In my previous entry I detailed the beginnings of how my short film “Primal” finally came into being despite the constant delays and location snafus. Now I will detail the filming process having not directed a production myself since my feature “House of Secrets” three years ago.
Originally, my director of photographer Rom McLellen and I planned on shooting the whole screenplay of “Primal” in only one day. The script is only eight (8) pages long and very feasible to film in one day due to the fact that it all takes place in a single house and has very little dialogue. It’s heavy on action and horror (as this is my first fully fledged horror film following several dramas and even an homage to silent films) and very fast paced which is why I asked McLellen to shoot the film. McLellen’s film “Bad Land” is a horror film shot completely during the daylight hours at very fast shutter speeds mimicking the look of “28 Days Later.” This is the look that I wanted with “Primal” which is why I asked McLellen to work on the film.
McLellen is very familiar with the horror genre as all his films are all within the genre. In addition to “Bad Land” he also directed the features “Jack O’Lantern” and most recently the Christmas themed horror film “And All Through the House” and the documentary feature “The Seekers: Investigating Southern Haunts” (a film about paranormal investigators).
Having just only flirted within the genre with my dramatic thriller “House of Secrets” I wanted to have a professional behind me when I decided to tackle my 100% horror film.
McLellen & I decided to split the filming of “Primal” into two days. The first day (September 4th) would focus on the Second Unit shooting which is everything outside the main location that does not concern my main actors Jennifer Mercurio & Ian Isaksson. In the scene being filmed actress Lynn McArthur is attacked by two infected men (played by Joshua Haire and McArthur’s own son Gabriel Parker).
The story of “Primal” (and I don’t want to give away too much for those willing to see the film) concerns a young woman Barbra (Mercurio) who wakes up to see her best friend (McArthur) killed by two infected men. When she screams to her husband (Isaksson) she is greeted with her own personal horror.
Despite the fact that McLellen and his camera assistant Eric F. Burton (serving on this film as Associate Producer and gaffer) spent several weeks doing camera tests with their new XL-HD1 and assorted new equipment prepping for their own new feature “All Hallow’s Evil,” this film would be the first film in which they truly got to test everything in a real film setting. McLellen was also acting as Second Unit director and had a lot of great ideas on how to achieve the “horror” aspects in the film.
The scene filmed has such an effect on Barbra that it drives her for the rest of the film therefore it needed to be extremely shocking of which McLellen was more than capable of doing.
The shoot ultimately lasted only about 4-6 hours (due to the special makeup appliances to Isaksson) and was among one of the shortest shoots on any of my films. The cast did an amazing job and were great sports especially McArthur who got a little more bloody than expected but she was game (having already died in McLellen’s films “Halloween: Return of the Sandman” & “The Man in the Lake” not to mention the big film Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” and her own short “Wide Awake”).
After filming was complete McLellen, Burton & I sat down and watched the dailies to the film and were amazed at the quality of footage from the XL-HD1 and it made us aware of the differences from shooting your standard mini-DV (24P) film verses HD. We became even more excited by the possibilities and ecstatic as how the final product would end up.
TO BE CONTINUED.