FOMF Production Diary

Setting up the greenscreen

Mark came over, set up a greenscren, and we shoot video.

Ah, the pleasure of actually making a movie!

One thing we hadn’t anticipated was how much the model would vibrate under full power.  Probably should have loaded it with lead.

Edward sets up the control lines

Instead of lead, however, we found we could get pretty good stabilization by stringing threads all around it and keeping everything taut.

Got some good shots — looking forward to keying out the background, and integrating it with the

Mark setting up the shot

stuff I’ve been working on.

Checking the monitor

The model in place

Mark came by, we set up a greenscreen, a lot of lights, the helicopter, and started shooting.

Shot lots of footage, until eventually, the batteries in the helicopter started dying and the rotor slowed to a crawl. More like a symbolic spin.

Pictures tomorrow!

Our second day shooting the final scene of the movie. I told an acquaintance that we were planning to take three days to shoot the final twenty seconds and he just laughed and said “Kubrick would be proud”. Hm, assuming we ever make it on his radar, I guess we’ll just have to see about that after we shuffle from this mortal coil.

Once again, we end up with about seven people, instead of the nearly-twenty we were expecting. This is just something I’ve never really understood, but I guess it just is what it is. I know there are hundreds of people who are interested in the movie, and dozens who actually contact us and schedule to show up at shoots. But when it gets right down to it, most never show up. I mean, is Internet porn really that good?! I guess so. Most folks are very enthusiastic and creative and some of the performances were absolutely inspired! I was just really impressed with how many different ways a person can act under such… restrained… circumstances. It was remarkable!

However, we did have someone show up with a baby and the baby was an excellent actor, so we did get at least one really good baby shot (thank you, Aurora!). The baby was actually in our initial auditions, so it was quite an interesting sort of bookend.

When we started out this morning, Ryan and I discussed the possibility of shooting the rest of the shots for this scene by the end of the evening, just kinda’ going for broke and shooting until we were done. He figured that it was entirely possible that we would run out of things to shoot by late afternoon or thereabouts. I figured we would probably run until late, but could quite possibly shoot everything else today and then stay a little longer, do all the cleany-clean sort of thing, and then sleep in Sunday morning. I guess we were a little grumpy about having to get up at 7:30am after shooting until midnight with an hour’s drive away to the location. That’ll make anyone grumpy.

We continue with our initial plan of shooting close-ups and long shots, although today, we really try to get through long shots, especially. I’m still not sure how many long shots we did. It felt like about a hundred, but was probably closer to five thousand. It just felt like a lot.

As dusk falls, we realize that we’ve only got five actors remaining, so we decide to sort out the shots by number-of-actors-required. In doing so, I realize that, actually, we only have four or five single shots left. To the whole movie! We wrap up the long shots, which is a very fast-paced cycling of actors in the same scenarios. Then we really start hauling ass and getting the last batch of odd shots, including a crisp “hosing off” scene that takes place in the middle of the night in the open air (very cold!) and a scene of people digging through sharp rocks with their hands. As our actors all get cleaned up, we shoot the final three scenes of the movie, which are also three of the grossest, nastiest scenes we can imagine. This is not the first time we were grateful that we laid down a layer of plastic on the floor instead of just trusting to our ability to mop afterwards. On the down-side, however, a gore-covered plastic floor is more slippery than a damn politician, and a few people take a tumble. Fortunately, they all seem to land safely enough, although certainly in undignified positions.

But I digress…

At approximately 9:20 or thereabouts, we shoot the final scene of the movie, a wickedly gross push broom scene. Many people wanted to know if this was, in fact, the final shot. Evidently, plans were afoot, because the instant it was verified that we had, in fact, shot the martini of the production, I was assaulted by multiple cans of silly string. I still haven’t cleaned my glasses off. This is how much I love my crew.

Now I begin editing…

Our first day shooting Flesh of my Flesh’s terrifying final scene. One of the first things we do is decide to cover the entire floor of the 36’ x 36’ workshop with plastic. This is going to be the messiest, nastiest, most horrible clean-up part of the movie. This turns out to be an excellent idea.

Although the initial plan calls for a few close-ups of each scenario, followed by one long shot to add to the final composite, Ryan convinces me (using logic and experience and persuasive argument skills) that we have to shoot the long shots from multiple angles, to account for the sweep of the digital camera. This, of course, totally makes sense and totally complicates things. Well, not exactly complicates, but makes it so we have to shoot a lot more than we planned.

We expected twenty actors to show up this evening, but there was a glitch in our directions and one of the main turnoffs from the road wasn’t labeled the way we needed it to be (darn cities) and so more than a few people got lost, turned around, and had to ask directions from locals before they could make it. I doubt anyone got that close and then just turned back. However, we had seven folks show up. Well, not exactly what we had hoped for, but we made do. It allowed us to be much more creative with how we posed people, how we turned them into multiples of themselves.

