Moonshine of the Damned, Production Journal #2

Finally got a finished craft of the script - at least this latest carnation of it. I had added another character to help further complicate things and it seems to have worked pretty well so far. While I won't go into details since I'm trying to keep a lot of things in the series as under wraps as possible, but I will say this new character is called the Zombie Eater. Just another level of oddness to the plot.

It runs about 71 pages, I had hoped to trim it back a bit to make it shorter and easier to shoot, but I've cut back as much as possible without gouging into the story, so this could easily be stretched to a full feature length movie if I wanted - but I'm not too concerned about it for now. 71 pages it is.

In other news, I'm working away on some minor props and designing some makeups. Still struggling with the budget, so I've been working on finding ways of cutting back and doing things a little less expensively. One of the things I'm looking at trying is  making my own plaster bandages - in order to do the life casts, I think I have 4, maybe 5 to do, I'll need plaster bandages for the support shells of the alignate mould - however, that stuff is really expensive when you need the amount I do.

Normally just a single face mould isn't too bad, $20 or $30 usually does it. But I'm doing a full head and shoulder mould of up to 5 people...that's going to suck up a lot of money. So I'm hoping the medical gauze and plaster of paris technique I've been looking into will do it. I budgeted the using regular plaster bandages would have run me round $300, not looking forward to spending that much money on something that I can't reuse. The alginate I have no choice, but I'm fine with that.

As far as the other props go, I've got my Zombie Heads all set to go, just need more latex and polyfoam to crank out more. And while this wasn't written into the script, I feel I need to do this to add a little more flavour to some shots, so I'm making a few body parts. I've got a hand, that's need as a stand-in first and foremost, but I'm going to throw in a mangled up version in there somewhere as well. I'm looking at possibly doing a foot and maybe even a whole leg if the budget happens.

At lot of these props are just background stuff, not plot crucial.

Here's the Zombie Heads, at least 4 of them. I'm planning on making a whole lot more and eventually jamming them on pikes. The original one, the upper right, was painted somewhat more natural flesh colour, but the others I went with a greenish tone that I really like. There's a cartoonish quality to them I really like.

Another prop I did this week, a fake rock. Pretty simple stuff, but it was in the script and while not totally necessary to have done it in foam, I like to do things safe - a foam rock is way safer to have the actors waving around than a real one. If you're interested in how it was made, I did a post on that earlier this week: http://bureau51.blogspot.ca/2013/04/making-fake-rock.html

Clay hand. I didn't sculpt this entirely, it's from a life cast, I did need to clean it up a bit since the clay didn't settle properly in the mould leaving some gaps and ridges here and there.

And, I did up a quick concept for the Spike Zombie Head Mace for the series, I'm hoping to get this made as soon as possible, just need more supplies.

I'm hoping to get to doing some prosthetics sculpted this week, I'm doing some of the hero zombie characters and mostly likely starting with the Pale Zombie character.

Brain Keychain and Zombie Head Magnet Combo

I made these a while ago and really never did much with them, I decided to give them a proper paint job, gloss them up and now I'm going to offer up some Zombie Head Magnets for sale as part of the Moonshine of the Damned Fund Raiser.

The Brain Keychain and Zombie Head Magnet combo is being sold for $15, only 10 sets are available. The Zombie Head Magnet is made of the same resin as the Brain and given a gloss coating as well, and the magnet is a pretty strong as well.

Or, you can just get yourself a Zombie Head Magnet by itself for $10 as well, there's only 20 being made. They're all hand painted and the dye for the resin is mixed by hand as well, so there's a bit of variety to the colours, but I'm trying to keep them as close as possible - you can see they're all various shades of greenish though.

As usual, payments can be made through Email Interact and add $0.50 per item if you're using Paypal. Shipping in Canada is $15 and in the US is $10 - at least it should be, I haven't shipped on yet but they're close in size to the Brains and will ship in the same sized padded envelope - so I'm hoping for the best.

You can email me brains@themonkeyrodeo.com if you'd like one.

One Month to go on the Moonshine of the Damned Fundraiser.

I'm hoping we can raise the minimum amount needed by end of April, so we're putting a bit of push on this whole thing and hoping for the best. I was aiming for $2000, but I'm pretty sure we can pull it off  if we can raise another $1000 right now.

