Chartarum

Images: Behind the Scenes – Step Carefully

Chartarum — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:03:50 +0000

John Shaw (director, etc.) carefully makes his way through the bodies littering the ground during a (manufactured) foggy night shoot. (Photo: Mike Barskey)

Bodies (one of them belonging to Tegan Ballotti) and body parts littered the ground while John Shaw (director, etc.) filmed some of the carnage. Luckily, it was dry and not cold and the fog was fake.

Images: Behind the Scenes – Gadberry Brothers

Mel — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:46:07 +0000

From left: Richard Onley, Kurt Hildebrandt, Matt Ballotti, Jeanne Mosher, Fran Trovillion-Harris, Nathan Gadberry, Damion Gadberry (Photos: Dale Everett)

Nathan and Damion Gadberry, during the
make-up process.

Continuing with the family theme, please allow us to introduce the Gadberry brothers: Nathan and Damion. The boys were living across the street from the Luther property during filming. At least one person ended up at their house looking for the set, which is how they learned that a movie was shooting. When they learned that we still needed monsters (drones), they were excited to participate. They spent many hours on set and followed direction very well. We hope they had a lot of fun!

Images: Behind the Scenes – The Johnson Family

Mel — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:09:10 +0000

We had several family groups participating in the filming and production of Chartarum. One family (the Ballottis) came for most of the week of shooting, one pair of brothers (the Gadberrys) lived across the street and spent several days and nights with us, and a couple of families came out to have a family experience for one night and document it for posterity. We’re still not sure exactly how our call for extras ended up on a scrapbooking forum, but it brought us two families – one of them was the Johnson family: Deanna, Sydney and Kelvin. Even if the kids aren’t old enough to watch the movie for a few years, this will be an experience they will look back on for a long time. They can honestly say that they were in a monster movie!

Deanna and Sydney Johnson (Extras), mid-makeup application during the first night of shooting in Luther, MI. (Photo: Anne Lasker)

Kelvin Johnson (Extra) between takes. (Photo: Mel Shaw)

One more pic behind the cut:

Sydney Johnson (Extra) waits for the next round of makeup. (Photo: Mike Barskey)

Images: Behind the Scenes – Monster Blood

Mel — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:40:07 +0000

John Shaw (director, etc.) preps some of the drone extras (Dave Heid and Richard Onley) for the monster blood that Steve Smith is about to throw at them. (Photo: Mike Barskey)

Julie Hurford (Frances) helps Richard Onley (Ted) clean up some monster blood. (Photo: Dale Everett)

As someone who has been thoroughly soaked with the stuff, I can promise you that the gentlemen on the right (above pic) are real troopers. Monster blood is sticky and tough to get off: baby wipes are absolutely essential!

Later (right), Richard got an even more intense lesson along those lines (and some clean-up help from Julie), but that’s another story.

We went through a lot of monster blood!

The blood actually washes out of most fabric quite easily — it’s just sticky and gross.

Images: Behind the Scenes – on Location

Mel — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:48:35 +0000

Jason Osborne (producer, actor (Schumer)) and John Shaw (director, etc.) in downtown Luther, MI, discussing Jason's upcoming scene. (Photo: Roberto Warren)

Luther, MI is my second hometown, or at least it was when I was growing up. My paternal grandparents lived in Luther for most of my dad’s childhood until their deaths when I was a pre-teen. When I stayed with my grandparents, walking downtown was a special treat. “Beyond,” the property where we shot the bulk of Chartarum, is outside of town, so not within walking distance anymore.

On a gorgeous September morning, John, Jason, Roberto, Julie and I piled into cars to film a quick scene on location in downtown Luther.

The Trailers

Chartarum — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:26:48 +0000

The final trailer will be released in the near future. Some folks who attended Porc Fest in June, 2011 got a sneak peek, but it’s going be a while before the rest of us can see it. In the meantime, check out the previous trailers:

Trailer 2:

Trailer 1:

Cast shown in the videos –
Trailer 2: In order of appearance
Jason Osborne
Alex Greene
Kari Snyder
Russ Van Ness
Dale Everett
Mel Shaw
Dave Heid
Boner Joe
Mike Barskey
Julie Hurford
Roberto Warren

Trailer 1: Roughly in order of appearance
Tegan Ballotti
Wayne Ballotti
Jay Denonville
Dave Heid
Richard Onley
Szandor Blestman
Ryan Cagle
Damion Gadberry
Nathan Gadberry
Deanna Johnson
Kelvin Johnson
Sydney Johnson
Donna Kammers
Melissa Kammers
Wilson Lasker
Nancy Mettlach
Jeanne Mosher
Fran Trovillion-Harris
Mel Shaw
Dale Everett
Julie Hurford
Robert Warren
Jerry Martinez
Russ Van Ness
Kari Snyder

Chartarum on Google+

John — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:06:44 +0000

You can now add Chartarum to circles on Google+.

It’s not really set up for fan pages, but what the heck. We like it.

Images: Behind the Scenes – Victims

Chartarum — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:51:35 +0000

Tanner Osborne (seated) and Connor Osborne (prone) as Victims 2 and 1, respectively. Location: Defiance, OH (Photo: Mel Shaw)

John Shaw (director, etc.) applies a little more blood to Connor Osborne (Victim 1). Also pictured: Tanner Osborne (Victime 2). (Photo: Mel Shaw)

It’s not easy playing dead. Just ask Tanner and Connor Osborne, who played a couple of victims – apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time – in Chartarum. They had to remain very still, with sticky stage blood on their faces while a scene was shot in the foreground.

Video: Behind the Scenes – Makeup

Chartarum — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:02:30 +0000

In this video: John (director, etc.) applies some vein-y makeup to Jason (producer, actor (Schumer)). In the background, Russ Van Ness (Milton). On camera: Mel, who was capturing makeup stills and video for continuity purposes.

Someday, we’ll be able to talk about how committed Jason was to the portrayal of this character. There’s a hint in a previous post, but that’s all we can say right now.

Apologies for the delay in posting! Hopefully, we can get back to some kind of schedule soon.

Images: Behind the Scenes – Donna & Jennifer

Mel — Mon, 30 May 2011 10:17:10 +0000

Jennifer Worth (PA, Extra) and Donna Kammers (Extra) during day 1 clean-up. (Photo: Anne Lasker)

Prior to our first day of shooting, the barn had to be cleaned. Everyone chipped in and made short work of it all. Donna was the brave soul who tackled the bathroom. For that, she deserves a medal or something! Jennifer is a long-time friend who came up for the long weekend and just did whatever needed doing.