Tortuga Voodoo Demon and The Zombie-Eater.

I took this years ago while I was filming Bimbo Zombie Killers!: Moonshine of the Damned, since the actor (stuntwoman really) was all done up and it was a beautiful day, we ducked away from the location to do a quick shoot of her in her makeup.

I realize while I'm seeing this pictures that it's been this long since I really tried to do a seamless looking makeup - most of the time, for just photos, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to getting the edges perfect and I think I've been just getting lazier and lazier about it.

I figured I throw in some shots I did of the Zombie-Eater as well, they were taken long after production wrapped. Never got a chance during production to do a proper shoot with this makeup and costume.

Bimbo Zombie Killers! Moonshine of the Damned

It's finally done. It was a long time in the making, I ran out of steam by the end of filming and several other things didn't happen in a certain amount of time and it just died for a bit - but I finally managed to wrap it all up and here it is.

My Last Movie...more like fake movie trailer really.

I've been thinking about this off and on over the last few months, and nearly every time it came to mind I always thought an interview with Patton Oswalt I once heard., he was discussing his thoughts on being a successful comedian. I'll admit I don't recall some exact points, but the basic idea was that he believed in order to be a success in his business (and I think it translates to any creative business) you actually have to enjoy the work of your peers and allow yourself to appreciate their success in order to become inspired by it. I think I agree with that idea, which is why I don't think I'll ever be successful, even if I wanted to, as a filmmaker  but feel I will find success in doing special effects.

This might offend a few folks, I can't say I really care anymore - because some folks look to be offended in everything anyway, so why bother tiptoeing around the point. What it comes down to is this, I don't care about indie/amateur movies overall. I don't enjoy watching them, I can't stand people going on and on about their "awesome script". I just don't give a big, fat, wobbly ass about them. I think I did at one point, but because of so many negative experiences I've grown to kind of hate the whole idea.

There are a small select few, locally speaking, whose talent and dedication to what they do, that I respect and actually enjoy working with. And let me say it again for the cheap seats...A SMALL SELECT FEW.  I think about 4 or so, they should know who they are.

And this has nothing to do my own abilities as a filmmaker vs someone else's,  I make bad movies on purpose because it allows me to cut corners with a justification of "it's supposed to be that way", so don't read this and think this is some personal slam of my movies vs yours (or theirs), I AM NOT AND WILL NEVER BE A FILMMAKER - so let's leave it at and don't worry about it.

So the actual point of all this is why I feel I might find success doing SPFX, because I do see things being made by my peers (albeit online only since I'm the only one locally that I'm aware of) that I enjoy and find inspiring, I'm happy for their successes (even when I'm in a constant state of disappoint about my lack thereof), I enjoy talking to some of them even when we don't agree on something - to me it's a dialog about something we both love, not an argument about who sucks and why - although they do happen, but it's usually a pretty one sided conversation about an individual, or group, bent on ripping people off with crap quality. There are those who are negative and just want to tear things down, they exist everywhere and I've learned to suss them out and just sidestep or ignore them.

And even to elaborate a touch more on my whole anti-FaceOff seeming rant, I never intended it to come off like that - it's something I do enjoy watching and talking about and there are definitely some works being made on that show I find to be just amazing to look at and have even seen a few concepts here and there I've wanted to steal to incorporate into my own designs, I just don't like the idea of televised/heavily edited competition in a field I don't feel I'm into.

I'm friends on Facebook with more random makeup artists than filmmakers, and most of them added me because they somehow found my work - again, in special effects, not as a filmmaker. I've never had a random filmmaker see my work and actually comment about how they appreciated it or anything really like that, with makeup artists, it happens quite often.

I've gotten more work as an makeup artist, I've made more money, I'm less stressed (and oddly enough I enjoy the stress of it), I enjoy the collaboration with the few folks I've done with for - to be perfectly honest, I never really had any of that as a filmmaker.

So, because of all this I'm done making movies. I always said I did it for fun and when it wasn't fun anymore, there was no point in doing it. Now I've got 3 movies all shot and mostly edited that need audio work I'll probably turn out over the next year, first being Moonshine of the Damned lined up for early October, but I've one last project that's been gnawing away at me that I'd really love to do and then just drop the whole thing.