There's the official site:
www.themonkeyrodeo.com/BZK3

The Etsy Shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMonkeyRodeo

Everyone who pitches in will get a thanks in the final credits and a chance to win even more unique zombie gear, some props created for movie, maybe t-shirts - we're still pinning that down. Also, this doesn't work like a typical Indiegogo or Kickstarter campaign, you place an order for any of the three items we have offered up and it'll be shipped out as soon as possible, no waiting until months after the project is over or if the project even succeeds.

And I feel I really need to point out that Moonshine of the Damned is not going to be just another zombie movie, far from it. I did a rant some time ago about how I'm pretty tired with zombie movies myself as about 90% of them don't even try to be vaguely original. They all follow the same tired plot outline, they think they can stand out by doing a "insert stereotype here" VS Zombies plot, or they find a new way to make zombies cute and likeable by making them the main character. The later isn't worn out just yet, but well on its way.

If you can't be unique, have some great writing. If you don't have great writing, at least have good effects. If you don't have good effects...why are you bothering? Now I can't say I've got a brilliantly written movie here, but it's not supposed to be - the feel of it is more like a 80s horror movie, it's meant to be fun and campy - not a gorefest necessarily - and it really does go beyond the expectations of a typical zombie movie. Far beyond I believe. And I won't say the FX will be outstanding, we've got a limited budget - but it will be fun to watch.

It's sort of more like a zombie movie with a touch of the 80s, mixed with a bit of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer approach in places with a hint of some Clive Barkeresque ideas rolling around. It won't be brilliant, it won't win an Academy award, it will be amusing and a little bizarre perhaps.

1st Official "Moonshine of the Damned" Production Journal

So, I figured it was about time to get to doing this, a production journal, diary, blog - whatever you want to call it.

I've been working away one several small parts of the series, trying to get it all to come together in time for our first scheduled shoot on June 1st, 2013.

Script:
The script is coming along really well. It's way more complicated and I think a lot more interesting than the original - which is really good, that means last year was worth it and cancelling was worth it. I'm hoping to wrap up a final draft of this current version this coming week, with the possibility of minor rewrites to clean things up over the next couple months.

Props:
The props are little different from last year as well, there's been a few new ones added, some changed and I've altered the production method and materials quite a bit to get the most out of what little budget there is. Over the course of the next couple months, I'll be sure to add some pictures and whatnot as this aspect progresses - there's going to be some interesting stuff being made.

Makeup:
This is the part of the whole thing that has be a little anxious. The whole series can be done without elaborate makeup, but that would be incredibly disappointing and don't want to have to cut this part back at all. There's lots of generic zombie makeup, false teeth, a few custom full head prosthetic appliances (this is the part that will get get depending on the budget).

Locations:
I haven't put a tremendous amount of thought into this yet as I'm waiting to get the script wrapped up and once that happens I'll start figuring things out and the locations will be soon to follow.

Cast:
There's been some major changes here. I've had at least one person have to drop out and replacing her has been a bit of a challenge. There's a lot of new parts I'm trying to get cast as well. And of course the zombies. I've mentioned this several times before, I believe, but the zombies are being handled much differently this time around and so far it feels like it's working - we'll see if that continues once we start shooting stuff.

Costumes:
I really want to work on this a little more than last time as well. Everyone was too clean last time, the rednecks are going to be pre-dirtied so they won't look too bright and shiny. And the girls will also be getting grimier over the course of the shoot (which I'm planning to do in order - hopefully that won't backfire).

I'm getting some donations of old clothes to better outfit the zombies as well, I'm hoping to avoid that "hacked up with scissors 5 minutes before the shoot" look - the clothes will be distressed and properly stained this time around. I want the zombies to feel a lot more filthy this time around, I wasn't happy with how they looked last time in this department.

If you're reading this and you live on Prince Edward Island or intend to be here this summer, and think you'd be up for coming out for a day to be a zombie, feel free to email me at casting@themonkeyrodeo.com

That's more or less where things are right now. I'm still trying to push the fund campaign, we've got nowhere near the budget needed to pull this off properly. I'm always looking for suggestions and any help in getting the word out, if you know of something that might work or have a blog or website and would be interested in helping out, please let me know - you can email me at foxhenderson@themonkeyrodeo.com.

Pile o' Zombie Heads

I have a long, long way to go for pre-production on Moonshine of the Damned, but it's kind of fun so far and a great learning experience. A lot of the props will be very efficiently  made - I won't say cheap, but efficient in terms of cost vs quantity vs needs. I'm find the latex skin polyfoam style props to be a really great way to crank out some very simple props.

