DVC 17 "Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Attack of the Zombies" at DVinfo.net

Clint Harmon · October 14th, 2009, 08:34 AM

Where to begin...

After I entered the contest (late I should mention), got some friends together and started brainstorming. That was my first mistake,, seeing that most of them are stoners and getting them motivated is extremely challenging. What was planned to take 1 week to film took nearly 3. Leaving me with less then 1 week to edit while still editing what needs to be edited for my daily work.

The premise to the movie is a few friends that are bored of life when the zombie apocalypse occurs. Instead of using traditional weapons they craft their own and kill off the zombies hillariously. Including the electric chainsaw, with the kicker that there was only one extension cord and to see the zombies the character had to unplug the chainsaw to see, then unplug the lamp to plug the chainsaw back in. I did not have time, acting talent, or camera to pull this off effectively and hope that everyone was able to pick up on what I was going for in one of the scenes in the trailer.

Of course what action trailer is not complete without a baysplosion?

I will be back to add more, but I must go back to editing.

Jesse Steele · October 14th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Thats the only explanation I have for us both doing Zombie movies! We watch to much TV Man!!!! hahaha :)

For a late project I really thought you pulled it together well. I loved the opening to the chainsaw gag! " Guys, I got a chainsaw...and a problem" that was great. I didn't get the light part of it until I read your description though? also the gal getting eating while she was posed in the standard bride a groomsman pose was funny. and the little kids was also classic.

Double shovels kick ass! I'll remeber that one on Z-Day

I think you already nailed what was wrong with the piece in your description so no need to repeat.

Good luck man,
Jesse

Lorinda Norton · October 14th, 2009, 07:13 PM

That was a good romp, Clint, complete with all the things guys love: chainsaws, fire, explosions, and more.

Sorry, even on subsequent viewings I didn’t catch that the chainsaw guy had to have either/or. But I laughed that you and I used the same gag. (If you haven’t seen my trailer yet you’ll see what I mean tomorrow.)

Speaking of that, this trailer is chock full of great sight gags, right up to the last shot! I have to say, though, that my favorite scene is one you might not expect—I get tickled every time it fades up and my eyes land on the dude concentrating so hard on the video game and saying his line. Maybe it wasn’t a stretch for him but his timing and delivery is perfect, and it gets the trailer off to a great start for me. I would like to see what else he can do in a role.

I appreciate your cast/crew trials and know them well (except for the stoner part). :) We always start out with the grandest of intentions and then the days slip by until I’m tearing out my hair. But they always come through...usually at the last possible moment!

Clint Harmon · October 14th, 2009, 07:44 PM

Sorry everyone for not spreading the time to have a better description earlier. I have many projects going simultaneously and although that is a good thing, it also takes away time from me doing more creative pursuits.

As for the cast, all the characters play themselves (even the zombies)... I used the term stoners loosely and hope I did not offend anyone.

After we found out what the challenge was, imediatly by brothers friends all chimed in saying they had this idea to make a zombie pineapple express movie. I was totally against this at first. But with time in short supply, I decided to go with it since they were obviously gun ho about the idea.

The prep work for this trailer took the largest amount of time. We storyboarded the idea, and cut out every drug reference for the trailer. Then I set the guys on assignment to build "homemade" weapons from commonly found items in the garage. The double sided shovel is where most of the ideas sprang from.

We had a shot in the trailer with 40 extras as zombies, and I purchased $160 of makeup to make zombies out of them. We ended up with a lot of extra makeup. As for the blood, we went to walmart, purchased corn syrup and food dye and our blood was born. Sticky... The best part is one of the stage hands "blooding up" the children. And the aftermath of the area where we applied the blood looked like a murder scene. I was expecting to come to my office the next day and find the police investigating, even though I informed them this time that I was shooting a zombie scene with 40+ people and not to show up and open fire.

The explosion...not after effects...that is all I can say

Trailer plays too much like a short story, but it is still very entertaining.

I also want to through a special thanks out to guy cochran for the audio kit for the winner of this contest. I know everyone out there could use a good audio boom kit.

Jeremy Doyle · October 14th, 2009, 09:39 PM

As with a lot of the trailers I've watched so far, there were a lot of cliche shots. You did a good job of making them your own. I really enjoyed the chase with the children. I can only imagine how much fun all those kids had getting all made up as zombies. I hope you took lots of still photos during the production.

It looked like a fun time was had by all. How on earth did you manage to get so many people involved?

Good job.

Julia Liu · October 14th, 2009, 11:05 PM

This was hilarous. I really liked the garage door opening shot and the shot of the little kid zombies. It made me laugh out loud. Also the explosion...so badass!! How'd you do it?
I like the title too- it prepped the audience for every single zombie movie ever made all in one. Also the opening shot is a great way to introduce the characters. Zombies in the driveway...every teenage boy's fantasy!
Nice work on this.

