It's A Wrap...Almost!

Winter is upon us and hibernation is imminent. That can only mean one thing...it's time to start editing the movie! We officially wrapped up shooting for "Thong Girl 4: The Body Electric" last weekend when I took over the camera helm and shot a scene on green screen simulating the base of the AT&T Tower where the police have gathered, along with BoxerBrief Boy and Dweeble, to witness the wrath of Electar as he shoots electrical beams off the top of the building. We were originally going to shoot at the actual location but I decided that having actors dressed as Metro police officers without a filming permit was a little too risky - even for me! I can defy speeding CXS trains and endure mayoral scandals, but I draw the line when it comes to impersonating an officer in a public place.
So we shot everything on green screen and I believe it turned out well. It's always hard to say with green screen until you actually start editing and add the backgrounds. Luckily, with the software available, even a mediocre chroma key job can be salvaged and made to look pretty darned good.
It was a sad day for me when I finally turned in the keys to the owner of the warehouse. We spent the whole summer shooting against a big green wall that we built from scratch. The wall stood 26 ft. tall and 14 ft. wide and it provided the opportunity to create some pretty amazing illusions. For instance, when we shot the funeral scene in September we got rained out before we could finish; so DP James Houk shot some background footage for safety, in case we couldn't return for some reason. As it turned out, we couldn't schedule a return shoot until the beginning of Nov. and the leaves had turned and fallen off the trees, making the background look totally different than the shoot in Sept. So we moved the coffin in front of the green screen and matched up the angles and VOILA! We had a seamless transition from one scene to the next. Hopefully you won't even be able to tell the difference. Pretty amazing stuff.
It was like a dream-come- true for me to have my own green screen and a cool warehouse facility at my disposal and I am eternally grateful to Tony Warner for his kindness in letting us use the building. Tony also owns the Devil's Dungeon where we shot all of the laboratory scenes earlier this year. He is one of the Executive Producers of the film. If you've ever wondered what an Executive Producer does, well this is a good example. He makes it possible financially and logistically for the director to shoot his movie by using his resources, whatever they may be. In this case, it was commercial property that would have cost me a fortune to rent for as long as we needed it. Thank you, Tony, for trusting in me and giving me free reign to do what I do.
So, everything has been shot except the big finale scene where Electar and his posse of evil henchmen take on our heroine Thong Girl and her small band of do-gooders: BoxerBrief Boy, Dweeble and DynoWoman. We're planning a big throw down with choreography and music and lasers and special effects. This will be a two-day shoot and it will be very similar to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" but without the zombies. I'm putting together a team of extremely talented people to pull this off, including a dance choreographer, a fight choreographer, a lighting specialist, three camera operators, riggers, a smoke and laser technician and a set decorator. This will likely be the biggest shoot I've ever attempted and will require a lot of preparation and organization. It sort of stands on its own as a movie within a movie - almost more like a music video than a scene from a film. We'll be using the music from a band called Archer from California. This will have a decidedly harder rock and roll edge to it than the music from the previous TG movie which featured the Dark Widow and her hip-hop urban sound. Electar brings a sort of Billy Idol meets Metallica sort of feel to the mix.
So it's off for a week to Colorado for Thanksgiving then back home to dig in for the winter and try to create some movie magic. As it stands now the premiere will be in Spring, but you know how that goes. I want to take my time and make sure every element of this film is as good as it can be. This may be the end of the Thong saga, so I want to go out with a big BANG. I'll post another blog after we shoot the finale in February and then I'll probably wait until the film is finished before I post again.
I hope you all have a terrific Thongsgiving and a Merry Christmas and I'll see you next year.