My first major delving into this method was making the Shrunken Demon Head props while I was really happy with and I never gave it much thought as a method to do more - but that's all changed. There's going to be way more body parts than originally planned as using this method yields some decent and quick results. The moulding process is much cheaper than using silicone, the casting materials are also really affordable and go a long way - plus I'm get a lot more used to painting latex and experimenting with "adjusting" the final pieces.

I'm pretty sure I could almost do the same thing with other materials, such as silicone or urethane, but there's pretty expensive to just play around with. And to produce as many pieces as I'd like would be incredibly expensive, so latex and polyfoam it is. I don't know about the long term durability of these products, but I do have one of the Shrunken Demon Heads hanging in our front door getting assaulted by direct sunlight, so far it's just fine.

So here's what's become of the final Zombie Head props. They were once all normal and intact looking, the one in the upper right corner was the original, the other three have all had "battle damage" done to them to add a little variety and character to them.

Broken Jaw Zombie Head.

Axe Fight Zombie Head.

Original Zombie Head.

Shotgun Wound Zombie Head.

The Original Zombie also has a different paintjob, since then I've gone with a greener look, as it lends to the campier feel I'm going for with the web series. And if you saw some of the early images of the Shotgun Wound Zombie Head, it looks much "juicier" in the beginning, that has dulled a little with age - and could be the picture - but I will get getting some material that will add a permanent gloss to the bloodier spots on the heads. It might not be realistic since the heads would be dried out by the time they're found in the course of the series, but it does look good onscreen if they're a little shiny.

Now, if you've read through all this and you came here wondering about what I meant by "customization" when I refer to selling the limited quantity for the web series, this is all what I mean. Customization does have limits, basically anything I can remove from a single solid original head, holes for wounds, shotguns blasts, axes or what have you, can all be done really simply with a little re-sculpting with latex and cotton.

These pictures should give you a good idea of what I mean by customizing, but feel free to ask any questions should you want one. The main colour scheme can be altered as well, but if it doesn't turn out as awesome as you'd hoped when you ask for a blue zombie head, that's not my problem - so be careful what you ask for.

For more info on purchasing the heads (for the web series fund raiser) you can check out the website: www.themonkeyrodeo.com/BZK3.

Casting Call for Moonshine of the Damned

Some might be aware I'm shooting a web series on Prince Edward Island this summer, called Moonshine of the Damned, a third and final entry into the Bimbo Zombie Killers! series.

I'm still working on the script and as of today just made some major changes to really bring up the weird factor of the whole series. I'll admit Zombie related TV shows, movies and web series are all becoming a little too common - however Moonshine of the Damned is far from a typical Zombie story. I can't go into too much detail without spoiling some major parts of the series, but I can say, yes, this is a web series about Zombies. The basic story is a group of girls go camping in the deep woods and discover a small war between rather sinister rednecks and the undead, who the rednecks are inadvertently creating by testing their "foul" moonshine on unsuspecting trespassers in their woods. And that's a very small part of the overall plot.

There's been some changes in the last two weeks or so and I need to cast some new parts and recast some old, here's a basic list. We're shooting on weekends for the most part, starting in June and going until we're done (no later than September), so if that works for you, keep reading.

All this is on a volunteer basis, we just do this for the experience and for fun.

~

ANGEL - one of the lead bimbos of the series. A bit of an idiot obsessed with stories of a backwoods circus/freakshow. Looking for someone mid-twenties and someone who's not afraid to get bloody and messy. Should only be 3-4 days shooting involved, plus another one for redubbing all their dialog.

Costume and hair will reflect the ditzy simplistic nature of the character. Possibly pigtails and bright clothes. And you will be dying horribly.

There are some large monologues for this character, so someone who's good at memorizing lines would really be an asset.

~

The MINION - female, looking for someone tall and thin. There's no dialog, but this will possibly involve some serious makeup and will be needed for several scenes as a silent, but integral character.

Costume will be decided upon casting, but will be darker simple attire, could possibly be rather strange looking depending.

~

The ZOMBIE EATER - male. Looking for someone large and imposing, doesn't have to be exactly muscular, but not overweight either - height is important, 6'2" and over would be best. Minor speaking roles, possibly a very physical acting role, as well as messy.

Costume will be very simple "redneck" attire, a shirt and overalls if possible.

This part isn't full written yet, so I can't exactly give a time frame needed.