One scenario in particular just struck me this evening. Had I not been recently sat down and pushed into the Katholic Kwaziness of “The Exorcist”, it just probably wouldn’t have occurred to me. So, we had a sit-down, circle-prayer scene. Very, very effective. Also, it’s kinda scary knowing how many people are that familiar with the Lord’s Prayer. Sean thinks it’s just wrong that I added this scene, what with me thinking rather poorly of organized religion (to say the least), as if I had to subscribe to the religion to use its effects against people. That’s silly — I don’t have to understand music to enjoy Al Yankovic or to at least intellectually accept that there was at least a few people who appreciated KC and the Sunshine Band…

Early in the morning, we truck out to Tillamook to shoot the scenes for the next teaser/trailer. We have a bit of a slow start. Some kind of trouble with costumes or something. We eventually get everybody in costume. It looks quite cool. Even Travis gets into the spirit of things by shaving off his moustache to look more like Bruce Campbell.

It’s raining today and that makes everything a little trickier. With everything wet and visible puddles on the ground, there’s no way we can convince people this is a dry warm day. Also, because everything’s wet, that means everything is slippery and shiny. Annoying. It’s also annoying because our crew and actors have to all stand out in the rain while we’re shooting this. But we are a stalwart gang!

We get all sorts of shooting of our various heroes, and then the final shot is the trickiest one — a shot from on the roof. The roof is corrugated metal and tilted downward. It’s also about four stories up. So, of course, three of us end up there. We are brought up and then taken back down by a local cherry-picker. Too bad we didn’t have one of these for some earlier shots!

After arriving home, Sean and I immediately fall to editing and banging out a trailer from our footage. What a fascinating process! Although there are frequent moments where we each seem to be stopping and questioning the other, we do proceed surprisingly well for a couple of highly-opinionated guys working on the same project. By ten pm, we have something we can show the remaining vestiges of crew hanging around. They seem to like it. Then we spend the rest of the night (as it were) watching scary movies.

One of the first fine things to happen this morning is that our storage computer, a RAID box, just stops taking data or responding to anything. Ugh — out of hard drive space again?! We have 200G of duplicated space on that. So, I trundle off the buy a pair of 250G drives, with the hopes that this will tide us over for at least a few months until I get more work. What I would like to do is replace the four 100G drives in there with 250G or larger drives, and then add another pair of 250G drives, bringing the total storage size of the volume to one terabyte. One terabyte ought to be enough for us. Alas, without work, I have insufficient income to just go and blow a few hundred on replacement drives.

This evening, we shoot a wall-climbing scene. Michelle and Jaybird’s spent the past week painting a helluva cool matte painting on a wall and floor and this just looks really good. So, we load up some zombies, make ‘em look cool, and start shooting like crazy. During the evening, we keep shooting what we plan, but we also see things that just look too good to pass up. We shoot them, too. We don’t let any of them survive. In fact, we even end up shooting a very goofy bit of video of Leopoldo and I climbing a wall. Our last shot of the evening requires that Ryan dangle over a rooftop while we run zombies back and forth underneath. Lots of fun and we secretly have a camera ready to catch him in case he falls, but the scene shoots relatively uneventful.

Actually, I’m kidding — we didn’t have a camera ready. So, if he had fallen, we would have missed the shot. Which, overall, is somewhat trivial when compared to losing a member of my crew. So, people held him up there.

One damper on the evening was discovering that someone had taken Amber’s purse outside, gone through the contents, and taken some things. This is the second time Amber’s been ripped off on set and it’s very disheartening. Crap — it’s not as if we can afford to lose stuff! It’s just so wrong!

I guess another potential damper on the evening was that a cop car came by. Evidently, the neighbors complained of screaming and some sort of party going on. I guess we have a lot of lights set up, but I don’t really see shivering out in the cold air covered in blood and gore as a party, per se. As far as screaming, we have no idea what that was all about — while were shooting, we were underground and it was very quiet (quite spooky, in fact). So, maybe they just wanted to raise a bit of a ruckus or something.

The footage, of course, is wonderful. I know exactly how I’m going to cut this scene!

Back shooting second unit stuff after a bit of a hiatus. Tonight, we shoot a bunch of folks driving a Hummer. It’s a pretty fun shoot, but we do end up renting a generator. It’s a shame, ’cause we thought for sure we would be able to avoid renting a generator for this night, but as it turns out we need power and we just can’t seem to find enough people willing to pedal bicycles like mad. Our zombies really get into the spirit of the shoot tonight, which is really good. They’re hootin’ and hollerin’ and having a grand time and, frankly, we can’t help but be infected by the same high spirits.

