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So Scyfy has a new mini-series due out in September – Z Nation – and my brother just happened to get a part as a zombie! You can see him on the teaser/trailer, which me boyohs think is pretty spiffy!
In clip where the zombies are rushing the jail, me brother is the one on the left. Knew there was something scary ’bout him…
tdm :O J)
tdm
Cool! Great for him! 🙂
IN SEARCH OF MY NEXT GRAILS:
Black Peacock & Butternut Adult Poads
Kickstarter 'Rainbow Tiger' Bantam Dragon*~*~*~* Ela_Hara: The DragonKeeper *~*~*~*
*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comThat’s a hoot! By the way, where is it filming?
Filming in the Spokane area of Washington State – He got a call from them the other day asking if he was available for three more days; they’ve created a character just for him! Big time excited for him!
tdm :bigsmile:
tdm
Is this your brother the prankster, star of at least one thread on here, or do you have more than one?
Yes, this is the prankster and, also yes, I have more than one brother, I have three :bigsmile:
tdm 😀
tdm
So, a bit from my bros Zombie experience; thought you might enjoy his writing… He also landed a spot in an add for Washington State University’s Global University Program (my alma mater 🙂 Go Cougs!)
Z Nation – Diary Of A Zombie Extra
September 10th, 2014It’s early April, and I’m talking to the Building Manager, Tony, about the 12th man prank and whether or not we want to build another Christmas Elevator this year. We start discussing my plans for this year’s Haunted House when Tony asks, “Are you going to try out for the new zombie movie they’re filming in Spokane?”
“Wait… What zombie movie??!”
“It’s called ‘Z Nation’ or something. Like ‘World War Z’ or ‘The Walking Dead’. Google it – someone’ll have all the details on the web.”
Z Nation promo teaser poster
Sure enough, The Asylum, the film studio that produced such B-Grade movie classics as Mega Piranha, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, and Sharknado (surprisingly, NOT called Mega Shark Hurricane), is looking for extras to be zombies in their upcoming TV series, Z Nation for the SyFy Channel.
Awesome!
Multiple websites have published the same press release and links to Casting Agencies being used to supply extras for the series. There are three of them that show up again and again. I apply to all of them, and start texting and emailing local friends to see who’s interested in coming along.
It’s late April, and one of the casting agencies emails me about their upcoming “Zombie Camp”. They have different sign-up times for fast and slow zombies, and to come out and meet with the series’ various directors, producers, and casting director. There aren’t any other details than location, dates, and times.
I start checking to see who else has gotten a notice, and forwarding it to anyone that hasn’t. Turns out that while many of my mates are interested in the idea, no one is really interested in making the trip to Spokane except Wren. We book a fast zombie time slot in the afternoon.
Lincoln Center Spokane
It’s early May, and Zombie Camp actually turns out to be tryouts. Every 45 minutes, from 8am until 5pm with a half hour break for lunch, the production team from The Asylum takes a group of approximately 70 zombie hopefuls and puts them through their zombie paces, looking for that undead “something” that catches the director’s eye and sky rockets the potential undead poster child into fame and stardom.
zombie extras wannabes hopefuls
Wren and I show up at The Lincoln Center in Spokane soon after lunch where we write down our contact details, receive a number, pose for a photo, and wait as other potential extras wander in. You can hear muffled groans and noises coming from behind the closed double doors behind the sign-up table, and while no one explicitly says we aren’t allowed in to watch the other tryouts, no one attempts to open the doors and watch the competition. Wren wanders through the building and finds a back stair case to an upper level that oversees the auditorium where the tryouts are being held, and we quietly find a place to sit and watch the other candidates.
