I stopped by and saw Marie after work last night - gave her a couple of my movies and one of John's so she could get the feel for the kind of stuff we make. She was jazzed about watching them right away. I also got a tour of the house with an eye towards the shoot. I was just trying to get a sense of where I could position myself for shots and what angles would look good, where I could plug in and place lights, etc. Their trap door leads to a crawlspace that is big enough for two people to hide in, so that will make that scene even creepier. The upstairs is one big room but I think I can shoot specific angles to make one area look like another room. The workshop is a separate building but very close to the house. Also they have a few large trees next to their house, which when framed right, will give the illusion that they are at the edge of a forest.
John called this morning to tell me he was almost done with the rewrite on the script. He said he is planning on us shooting additional rooms at other locations, pretending they are all in the same house.
Right now the plan is for me to meet John at the house after work next Thursday so he can check it out in person.
Platoon of the Dead Production Diary - September 14, 2007
John e-mailed me his revised script the other day and I finished going through it yesterday at lunch. Had a bunch of questions which I asked John about when we met at Marie's house last night. Flashbacks are zombie vs. soldier and feature characters from the movie, so not something we can shoot before or after the main shoot. We toured the house and agreed that we will have to cheat the two bedrooms and the garage somewhere else. We will either shoot the bathroom stuff elsewhere as well or John will rewrite the fight scene so it spills out into the entryway.
I commented that it will be great to have Tom Stedham here as his experience as a touring wrestler bodes well for fight choreography. John said we can probably use the garage and one bedroom at his place. We'll cheat "under the bed" and "in the crawlspace" somewhere else, too - perhaps on the floor of a garage with dim lighting and a tight frame. John loved the house and was actually digging the artwork quite a bit in person - he said he feared it would be distracting when he saw the photos of the house but now feels it will be an asset to the flick. He's even planning to move a few of the kitchen conversation scenes into the office to be able to shoot in there as it's filled with cool artwork and sculpture. Marie seems quite excited about having the movie shoot at her place. John kept warning her about the long hours, but she seemed unphased.
I suggested to John that he develop an effects list to give to Rob as soon as possible, even offering to do it myself this weekend. With Rob's schedule as busy as it is, it will do the production well to give him a lot of time to mull the effects list over in his head. As it is, we are only 6 weeks away from shooting. Lots of work remains to be done including additional location scouting, all the remaining casting (only one part is cast right now), finalizing the shooting schedule, working out the food budget/plan, buying or creating props and costumes and equipment, planning and building effects, storyboarding, etc. Wow! Anyhow, John said I didn't have to do the effects list, but I might if I have time on Saturday just to have it get to Rob that much sooner.
John is almost done with the MySpace page - he has the logo I did up there as well as a post listing the major parts and what each entails.
The producer is sending out his camera and other equipment for us to use, so I'm hoping it comes a week or two ahead of time so I have time to get the hang of it before we have to start shooting.
Platoon of the Dead Production Diary - September 17, 2007
I went through the script and made the list of effects and e-mailed it to John on Saturday. I'm hoping he goes through it and sends it on to Rob soon. We're just 40 days from the first day of shooting.
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