Mmmmm, infected…

We finish our shooting and then spend the next half hour cleaning blood and gore from the hummer. You can tell where we’ve been because it’s cleaner than when we left. I suppose it would have been most consistent to simply wash the entire vehicle, but it’s fairly late and really, we’d all rather get home.

Ah, actually, there was one fly in the ointment this evening. Seems one of our creatures was a little more, ah, rambunctious than we would have liked and the result was a cracked windshield. Now, I’ve never really cracked a windshield before, although once on a date, the gal I was taking out did, in fact, crack the windshield with the heel of her shoe. But this is a Hummer, fer cryin’ out loud. A military vehicle! Why is it that a thin wispy girl can manage to crack (and presumably shatter) the windshield just by banging on it? Is this the kind of protective gear all our soldiers are getting, or just the ones that are hunting zombies? It’s really amazing! I feel like writing a letter to the Army: “I think it’s important that you realize our troops are screwed if they’re ever attacked by zombie chicks!”

We are, of course, terribly embarrassed. We’ll make it right with the owner. But the manufacturer, they’ll still be receiving heaps of scorn from us.

Drew the storyboards for the wall-climbing scene and uploaded those to the development site. Lots of discussion been going on about how to shoot this, but once I drew it all out, the things we needed to do looked a lot simpler than when I was just trying to describe it with my hands waving around. Actually, it looks pretty cool.

Our last day of principal photography. We didn’t know about the change in call time until late last night (early this morning), so only about half our extras (I guess) came in around noon and the other half came in earlier, around 9. For the very first time, our extras were ready to shoot before we were ready to shoot them! Ryan shot a lot of pickups while we were waiting for the rest of our team to assemble, and by this time, manipulating the video bank has become a lot easier (although the remotes still interfere with each other). We shoot a few pickup scenes while the art department continues scoring the wallboard. Finally, things are ready.

We gore up zombies and stick ‘em behind the wall. We doublecheck everything — we won’t be able to do this again. There are three cameras set up to catch the action, one mounted high, seeing the whole laboratory, another mounted in a high corner, and another handheld by Ryan, following close to the actors, with the wide-angle lens, so we don’t miss anything in the background.

We make extra sure of the cues — there will be an “action” and then there will be a “wall” command. We definitely don’t want our wall gag happening while the actors are still doing their thing. We run through the scene a couple of times, carefully, and then, once we think we have it, it’s go-time. Actors enter the room, exchange a few whispered words of dialogue, and then the wall command is sent.

It’s absolutely gorgeous. If I didn’t know any better, I would have completely freaked at the attack. In fact, I completely freak at the attack already, even though I know it’s coming. Our zombies are excellent and our cast perfect and the mad scramble goes like clockwork.

The next scene is also tricky, and the last scene of principal photography. Our heroes rush into a hallway and run past the camera, and all the doors in the hallway disgorge zombies, obviously filling the hall with a horde of screaming mad flesh-eaters. Now, ordinarily, Ryan’s been performing serious miracles on this production by lighting with basically, three lights, but in this case, we need a light shooting out of every door in the hallway (six), plus a light on the dolly, because this is a dolly shot. Complicating our lives further, the monitor bank is visible from the hallway shot during the dolly, so we can’t use the power from that. So, basically, this is the most power-hungry shot of the movie. We have to use all three generators, and we have to disconnect power from Craft Services (I always hate doing that). Still, it’s not quite enough. We kick on all the lights to check, they stay on for a minute or so, and then two of the generators flip a breaker. The third one doesn’t, which is good. The third one is a small one that we’re using to power the video bank. That thing is such a pain in the ass to set up that we felt it needed its own power supply.

We try again, and again, once we kick on the lights on the dolly, we get about two minutes and then the breakers flip.

Fine, we’ll shoot it in two minutes.

We get our loads of zombies set up behind each door. We arrange running cues for them. We set up our actors. Lights! Action! Our actors run out of the room, just as the zombies start pouring into the back hall. The dolly jerks backwards a little too quickly and the restraints (read “duct tape”) holding the lights and other gear on the dolly give way. Furthermore, Ryan loses his balance, too. Everything tumbles forward, nearly off the dolly. Our actors manage to pick past the debris, but now we have a horde of screaming zombies running at us. And our gear. Just hanging there in space. There is much screaming and gesticulating and we manage to stop them from trampling the gear.

Then the breakers flip and we are plunged into darkness.

Reset!