~

As well, ZOMBIES. We still need a few zombies. I'm casting the Zombie roles much like the others, rather than simply put a call out to see who shows up, you'll be put in a specific zombie role and your shoot will be schedule well in advance.

~

We need reliable people who are willing to make a commitment to the project, if one person decides not to show up to a shoot without any notification, we have to cancel it for the day and that's just not fair for many of the people involved with are scheduling around work and family. This works both ways as well, should I have to cancel for any reason, I'll be trying to give as much notice as possible, however in the event of emergencies and weather - we'll do the best we can.

Again, this is being done on PEI, this summer from June to Sept, shooting on weekends and is on a volunteer basis. No major acting experience necessary, but of course if definitely an asset - you can email me with a current photos, and if you have an experience, even a resume at casting@themonkeyrodeo.com. I can also give you more information about the roles if you want, I'm keeping certain details quiet so there's no spoilers.

Also, I thought should whoever be reading this never have seen either of the previous two Bimbos Zombie Killers! short movies, here you go:

Painted Zombie Head Prop

There's only so many variations on this title I can do before I start repeating. In any case, I finally got to painting one of the Severed Zombie Head props I'm making for Moonshine of the Damned - and the funding campaign. It was my first time using the airbrush on a prop and using the Latex Paint Base to do this sort of thing, and I'm pretty happy overall with the results.

I didn't have a huge array of paint colours to use, I think I just had 5 different ones to do this. I wanted to go with a dried out look, nothing too spectacular or anything, for my first attempt. I'll probably get more creative as I go.

And since they're latex and polyfoam, I was thinking to make some variations I could cut out certain parts and rebuild them here and there to alter the overall shape and appearance of each head. Some might have some stringy bits from the neck, some might have severe shotgun wounds taking off a huge chunk of the side of their head. Who knows?

So here's a couple pictures, here's an unpainted one next to the painted one.

Some closeups. I did a slight dried splatter look on him. A technique I'll admit to having never really tried before.

Got some major spatter on this side.

And a nice one here. I didn't want to do too much more, thought it might start looking too silly. Although, I do enjoy it when things look a little silly.

So there you have it. A fully finished and painted Severed Zombie Head prop. I will definitely be offering these up for a limited, reduced price pre-sale sort of deal for the fund raiser. As I've mentioned, probably numerous times, I'll only be doing up 10 for the fund raiser and then I'll be only be making several for the web series - but I will put them up for sale on the website around September I think, the price will be slightly more than they were for the fund raiser - so if you're thinking about, better act now or it'll be costing you more and you'll be helping out a (sort of ) good cause.

If you're not sure what fundraiser I'm referring to, click here. And if you're too impatient to go the to website and simply must have one of these bad boys right now, email me.

More Zombie Heads

A small pile of unpainted, latex skinned, polyfoam Zombie Heads made for Moonshine of the Damned. I'm tying to get some of the FX prepped early for the series using what little materials I have lying around. In this case I ran out of polyfoam - didn't have that much to begin with, but what little I had went  decently long way. This was about 1/4 of a $40 kit, maybe a 1/3 at best - so I should be able to get quite a few more from a new kit, especially since I now know the exact amount needed to fill the heads without wasting very much of the foam.

I'm looking into some new zombie prosthetics this week as well, I normally like to master mould them so I can reuse them for the shop later, but in this case I'll just be making them and setting them aside for now until I can master mould them down the road some time.

Still looking to raise money for the series as well, we're still hovering around the 1/4 mark - got a very long way to go yet.  If you're interested in helping out, check out the page I've got set up: http://www.themonkeyrodeo.com/BZK3/

Severed Zombie Head WIP

I finally got started on some of the FX for Moonshine of the Damned, right now I'm just working on smaller stuff that I can do with the limited supplies that I already have on hand. I don't have too much, but I have enough to start working on this prop, a Severed Zombie Head.

Using a silicone mould I'd made the Uncle Jesse Corpse Head prop from the previous version of the series, I filled it with melted clay so I could start from a nearly completed sculpt instead of from scratch - just to save several hours of getting the form just right. The original head was character specific with certain wounds and marks (and a closed mouth) that would've made reproducing it for several heads a little troublesome since it would be obvious clones.

These pictures here represent about 3 or 4 hours work of sculpting - most of the was removing the lower jaw, cleaning up the obvious original wounds and fixing the nose and eye areas. Ears were added and the lower jaw re-attached after cleaning up the area inside the mouth - which will be left rough.

