With less than two weeks before showtime, the Gorelesque crew set themselves the very ambitious task of shooting a short film to open the night. The concept had been stewing in my mind for a while. Gorelesque had spawned from a love of horror films, and I originally wanted the show to have a film-like structure of its own. Opening credits, introducing our heroines and murderesses, then the body of the show, and concluding with end credits and potentially a bloopers reel.
The final concept was quite simple: the zombie apocalypse had struck Melbourne, and the Gorelesque performance team were banding together to defeat the undead menace. Who doesn't love bad ass babes kicking collective zombie ass? The second part involved Tease-a-rama-like show footage weaved through the flick. I also had planned to screen this other footage on the red curtain during show intervals. I liked the idea of always having something to look at at a Gorelesque show!
I conferred with a close friend and filmic mastermind, Nick Turner. He promised we could do it in the tight time frame we had left. We spent a couple weeks hunting down the perfect street location. I had envisioned something in the heart of Melbourne, but we needed to be away from prying eyes, traffic, and any signs of life after the supposed apocalypse, really. A friend suggested the backstreets of Abbotsford, and we found the perfect street tucked away between the old Carlton breweries and the river. It was going to be a guerilla mission.
Brutally early on a Sunday morning, performers and all the zombie extras we could bribe turned up at a previously disclosed public location to get ready for the shooting day. It was raining and quite miserable, and I hardly expected anybody to turn up. But we had some truly dedicated zombies show!
L-R: Rosy, Miss Nic, Lori, Carl
All the performers had been asked to bring a unique type of 'weapon' that they might use to fight zombies with, in the event of, well, zombies. Rosy Rabbit brought an umbrella, Foxtrot India had a shovel, Miss Nic chose a shoe, and my personal favourite, Tank smashed it out with a rubber chicken.
L-R: Betty, Anton, Rosy, Natalia
I explained the premise of the film to everyone, and we rehearsed several times. Several zombies were harmed in the making of this film. I personally hit a couple of extras with my baseball bat. Totally accidental, I swear.
Although the sun finally came out, our poor zombies still froze their butts off! We did take after take, with the extras copping hits from overzealous weapon wielders and having to fall and remain in puddles!
Aaron
L-R: Vesper directing people in the alcove, Miss Nic, Rod
Miss Nic
Foxtrot & Tank
Vesper
Alex (Zombies love beer too.)
Then things got a bit silly.
Alex & Patrick (who was our film assistant, the wheelchair was used as a dolly)
Alex, again. Being a zombie extra was a dream come true for her. I'm not even kidding.
Alex & Ash
Vesper and Pete's car... Thanks Pete!
Gorelesque partners-in-zombie hunting, Vesper & Miss Nic
We shot the remaining footage at Red Bennies, before wrapping up for the day. Nick had the film ready for viewing within 3 days of shooting. The man is an editing whiz!
The final cut can be found here:
- Vesper
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