Author Archive
Buffalo Blood
Despite the title of this post, no buffaloes will be harmed!
However there will be blood in Buffalo, New York this week as I head north to shoot a new video in residence at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Red Rum, filmed on location in Buffalo, features local young actors, musicians, and homes.
Stay tuned…
-Jillian
Stop Motion Editing
In case you thought I had long forgotten about Tempe and the desert, think again! Today I am furiously (actually, rather calmly) editing a stop motion animation shot on location at a private swimming pool, filmed with the help of three fabulous ASU graduate students – Alison Sweet, Cory Weeks, and Julie Ganas, and the uber-talented John Spiak. There are neither zombies nor vampires in this video, and no cacti were harmed.
Production still above.
-Jillian
Recording Studio
In the second week of November, Adam Murray and I transformed my apartment at ASU into a temporary recording studio.
Mattresses formed a sound booth (above) while the bed held instruments (below). We screamed, hissed, moaned, and played auto harp and guitar here. Plus the aforementioned celery snarfing.
We set up a nice little work station (above) while the rest of the room was a mess (below).
Sometimes we played nice (above), sometimes we argued over my “illegible” notes (below), and sometimes technology was not our friend (way below).
-Jillian
Zombies vs Vampires – tonight!
Opening tonight at ASU Art Museum! Join us!
Show runs through January 9th, 2010.
Zombies vs Vampires is a video installation featuring two videos projected on opposite walls where zombies and vampires stage a dramatic Western-style showdown at dawn in the desert, amidst photographic murals that wrap the gallery in local desert imagery: cacti, mountain, rugged terrain, contemporary ghost towns, and graveyards. This work was created with a wonderful cast of locals in Tempe, Arizona, including 50 actors, 4 videographers, 1 photographer, 10 make-up artists, and 1 sound designer.
Very special thanks to Bluemedia for their generous in-kind printing of a 100-foot wide photo mural.
~photos by Stephen Gittins
-Jillian
Cacti, Celery, Oranges, oh my!
Today I shot a stop motion animation with the help of John Spiak, Alison Sweet, Cory Weeks, and Julie Ganas at a swimming pool in Phoenix. Apparently I was killed by a band of vengeful potted cacti, my body dumped in the ice cold pool.
Luckily I was reincarnated in time to record and edit the audio track for the zombies in Zombies vs Vampires with Adam Murray. It’s 1:30am, we’re still at it.
Below we are recording sounds for zombies munching on limbs (celery and tapioca), and vampires sucking blood (orange). Adam made a temporary sound recording booth in my apartment using the mattress – which is fine since sleep is a distant memory:
-Jillian
Vampires Faceoff
Here is a taste of the vampires spotted last night in the Tempe area – be careful out there, they’re mean!
-Jillian
Zombies Have More Fun
Prom zombie Tara Logsdon leads the zombies in a move from Thriller.
How can you not love them?
-Jillian
Zombies vs Vampires: BRAVO to Everyone!
Fun shots of vampires and zombies getting me – staged before heading out for taping in the desert this weekend, photos by Steve Gittins.
Make-up artists, videographers, photographer, and actors were in top form this weekend when we filmed Zombies vs Vampires in Tempe’s Papago Park.
Both shoots went super well – with warm weather, clear skies, an almost full moon, and no police, though a few hiker families watched the zombies in action this evening from the sidelines. One park ranger came by and thought we were a church group (!?) or a band, but he liked it so John Spiak invited him to the Nov 10th opening!
Now the editing begins!
-Jillian
Don’t Mess with the Monsters
We begin taping Zombies vs Vampires in two days and everyone is honing their skills.
Ed turns Aron (above – note Ed’s latex mummy mask work in the background) and Angie transforms Fatima (below) into ghouls.
Zombie Aron:
Zombie Fatima:
Wendy prepares a zombie pyjama (above) as I mold Roxy’s vampire fangs (below).
Rehearsing vampires move in for a closer look.
Vampires (above) and Zombies (below) face off in rehearsal.
Another emergency location-scouting trip, as the sweet desert sun slides away.
-Jillian
ASU Art Museum 