Clint Harmon · October 15th, 2009, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy Doyle

As with a lot of the trailers I've watched so far, there were a lot of cliche shots. You did a good job of making them your own. I really enjoyed the chase with the children. I can only imagine how much fun all those kids had getting all made up as zombies. I hope you took lots of still photos during the production.

It looked like a fun time was had by all. How on earth did you manage to get so many people involved?

Good job.

Before anyone watches this trailer, the title should inform the viewer that is an over the top movie. Cliche after cliche with the typical shots, typically being made fun of.

At night I coach gymnastics, and I mentioned this idea to some of the parents and they were all excited to participate. They got together with all the parents and made a day out of it. Also I went to a near by wing restaurant and made arrangements that anyone who showed up with my business card that day got 15% their food. Furthermore, Moe's gave me a bag of chips and a bag of salsa for everyone on set. Too bad I only got to use them for 2 shots in the trailer, even though I have many more shots of them. Lots of still and behind the scenes video was taken.

Clint Harmon · October 15th, 2009, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julia Liu

This was hilarous. I really liked the garage door opening shot and the shot of the little kid zombies. It made me laugh out loud. Also the explosion...so badass!! How'd you do it?
I like the title too- it prepped the audience for every single zombie movie ever made all in one. Also the opening shot is a great way to introduce the characters. Zombies in the driveway...every teenage boy's fantasy!
Nice work on this.

I have some friends that have interesting knowledge. Here is a boom we did for fun on the fourth of July in front of my house (the only house on the street)
YouTube - File Cabinet

Jay Kavi · October 15th, 2009, 11:10 PM

Clint, looks like you had a lot of fun making this. I don't have too much to add other than i didn't get the light reference, the little kid zombies where great, and you could probably cut it down a bit because it got repetitive.

Alan Emery · October 16th, 2009, 08:14 AM

Being new to fiction on films (my background is science documentaries), I had to look up the definition of a modern fiction trailer: 2 minutes 30 seconds max, 3 acts - #1 sets premise, #2 moves story forward dramatically, #3 wraps with dramatic scenes and music to recap and entice.

Crazy premise extremely well introduced in Act #1. Act #2 certainly added all kinds of fun gore. The final scene with the chain saw plug coming out was lots of fun, but somehow needed to be given something to make it more suspenseful or the end is a bit too predicted.

I imagine all zombie movies are hugely fun to make. This one certainly giave the impression that it was going to be gory enough for the most dedicated fans of zombies.

Robert Martens · October 16th, 2009, 08:42 AM

You can only use a light or a weapon at any given time ... methinks someone's played too much Doom 3. No flashlights and duct tape during the zombocalypse?

I didn't pick up on that lamp gag until you mentioned it, I think because the dialogue in that scene was a little hard to hear, and from our position it's hard to tell that he's got a lamp in his hands. Not to mention that the previous two scenes did feature people lighting something on fire, I thought he was just waving a torch around my first time through.

The "coming soon" at the end was beautiful, and the sound of the fire makes it even better. How did you get that green flame? Loved the explosion, but the sound didn't give too much of a punch to it, maybe if you had a mic in closer? Then again that might need too long a cable, and I suppose you'd risk debris damaging the thing.

This was a fun trailer, good work! As Jay says, it looks like you enjoyed yourselves. And if "baysplosion" means what I think it means, you'll get a kick out of this awesome Verizon FIOS commercial, if you haven't already.

Clint Harmon · October 17th, 2009, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Martens

You can only use a light or a weapon at any given time ... methinks someone's played too much Doom 3. No flashlights and duct tape during the zombocalypse?

I didn't pick up on that lamp gag until you mentioned it, I think because the dialogue in that scene was a little hard to hear, and from our position it's hard to tell that he's got a lamp in his hands. Not to mention that the previous two scenes did feature people lighting something on fire, I thought he was just waving a torch around my first time through.

The "coming soon" at the end was beautiful, and the sound of the fire makes it even better. How did you get that green flame? Loved the explosion, but the sound didn't give too much of a punch to it, maybe if you had a mic in closer? Then again that might need too long a cable, and I suppose you'd risk debris damaging the thing.

This was a fun trailer, good work! As Jay says, it looks like you enjoyed yourselves. And if "baysplosion" means what I think it means, you'll get a kick out of this awesome Verizon FIOS commercial, if you haven't already.

The light gag could have worked if I had more time...Actually I thought of this gag on new years when I had to take my electric chainsaw into the woods next to my house for more firewood for the bonfire. At the time I didnt have any extra power strips and only one extension cord. So I brought out a lamp, plugged it in, aimed the chainsaw, unplugged light, plugged in chainsaw, cut wood and luckly not any flesh. Seems out of character eh?...

As for most comments I have gotten, if I had been able to edit for more then 3 days or so the trailer would have been shorter and clearer. Next challenge will consist of 1 week filming and 3 weeks editing. haha

Green Flame= Cloth+Keroscene+Borac Acid The fire sound effect was from Digital Juice (camp fire)

We joked about baysplosion in the way you think. It is more precisely a reference to Robot Chicken in a spoof they did of Micheal Bay. I could have had the mic closer to the explosion but in all reality we didn't exactly know the blast radius, and since I use this equipment for my profession, I choose to play it safe.

Bruce Foreman · October 18th, 2009, 07:55 PM

Got more than a few chuckles out of what you did here, Clint.

Camera work was good, I think your crane work helped bring the viewer into the scene. Acting was very good and it looks like your crew really worked hard to support your ideas.

The "tongue in cheek" approach worked for me, I'm not much of a zombie flick guy but this one caught my interest.

Very well done.

Julia Liu · October 18th, 2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clint harmon

i have some friends that have interesting knowledge. Here is a boom we did for fun on the fourth of july in front of my house (the only house on the street)
youtube - file cabinet

sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Andris Krastins · October 20th, 2009, 03:36 AM

I enjoyed your trailer quite a lot (on of my dvc17 favourite) and it would be a blast to hopefully sometime see the whole film! Very funny and enjoyable.
I got the tongue-in-cheek references and the camera work was good too.

October 15th, 2009, 11:10 PM	#9
Jay Kavi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 243	Clint, looks like you had a lot of fun making this. I don't have too much to add other than i didn't get the light reference, the little kid zombies where great, and you could probably cut it down a bit because it got repetitive. __________________ www.vimeo.com/pegasuscompany www.youtube.com/pegasuscompany

October 14th, 2009, 08:34 AM	#1
Clint Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Port Charlotte, Florida Posts: 104	DVC 17 "Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Attack of the Zombies" Where to begin... After I entered the contest (late I should mention), got some friends together and started brainstorming. That was my first mistake,, seeing that most of them are stoners and getting them motivated is extremely challenging. What was planned to take 1 week to film took nearly 3. Leaving me with less then 1 week to edit while still editing what needs to be edited for my daily work. The premise to the movie is a few friends that are bored of life when the zombie apocalypse occurs. Instead of using traditional weapons they craft their own and kill off the zombies hillariously. Including the electric chainsaw, with the kicker that there was only one extension cord and to see the zombies the character had to unplug the chainsaw to see, then unplug the lamp to plug the chainsaw back in. I did not have time, acting talent, or camera to pull this off effectively and hope that everyone was able to pick up on what I was going for in one of the scenes in the trailer. Of course what action trailer is not complete without a baysplosion? I will be back to add more, but I must go back to editing. Last edited by Clint Harmon; October 14th, 2009 at 10:57 AM.

October 14th, 2009, 01:06 PM	#2
Jesse Steele Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Irvine CA Posts: 98	Pop culture! Thats the only explanation I have for us both doing Zombie movies! We watch to much TV Man!!!! hahaha :) For a late project I really thought you pulled it together well. I loved the opening to the chainsaw gag! " Guys, I got a chainsaw...and a problem" that was great. I didn't get the light part of it until I read your description though? also the gal getting eating while she was posed in the standard bride a groomsman pose was funny. and the little kids was also classic. Double shovels kick ass! I'll remeber that one on Z-Day I think you already nailed what was wrong with the piece in your description so no need to repeat. Good luck man, Jesse __________________ I like movies.....

October 14th, 2009, 07:13 PM	#3
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	That was a good romp, Clint, complete with all the things guys love: chainsaws, fire, explosions, and more. Sorry, even on subsequent viewings I didn’t catch that the chainsaw guy had to have either/or. But I laughed that you and I used the same gag. (If you haven’t seen my trailer yet you’ll see what I mean tomorrow.) Speaking of that, this trailer is chock full of great sight gags, right up to the last shot! I have to say, though, that my favorite scene is one you might not expect—I get tickled every time it fades up and my eyes land on the dude concentrating so hard on the video game and saying his line. Maybe it wasn’t a stretch for him but his timing and delivery is perfect, and it gets the trailer off to a great start for me. I would like to see what else he can do in a role. I appreciate your cast/crew trials and know them well (except for the stoner part). :) We always start out with the grandest of intentions and then the days slip by until I’m tearing out my hair. But they always come through...usually at the last possible moment! __________________ Lorinda

October 14th, 2009, 07:44 PM	#4
Clint Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Port Charlotte, Florida Posts: 104	Sorry everyone for not spreading the time to have a better description earlier. I have many projects going simultaneously and although that is a good thing, it also takes away time from me doing more creative pursuits. As for the cast, all the characters play themselves (even the zombies)... I used the term stoners loosely and hope I did not offend anyone. After we found out what the challenge was, imediatly by brothers friends all chimed in saying they had this idea to make a zombie pineapple express movie. I was totally against this at first. But with time in short supply, I decided to go with it since they were obviously gun ho about the idea. The prep work for this trailer took the largest amount of time. We storyboarded the idea, and cut out every drug reference for the trailer. Then I set the guys on assignment to build "homemade" weapons from commonly found items in the garage. The double sided shovel is where most of the ideas sprang from. We had a shot in the trailer with 40 extras as zombies, and I purchased $160 of makeup to make zombies out of them. We ended up with a lot of extra makeup. As for the blood, we went to walmart, purchased corn syrup and food dye and our blood was born. Sticky... The best part is one of the stage hands "blooding up" the children. And the aftermath of the area where we applied the blood looked like a murder scene. I was expecting to come to my office the next day and find the police investigating, even though I informed them this time that I was shooting a zombie scene with 40+ people and not to show up and open fire. The explosion...not after effects...that is all I can say Trailer plays too much like a short story, but it is still very entertaining. I also want to through a special thanks out to guy cochran for the audio kit for the winner of this contest. I know everyone out there could use a good audio boom kit.

October 14th, 2009, 09:39 PM	#5
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	As with a lot of the trailers I've watched so far, there were a lot of cliche shots. You did a good job of making them your own. I really enjoyed the chase with the children. I can only imagine how much fun all those kids had getting all made up as zombies. I hope you took lots of still photos during the production. It looked like a fun time was had by all. How on earth did you manage to get so many people involved? Good job.

October 14th, 2009, 11:05 PM	#6
Julia Liu Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Providence, Rhode Island Posts: 28	This was hilarous. I really liked the garage door opening shot and the shot of the little kid zombies. It made me laugh out loud. Also the explosion...so badass!! How'd you do it? I like the title too- it prepped the audience for every single zombie movie ever made all in one. Also the opening shot is a great way to introduce the characters. Zombies in the driveway...every teenage boy's fantasy! Nice work on this.

October 16th, 2009, 08:14 AM	#10
Alan Emery Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Janetville Ontario Canada Posts: 210	Being new to fiction on films (my background is science documentaries), I had to look up the definition of a modern fiction trailer: 2 minutes 30 seconds max, 3 acts - #1 sets premise, #2 moves story forward dramatically, #3 wraps with dramatic scenes and music to recap and entice. Crazy premise extremely well introduced in Act #1. Act #2 certainly added all kinds of fun gore. The final scene with the chain saw plug coming out was lots of fun, but somehow needed to be given something to make it more suspenseful or the end is a bit too predicted. I imagine all zombie movies are hugely fun to make. This one certainly giave the impression that it was going to be gory enough for the most dedicated fans of zombies.

October 16th, 2009, 08:42 AM	#11
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	You can only use a light or a weapon at any given time ... methinks someone's played too much Doom 3. No flashlights and duct tape during the zombocalypse? I didn't pick up on that lamp gag until you mentioned it, I think because the dialogue in that scene was a little hard to hear, and from our position it's hard to tell that he's got a lamp in his hands. Not to mention that the previous two scenes did feature people lighting something on fire, I thought he was just waving a torch around my first time through. The "coming soon" at the end was beautiful, and the sound of the fire makes it even better. How did you get that green flame? Loved the explosion, but the sound didn't give too much of a punch to it, maybe if you had a mic in closer? Then again that might need too long a cable, and I suppose you'd risk debris damaging the thing. This was a fun trailer, good work! As Jay says, it looks like you enjoyed yourselves. And if "baysplosion" means what I think it means, you'll get a kick out of this awesome Verizon FIOS commercial, if you haven't already.

October 18th, 2009, 07:55 PM	#13
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	Got more than a few chuckles out of what you did here, Clint. Camera work was good, I think your crane work helped bring the viewer into the scene. Acting was very good and it looks like your crew really worked hard to support your ideas. The "tongue in cheek" approach worked for me, I'm not much of a zombie flick guy but this one caught my interest. Very well done.

October 20th, 2009, 03:36 AM	#15
Andris Krastins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lielvārde, Latvia Posts: 326	I enjoyed your trailer quite a lot (on of my dvc17 favourite) and it would be a blast to hopefully sometime see the whole film! Very funny and enjoyable. I got the tongue-in-cheek references and the camera work was good too.