Posts from — June 2010

The saga that is Ninja Zombies continued this past weekend, and it was Michal’s birthday on Saturday, so sleep was sort of an afterthought for two days.

I was sure to take at least one photo of the calm before the storm…

Shortly after this photo was taken, the temperature dipped over 90 degrees, and more than 15 people were packed into an apartment with no ventilation and bright lights.

Despite the heat, it was still a total blast, especially since everyone maintained such an upbeat attitude for the entire weekend.

And now for some behind the scenes photos:

Kat is a make-up artist volunteering her time on set. She’s actually studying to be a special effects make-up artist, so she really knows her stuff. Let’s just say her fake wounds look so real that they’re too gross to post up on this blog.

Filming ran well past 9pm every night, but Michal and Noah got a lot accomplished this past weekend, including one scene where Noah had to direct and play a ninja zombie at the same time….

I’m really not quite sure how Michal’s body handles the abuse of being a DP. You have to constantly arrange your body in different ways to capture certain shots.

Mike and Derek are setting up cardboard so that fake blood doesn’t stain the walls, but yet there was still one tragic casualty….

Michal’s Adidas sneakers.

When the heat got to be a bit much, they would rehearse action sequences outside.

When shooting wrapped on Saturday, I surprised Michal with an ice cream cake from his favorite place–Ashley’s in New Haven.

By this time it was after 9pm, and no one had eaten dinner, so the cast and crew devoured the cake.

And in case you were wondering, the base of the cake is crumbled oreo cookies, topped with a layer of chocolate ice cream, which is then topped with a layer of Ashely’s infamous Oreo Ice Cream, which is then topped with frosting and M&Ms.

Yes, it tasted as amazing as it sounds.

The only other really exciting thing from this past weekend besides Ninja Zombies, Michal’s birthday, and lots and lots of ice cream, was the fact that I ran 8 miles and have zero knee pain to report.

Running is officially back on the table.

Today I woke up determined to conquer my final frontier of exercising–swimming!

….but that didn’t really happen, because I only made it 10 laps, and the last two laps didn’t really count, because my well formed breaststroke was more of an awkward doggy paddle.

I guess swimming will be a work in progress this summer, but until then it’s back to running….

This town was designed for runners, because the entire area is completely flat and there is always a cool breeze coming off the water. They also sell lobster rolls about every 100 feet, so whenever you decide to stop running, there is already amazing seafood waiting for you.

After my pathetic swim, I re-charged with a power nap, and then grabbed my camera and decided to go on a run along the beach.

I’ve done this route quite a few times over the years, but I’ve never taken pictures, so it was fun getting to document the scenic views.

You see, if I had stayed in the pool I would have missed out on all this.

I took the day off from work yesterday, so I could drive up to Maine to visit this pretty lady….

Alyx was my best girlfriend from college, and although she now lives in California, her boyfriends sister just so happened to be getting married in the same town my parents have a cottage in (fate will always bring us together).

The ride up to Maine was the only painful part, because I get really bored on long drives by myself, and when you pair that with little to no sleep (was up the night before helping with Ninja Zombie stuff), I have no attention span.

After hearing Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” four times on the radio, I ended up behind a Maine lobster truck which I found to be really funny, so I decided to take a picture.

Immediately after snapping this photo, the highway split, and I veered off the wrong way, giving me the pleasure of listening to my GPS scream “RECALCULATING” at me for the next 5 minutes. I guess that’s my punishment for taking a photo while driving.

An hour later I was really bored again, so I pulled up behind this car which offered me free reading material for the next three exits…

Is it illegal to take pictures while driving? It should be, because I definitely wasn’t paying attention to the lines on the road.

Once I finally arrived in Maine, I picked up Alyx, and we hung out at my parent’s place for the day. We mostly laid by the pool, ate some amazing food courtesy of the Pine Tree, and then gossiped about vampires…and on occasion we mentioned real people we care about.

Sadly, she had to get to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding, so we couldn’t hang out the entire day, but Michal and I are going to plan a vacation out to California to visit her sometime soon, so we won’t be parted for long!