I've had this idea for an HP Lovecraft/Alfred Hitchcock movie, the concept is continually changing, but visually I can already see it in my head. I want to create an epic looking, almost Lord of the Rings Lovecraft movie with Hitchcock cinematography and plot. It's a bit of a tall order, but I think the two can actually blend together brilliantly since both heavily feature paranoia as an overall theme in their works.

The new title to the project is The Thief of Innsmouth (tentatively, it's changed so many times already). Originally the lead was to be a Demon, as I seem to love putting Demons into movies for no good reason, I'm changing that to have a lead who's a human in order to play up the horrific elements of the good townsfolks of the mob controlled town of Innsmouth. I'll borrow a lot from The Shadow Over Innsmouth story for the setting and throw in a more of a Hitchcock twist of a case of mistaken identity as a man is hired to do something (I've no idea yet what the motivation is here) to the crime lord of Innsmouth, Cthulhu himself and weird shit like that.

It's an odd twist on the whole thing. It's an incredibly expensive endeavor - which is why this project will only be a trailer. A roughly 2 - 3 minute trailer of the most awesome, epic, mutant fish people gangster/horror movie ever. And I'm not really a Gangster movie fan, it just feels like the right element to throw in there.

I'm only looking at a 2 - 3 day shoot, as many makeup FX as I can possibly muster, which will be easy since I'm already embarking on a slowly growing line of Lovecraft inspired prosthetics - so this trailer will in fact also be a commercial for all that awesomeness as well. I'll try to do some location shooting, but possibly a lot of studio/greenscreen stuff as well since we're pretty limited for really great locations for this sort of thing.

And that's it. I'm done making movies. Next spring I'm planning on one last fake movie trailer - there's always the possibility of collaborations, but only where I'm not the one pushing the project forward on my own, I'll just be following someone else's lead.

However, there is always the slightest possibility that if the trailer turns out and I can create a brilliant script, I might try the grant thing again and that is the only way I'd ever attempt to do a movie again, none of this out of pocket shit anymore. It's just not worth it.

Moonshine of the Damned, Production Journal #21

Finally after all this time, we've shot the last of the secondary footage for Moonshine of the Damned. There was one little scene that someone else was going to do up for me, but as usual - unreliable extras and whatnot. So I had no choice but to do it myself or edit out the surrounding footage, which would have sucked since this partially sets up or re-enforces one of the minor concepts of the movie. I can't remember which one, either sets up or re-enforces because I forget where this comes in during the timeline.

It was an easy day, that's for sure. Less than an hour and we were done, but it was pretty fun since there was absolutely no pressure or racing to get things done, or waiting on people or anything. Just some very simple makeup and a trip to the woods on what turned out to be a beautiful day.

What the scene entailed was simple a couple zombies getting wiped out by a redneck booby trap. Obviously we couldn't have used a real trap, so it had to be safe and it had to be simple and cheap to make. I went with a log that would come swinging down and bowl the zombies over.

I got a concrete form tube, about 6 inches and I chopped it to about 3 1/2 feet long. Covered it in upholstery foam donated by Kim Bradford. My original idea was to score the surface with a soldering iron to simulate bark and whatnot, after several hours of that I realized a paint job wasn't going to work in time. So I came up with covering it in real bark. It was pretty much falling off the trees out there so I didn't even have to do any damage to anything.

And there you have it, it looks awesome, weighs next to nothing and is totally safe to have it slam into you.

Another prop I wanted to throw in was a severed hand. I used a mould from another mangled hand in another scene and since I knew I'd never use it again for anything, decided to run it as foam latex - just to see how it'd work, no other reason really. It worked great though, it was cartoonishly stretchy - although I don't think you'll see that in the final cut. Not sure yet.

So onto the shoot. With only two zombies I knew I at least wouldn't be overwhelmed with makeup all morning and with Trevor volunteering once again (he's been in every group zombie scene so far) I decided to use a silicone mask I'd make for last years version of the story. It was scrapped this year because too much had changed and quite honestly the mask didn't turn out very well.

