls - Makes sense, but something tells me it was a spelling error.

auricular prosthesis product catalog - I think I might've either brightened or ruined some poor fellow's day who was actually needing something important.

zombie killers online monkey -Either there's something else out there this fucked up sounding, or someone who's only heard partial words of things I've done, and was just hedging their bet and trying them all.

really odd family pics - I like this one.

shoot boxing online shop - I don't get this at all.

casting fake guy - At first all I could think was, "So casting a real guy isn't good enough?" But then I guess it's something looking to make a fake body? I don't know otherwise, maybe looking to cast a shitty actor?

movies with x ratings - Hell yeah! I ruined some horny bastards day I hope.

the caller malcolm mcdowell ending explanation - This might seem utterly random, but I did mention this movie once and if someone seriously wanted an explanation for the ending, they really didn't get the movie. I highly recommend it for it's total lack of logic in the end.

bert palmerro prosthetics - This just seems funny, I guess somehow someone saw this video and didn't realize it was connected to an online shop. Nice to know they liked the piece enough, never got an order for it though. Asshole.

a movie called zumbie bimbos - Makes sense they found my stuff, but did they really believe there was a movie was called "Zumbie Bimbos"???

vampire photoshoot lighting - Because vampires are SO hard to light with all that pale skin...???

pretty male fingers - Uh...yeah.

fox henderson hookers - I think my favourite one this year.

el. rodeo. de. gregorrio. Chabes - Sure. I don't think they were actually searching for "Gregorio Chavez", but it's pretty odd there's even the term "rodeo" in there. I did a search and nothing immediately popped out that would explain it.

awesome paint job go kart - How the hell did this term land someone on something I did?

ass silicone mold - Again with the silicone asses. What the hell people? The worse part is, this chap wanted a mold - for what? To make an unlimited supply of silicone asses?

fast food character giving the finger - I don't really get it. Did someone want to see this that badly?

ear suck - This actually creeps me out as much as the silicone asses people.

And now for the most elaborate and yet still random seeming search term of all:

big screen-tula's father used one particular cleaning solution for everything as a cure all, even soaking his elbow - I searched it and nothing immediately came up, why am I not surprised. And relieved. 

So there you go. Some of the more entertaining search terms/phrases of this year. I am surprised at the sheer number of people wanting fake faxes and severed fingers/thumbs.toes there are out there. Next year can only get weirder once I start introducing some new items to the shop.