In case you thought I had long forgotten about Tempe and the desert, think again! Today I am furiously (actually, rather calmly) editing a stop motion animation shot on location at a private swimming pool, filmed with the help of three fabulous ASU graduate students - Alison Sweet, Cory Weeks, and Julie Ganas, and the uber-talented John Spiak. There are neither zombies nor vampires in this video, and no cacti were harmed.

Production still above.

-Jillian

Despite the title, no buffaloes will be harmed!

However there will be blood in Buffalo, New York this week as I head north to shoot a new video in residence at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Red Rum, filmed on location in Buffalo, features local young actors, musicians, and homes.

Stay tuned…

-Jillian

-Jillian

In the second week of November, Adam Murray and I transformed my apartment at ASU into a temporary recording studio.

Mattresses formed a sound booth (above) while the bed held instruments (below). We screamed, hissed, moaned, and played auto harp and guitar here. Plus the aforementioned celery snarfing.

We set up a nice little work station (above) while the rest of the room was a mess (below).

Sometimes we played nice (above), sometimes we argued over my “illegible” notes (below), and sometimes technology was not our friend (way below).

-Jillian

Opening tonight at ASU Art Museum.

Zombies vs Vampires is a video installation featuring two videos projected on opposite walls where zombies and vampires stage a dramatic Western-style showdown at dawn in the desert, amidst photographic murals that wrap the gallery in local desert imagery: cacti, mountain, rugged terrain, contemporary ghost towns, and graveyards. This work was created with a wonderful cast of locals in Tempe, Arizona, including 50 actors, 4 videographers, 1 photographer, 10 make-up artists, and 1 sound designer.

Very special thanks to Bluemedia for their generous in-kind printing of a 100-foot wide photo mural.

~photos by Stephen Gittins

Today I shot a stop motion animation with the help of John Spiak, Alison Sweet, Cory Weeks, and Julie Ganas at a swimming pool in Phoenix. Apparently I was killed by a band of vengeful potted cacti, my body dumped in the ice cold pool.

Luckily I was reincarnated in time to record and edit the audio track for the zombies in Zombies vs Vampires with Adam Murray. It’s 1:30am, we’re still at it.

Below we are recording sounds for zombies munching on limbs (celery and tapioca), and vampires sucking blood (orange). Adam made a temporary sound recording booth in my apartment using the mattress - which is fine since sleep is a distant memory:

-Jillian

Here is a taste of the vampires spotted last night in the Tempe area - be careful out there, they’re mean!

-Jillian

Prom zombie Tara Logsdon leads the zombies in a move from Thriller, after filming Zombies vs Vampires in Tempe, Arizona.

How can you not love them?
-Jillian

Fun shots of vampires and zombies getting me - staged before heading out for taping in the desert this weekend, photos by Steve Gittins.

Make-up artists, videographers, photographer, and actors were in top form this weekend when we filmed Zombies vs Vampires in Tempe’s Papago Park.

Both shoots went super well - with warm weather, clear skies, an almost full moon, and no police, though a few hiker families watched the zombies in action this evening from the sidelines. One park ranger came by and thought we were a church group (!?) or a band, but he liked it so John Spiak invited him to the Nov 10th opening

Now the editing begins!

-Jillian

We begin taping Zombies vs Vampires in two days and everyone is honing their skills.

Ed turns Aron (above - note Ed’s latex mummy mask work in the background) and Angie transforms Fatima (below) into ghouls.

Zombie Aron:

Zombie Fatima:

Wendy prepares a zombie pyjama (above) as I mold Roxy’s vampire fangs (below).

Rehearsing vampires move in for a closer look.

Vampires (above) and Zombies (below) face off in rehearsal.

Another emergency location-scouting trip, as the sweet desert sun slides away.

-Jillian