Well hello, random passers-by!

Here we are at installment number three, and so far I show no signs of slowing down or changing my gait.

*pant, huff, huff, pant*

Hang on, let me catch my breath… Okay! As promised, I’m changing this week’s segment of OotD up a bit. Nothing related to Spider-Man, no sir. This week, it’s zombies! You know, zombies? The living dead? Reanimated corpses come to devour your flesh and/or your brains?

Yeah… you know zombies. Otherwise, why would you even be here? You didn’t actually believe there would be punch and pie, did you?

So today I’m talking about zombies. And not just random zombies, mind you. Nope. This week I’m going to tell you a little tale about how I was a zombie for a day.

First, a little back story: A few years ago a friend of mine – we’ll call him Dan -and I went to our first Horrorfind horror convention in Baltimore. While we were there we watched this horror/comedy film made by an independent film company based out of Charlottesville, Virginia called Darkstone Entertainment. The film in question – Skeleton Key (no, not the one starring Kate Hudson).

Johnny Johnson of Darkstone Entertainment, minutes before his pants were slain by poisonous guppies.

I have to admit, my first reaction was “What the hell am I watching?” It was a low-budget, direct-to-video, horror film. It looked very amateurish. We sat there as we were bombarded with strange and insane imagery, and walked away thoroughly confused.

Then we found out that Johnny and his cohorts were there at the con in person. Dan was the first to approach and converse with Mr. Johnson. I followed suit, and over time began to realize just what mad geniuses these guys are. They are well aware of the kind of films they make, and make no apologies. The genius is that they have a great sense of humor about themselves, and it’s apparent in the films they make.

Over time, Dan and I have become acquaintances of Johnny and company. Every year we talk to them for awhile at their table during Horrorfind. Every year we talk bravado about how we definitely want to participate in some of their films. And every year we do the exact opposite.

Until this past Sunday.

It was Dan that made the initial jump. He’d been in contact with Johnny for awhile, much to my unawares. He had finally coordinated an opportunity to be a zombie in Darkstone Entertainment’s newest installment of the Skeleton Key series. And being the friend that he is, he brought me along for the ride…

First off, the obligatory disclaimer – I am not responsible for any blindness, madness, loss of mental facilities, or eye gouging that may occur upon viewing the pictures you are about to witness. That said, my humble apologies for what I’m about to subject you to.

One lesson to be learned when filming a movie of any sort – when the call sheet (that’s that neat piece of paper telling you what cast and crew are to report that day at what time and for how long) says you will be filming from 11 AM to 5 PM, that really means that make-up, prep and travel time will take 5 hours, while the actual filming will take all of 30 minutes. Better bring a book to read or whatever portable game system is fashionable this week. Or you could actually talk to the other poor folk who are suffering this with you. Insensitive jerk.

So there I was, knee-deep in local insurgents… oops. I mean Dan, our friend Megan, and I had arrived reasonably on time and rushed upstairs to the offices of Darkstone Entertainment.

And waited.

Even after getting shot several times, I still managed to snag that jerk’s camera.

The next several hours were spent quoting different facets of pop culture, picking the brain of the head honcho (see what I did there?), and each of us taking a turn going through the make-up process:

Mariah’s plan to fool Gargamel with giant Smurfs seemed like a foolproof plan…

The process was not quick. First, we each had to have all of our exposed areas airbrushed with a blue, water-soluble mixture. This took anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. This, of course, depended on how naked you were. Then we had to dry, which took a couple of minutes. The results left me feeling a little blue:

Using magic to turn up the thermostat when it’s freezing does not work. Even when angry.

After the first process was complete, we were then bombarded with black highlights to give us that spooooky, zombie look.

“Why blue,” you ask? You know, that’s a good question. I have no frelling clue. I never even bothered to ask. Yeah, I’m not very good at this. I do know that it’s the color Johnny Johnson uses for all three films, so there’s that.

And there’s this:

Blue Man Group, Wyoming chapter.

After make-up was complete, and the “guts” to be used for the day’s filming had been mixed together, we were on our way to the shooting location. It was a fun shoot. The clouds above were threatening to dump upon us, but they backed off when I threatened them with threats. Our scene was shot rather quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go home. And to wash off all that make-up that took hours to apply.

Overall, it was a fun experience. I look forward to this August, when the film premieres at the next Horrorfind convention. And I may even get another chance to get more screen time. The movie shoot runs through May, and I’ve been invited back to go through the whole experience again. I just might. I’ve been bitten by the “bug”, and now I’ve got the fever… or maybe that’s the infection.

Brains?

The Don just died in your arms tonight. Must have been something he ate.

Share This

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Donnie Sturges, events, movies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.