For some reason it totally stretched out and deformed. No idea why, but since this is supposed to be a crappy movie, I figured it'd be perfect for this. Plus it was nice to just to be able to use it at least once and not just have it gathering dust on a shelf.

And now with the blood. Since I again didn't feel like mixing up some fake blood I used some old stuff I had lying around for some time now, it's actually Graftobian Stage blood and to be perfectly honest - this stuff is awesome. It's a little thicker than I'd suspect this much blood to be, but it smears and stains just like what you'd expect real blood to be like, plus it's totally safe and you can put it in your mouth.

And now for some slightly insane looking bloody zombie pictures with Lin Sigs.

The shoot went by so fast and went so smoothly it almost felt like we accomplished nothing at first, so I was constantly checking the footage to make sure we got what we needed - it would've sucked to have to come back again after all this.

I had Trevor help out with the swinging log shots, it was just easier to have someone actually holding it and letting it go than to try to tie it up and reset it each time. I'd rather have the chore of cleaning up a shot in post than struggling with resetting between each shot.

Seconds before or after they got hit. We did three takes and this was the last one and it was beyond perfect. I'd asked Lin to let go of the hand she as  gnawing it and let it fly up in the air as she got hit. I just thought it'd be kind of funny looking to see this severed hand flying up in the air.

Well, it worked and we ended up with the most awesome accident possible. The hand flew up, you can see it here in this picture if you look closely in the upper right corner on the log, and actually landed on the log for a couple seconds before flopping off onto the ground. While it might not read as a hand on screen, it still looks like some body part gone flying.

And so that's it, we're done shooting, no need for actors on camera at all anymore. I have 2 shots left I'm adding into it, they're just 2 minor FX shot that I don't even have to do but it's something I want to try at least just so I can have to experience in doing it and to see if it works better than the CG I currently am using. I am essentially building a miniature redneck booby trap and combining it with previously shot footage. But, more on that next week hopefully.

Moonshine of the Damned, Production Journal #20

Seems like there should have been more than just 20 of these. We just had our very last day of shooting on Moonshine of the Damned - I was calling last week the last, but that was our last day with the leads and extras and all that stuff. This was the final fight sequence involving the Zombie Eater, so it was just two actors. The Zombie Eater, Steve Marchbank and Heather Panton's stunt double, Kinza Mae Baker. Normally I don't do stunt doubles and, quite honestly, while Heather and Kinza are vaguely similar in size, there's still some major differences - however, those differences don't matter at all. You'll see once you see the final movie.

First thing we shot was a couple little cutaway shots involving the very first zombie appearing in the movie and of course I shot it last. It was pretty short and simple, while we were out coming up with ideas for the fight scene I brought the actor along and got his shots. We when went back home and I did a blue screen shot as well.

The Zombie Banjo Boy.

Our only real Deliverance reference left from last year.

After I got done of the Banjo Boy stuff I began a very long makeup process on Kinza, it's something I'm not showing off at all until the movie is release. Normally I'm pretty open to showing stuff off, but I've held back a little on this, but not too much.

That sort of reminds me, at some point I'm actually going to write my own review of the movie. Seems a little pointless and possibly even pandering to myself somehow, but I have a lot of thoughts on it that I'd like to address. I'll probably do a Director's Commentary for the DVD even to explain a few things. Mostly, I feel a little sad that I might actually have to explain the joke that the whole movie is. About 98% of what you'll see what done intentionally - I might've said that before.

Every bad line, awkward delivery, bad camera angle, rough editing, goofy FX - I planned it all. Or at least designed how I would plan it to force myself to do those things through no other option. It's easy to go over the top camping up a bad movie, but this was an attempt to seriously make a movie that might seems like it was done with the utmost of sincere intentions only to sort of fail a bit in places. I've said this time and time again. I love bad 80s horror movies, they were just so much fun. You don't see them anymore and I really wanted to capture that 80s mentality of almost nonsensical plot, where some things you have to suss out for yourself or fill in the blanks on your own.