We get everybody back into position. The gear is strapped down more securely, Ryan’s been bolted to the dolly, and Sean’s been given a sedative so that he won’t pull the dolly so quick. Everybody ready? We hit the lights and call out action. Our actors leap into the hall, just as zombies start filling the distant hallway. The screaming grows louder… Heather Rose suddenly stumbles and falls. Zombies are now filling the hall, screaming and getting closer. We try to stop them, but they can’t see us with that DP light shining into their faces and they can’t hear us over the crowd roar. Suddenly, one of the lead zombies, played by Andrew Migliore, dashes out of the final room ahead of everybody else, scoops up Heather Rose, and pulls her out of the rough and tumble of screaming zombies. Finally, people start hearing our screams of “Cut! Stop! Cut!” and they slow down, but by this time, we’ve already had a dozen or so people run by. Wow — that was close!

Then the breakers flip and we are plunged into darkness.

Reset!

Same as before, but we instruct the floor to keep a better grip on Heather Rose’s shoes. Darn floor. We kick the lights and call Action! Actors tumble into the hallway. Zombies flood in, actors take off and zombies flood after them. It looks good! They all go by, finally followed by the tail group — our own crew, who were just filling up the way-way back. No makeup on these guys — they were just meant to be bodies, silhouettes.

The breakers flip and the only light is from my little handheld monitor.

As people start walking back up the hall, we review the footage right there (thank goodness for digital video!). It does look great, except we suddenly notice how many people are smiling and laughing and grinning as they run. Brett and Sean both spot it even before I do. For a brief second, I wonder if this ought to be just fine, if we ought to run with it, and then Sean mentions “We won’t be able to recreate this shot, you know.”. He’s right, of course.

Reset!

Ron and I go to each doorway, alternating, telling people that we need to see hungry snarls, mean looks, grimaces, and all sorts of nastiness. This time it’ll work. This time it’ll be perfect.

This time it is.

And the generator breakers still flip, plunging us into darkness. After we get the shot. At 9:20pm.

It takes us nearly two hours to clear out of there. Lots and lots of loading stuff, breaking things down, pulling cables and wires, but we do it all, basically, in one load. Then the remaining crew and cast, about thirteen people, all gather for a late dinner at a nearby Denny’s.

I arrive home after the Friday shoot and immediately start burning DVDs. I transfer about half the DVD data to my home computer from my production computer, so I can be burning double-barreled. For the next six hours, I burn DVDs, only dozing fitfully between burns, as well as prestriping all the remaining video tape. At 8am, Ryan comes in to find me doing this. “All done?” he asks. “Nope — two more DVDs to burn,” I reply. Another hour or two delay. He heads out to start prepping to shoot. The last burn (darn it — why is it always the last burns?) fails, killing another hour. Finally, I have video for all twelve of our monitor banks.

On my way to the set, I stop and buy two more TVs. Seems our monitor bank is short two units. Fortunately, we have sufficient DVD players, so after a quick stop at the store, I deliver a couple more TVs to the set and check things out. Holy smackaroo! The main refinery lab looks completely and 100% awesome. Every angle is an angle we can shoot, including the ceiling and the floors (where we don’t see cables). The set is dressed, stuff’s on tables and chairs and shelves and there are instruments and glassware and all sorts of marvelous and wonderful things. Katherine’s computer is ready to use, and is fully functional. Other computers in the room, too. And the monitor bank? Oh, the monitor bank is a thing of beauty. Our art department eventually decided that the shelves there were woefully inadequate, and they scavenged out some heavy-duty metal shelving from the facility that was exactly the right color. It took me a second to realize this — it was that good a match. The bank is a thing of beauty. Behind the wall is a support structure of labeled DVD players and remotes, everything organized like a crazy-ass clockwork monstrosity that works very nearly perfectly (one confounding factor — remote controls controlling other units). I wander the lab in awe.

After a bit more testing and fiddling with things, we start shooting around noon. We shoot and we shoot and we shoot. We have to basically cover eighteen pages of script in one day, so we knew going in that this would be late. Really late. Really, really late.

Around 4:30 am, our generators stop working. That takes about 45 minutes to troubleshoot, and then we literally spring back into life and continue shooting. Our actors are all getting rummy and they look absolutely beat, but for each scene, they jump right back in and we keep shooting as fast as we can burn video. Most of our crew is asleep, exhausted, in various rooms nearby. Somehow, calling out “Quiet on the set, please!” seems redundant — plus I don’t want to wake people up!

At 6am, we shoot the last scene of the day. The only thing remaining to shoot that requires our actors is the massively destructive scene tomorrow. We all race like bunnies to our respective cubbys to get some well-deserved rest. I’m just really glad I’m not coming home tonight to face another project that must be completed before we start shooting the next day!