Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera

We are happy to announce that Iron City is now the official beer sponsor of Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera!!!

Thanks to Iron City’s support of our show we were able to film our “End of the World Party” video elements this weekend featuring their product.  Many thanks to those who participated this past Sunday to help us create an authentic ‘party’ atmosphere!

The latest Directors Blog, by Barry Bogovich, is now up!

Production Day #3: ““Zombie Opera” Goes Cinematic

This Sunday we tackled some interior video elements, starting with Izzie’s house (one of the female leads) as she searches for her missing family.  Check out Barry’s posting for more details on the film style, makeup and costume design.  Tonight we return to the same location to film the second half of the scene. Stay tuned!

The latest “Barry In Motion” blog from our Director of Video Production takes a peek at our latest projection tests for the upcoming show in October:

Pushing the Line Between 2D and Real
“our magical formula for creating a fictional world behind real live actors”

Great Job to everyone involved in the Oakland video shoot this Saturday! We managed to get two days worth of filming done in one day, thanks to our dedicated actors, numerous enthusiastic extras, fight choreographers, and camera crew.

For a look behind-the-scenes, as well as some photos from the shoot, check out Video Director Barry Bogovich’s latest blog entry:
Production Day #2: “The Zombie Opera” Invades Oakland!

This was our first production day involving more than two extras at one time (thank you again Ashley and Bill for jumping in for the Newscaster shoot last weekend) so we were lucky to have our fabulous “Zombie Wrangler”, Jill , on set to help us keep track of everyone, Matt Reese to make sure our extras stayed in character, and Sean Martin and Keith Leonard to help choreograph the fight sequences, making our riots believable, but safe for all involved:)

Also, as has been pointed out, there were no actual zombies in the Oakland Zone Riot scenes we shot this Saturday. However, dear, sweet extras, there are many zombie scenes in your future.  If you are not on the extras contact list, but would like to be, please contact Jill Egyud, our “Zombie Wrangler”.

This saturday marks our second weekend of video production for Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera, and our first shoot involving extras. For information about joining our extras call list, check out our new and improved Extras on Film information page.

In case some of you are already signed up for the extras call list but have not received emails this past week, please note that any emails regarding extras will be coming from jill@thezombieopera.com, they may have ended up in your spam box so please check, thanks!

EDIT:  Please be aware that by participating in this production, you will be asked to sign a Non-Disclosure, Personal Release, Liability Release, and Contract of Conduct form. (click the links to download and print each form)

Take a seat behind the director’s chair as Barry blogs about our first official video shoot this past weekend, as we tackled the “Stay Tuned” newscast scenes, introducing our singing Newscaster (Dave Egyud) to the production:

BREAKING NEWS: “The Zombie Opera” Production Has Begun!!”

We’d like to send a special thank you to Duquesne University’s Media Center staff for their amazing efforts to supply the space for our production. You guys rocked!

Check out our new logo and website design! Isn’t it awesome?

Many thanks to the fabulous Reagan Heller for creating the artwork and graphics for us, as well as super thanks to Doug Butterworth for helping us translate everything into a working WordPress template:)

We are also pleased to announce that we officially start production on the video segments of the show this weekend.  Kicking it all off with a production meeting this afternoon, then heading out to participate in Zombie Awareness Night, a zombie walk at the Oaks Theater this evening organized by the folks at Horror Realm. Tomorrow, we put our narrator, “The Newscaster”, in front of the camera.

Exciting times:)

We are very excited to begin filming segments for the opera this weekend. No, we do not need extras the first weekend, but those of you on the list will be notified VERY SOON about when and where we need our ‘bodies’. If you wanted to be an extra during our video shoots this summer, please notify our ‘Zombie Wrangler” Jill Egyud with your information and summer conflicts.

We are still seeking some locations for our summer video shoots, if you have a large empty warehouse, a living room worthy of a party for the End of the World, or any such locations we have described on our website, please contact our Location Scout, Evan Miller.

In addition, we are hoping to feature a local beer in our show, as there is a party sequence in which people are… partying and…drinking:)  If you know of a local beer distributor that would like to be featured in that portion of the video backdrop, please have them email us.

As the video production portion of our show draws near, we are still searching for some key locations for the various ‘living backdrop’ scenes in our show.

• Laboratory or some sort of Scientist working space
• Open Space which we can construct in, a large warehouse or room
• Newsroom with the desk an anchor would sit at and report from

All of these areas need to be accessible on the weekends.

We will be happy to work out advertising in our program and/or website as a trade for use of a space if needed.  Please contact Evan Miller our Production Artist/Location Scout with any information! Thanks!

(the following message from Special Effects Make-up Coordinator Arvin Clay)

Due to an unexpected change in fx crew people I am looking for a few good artists to add to my zombie squad.

Do you have what it takes? The guts, the determination, the understanding of silicone gel-filled appliances?

I am looking for people wiling to think far outside of the box and really give it their all for the love of the craft. (to that end i am looking for lots of body parts, a few blood gags, and lots of zombies) This is going to be a rough shoot due to the time crunch, but it could be the perfect portfolio building exercise for a student, or even for a seasoned semi-pro that wants to add some zombie action to (ahem) liven up their book.

And yes, this is an unpaid gig, (though materials will be covered within reason) but it is going to be a ton of fun!

Sound like your kind of (body) bag? Cool.

All I need from you are a few (minimum of 4 no more than 8 ) sample pics of your work sent to: arvin@thezombieopera.com

Please include your contact information and the best time/way to reach you in case we need to chat.

I look forward to hearing from you!

.

Arvin Clay
Special Effects Make-up Coordinator
Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera