Well, the shoot begins in just 19 days. I'm going to buy a new microphone I'd been looking at and will get some extra cable and rig up a boom pole for it. Last night John asked if I could take the shooting schedule he put together and re-do it, rearranging scenes within each day in an efficient shooting order rather than just numerical order. I started last night and it's going to be a lot of work. The nice thing is that there may be a few days where some of the girls aren't needed for the entire day, perhaps making the time commitment less severe and therefore casting easier. I have a meeting tonight but afterwards am going to try and get through as much of it as I can. It would be great to be able to hand off a finished version to John tomorrow night when he is in town to meet some potential casting choices.
Platoon of the Dead Production Diary - October 12
15 Days Until the Shoot - John came to town on Tuesday night and we went to the Old World Deli. One guy, Johnathan, showed up who was interested in the role of Smith, which John gave him, but also said he would be up for playing EMS and zombies and helping PA as his schedule allowed. When we get closer to the shoot and John sends out the final schedule, Johnathan will better know his school schedule as well. We all chatted about horror movies for a bit and Johnathan is certainly our type of guy and excited as all get out to be involved. Everyone else who was scheduled to show up flaked on us! We waited almost an hour and we finally gave up. The next day he heard from the girl that at the last minute her boss wouldn't let her leave work and John had neglected to give her his cell phone number. He's planning on coming to town again this next Tuesday to meet with a few more people who are interested.
Last night I finally finished going through the shooting schedule and rearranging it for the most economical shoot in terms of minimum of set-ups and bunching the scenes with the female characters together as much as possible. The first result was a list of days and times that each female role is actually needed. I figured that if a prospective actress knew that she didn't have to be there 12 to 13 hours a day for 9 days straight as had been described, it might be easier to cast. There are two days that the female roles are not needed at all, and several where it's only noon to 5 or so. I sent the list to John and he added it to the MySpace page. I also e-mailed everyone I could think of last night in an attempt to help John. He was holding out hope that Erin Arbogast would be interested, but he just heard from her and she can't commit to it. Even Shannon e-mailed him today to say she couldn't do it.
John e-mailed the producer lamenting the fact that it was too bad that Ariana Albright couldn't be a part of it as John had once hoped. The producer told him that conveniently Ariana just quit a job so she might have time. Interesting...
I asked John last night if he had worked up an actual budget for movie and he said that he hadn't really as he needed to get out and price props and such. I asked specifically about food since I need to start planning as the shoot begins soon. He gave me a figure for food to start working with. Once I have the shooting schedule updated, I'll break it down as far as how many meals and how many people to feed at each meal. So much to do!
Platoon of the Dead Production Diary - October 15
We start shooting in 12 days! John told me last night that his work scheduled him for 8 days in a row leading up to the time he has off for the shoot. It's going to be rough on him trying to get everything ready!
The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD play I've been involved with is finally over - it was fun, but a real time drain. I worked yesterday on modifying the file John had sent over with his shooting schedule. Should be able to finish all of the rearranging tonight and send him a copy. He is also coming out Tuesday to meet with more potential cast members.
He did get the part of Jill cast with Michelle "Ame" Mahoney, and has another actress who is interested. John also has one guy interested in being a PA who has a bunch of experience from working on projects in L.A.
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