"Smokin' Hot"

Since the blog is late for no good reason this week, I'm going to try and make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures of "smokin' hot," half-dressed women.

The pictures below are all from the "Strip Club scenes." You might find it ironic that a film dealing with feminism has scenes that take place in a strip club. My defense is that it's not stripping but burlesque dancing these ladies are doing. Closed-minded people might scoff at that but believe me my friends, there is a difference. In fact, I'm about as proud of these scenes as I am of any in the movie.

Besides, a little over a year ago, Arrow in the Head did a short piece on Women's Studies in which the author referred to our cast as "smokin' hot." During the shoot, the Lady Killers wore that label like a badge of honor. We even put the quote in our press kit it became such a motif. Now, I don't want to sound superficial, but he had a point. If Women's Studies offers nothing else, it easily has one of the most attractive casts of any independent film out there.

My co-producer, Cindy Marie Martin, doesn't like it when I boil the concept of Women's Studies down to "hot chicks with knives," but I don't mean it in any sexist way. This film is about sex and death, and both are presented in ways that are thoughtful and intelligent if that's what you're after. However, if you just want to look at pretty girls do ultra-violent things to dudes (and other ladies) with sharp objects, this movie will work for you too.

I guess that sounds kind of base, but in many ways isn't that the whole point of a horror film? To appeal to the baser instincts? Throughout a lot of this production, various people involved (myself included) have done a lot to try and convince themselves they're working on some socially important critique on extremism and modern society. On one level it is. It has to be, because I'm not sure it's in me to make somethng that doesn't work on multiple levels. That said, let's be honest: Many people probably aren't going to want to see this film on a purely intellectual level. So lets call it what on another level it is: Exploitation.

"There, I said it! I said the dreaded "E" word! Fuck art! Fuck meaning! Hot chicks with knives! What's Women's Studies about? It's a comic book movie about hot chicks with knives."

And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I've spent a great deal of time feeling ashamed of myself for making this movie. I've listened to people tell me about how I need to "be careful what I put out into the world." "You've got to be careful of offending this group or that group or this other group." Because I've heard these things, I've worked very hard to try and make sure people understand the film isn't anti-feminist, anti-woman, or anti-pagan. (Another irony, if the film is anything? It's anti-violence. Sure, it's from the Natural Born Killers school of anti-violence film, but that shouldn't matter. Should it?)

In the end though, it doesn't matter what I tell people because they're going to draw their own conclusions anyway.

You want to know the truth? The secret truth folks? If when this film is done, somebody comes up to me and says, "You're the dude who made that movie about the smokin' hot chicks with knives." As long as they're not pissed off with me, I'm just fine with that. Even if they are pissed off at me, there's probably not a whole lot I can do about it, so I guess I'm fine with that too.

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Fight Choreographer Shanna Beauchamp (Black Widow Waitress) and Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) take a rest between shots.




Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) strikes an "Oh! how did this happen?" pose.




Amber Connors (Black Widow Bartender/Dancer) looks on as Tara Garwood (Judith) works out her dance with Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer).




Director Lonnie Martin talks over an intimate scene with Taisha Cameron (Amy) and Kevin Finklestein (Keith).




"Lonnie, do these scratches make my box look fat?"




This picture pretty much sums up the Women's Studies experience for Co-Producers Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and Lonnie Martin.




Ryan Mulkay (Cop #1) really doesn't seem as concerned as he should about Amber Connors (Black Widow Bartender/Dancer) and the knife she's holding.




Shanna Beauchamp (Black Widow Waitress) is ready to @#$% you up!




"It's okay. You can trust me."




Ryan Mulkay (Cop #1) in a scene from Women's Studies.




Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and Tara Garwood (Judith) in a scene from Women's Studies.


And finally, four "smokin' hot" portraits or four "smokin' hot" ladies:


Stef Williams as the Black Widow Burlesque Dancer.




Amber Connors as the Black Widow Bartender/Dancer.




Cindy Marie Martin as Mary.




Tara Garwood as Judith.

Stasis

I always thought when I got to this stage of the Women's Studies game that I would just have tons to blog about. However, that doesn't really seem to be the case. There's very little to report or pontificate on, though there's a lot of important (yet dreadfully boring) work being done. In a weird way, it's like it was back in the earliest days of pre-production: all paper work, phone calls, and planning for things to come.

