A late but great entry into the ZU fold is Steve Dolton. A fellow Shooting People member, Steve has numerous theatre credits and shorts to his name. We’ve got a juicy part for him which is dialogue and emotion rich – something for him to play with. And from seeing his showreel I know he’s going to add something special to the project. Bring it on.

Another great day – this time squashed into Firebug Bar basement. Lots of hot and sweaty bodies squeezing together. Nice.

The day went very well and we shot an amazing 7 pages worth. The actors really nailed it and shot off 5 pages of dialog with aplomb. As usual as the day progressed we had to squeeze more in and drop some shots but we got the coverage and all was well.

Paul Ewen got his long awaited day of ZU. A great guy he just turned up and did his cool zombie thing. And on that note – some nice SFX from Gavatron. Splattered the roof and my good self – well i’d survived a year of filming with no blood on me…

Finally heres a picture of the sound guys. The often ignored and maligned department ; Farid and Carl. Even if Carl sneaked off for a quick snooze around lunchtime. Allegedly.n>

3 days left. THREE DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!

Male, 40-60 years old actor required for role of farmer. The feature length ZU is coming to the end of its shoot. Actor required from 8.30 till 5.30 on 18th April near Ratby, Leicestershire. The film is non-funded so payment is not available, but will give the actor a feature credit. Hence ideally we would prefer a local actor. Please respond to info@zombieundead.com.

7th and 8th of February saw a weekend of filming – are here’s the belated writeup.>

I have to say, tiring as it is, how much more you can get done in a weekend. Consecutive days filming keep everyone in the mood and helps actors stay in the zone. Also the sense of comradery increases which helps on the set vibe. I was a tad nervous before the shoot as snow was forecast. With crew coming from Cambridge and snow would have made the shoot a no no. After putting in a serious amount of planning for every day thats the last thing i want.

Day 13 had three scenes. We needed to nail these as it was Rod’s last day and i didn’t want to inconvenience him get him back the next day just for a few hours. The first was a walk down stairs for the main cast – Rod, Chris, Kris, Ruth, Sandra and Barry. Fot a simple sequence of shots this took far too long. Will we ever learn to pace things out rather than going slow and rushing at the end?>

Next was when one of the charcters gets bitten. Myself and Gav had worked on this one before, shots, angles etc. Unfortunately as we had taken spo long on the first scene we were rather rushed on this one. As i said Rod’s departure was imminent and i think this played on my mind. Just about got away with it though, ionically with too many shots while looking back we should have stuck with our planned angles. This is a by product of directing/producing and AD’ing myself. I have no room to manourver – always planning who i have to chase up for the next shot before the current one is even done.

Last scene for the day was the characters holed up in an office. We seem to have used every room in DMU that was usable and ended up in a wide corridor type space. Initially the plan was to have the zombies banging on the doors throughout. However as the doors had windows this seemed to make little sense – the characters sitting around talking while zombies stared at them. I pushed the zombies back so they arrived later in the scene. This gave the scene more room to breath as the dialogue and not the zombies were the focus.

Day 14 – and we’re back in the small room. Lots of zombies in this one and an action scene to boot. See above picture for my good friend Martyn Quinn as one of the zombies. Some great performances from all – zombies and humans alike – made this scene a winner. Time flew by and we needed to lose a corridor scene and move on to yet another toilet. Mike Cimpher came all the way for London for this so we really needed to shoot this today. The toilet ended up covered in blood and my nerves were shredded at the fear of it not washing off.

The last two shooting days have seen the final scenes for both Rod Duncan and Sandra Wildebore ( alias Frank and Mary ). Both gave up their free time for the project and invested energy and enthusiasm into the film as well as considerable talent. Many thanks from myself and all behind the ZU project.

By the way you have to check out Rod’s novels and his informative blog which centers on the craft of writing.

Heads up to all of you making movies and looking for an inspirational figure. Check out Chris Jones’ blog on the making of his short Gone Fishing from proclamation ‘I’m gonna make an oscar nominated short!’ to its run round the world festivals. Many of you may know Chris from the seminal Guerilla’s Guide books and their associated courses. A while back he shouted loud that he was going to make an Oscar nominated short film. You know what – to all intents and purposes he damn well did. Ten shorts made the Oscar shortlist with Gone Fishing amongst them. It didnt make the final 5 through to competition but hell – what an achievement. Chris has achieved an awesome task and is an awesome dude. I for one cant wait to see what he comes up with next – a zombie flick perhaps?

Just had to cancel Day 15 due to an injury to a cast member – not on set i hasten to add. These kind of things are unavoidable and part of the game. It just got me thinking though – guerrilla film making is a serious test of persistence. No/Low budget film making tests your will power – have you the passion and the belief to continue what may? We’ve been shooting Zombie Undead for over a year now, a day here and there to fit peoples commitments. Is a serious demand on cast and crews time and a testament to their dedication. As Suzanne Alizart from Em-Media put it to me, paraphrasing Thomas Edison, film making is 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration.

Also its worth quoting Eliot Grove from Raindance who postulated in lo-to-no budget filmmaking that “a clear positive mental attitude .. and passion” were key requirements. Amen to that. With 3-4 days left to shoot we’re getting close, damn close. We’re gonna make it people.

On the eve of Day 13 I’m just waiting for the morning to see whether its snowing. All shots are indoors but have cast and crew coming from Cambridge and London. We’ve had the worst snow in 20 years here in Blighty and while other countries shake it off Britain comes to a standstill. If trains are off and grit doesn’t reach Cambridge villages then its going to be an early rise for nothing, and a lot of ringing round. The most frustrating thing is the amount of planning just one shooting day takes – postponement is damn hard to take. Fingers crossed for sun, sun, sun.

Here we go. Got a whole weekend booked for te 7th and 8th of February. Still at DMU and after this we have probably 2 days left at the University. Then we need a basement and for the final day we’re out in the open air. Hurrah!

This weekends shoot sees the end of several characters and a mass zombie scene. We’re getting there folks, we’re getting there.

I’m flying now, taking off on the editing suite. Started yesterday to edit circular tracking shots around six actors. This was my Reservoir Dogs diner moment. Man its tricky to edit but when it comes together, as it is now, its awesome. Just love the pace and urgency of the scene as the group decide who will stay and who will leave. I’m loving this, just loving it! Chew? Toby Chew? Charlie fucking Chan.