This is a full sized head as well. Over the weekend I'll be creating a 2 part Ultracal 30 Mould and hopefully crank out the very first copy of the head. It'll be made with a thin skin of latex, filled with expanding polyfoam. It should be nice and light and pretty durable too.

My plan is, once I get one completed and have a better idea of the work involved overall - I'll be adding these to the Funding Campaign as the 3rd phase. Not sure of the price, could be $40 with a limited number, mostly likely 10 to be made for now. If it turns out well, I will also be adding these as a regular item to the website, for sale at a somewhat higher cost - so if you're interested in a Severed Zombie Head, best to keep track of the blog to get one cheap.

2nd Phase of Fund Raiser - Limited Edition Latex Zombie Mask

Limited Edition Latex Zombie Mask - the 2nd Phase of the Moonshine of the Damned Fund Raiser.

This mask will be used as a background zombie in the series and I'm selling only 25 of them, for $25 each. I'll point out that this is NOT foam latex, prosthetic makeup, it's a simple, Halloween-type, reusuable latex mask with an elastic strap.

Same deal as the Brain Keychains, everyone who orders one will be getting a thanks in the final credits of the series and a chance to win something awesome.

Payments can be made through Email Interact, Paypal orders add $0.50 per item. Shipping is $5 Flat Rate.

Orders can be directed to: brains@themonkeyrodeo.com.

Moonshine of the Damned Update #1

I'll start labeling these with numbers, just because it makes sense since I plan on doing more.

For starters, I'm officially changing the name from Bimbo Zombie Killers! Moonshine of the Damned to simply Moonshine of the Damned. Not only to simplfy it, but as a reference to the naming scheme of Evil Dead - so it's a vague reference, but one nonetheless. It went from Evil Dead, to Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, and of course, Army of Darkness, so I'm doing the same thing.

And I've been giving some thought to a poster - not that I really need one, or ever do really, but it's part of the process that I enjoy. This time around instead of doing a photo of the girls or something like that, I'm actually going to paint it - not digitally, but regular old, acrylic on canvas, paint. I'll be using this design:

And this will be, sort of, yet another reference, this time to the movie House, which featured a painted, slightly stylized zombie hand ringing a doorbell. I'll be scanning the painting and digitally touching it up a bit, but that's it.

This painting will also be the prize I'll be giving away for the funding campaign. Not sure of the size yet, but I'll be picking up the canvas next week and start working on it.

Speaking of the funding campaign, I'll be launching the 2nd phase of it next week - more about that then.

Finally have the first draft of the script, it's a little rough but it's all there. Casting is pretty much sewn up for all the new parts. So far the zombie casting process is going pretty well, not fantastic, although I haven't really been pushing it too hard just yet. I've broken up the zombie parts as actual roles that are being cast, rather than just making a random call for extras and hoping for the best.

And I've been working away trying to get a more accurate gauge on the FX budgets now that I know the needs of the script. That will be going on for the next couple weeks, finding out all the little bits I wrote and now have to create somehow. Should be fun.

That's it so far, we'll see how next week goes.

Brain and a Finger!

Brain and a Finger for $12.

Limited supply. I have 10 of these sets for sale on a first come, first serve basis (orders must be paid for within 2 weeks of ordering or it will be offered up to the next person who requests). The partially eaten Brain Keychains are normally $10, but this set is being sold for $12 - the Brain would normally retail at $8 and the Severed Finger at $7, you might be only getting a few dollars in a discount, but this is for a fundraiser not a direct retail sale - so that's a pretty decent deal.

The Severed Finger will be chosen at random from a batch already made. All orders can be made here, brains@themonkeyrodeo.com and mention "Brain and a Finger" as the subject - should they be all sold you, I'll let you know right away. Shipping is the same as usual, $15 in Canada, $25 in the US. Contact me for overseas rates, but be warned it won't be cheap, so best to find a couple other folks who might be interested in reduce the shipping costs.

Need Zombies this summer on PEI for web series.

The title pretty much explains it.

If you've been following this blog you might recall I tried shooting a web series last summer, Bimbo Zombie Killers! Undead in the Water - well, it didn't work out since we were late starting and ran out of time. We're trying it again, now under the title Moonshine of the Damned.

We need zombie extras in order to do all this though. We're looking for reliable folks who can commit to just one day of shooting - there'll be several involving zombies, but most people will only be needed for one day for a specific scene.