Part of the strange stasis is the holidays, I think. Don't get me wrong. I actually like the holidays, but it seems there's an awful lot of impending travel, parties, and events to attend. My calendar is filed with places I have to be, but it seems very few of them have to do with the movie. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it hard to get motivated sometimes. I do my best when I get my work engine cranked up for a long stretch. When every few days I have to stall and hitch and switch gears to something else, I feel like I have to get warmed up all over again. Right now, I'm simply trying to get as much of my life on auto-pilot as possible, simply so I can leave it behind for a few days.

Also, there's a lot of "catch-up" to do as far as the "business" side of show business is concerned. My co-producer, Cindy Marie Martin, has spent a goodly portion of the past few weeks paying invoices and trying to balance the books. (I want to help. Really I do. However, I've realized that the best way to help is to simply stay out of her way unless she asks otherwise.) That need to catch-up also reaches into our personal lives. Things like my environment, my pets, and my personal relationships have suffered a bit during the past few months of struggling to get everything shot. Taking the time to give those aspects attention has been important.

Another larger part of it is waiting for the first rough cut which is scheduled to be delivered in my hot little hands five days from the time of this writing. There's not much I can do until I can see the footage all slammed together as something that resembles a movie. It's going to be extremely exciting to see it for the first time, and I'm sure next week's blog with be filled with all my positive energy over what the movie can be. But right now, it's kind of like a long Christmas Eve. In the back of my head is the constant mantra of "Going to see the rough cut. Going to see the rough cut." It makes it kind of hard to focus on anything else.

And let's face it, part of it is pure simple "burn out." That's not to say I'm sick of Women's Studies, but after the past six months of near constant work, worry, and will, it's nice to have nothing immediate to worry about. Frankly, I need to recharge my batteries a little bit. Cindy and I will get a very long overdue vacation here in a few weeks where I plan to do just that.

Stasis is a nice change though. There's a feeling of accomplishment that's been nice to ride out. Hard roads are ahead, make no mistake, but that's for the future. For this brief moment, everything is as it should be.

P-A-R-T . . .Y? Because We're Done!

This past Saturday the cast and crew shot our sole reshoot for Women's Studies. Afterwards, we got a bunch of food and booze and proceeded to consume, imbibe, and release.

As of this writing, it's Tuesday and my hangover is just today gone. I don't know if that's telling as to how hard I threw down, or as to how much my body can't take the revelry it once took fine in my early twenties. If you know the answer, please don't tell me.

It was quite a shindig. Joey Cabrera made his famous "donkey punch" which I was smart enough to turn down. I had a Dominican cigar, which I smoked with aplomb though no one else seemed inclined to join me. We had a bonfire which burned through the night. Food was everywhere. At certain points, we watched rush edits, raw footage, and even some of the cast's original auditions. It was a fantastic party.

And hey, we earned it.

It was a fine group of people who came together to shoot Women's Studies. I'll miss them all terribly. Sure, we'll see each other again, and rather soon I imagine. However, as a lot of the cast noted on Saturday, it'll never be in this way, to do what we did. But oh, the memories we'll have. I have a feeling we'll all be hard pressed to forget the adventure of the past five months.

So, raise a glass. Here's to the past, present, and future of Women's Studies, to fair acquaintances who became good friends, to all we've done together, and to everything we still may yet do.

(Pictures from the party are below. I'm honestly frightened and confused by what's going on in most of them.)

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Joey Cabrera doesn't trust Tara Garwood's wild, "donkey punch" laden eyes.




Oh Iris! What would your dad think?




Forget partying. After five months of shooting, James A. Radack just wants to take a nap.




Director of Photography Aaron "Don't Call Me" Shirley and Composer Ryan Sayward Whittier share a "special" moment.




Dear God/dess, keep Tara away from the donkey punch!!!!




9:30? Tiffany James doesn't care what time it is. (Though note she drinks no donkey punch.)




I really have no idea what's going on in this picture.




Sound Guru Sean Russell and Mundy Spears are not as sober as they look.




Joey Cabrera achieves his lifelong dream: to be surrounded by hot women with his head in my crotch.




See? Cindy and Tara actually really like each other!




Nothing like a rousing game of "Vagina Ball" to clear out a party. (Laura Bloechl will show everyone at work this one.)



The Cast's Last Hurrah.

The Little Things

I gave Fangoria.com exclusive pics for their piece about wrapping Women's Studies because I'm a shameless brownnoser. Go see Tara Garwood's Judith get all gory and Kelley Slagle as Naughty Nazi Nurse Diane. Also featured are is a pic of Mundy Spears (Sharon) as well as a shot of Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and James A. Radack (Zack).

