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We had great weather for the shoot. It was very sunny and warm. We works very long days in the sun, and I got quite the sunburn. In the 4 days surrounding the shoot, I got about a total of 9 hours of sleep. But even with my massive lack of sleep, we finished up the trailer on schedule and looking great. My job on the film as 1st Assistant Director started in preproduction breaking down the script and scheduling the shoot. I then had to put together call sheets for each day of the production and notify the actors/crew of their call times. On set, I organized the logistics of the shoot and directed the crew to keep us on schedule and make sure we fit in everything that needed to be shot. The shoot went well all three days. We shot at a ranch in Malibu.
Since this was a smaller shoot and we did not have a designated props person, somehow in preproduction I was given the task of trying to track down and find a realistic looking stuffed rabbit to use in the production. What I thought was going to be a simple little task turned into a 2 day scavenger hunt that would lead me driving all over Hollywood and calling dozens of magic shops, toy stores, zoos, and anywhere else I could think of that would sell stuffed rabbits. Finally I tracked down a puppet that was perfect for the role of being a zombie victim and we rigged him up with special effects to be eaten. Poor little bugger. Of course I neglected to inform him of his exact role in the movie when I bought him. ;)
The shoot was written and produced by the wonderful Will Wallace as well as by Magic Bullet Media. With over a dozen films produced under his belt, years as a Hollywood acting coach, and an accomplished actor himself, it was great to work with him again. This is my 2nd film working with Will. The first of which being the film "Clear Lake, WI"which I shot with him in Wisconsin a few years back. The shoot was directed by George Bennett. This was my first time shooting with George and it was a great experience. He is very laid back and has a great eye for detail.
Our Director of Photography for the shoot was Nathan Haugaard. I had met Nathan previously on Facebook and had wanted to work with him for a while so it was nice for us to finally get the chance. I would definitely recommend Nathan to anybody looking for a capable DP. Hedirected our three camera shoot with ease. Without him, the day definitely would not have gone so smoothly. I look forward toworking on many more projects to come with Nathan. Our steadycam operator on the shoot was the smooth Jerry Franck. He walked on set with his rig ready for action and thats what he got. We definitely used the steadycam as much as possible and he kept up with us in stride. His rig was top of the line, I suggest checking out his website at http://www.jerryfranck.com. Our makeup artist on the shoot was Mary Donovan. She diid all of our Special effects makeup on our zombies and it's creepy how good of work she did. Due to the large number of actors needing makeup she was the first person on set every morning, often arriving 2 hours before the rest of the crew, and usually one of the last to leave. She was extremely fast at her job and flexible. I have recommended her for a number of jobs since the shoot.
Day 1 was a Zombi pool party which was a lot of fun. We had a lot of actors on set and a lot of action going on. I think the only people who had more fun than us was the dogs from the location who found it fun to constantly run through our shots and chase around our steadycam operator during takes.
Day 2 was a shorter day. But still a lot of fun. I got the opportunity to hire my cousin Scott Cordts as one of the actors and he loved it. He has been pursuing acting for a few years now and he excelled at being one of our zombies. He even got a stunt credit in the process.
Day 3 we arrived on set to discover that there was a Caterpiller arriving on site to dig a new fountain for the pool. No sooner did we arrive on site when the machinery roared to life and made it impossible for us to shoot where we had previously planned. Gladly the location was rather large, and we were able to walk a few acres back out of audio range of the machinery and discovered a location even better than we had previously planned on. We shot out the day and wrapped the shoot.
All in all the shoot was a lot of fun. We had an amazing crew and a lot of great actors. I look forward to hopefully shooting the feature soon.
SET STILLS FROM THE SHOOT
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