Anyone interested in being an extra can email me at casting@themonkeyrodeo.com or send me a message on The Monkey Rodeo page on Facebook.. We're looking for adults only, no children please. Must be able to commit to at least one day of shooting, schedule will be available for this summer very soon - so no excuses there. We'll be starting in June and shooting on weekends throughout the summer on Prince Edward Island.

We supply the makeup as well, it will be foam latex prosthetic appliances - so if you're allergic to latex, you might want to let me know. We will be doing some simple face painting makeup as well from time to time. Zombies will be asked to show up 2-3 hours before shooting times to get done up.

Costumes can be any ratty old clothes (you can check to see if we have any zombie wardrobe though), no logos - no brand names at least, bands and stuff like that are fine. We're also accepting clothing donations for our zombie wardrobe - the more torn up the better and all sizes welcome, send me an email about that as well (same address as above), I'll even thank you in the credits.

That's more or less it, you can email me with any questions as well.

Brains, brains and more brains...

We're approaching the 1/4 mark sold of the Brain Keychains, not too bad - but I'm pretty sure we can do better. It'd be nice to have them all sold by April, if not sooner. So here's hoping - with a little help - we can get the word out there.

They're $10 each ($10.50 if you're using Paypal) + shipping 15 in Canada and $25 in the US. If you want one but you're not too keen on the shipping costs, than find a few friends who might want one and split the costs, it's as simple as that. And, if you're on PEI, you can arrange a pickup or delivery, so it's even cheaper that way.

All the funds are going towards the FX budget for the (hopefully) upcoming web series, Bimbo Zombie Killers! Moonshine of the Damned. The FX in this will easily be the most impressive of anything done on PEI - although, that's not really saying too much since I'm the only person doing FX like this locally at the moment.

For every person who places an order, their name will go into a draw to win one of the larger props be specifically made for this series, and there's going to be some awesome one. Could be worth well over $100 retail. And, you'll also get a thanks in the final credits of the series - so snag one of these bad boys before they're all gone, only 200 are ever going to be made and the moulds will be destroyed once I make all 200.

If you've any questions or want to order one, send an email to brains@themonkeyrodeo.com.

Re: Your Brains

So the title was a bit of a lure, but yes, this is about Brains, just not Jonathan Coulton.

In case you missed it, I'm selling only 200 of these custom made, partially eaten Brain Keychains. They're made of resin with a hard gloss coating, hardware included as you can see here. They're probably just slightly larger than the average male thumb, if you needed to know that.

Why am I selling them? I'm trying to raise money for the Bimbo Zombie Killers! Moonshine of the Damned web series I'm hoping to shoot this summer. The funds are going towards the special effects needed for the series.

The details: for only $10 you get one of these bad boys and a thanks in the final credits of the series. Plus once it's all over and done with, I'll be picking a name from those who purchased one, and they'll be winning one of the larger props being made for the series. No idea what it'll be yet, but there's a lot of awesome stuff designed and it'll probably retail for well over $100 or could even be a one of a kind. Who knows. But it will be unique.

To date, 30 have been sold. 170 remaining.

Payment details: Canadians can use Email Interact, everyone else Paypal (Paypal users need to add $0.50 for each brain). Shipping in Canada is $15 on average and $25 to the US. Residents of PEI can just arrange a pickup or delivery.

Questions or Order can be sent to brains@themonkeyrodeo.com

Just let me know the amount of brains you want. If you need shipping or not, and if you do need it shipped, let me know your address. Pickup and shipments will be made every Tuesday. That's pretty much it.

Bulk orders are definitely welcome and encouraged for anyone looking to cut their shipping costs. And please feel free to share this, any help is good help.

BZK! Moonshine of the Damned $10 Funding Campaign

I'll admit, I do get tired myself sometimes at seeing the endless stream of crowd funding campaigns for amateur web series and literally dozens of other things that may or may not be legitimate. And it's hard to run one, the hardest part are the rewards for donations. I ran one, it did okay, not great. After the site and Paypal took their bits, we hadn't raised as much as I'd hoped.

So I'm doing another one, much simpler - each donation is only $10 and you get, as quickly as I can make them, one of these:

Plus a "thanks" in the final credits and once it's all said and done, every person who donated will go into a draw for one of the larger props from the series, probably worth well over $100.