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Things have been all over the place with Women's Studies this week. In fact, I've had a hard time focusing because instead of having a few big issues to think about I have a whole lot of little ones. Little is a relative term that doesn't mean unimportant. In fact, one could argue that all the items on the current Women's Studies agenda are vital in setting the tone for the next few months.

A sampler:

--Editor Jim McGivney and I met this weekend and drank a lot a beer. While doing so we hashed out a two month plan for sculpting the Women's Studies footage into something that resembles a movie. Jim's first order of business is just getting the footage slapped together in approximately the right order. I've seen various scenes and while they look great, it's difficult to gauge how everything fits together as a story. Once that's done, Jim and I will attack the whole film for issues of pacing and rhythm, which I'll argue is one of the most important aspects of this film. Too fast and folks get confused. Too slow and they go to sleep. From there, the real work starts with us getting into specific scenes and sequences. I'll also be able to set dates for sound, music,and color to be able to work with the footage.

--We have a reshoot this weekend for a scene that had a few issues the first time around. "What? Reshoot?!? Disaster!" No, not really. Reshoots are a part of the process. Even the big boys do it once they start to see the big picture. Frankly, I'm delighted that there's only one scene that needs to be redone.

--Cindy and I are also trying to wrap up a lot of the unfinished paperwork from production. That means paying our bills and getting our books in order both financial and production-wise.

--Part of wrangling post-production is setting deadlines. Most of our deadlines will revolve around festival entry deadlines. I've spent some time looking at festivals and trying to find ones that would be a good fit for Women's Studies.

--I've also rested which has been well earned. This past week especially, I made a conscious effort to eat well, take timeout for myself,and get in bed early. I've also rediscovered the nap who was a wonderful friend I don't want to lose touch with again.

--Finally, I've tried to get reorganized on the blog again. I've got some some cool stuff planned, and I'm once again going to have the time to give it the love I want to. Stay tuned. While the next few months aren't going to be the breakneck, wild times we had during production, there's lots of excitement regarding Women's Studies. You don't want to miss it.

Wrapped!

Short & Late

I must be giving everyone the impression that the Zack blog is some sort of Magnum Opus the way it keeps getting delayed. The simple truth is that I haven't had the time this week to give it the care I feel it deserves. It'll be here eventually . . . just not this week.

Last night was Women's Studies Shoot Day #48. Despite some unforeseen set dressing delays, it was quite an enjoyable evening. We have two more days of shooting scheduled. Plus there's one reshoot, so I guess that's three days. So close to the end . . .

It's funny. I've always wanted to be a filmmaker. I've dreamed for years about making a movie. Now that I'm almost done shooting one, I just want to be a regular dude for a little while. I've spent the past couple weeks dreaming about nothing more than sitting by some water for a spell. No computer, no cell phone, no TV, maybe a book that I pick up in between naps.

I love my Lady Killers, make no mistake. They're funny, sexy, and always entertaining. However, they're also very high maintenance ladies. Distance lends perspective, they say. A little time off from each other is going to do us wonders when I finally get a break.

And after? Oh, the things we'll do together.

Almost to Post

There's no real Women's Studies blog this week. It's been a bit of a struggle for me to really enjoy the project recently. In fact, I actually wrote a very long, vitriolic, and venomous blog which I smartly deleted. It was, as they say in the military, "counter-productive."

Don't get me wrong. I'm still in it to win it. It's just that we started shooting this thing on May 29th. As of this writing, it's October 16. Last night was shoot day number 47. That's one more day than it took Hitchcock to shoot Psycho. Many members of the cast and crew feel a bit frustrated. Compared to Cindy and I, however, they really don't know the meaning of the word. I'm trying to stay positive. I'm sure the worst is now over.

We have three more days of shooting. Principle photography will be complete by Halloween though we do have one reshoot we need to schedule for early November.

About half of the film is edited as "rushes:" Quickly edited, very rough scenes that give me an idea of what footage we have and possible ways to throw it all together. Women's Studies is one of those films that really functions best as whole, so it's tough to get a sense of tone and rhythm from individual scenes but many of them look quite nice. Very soon I'll introduce you to our editor, Jim McGivney, who has been a bright spot and an anchor over the past couple of difficult weeks.

Look how sexy he is when he tells me he's basing his editing choices off old episodes of Barney & Friends:



Next week, I'll get into James A. Radack's Zack, who has the difficult role of being of the only male character in Women's Studies. After that, we'll start digging into the film's post process, which I'm really excited about.

