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

Apparently there are a lot of sunny days in Tempe, Arizona. As a lover of all things foggy, I am delighted to discover one can buy (presumably authentic) American Fog by the gallon~

Order yours here! Also available are Eco Fog Juice and Snow Juice for clean and endless fun.

I’ve lost track but I think there are only a few more days until the taping for Zombies vs Vampires, and we are inching towards being ready! We even found location #2 today!

Paul and Tara help bloody up some zombie wear.

OMG apparently that is me on the left, terrifying poor Andrea our makeup artist extraordinaire. Sometimes I can’t help myself.

We dragged a museum preparator in to be a practice model - someone forgot to tell him to play dead Another wonderful make-up creation by Wendy!

Zombies (above) and Vampires (below) rehearse on an ASU plaza.

Great vampire makeup by Trevor.

Fabulous zombie looks by Angie (above) and Angelica (below).

ok it’s 3:30am which is 6:30am in New York and in any case it is way past my bedtime, so I’m signing off.
–Jillian

Here’s a sneak peek into makeup sessions last week at ASU Art Museum for my upcoming Vampires vs Zombies video, featuring 55 local zombies and vampires, not to mention the talents of local make-up artists. Our vampires will be red-eyed and thirsty, with bloodstained lips.

Carlos (above) and Ginger (below) create vampire looks!

Vampire look, created by Sandra (above), modeled by Greg (below)

Vampire eyes (above) and mouth (below), created by Greg; modeled by Paul

Join us!

~Jillian