Tryouts are “simple”: After everyone files in and takes a seat, the first five applicants line up perpendicular to a table where the directors and production team sit. 30 feet in front of them stands a woman with a tambourine while a guy with a bodhrán stands immediately behind them. The woman shakes the tambourine, and the zombie wannabes shuffle towards her in their best, slow zombie impersonation. As the closest one gets near her, the guy with the bodhrán starts tapping out a beat. Extras are to stop; look towards the new sound, and when the director shouts “NOW!”, ‘fast zombie’ towards the guy until he stops banging his drum. The process repeats, and the next five applicants have their turn.
zombie tryouts for Z Nation SyFy channel
Here’s the problem – if you have a higher number, you’re able to sit and watch everyone else, gauge the responses of the production team, and get a better idea of what may work to get you in as a zombie for the Z Nation series. Lower numbers don’t have that luxury, so they’ve got to go “all in” from the start and hope for the best.
zombie tryouts
My slow zombie sucks.
I’m kind of a moderate shamble (more like “Warm Bodies” than “Walking Dead”), and I reach the tambourine lady WAY before everyone else.
As the casting director shouts “NOW!” for fast zombie, I dead sprint at the drummer, screeching and passing everyone else which has him suddenly screaming, “DON’T TOUCH THE CAMERAMAN!! DON’T TOUCH THE CAMERAMAN!!” I reckon the poor guy got tackled by some overzealous zombie wannabe in at least one of the previous auditions.
And then that’s it.
3 minutes, and you’re done.
“Thanks for coming! We’ll be in touch.”No coaching or even suggestion of what they’re looking for in their zombies other than the reactions you can glean from the casting group if you happen to have a later number. Hope you left your best on the floor.
We watch higher numbers shamble and screech and moan and run across the auditorium floor, and I think of so many things I could have done different… better… I drive home in a mild state of depression.
So it’s surprising to receive a call-back on Monday.
The casting agency asks about “any skills you may have, any previous acting you may have done, your measurements (height, weight, shoe size, shirt size, etc)”, and whether or not I’m available in two weeks time to come back and “do your zombie” in wardrobe in front of the production team again. Heck yeah!!
I send in my measurements. Fill out some paperwork. And the day before I’m to appear on set, I get a call from the agency. “You’re really this tall? These are your actual measurements?” I’m not THAT tall, but it seems there aren’t a lot of extras over 6’ that tried out. So when I confirm my measurements they simply ask, “Can you just show up on Monday instead for the first day of shooting for episode 1?”
And I have a slight break-down and go nuts!
AWESOME!!
I’M GONNA’ BE A ZOMBIE ON TV!!And the reality is, the only people that pay attention to the extras in a film are the extras themselves, their friends and family, and the directors who don’t want them to screw up the actual talent being filmed.
(“See that arm hanging out from behind the tree that just flashed past? THAT WAS MY ARM!!”)
But it’s cool! And you can’t have a zombie apocalypse film without lots of zombies, so I’m more than happy to be one of them! And this takes my desire to build and be a part of something big that entertains others to a whole new level and audience!
In 1986, I sat on the roof of the Regent Theatre during my lunch break, watching Jackie Chan film Mr. Nice Guy. They reshot the same scene over and over and over, trying to get it just right; changing choreography and camera angles. I thought then that the reality of filming was much more boring than I had imagined, and throughout the 2014 summer, I learn first hand that there is a LOT of standing around, doing nothing on the set of a TV series.
But it’s all worth it.
The first Z Nation TV commercial airs on July 30th during the premiere of Sharknado 2. It’s the first glimpse I have of the finished production of the show, and it looks MUCH less campy or B-Grade than I had expected it to be – it actually looks GOOD! A TV series that I’d like to watch!
I catch a flashing glimpse of ME on screen, and have to grab the remote to rewind it and watch it again… and then freak out a little bit when we confirm it is me. On screen. As a zombie!
Yes. One of dozens of zombies that only flash across the screen in the time it takes you to blink. But there I am! And for one, brief moment, I think “life doesn’t get much better than THIS!”
tdm :bigsmile:
tdm
…and the WSU spot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=NVICVRy0OUA&app=desktop
Hope that works…
tdm 😀
tdm
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