Since I've been pretty cranky lately, I'll apologize to anybody who was on the receiving end of my bullshit. Cindy says all is fine, and if she's not worried, I'm not worried.

Blargh

I'm exhausted. I'm sick with Laura Bloechl's (Or was it Tara Garwood's?) Captain Trips/death flu. I still don't have any pictures. I'm not doing a blog this week.

If that's a problem, take it up with my friend below.

Changing Leaves

***Remember in last week's blog when I promised there would be pictures from the "strip club" shoots in this week's blog? Well, I'm a big fat liar. I forgot to get the pictures off Gaffer Jim Housell's camera which has since gone back to New Jersey with him. And you can't get mad at Jim because he tried (twice) to make me get him a flash drive so he could turn over the pics. So, no strip club pictures. You're just going to have wait for the movie to see just how ridiculously hot all those scantily clad ladies were. Alas and alack. Somehow, we're just all going to have to move on.***

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Autumn is my favorite time of year. The weather creates its own contradiction, cool enough to sleep with the windows open yet also have to throw an extra blanket on the bed to stay warm. Colors change and the world seems to slow down just a bit. It's a good time for reflection.

As of this writing, we've shot all but approximately eight pages of the Women's Studies script. Four of those eight pages will get knocked out this Sunday. Excepting one scene which may have to be reshot, Judith O'Dea (Hamlin), Melisa Breiner Sanders (Beth), Mundy Spears (Sharon), James A. Radack (Zack), and Kelley Slagle (Diane) have all been wrapped.

As the production cast and crew wind down and begin to move on, the post crew is just starting to ramp up. Jim McGivney has roughly half of the movie edited as "rush cuts." Sean Russell is organizing his sound clips and pre-planning the sound design. Ryan Sayward Whittier is waiting for me to call him back so he can try out some incidental music on me.

Me? I'm in this weird place were I'm still planning shoots, but pulling together schedules and attack plans for post. It's strange and almost sad not to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I tried to take this whole past weekend off and really didn't know what to do with myself. I spent most of Sunday going through footage and typing up shot lists so the post guys can organize their video and sound files. I thought a weekend away from the movie would be awesome, but it was just kind of depressing.

Melisa Breiner Sanders called me yesterday as she was waiting for a rehearsal to start, just to say "hi." We talked, caught up, told inside set jokes, and laughed. It was good. I got off the phone missing not only her, but the magic that comes with all of us on set and doing what we love. I knew that's why she had called. Not to check in on the movie, but just to feel a bit of that old on set magic. (That, and I'm totally friggin' hot and she needed to hear the sexy tambour of my voice to calm the itch in her loins. Yeah! No fake bitches here!)

In one of the older blogs, I equated filmmaking to a disease or an addiction, and it is, but not in the bad, sick way we think of diseases. It just fills you up,like a drug or food does. The people, the shared ideas, the laughter, the hardships, the difficult act of creating, of doing it together . . . All these things fill you up and as you slowly start to withdraw those elements, there's an empty space. It'll fill up with something else eventually. I know this. All things must pass.

But as the leaves change, they pass more slowly. Things are less busy. I have time on my hands to reflect and remember. In the autumn, letting go is somehow that much harder.

I Went to Bed Instead of Writing Yesterday's Blog.

Horrifyingly unacceptable, isn't it?

I was beat though. The Women's Studies cast, crew, and I shot all day yesterday and the day before. Due to the time constraints set by the location and actors' schedules, we had to work at a breakneck pace that kept me moving constantly. By the time I wound down with dinner and a couple of beers, exhaustion hit me like a freight train and I had to run some REM cycles.

I thought I'd make up for it for by posting a ton of pictures from the shoots, but "Ha!" The joke was on me. It turns out all the good pictures were taken on the camera owned by our Gaffer, Jim Housell. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get them from him. Therefore, you'll have to settle for the few pictures I managed to drum up from my personal camera.

I know, I know. Late Blog. Sub-par pictures. Somebody fire this guy.

Next week I'll post some of the good pictures. Plus I'll be able to report not only on this shoot, but the one we're doing tomorrow with Tara Garwood (Judith) and Cindy Marie Martin (Mary). It's a humdinger.

Until then . . .

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Mundy Spears (Sharon), Cindy Marie Martin (Mary), and Tara Garwood (Judith) out of costume at a friend's wedding. Yes, we have actual lives outside of this movie. Well, some of us do.