So, for $10 you'll get one (of only 200 being made) custom made, hand painted partially munched on brain key chains - as well as a "thanks" in the final credit of the web series. Payments (in Canada) can be made by Email Interact ($10+shipping), local orders (on PEI) can be made in cash and pickup or delivery can be arranged.

If you don't live on PEI and are concerned about the shipping costs, than feel free to share this with a few friends, not only will you be helping out the campaign but you'll be saving money on shipping costs if you split it.

Also, they're made from a hard resin and finished with a gloss coating.

Note: While this is open to anyone, anywhere that sees this, the main idea is for local sales in order to cut down on extra expenses. So, in other words, PayPal orders add an additional $0.50 to cover their fees and shipping is additional as well - for this reason, bulk orders by mail are preferred.

To order your partially eaten Brain Key Chain, (or if you have any questions) you can email in your order here: brains@themonkeyrodeo.com.

The Monkey Rodeo Computer Animated Web Series

I've been thinking about this for some time now. I used to do a lot of computer animation, I sort of gave it up as I moved into doing prosthetics and props. What finally really inspired me to tackle this was playing the first episode of The Walking Dead video game - the style was perfect.

Normally when I do CG stuff it's all really hi-res, high poly count stuff and that's great for visual effects and computer generated characters and whatnot, but was just too much effort and work for a whole web series - the sheer amount of modelling and detail work was just too overwhelming to even bother thinking of it for more than a couple seconds.

So when I saw The Walking Dead stylized low(ish) poly stuff I realized it'd be perfect. A couple days ago I started playing around - just testing stuff out for the moment, I'm not diving right in too deep just yet. The first character I started with was Karl Wenham, seemed reasonable since I always wanted to do more with him but hate shaving my face and all to do the makeup. This way I just have to do the voice - which is sort of a muddled English/New Zealand sounding accent.

This is pretty early on - Karl isn't bald, still have yet to really work out how I want hair to look in all this.

I've been debating as well about doing some very rudimentary facial capture stuff for the faces. I've been going through a few tutorials and as soon as I suss out whether it's too much work or not, I'll decide on if I'll do it. Lots of stuff to still think about. For instance, the whole story, but how many characters, locations and all the sets I'll have to build, so it won't be happening any time soon, but it will be happening - how epic or huge it might but, I don't know yet, but it'll be fun designing so really over the top characters too hard to prosthetic work at the moment.

I'll probably post about it every so often as I make some major milestones during pre-production.

Testing Latex Paints and Missing Fingers

Sometimes there's just so much I want to try to do that my brain can't process it all properly and I end up just doing nothing because I can't sort through everything. Sometimes. Lately my random thoughts have been trying to focus on the various things I want to do for the Bimbo Zombie Killers! web series next summer. I didn't ditch the project, just had to postpone it until certain things were worked out.

One thing I've been planning in regards to the new version of the web series is using more elaborate effects for the zombies - because sometimes zombies are missing parts.

I did a very quick and dirty sort of bluescreen test today, whatever colour I end up using all depends on the location we're shooting. This test was by no means intended as a perfect result of what things will look like in the movie, just to see how simply it can be done. I spent maybe 10 minutes on it, and most of that was painting my finger blue, filming and transferring the footage to the computer.


In the final version I'll be making a prosthetic that would cover that seam between my finger and the blue, to then make it look more rotted or bitten off. Should work just fine and be easy enough. I'm not looking at using it too much, just enough to get some good shots to fill things out.

There will definitely be more tests to come as we get closer to next summer.

And the other things I've been putting off for ages has been making a serious airbrushing attempt on some latex props/costume pieces. I did the Pax Paint thing a couple weeks ago but I have my doubts it'll hold up in the long run and be reliable enough to sell stuff that way so I tried some latex paint base, something I bought long ago and never got around to testing. It was rough and crude but I think with a little work it will be absolutely perfect.

I don't want to post an image of the piece I painted since I'm using the same design for a prosthetic for a photo shoot next week, but I'm going to attempt to paint up a latex mask version of the Dust Troll prosthetic tomorrow hopefully.

For anyone wondering, how the hell you paint latex masks, there's only a couple methods and most a unreliable and one is incredibly toxic (rubber cement method), I'd really recommend going with the latex paint base method. You can get it from Monster Makers and use regular acrylic to tint it and (while I've yet to use it, I will be soon and several sources recommend it) thinning it out with ammonia should you need to. You can stipple it on, brush it and airbrush it. Not sure of the ration, but that's something I think most folks can work out on their own and suss out whatever works best for them.

