Having experienced such a positive reaction from everyone with our first Gorelesque film and show, we were excited at the idea of churning out a second film to celebrate our encore show for 2010. After a short break from the first show production madness, we entered into planning for the second film with just over a month before deadline.
We liked the idea of following the first film with a sequel of sorts. Our first flick showed our heroines as zombie-slaying bad ass killers. The idea of putting them in a more desperate, apocalyptic situation was a complicated but logical progression. Using the resources available, the script was written around a small bar in the heart of Melbourne. With permission to use the venue after hours, and a limited time to have all cast members available, the shoot was planned over one weekend (with a tight shooting schedule to boot!).
DAY ONE (The madness begins...)
This is our camera & lighting assistant Joel. Usually not as stoic, but test shots are serious business. He was invaluable!
All of our cast members were incredibly easy to work with. It's no small feat being sent a script mere days before a shoot, and then being expected to rock a scene in the space of an hour or two, sans rehearsal. We'd set up lighting & set, block the scene with our actresses, rehearse necessary lines, and then run with it!
We sourced several pairs of contact lenses for the zombie scenes, and used them on key actors and extras. I learnt quickly on set that we were in for some trouble, as no one knew how to insert contact lenses properly. Several eyeballs were destroyed in the making of this film.
I knew I could count on Betty Blood to play our feature zombie. One of our favourite and most committed Gorelesque performers to date! She was more than happy to cover herself in copious amounts of blood and rock around on the (albeit unsturdy) operating table. To keep the shots looking fresh, we had to consistently add more blood... it's a weird experience spoon-feeding someone blood!
Rosy Rabbit played our resident mad scientist beautifully, adding her own personality and a real B-grade scream queen typicality. The part was originally written for Foxtrot India (her act in the show involves a crazy Marie Curie role), but due to other commitments, she couldn't be involved. However, I knew as soon as Rosy started screaming that we'd found the true owner of the role!
Every time we took a shot again, Rosy would regroup all the props on her set. This involved adding the original colour of food colouring to each test tube - I really enjoyed watching her do this, it was a science unto itself.
Here's a quick flash of me working on set. I was quite proud of the set dressing. Candles, chemicals, beakers, test tubes, gas cylinders... you name it, I sourced it! (And, it's amazing the random stuff you'll find floating around in an old pub. Like a ram's skull!).
Asher Treleaven having a small moment of reflection, realising what he's just been talked into doing.
This was one of the funniest things I have ever been involved in making happen, ever. It really doesn't take much to convince two people to get into bed together and have a camera at the end of the room capturing what ensues. Gypsy Wood and Asher have an amazing energy when they work together. I couldn't stop laughing, both on and off camera. We were honoured to have them involved.
And once you add a third person in the bed mix, shit just gets crazy. Betty was a real trooper. She was smacked around, suffocated with sheets, told to bite other people and looked real good doing it all.
And so, several hours of filming later, and after all our actors had left for the day, the upstairs bathroom and bedroom looked like the scenes of a mass murder. But all for the cause of Gorelesque!
STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO: THE ZOMBIE CHRONICLES!