The camera department works with the steadicam. From L to R: Director of Photography Aaron Shirley, Camera Assistant Laurel Keller, Camera Operator Thomas Fant.




Tears for the dead.




"I went out the desert and I killed this guy." Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer) tells her tale.




Jack of all trades Joey Cabrera rummages through his make-up kit.




Fight Choreographer Shanna Beauchamp (Black Widow Waitress) exudes total hotness while a blurry Joey Cabrera throws gang signs in the background.




Josh Davidson (Revels) touches up a tattoo for Stef Williams (Black Widow Burlesque Dancer).




"All right, what have I told people about playing around with props? It's all fun and games until Josh takes a knife to the chest."

Backyard Movies

***SPOILER ALERT! MEGA, GIANT, HUGE, "OH MY GOD! HOW COULD THE BASTARDS GIVE THAT AWAY?" SPOILER ALERT****

(Seriously, a pretty big Women's Studies plot point is revealed in the pictures below, so if you're avoiding that sort of thing, don't read any further. I know. I know. the curiousity is killing you, and how could I put you in this position. You know something? Self-control. Try using some.)

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Back in the late seventies, many low-budget, indie horror films in the Women's Studies vein were referred to as "backyard movies." The definition is a film with no studio backing, made by a bunch of dedicated filmmakers with no promise of distribution, only a hope. The idea is that the films were "shot in somebody's backyard." (Stephen King credits mystery/film critic Chris Steinbrenner as coining the term, so I will too.)

Whether or not many of these films actually were shot in a backyard depends on the film. Rest assured, one shot of Women's Studies was indeed shot in my back yard. Well, side yard.

It's not entirely uncommon. Hell, even the big boys do it. Spielberg shot pick-ups for Jaws in a friend's backyard swimming pool.

Below are some pictures from what was an incredibly inventive and fun pick-up shoot featuring Kelley "Diane" Slagle.

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"What'd you put dirt in my hole for, boy?!?"




It's not a bomb. We swear. No really.




Get a piece of the rock.




You know what they say about girls who wear black bras, don't you? And have tattoos? And let happy Joeys paint blood all over them?




"Is she dead? Kick her! See if she's dead!"




Lick The Slagle. You'll totally trip balls.

Fall Preview

Oh god/dess, I'm going to have to start actually writing blogs again.

See, we've only got a few more shoots until principle photography on Women's Studies is wrapped. That means I can't be lazy and rely on having pictures be the meat of my blogs. I actually have to, you know, write and think and stuff.

So what will this fall season bring to the Women's Studies blog? In addition to regular production updates, I have a few things in the hopper, including:

--A character analysis on the character of Zack, Mary's boyfriend and the sole major male character of Women's Studies who was so wonderfully brought to life by James A. Radack.

--Interviews with the Women's Studies post-production team: editor Jim McGivney, music composer Ryan Sayward Whittier, and sound editor/mixer/deity Sean Russell.

--A retrospective chat with WS Art Director/Costumer Stephanie Petagno about the hell I put her through to create the visual look of the film.

--You'll also hear from the amazing Lady Killers and Interlopers of Ross-Prentiss about their experiences shooting the film and why they'll never work with me again.

All this and more. Stay tuned.

"Baby, You Can Drive My Car"

Another weekend, another Women's Studies shoot. We spent a lot of time in the car this past weekend . . . not driving, but filming.

Below are some pictures from those car shoots as well as a few from the weekend before where Ziggy, the babydoll from hell, came on set to creep everybody out.

Also, Fangoria Magazine released a short version of their Women's Studies set report. Look for the full article to appear in print in a future Fango issue.



Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) shows off her gaffer's tape "shoes."




Laura Bloechl (Iris) watches as Tiffany James (Melissa) shows us what a great mom she'd be.




Director Lonnie Martin and DP Aaron Shirley try to catch a quick catnap. The snuggle pictures will be used for blackmail later.




Lighting Assitant Joey Cabrera shows off his fantastic parenting skills.




The Lady Killers, from L to R: Laura Bloechl (Iris), Tara Garwood (Judith), Tiffany James (Melissa), Kelley Slagle (Diane)



Prepping the van for the car shoots.




Cindy Marie Martin (Mary) and Lighting Assistant Joey Cabrera work the light helicopter.




Taisha Cameron (Amy) smiles for the camera while Kevin Finkelstein (Keith) looks on.




Filming a car shot from Women's Studies.



"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."