In all seriousness, if you the sort of person who feels everything needs to be properly explained, needs to nitpick continuity and plot points - you really shouldn't watch this. It wasn't made for the likes of you. It's made for people who really enjoy bad movies that are so bad they're good. It's the kind of movie you're supposed to make fun of - trust me, I do all the time when we talk about it.

One thing I've always had a difficult time with in making movies is fight scenes. They're just to hard to do and do right and even slightly believable. Now this time around I won't brag that it's totally believable, but you can see there was no holding back with the actors. They went for it, risking seriously injuring themselves I'd say - but we tried to be as safe as possible and there was not one injury, aside from being incredibly sore afterwards.

I can honestly say I've never been more excited to show off something I've shot before than this scene. The whole movie is pretty awesome and has some great moments and moves along at a pretty decent pace. But this one sequence turned out just how I wanted. It's really fun to watch and even a little silly in places. All thanks to Kinza and Steve's hard work.

These are the only photos I can show you of what we did for now. Neither of them looked even close to this when I got done with makeup either.

It was a long day too. Started at 9am and finished by 4pm. I had three makeup applications - which took a huge part of the day and I'm so glad I got a couple extra airbrushes, it made the work so much quicker and the make on Kinza was so awesome looking. I even glued down the Zombie Eater prosthetic this time, up until now I let it flap around lose, but knowing the paces we were about to put it through I felt I had to glue it down to prevent it ripping and ruining shots. Worked awesomely and came off intact, if not a little sweaty.

I got it all edited last night as well, in total we got one minute, 30 seconds worth of a fight scene. Not too bad at all, I expected one minute at the very most.

I've been whittling away at the re-recording of everyone's lines. It's a long process that can be a little tiresome, but it's the way I chose to do it. The video itself is about 90% done, it needs colour correcting and whatnot. A few FX shots that I don't need anyone else for. Possible a small sequence with a couple zombies might need to be shot if I can't get the footage in from someone else I was planing on. But even that's not a problem, I'm kind of looking forward to that if it happens.

Otherwise, we're on the downhill stretch of it all now.

Posters! I've got posters done too. First up the official poster for the movie:

And I wanted this time around to do a series of character posters for the Bimbos.

And finally, all of them in one.

Someone had asked about T-shirts and I think even getting prints of posters. Right now I'm busy trying to get the movie done and get a lot of other projects off the ground as well as trying to get shop stuff done. So while the answer is yes, they will be available, don't expect it for another couple weeks until I get my scheduled cleared up

And finally, the trailer:

And that's it. I'm pretty glad it's over with, not because it was a shitty experience, but because it was just so much on my mind this whole summer and I really need to clear my head for the Halloween season as well as for the upcoming Hal-Con in November.

For now, we're pretty close. Hope to do a rough cut screening for the actors and even do a private screening at City Cinema. We'll see how all that goes.

Moonshine of the Damned, Production Journal #19

We finally wrapped up on Day Thirteen, it was a continuation and a sort of redo day for what we missed on our rained out Day Twelve. So recovering from that disappointment was a little stressful as I was checking the long range forecast and saw we'd be getting the tail end of a tropical storm just before our backup day was scheduled. And on top of that, the last minute week long scramble to get as many extras back as possible and knowing I'd most likely be doing all the makeup myself.

It all worked out. I'm a little disappointed in that small number of people who seemed at one point to be really enthusiastic about being part of the movie, who joined the group and I actually communicated with - only to have them flake out and become unresponsive when we really needed them. It seems to always be the way, I do a project and a handful of people immediately say "If you never need anything, extras, behind the camera, whatever, just let me know" only to have them never be available or just not respond when I do contact them. It's left me being utterly disinterested when someone I don't really know says that, not because I don't believe them specifically, but just that I've heard it so often to just be let down nearly every time that I tune them out when I heard anything near that phrase anymore. I feel bad for those few that actually are genuine in their offer, but they're so few and far between.

Having said that, I am impressed with the dedication of the extras we've had this year. They're all volunteers and have done an absolutely brilliant job. I've said this before, but it really does go to show that you don't need a huge wad of cash to make movies here - unless you're doing a huge FX piece like this - you just need to find those like minded people who enjoy what you're doing and are really interested in being part of it. Still, I'd love to pay people but with this pretty much being a not for profit movie and being somewhat poor, it's just not possible.