And I think, maybe this weekend, I'll be doing another shoot that will be themed rather well for this time of year.

Demons, Calendars and Stuff

Been busy working on stuff, just a series of random stuff. Just finished shoot number 6 for the Demon Calendar - so far so good. Got the rest all lined up and shoot dates tentatively book for a few.

Meanwhile, I've pretty much wrapped up producing new prosthetics for the shop. I've got 3 female sized finished that all look pretty decent (I've got to come up with a better of way of phrasing that, female oriented? Female only? Whatever), they'll be going online, along with a few other pieces next week. As well, I'm working on a new large pair of ears and a new nose piece that should be ready for next week as well.

Since I'm running low on supplies I've been working out what best to focus on and I've decided to give latex pieces another try. Like horns and whatnot that you just slip on, no makeup required. I figure pieces like this might be more enticing for non-makeup oriented folks.

I've got an idea for a weird horned latex headpiece, might work, might not - but there's only one way to tell for sure. I think I'll do it up for a photoshoot and if it tuns out, I'll think about putting it online.

Here's a couple outtake shots from the last two shoots:

Otherwise I'm just trying to sort of some FX for the BZK! web series next summer, so far I've got some pretty cool stuff lined up and some of which will be for sale online. I'll be posting some progress about that once I make some good headway.

And I'm finally going to take a serious attempt at building a larger foam latex oven this winter. We'll see how that goes.

A whole bunch of random crap

I've been working on a few things at once, so this post is going to be a little everywhere all at once.

First, I've been trying to do a Demon Calendar, nothing too spectacular, just about 12 new images. I've got 4 done so far and I think about 3 more shoots lined up and I'll see where it goes after that. No idea where I'll be printing them or how I'll be selling them. All I know is, I'm trying to keep it on the non-expensive side.

Here's a few outtake images from the shoots so far:

I've been airbrushing only as well with the makeup this time out. Slightly faster, when the airbrush isn't clogging up - but way better end results, so it's worth it.

Second, I'm hoping to wrap up some new props by tomorrow. You've probably seen them or heard or read about me mentioning them before, the "Thing in a Jar" props. I've been meaning to get around to finding proper jars and finishing a 3rd one and I should have them online by tomorrow night if all goes well.

Third, I've been slowly whittling away at some ideas for the reshoot of the BZK! web series and one thing I really want to refocus my attention on are the FX. I've complained about this before and I really wasn't happy about how I was handling the zombie makeup. That's not to say I wasn't happy with what my two makeup artists, Maggy and Krista, were doing - they were doing exactly what I told them and they did a great job. I'm referring more to keeping things more organized and on track.

As the shoots went by, with each one, the makeup become more and more rushed. That should never have happened and was the biggest mistake (aside from letting just anyone volunteer) on the series. So for next time, we're really going to make an effort that the quality of the zombies is much better and not rushed.

One thing I'll be doing is trying some "out of mouth" dentures. At least that's how I've heard them referred to, they use them a lot on The Walking Dead and it's where you create a pair of dentures that latch onto your teeth, but they overlap your lips, so when a prosthetic is applied over them it can have the lips peeled back way more than humanly possible with series pain or surgery. If that makes sense.

The overall principle behind making them is pretty simple and I reckon I'll attempt a few test pairs over the winter. It should go a long way to really sell the zombie look and I might even be able to offer them up for sale with a bit of work.

Another thing I'm debating about, and again this was inspired by The Walking Dead - is their use of animatronic or puppet zombie heads in the foreground. There were a few shots in season 2 where I noticed in the extreme foreground, so you only saw it's face or down to it's shoulders, a very decayed looking zombie. You really only saw them for maybe a few seconds, enough to really get a sense of the thing,  pretty simple effect and if I have enough of a budget I'll be trying that trick as well hopefully.

Other than that, I'm finishing up my last prosthetic of the year. I'm running low on supplies so I don't want to make another huge expense for myself so I'm doing as much as I can with what I have left and I'm running low on master mould supplies. I've got my 3rd female oriented piece to finish up today and then perhaps a new pair of ears and that will be it for this year.

I've got a few older designs I want to redo, but they'll have to wait for now.

And lastly, while I haven't even started it yet, I do plan on building my foam latex oven this winter. Could be awesome, could be a disaster - I won't know until I get around to it I guess.