I’ll be in Maine for the rest of the weekend, so expect lots of exciting pictures of trees. Joking aside, I’m pretty obsessed with this state. My parents have been taking me here every year since I was a kid, and now this place is like a second home to me, so sometimes when I talk about how happy this place makes me I can get downright emotional. Maine is THAT beautiful!  I’ll leave you with some pictures that I snapped last summer:

I can’t wait for this summer.

WOW! This past weekend was crazy. I have a new found respect for anyone in the film industry, because I definitely did not realize that it takes a full day of shooting to capture what will be just a few good minutes of film. Peter Jackson must secretly have super human strength, and only need 5 minutes of sleep a day.

Everyone worked so hard, and I know it’s rare to find yourself thinking Hallmark thoughts like, “my friends are an inspiration,” and, “you all make me want to be a better person,” but I was genuinely left in awe at the level of dedication I witnessed on and off the set this weekend.

Here are some fun photos from on the set (photos courtesy of Eli):

Above is some of the crew being out-shined by the awesome iPad that Meredith is holding, and below Noah directs some of the actors.

Michal is shooting the entire film on a Canon 7D, which is a Digital SLR camera. The quality of footage is beautiful, and I’m going to post a sneak peak that Michal made at the end of this entry.

The quality of the costumes were also quite impressive….

After a day of hard work it’s fun to be able to watch the footage…

And if you’re curious as to what the dailies look like, below is a video Michal posted on D-Prov Productions this morning. which gives you a sneak peak at some of the raw footage from this past weekend….

One last thing….if you live in the New Haven or Connecticut area and would like to somehow get involved or volunteer your time on set, email contact@d-prov.com.

Also, they are in desperate need of food donations to feed the cast and crew on weekends. Donating just one box of pasta would be welcomed with open arms!

The film currently has a budget of only $2,000, and not one person involved in the making of the film is getting paid, so any money you could donate to continue the production of this film would be greatly appreciated! Donations can be made here.

Tomorrow marks the first day of filming for NINJA ZOMBIES!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my boyfriend (and pretty much all of my New Haven friends) are shooting a zombie flick this summer, and I’m extremely excited to see it all unfold.

This film has been an incredible labor of love so far, especially since absolutely no one is getting paid.

From the actors, to costume designers, to camera men, to crew….everyone has willingly given up their weekends this summer so they can wear ninja face masks in 80 degree heat (now that’s dedication!).

And what’s my job in all of this? Well I don’t really have an official job, but since the cast and crew are so busy, I’ve taken it upon myself to document the “behind the scenes” mayhem and blog about it. What this really means is that I’m just the “your in the way” girl, or the “don’t touch that prop” girl.  Is anyone else drawn to touching breakable and expensive things?

Just look at this expensive Canon 7D camera that I can play with when no one is looking!

And what do we have here? A whole table of breakable goodies for me to get my hands on!

Everyone is working pretty tirelessly tonight to get things ready for the first day of filming tomorrow…

Eli and Meredith are heading up the art department, and they are in the process of putting the final touches on some of the ninja costumes.

Below Mike is preparing a few Korean dishes to serve the cast and crew tomorrow. He’s also an actor in the film AND the producer, so basically Mike won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

There is literally a person in every corner of the apartment doing something….

What’s great about an indie film is that you’re forced to get creative. Above Mike holds a device meant to be a foam water gun for kids in a pool, but with the help of a sharpie marker, it’s now a professional blood distribution unit for applying that extra bit of gore on the zombie actors.

You know a film is going to be good when the director rocks a Ninja Turtles t-shirt while holding a sai!

The above photo is actually the last Michal sighting I had. I think he’s somewhere at Home Depot right now constructing stabilizer rigs for his camera out of bike racks and other miscellaneous parts, but the last I heard he was at Toys R’ Us trying to construct a moving dolly? If you see him, please remind him that he should construct his inventions after he pays for the raw materials, and that we miss him, and he should come home.