Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Building a Trailer: Screencaps

Tuesday
I'm working on the official trailer for The Book of Zombie. It's coming along well, and I wanted to share a few stills from the movie.

Charlie, Zombie Killer Hello, Brother

Machete Zombie Geyser of Blood

Good News Slasher

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Wrap Party

Saturday
The Book of Zombie wrap party was a blast. It was also a great Halloween party. There were a lot of ghoulish costumes and delicious food.
CiderDevil Eggs
Wrap Cake

I made the first trailer for a premiere screening at the party. It was the first time that our cast and crew got to see what we'd spent the last four months making. We watched it about a dozen times.
Trailer ScreeningTrailer Screening

Karoeke in the blood-red basement where Scott does his best Creed impression.
Kareoke

Monday, October 22, 2007

Week 18 - That's a Wrap!

Friday
The Book of Zombie wrapped principal photography on this glorious day! We went to a new location in Auburn to shoot the final scene in the movie. I wish that I could write more about it, but the ending's top secret. I don't even want to spill the place we filmed at.
The scene started with a creeping, ghoulish, dolly shot and ended with an epic steadicam shot that would make Scorsese proud.
Wrap party this Saturday. Will I blog it?...
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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Week 17 - What about Zed?

Saturday
Our only night of filming this week. We only have one more weekend of shooting to go. The production returned to the Puyallup location once again. Scott's backyard became David and Jenny's for the night.
BackyardBackyard

Saturday was also a wrap for Brian and Larissa. We started this production at the beginning of summer, sweating in a bar in Auburn. Now, we can see the actor's breath and they have to put on jackets between takes.
Backyard

Post-production update:
I've captured all footage up to this day and can now begin editing. Behind the scenes footage is currently being logged for the huge documentary. More making-of shorts will be coming very shortly...

Monday, October 1, 2007

Week 16 - Zombies Invade Puyallup

Saturday
The weather reports were dire. A monsoon was predicted to hit Puyallup the exact moment we were to begin shooting and then last all night. We went ahead with the shoot anyway and defied all odds to a glorious success. Only mild sprinkles fell, the zombies were happy (as happy as zombies can be) , only one car was seriously damaged.
Zombie HordeZombies

The scene that we were working on was David and Jenny's exit from their backyard and stumble upon a literal horde of zombies. There were zombies in the driveway and lining the streets. Scott staged his car to look like it had plowed into a tree in the yard. There was even a dead body hanging out the passenger window. Most of our lights were hidden behind the car to light the zombies in the road. A smoke machine was hidden under the hood of the car and billowed smoke for every take.
David and Jenny Visualize the HordeZombie Clapper

We finally did an epic jib shot as our heroes run down the street, dodging the zombies. Adam built the jib early in production and we finally had the chance to put it to good use. The shot is amazing. We also shot David and Jenny running, using Scott's van as a dolly. I shot steady-cam out the side door, while Paul held a light out the front window. How they managed to out run us once is still unknown.

The monsoon didn't hit until the drive home.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Week 15 - Get it? Holes.

Friday
We only shot one day this weekend. Only three more locations to go. We returned to Shoreline to finish the opening scene at the Driscoll's house. Adam and Andy finally got to appear as pre-zombie mormon missionaries. Weather was a constant threat. Rain was predicted, and it definitely slowed us down. We only had to stop once, but we made it. I didn't get worried until I noticed the sun coming up while we still had a few more shots to get.
The Mormons arriveGet it?... holes...
The blue-tinged smoke looked great wafting through the front yard. We also filmed the bloody and disgusting end of poor Zed.
Hello BrotherDon't open the door
Say goodbye to Zed

Next week is going to be huge. I just found out that we're shooting a heavy dialogue scene in a backyard in Shoreline on Friday and then a huge Zombie horde scene on a street in Puyallup. Stay tuned...

Monday, September 10, 2007

14th Weekend - Killing Mr. Hinton

Saturday
We only shot one day this weekend due to location availability. Well, that location turned out to be my estate in the sunny paradise that is Everett. This scene is a view that David and Jenny have as they're leaving their house at the beginning of the film. Bill Hinton did an excellent job in what he describes as "a career defining role" as "Angry Man with Pitchfork". Also, returning was Elissa Dowling, who also makes an appearance later in the film at The Drunken Dragon.
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It was a great change to be able to shoot from home for a change. I've gotten used to driving an hour to get to the set. Clean-up took an extra hour though. It is a challenge to light a nighttime exterior though. I needed to add a lot of light to make the image look like night instead of darkness. This involved hanging lights from the roof of my house and the fence. I also lit the trees and fence in the background so they weren't completely black. It was a great night. We had three lead zombies to attack Mr. Hinton, and many more for foreground and background action. My yard is still red from all of the blood.
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More pictures than you really have time for:
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