The group that came out for this last shoot, while slightly fewer than I'd planned, turned out to have been perfect. It ended up being a very rough sequence with a lot of potential for people to get hurt and they all threw themselves into it as much as possible. We ended up making those 6 zombies look like way more, really happy with how it all looks so far. I'll be trying to edit some of it possibly today.

Otherwise, things went off as planned overall. We shot some stuff with the Zombie Eater - a few minor shifts in the action happened, as it does when you've got so much going on and it's hard to plot out exact positions on the page or how it should play out naturally. All that got sorted without any effort, it just happened. Which helped speed things up.

The zombie extras, and two of the bimbos, got lost on the way to the location - however the timing worked out as they found their way to us, just as we needed them. So while they had an hour long adventure in the woods, we weren't delayed at all.

So here they all are, minus the Zombie Eater. It was a great day for out last day and really fun as it was a very physical scene, but really easy stuff to stage.

Afterwards I was able to grab a couple of the minor missing shots from other parts of the movie. Actually right behind the hills in the picture above is where I ended up shooting the Zombie Gator closeups, all the rain from the last week created several foot deep ponds. So rather than have to run out to the original location with cold water, we used these lukewarm pools instead - worked out great.

So now I have only a very small handful of shots left. There's the Zombie Banjo Boy shots, for which I created this crude, last minute prop. He'll be shot partially on a location and at least one shot against a blue screen.

Another sequence involving the victim of the Zombie Gator, one of the leads - I won't say which one in case you haven't been paying too close attention. Those shots too will be location and blue screen.

I recently dug out my blue screen that I've had for over 10 years now, bought for my very first feature, The Supposed Prophets, and never used. In fact, it's still in the exact same box it came in. Now that I have the space I decided this was the best time to try it out finally. I looked up a few really great tutorials, I've never successfully did a blue screen (or green screen) shot before, I just never had the patience until now. One quick test and it was done. Not perfect, but for my purposes, a cheesy 80s horror movie, it was absolutely brilliant looking. So not only was this project a huge testing ground for special effect, but even visual effects as well.

And lastly, a fight sequence with the Zombie Eater. And some zombie footage from Scotland too.

I'm starting in on the dubbing this week, in about 4 hours of writing this actually I'll be start that. And we'll just keep plugging away at it until it's done. I'm still hoping for a end of October release and possibly even a screening if I can arrange it without too much effort.

And, with about 95% of the footage done, I'll be working on a teaser this week finally. Maybe even later on today or tomorrow. I plan to have to done by end of the week if all possible.

And finally, the rest of the pictures from the shoot:

Most all the zombie extras had been in it before that came out today.

Trevor has been a recurring extra for nearly every zombie horde sequence and has been really supportive and reliable of the project. Hard to find people like this.

A closeup of the only zombie extra to appear in all three of the movie. A last minute email went out and Will Beckett was able to come out for our final shoot.

And as usual, Will gave it his all and was brilliant as usual.

Heather and her final moments with the Spiked Zombie Head Mace.

And I still don't know what the hell Will  was doing here, but that's pretty much what I expect when he comes out to shoot. He always come prepared to go way beyond what's expected.

And I really have to give credit to every else as well, Charles, Mitch, Pam and Kylie - they took a lot of abuse from the foam weapons. They were all awesome.

Finally, Mary and Julie got to get a little bloodied up.

It's not a fight unless a zombie bites your hatchet.

It was really impressive how everyone, especially Mary and Julie got into fighting the zombies. The shots were mostly closeups to make the group of zombies feel a little larger and from what I saw, it worked really well.

It was another decent day. The weather was perfect. It's all done and I can start winding down on this thing now. Once that fight scene is done with - hopefully this coming weekend, it'll be all downhill from here.

One more thing, the very last and final, Line of the Day:


That's pretty much it. There'll be a few more updates like this as there's still a little more to do. For now, thanks to everyone who helped out right from the beginning. It won't be a brilliant movie, but it will be fun as hell to watch.