My Life as a Teenage Zombie ... or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being Undead
My day started with me waking up at 5am, after getting about 4 hours of sleep, to go catch a bus to Boulder to get there by 8am. I got to the bus with minutes to spare, and then played Metroid Prime Pinball on my DS the whole way; I ended up demolishing the default high score of 500,000 for a level with about 7.5 million points. Also along the trip to zombihood, I saw a huge rainbow in the sky, both ends.
I got there on time after getting off at the wrong stop and then walking in bad directions, and hung out with other people in the break room who were going to play workers and zombies. I start talking to other people because I figure anyone working on a zombie movie is someone I would probably want to know. Over the progress of the day I ended up talking to a lot of the crew and cast.
I was in the first shot of the day as a looming background zombie silloette. Then, I kinda chilled for a while and watched the people needed for the soonest shots to get dressed in zombie garb. It had been established early in the morning that I was going to get a rib cage prosthetic. Ended up talking a lot with the people chilling in the lounge / create-a-zombie room.
Got free lunch! Woooo!!!
Then chilled some more, and watched them filming some parts, and did some more networking/socializing. I was amazed at the work on the zombies, and did a lot of watching the transformations. It was like being in a behind-the-scenes extra feature on a DVD. Infact, I am very likely to actually be in the behind-the-scenes extra features for the DVD.
Finally, it was my turn to become the walking dead. It probably took about an hour to do all my make-up. Latex, airbrushing, prosthetics, fake congealed blood. I took step-by-step pictures with my camera phone, so expect those when I get my stuff from my uncle's house (the transfer cable is there). I was the only person getting body prosthetics (everyone else got face ones), so I was the only one who had to sit around half-naked for an hour. Not that I minded.
I got to hang out for a while in my zombie garb before I was actually doing anything with it. People were impressed with the job that was done on me. The exposed ribs were a crowd pleasure. Another guy with a missing eye prosthetic also got favorable attention. Socializing in a zombie outfit is fun. Though socializing in body make-up is not.
Finally, my big scene was up. And not just my big scene, but the movie's big scene. I was a zombie guard of the boss of the main characters, and I got to kill one of the main characters and survive. I got some close-ups, and some some good coverage of my awesome wound.
I stayed the day from start to finish ... over 12 hours. But, all I really did was hang around and watch them make a movie, and occassionally get to kill someone. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday. I caught a ride home with the guy who did the sound, so I ended up going with the crew out to have drinks afterwards. I got to talk a little with the crew who were busy actually making a movie, and they were all really cool people. I got everyone's contact info.
I so can't wait to see the finished movie. But, that's probably going to be a while. I also got to keep the prosthetic. I'm going to frame it, and hang it next to my picture of me with Bruce Campbell and my autographed sneak preview pass stub for Shaun of the Dead.
I got there on time after getting off at the wrong stop and then walking in bad directions, and hung out with other people in the break room who were going to play workers and zombies. I start talking to other people because I figure anyone working on a zombie movie is someone I would probably want to know. Over the progress of the day I ended up talking to a lot of the crew and cast.
I was in the first shot of the day as a looming background zombie silloette. Then, I kinda chilled for a while and watched the people needed for the soonest shots to get dressed in zombie garb. It had been established early in the morning that I was going to get a rib cage prosthetic. Ended up talking a lot with the people chilling in the lounge / create-a-zombie room.
Got free lunch! Woooo!!!
Then chilled some more, and watched them filming some parts, and did some more networking/socializing. I was amazed at the work on the zombies, and did a lot of watching the transformations. It was like being in a behind-the-scenes extra feature on a DVD. Infact, I am very likely to actually be in the behind-the-scenes extra features for the DVD.
Finally, it was my turn to become the walking dead. It probably took about an hour to do all my make-up. Latex, airbrushing, prosthetics, fake congealed blood. I took step-by-step pictures with my camera phone, so expect those when I get my stuff from my uncle's house (the transfer cable is there). I was the only person getting body prosthetics (everyone else got face ones), so I was the only one who had to sit around half-naked for an hour. Not that I minded.
I got to hang out for a while in my zombie garb before I was actually doing anything with it. People were impressed with the job that was done on me. The exposed ribs were a crowd pleasure. Another guy with a missing eye prosthetic also got favorable attention. Socializing in a zombie outfit is fun. Though socializing in body make-up is not.
Finally, my big scene was up. And not just my big scene, but the movie's big scene. I was a zombie guard of the boss of the main characters, and I got to kill one of the main characters and survive. I got some close-ups, and some some good coverage of my awesome wound.
I stayed the day from start to finish ... over 12 hours. But, all I really did was hang around and watch them make a movie, and occassionally get to kill someone. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday. I caught a ride home with the guy who did the sound, so I ended up going with the crew out to have drinks afterwards. I got to talk a little with the crew who were busy actually making a movie, and they were all really cool people. I got everyone's contact info.
I so can't wait to see the finished movie. But, that's probably going to be a while. I also got to keep the prosthetic. I'm going to frame it, and hang it next to my picture of me with Bruce Campbell and my autographed sneak preview pass stub for Shaun of the Dead.