Send the Gamers Cast to Gen Con Indy
The movie is done shooting and the cast wants to share their experience and talk with you at GenCon Indy. There’s only one problem with this: Dead Gentlemen doesn’t have the funds to take ‘em. That’s why we need your help.
We are having an online donation drive to try to get the cast to GenCon Indy so that they can meet all their loyal fans and talk to you about the film in person. Please take some time to read more about our fundraiser.
(If you missed our first installment of Spoilers Deleted & Anecdotes, go to That’s a Wrap! in the Archives.)
M.C. Schuler, Unit Production Manager
An interesting quote I remember is from Christian: “Can I have some moleskin, my bra is chafing me.”
Reynaud LeBoeuf, Assistant to the Producers/On-Set Medic/Damn Good Extra
Okay, the shoot was a really great one. Despite the rain, cold, damp, heat, sunburns and long hours (Very long, I’ll warn you, if you want to get into the business).
It all rocked!
Tired as everyone was, every day felt like something new. The energy was there, and the talent just soared. Christian and Brian kept everyone in stitches, and when Scott joined in the whole thing just went out the window. You could not keep from laughing. It didn’t help that Matt Vancil and Don Early kept throwing in their own bits of humor (It’s a wonder we managed to get the movie finished with all the laughter going on).
Best thing that happened:
This is a tough one. Aside from the (spoiler deleted) and the great part with the (spoiler deleted), I’d have to say the most incredible thing was Carol Roscoe. Carol accepted the part on incredibly short notice and stepped in without a hitch, picking up perfectly and pulling off something I would have considered nearly impossible. A flawless performance. All of the players wowed me with their talent and humor, but I was just in awe of Ms. Roscoe.Worst thing that happened:
Well, there were a number of things that went wrong (Murphy had his hand in this, of course) from costume parts wandering off and equipment issues that our genius crew worked feverishly (and admirably) to handle, the weather did not want to cooperate during the springtime fantasy-world shoots. Still, the cast and crew pulled together beautifully and got it done with style.Strangest thing that happened:
There are two for this one. First was the fact that we were shooting part of the real-world scenes in Edmonds, Washington, in the middle of January. Just off the waterfront of Puget Sound in the middle of the night when wind-chill normally drops the temperature dramatically. From 6pm to 11:30pm it never got below 65 degrees, and after that until our 1:30am wrap time it never got below 55. (For those who don’t know the area/weather/seasons, it shouldn’t have gotten above 55 at any time, and usually hangs around 45 degrees that late during the winter.) Very spooky weather.The second was our 1st Assistant Director, Dirk Kahler. Steadfast and harried through the whole production, he worked to keep everyone moving and bore the brunt of many jokes in a stoic manner, occasionally joining in but rarely initiating anything humorous himself. During one scene late at night in the Abbey Ballroom we were shooting one of the closing scenes and to set the mood Matt Vancil had everyone say the same humorous line together to try and get a particular effect from Jen Page (I think he was going for humor and confusion together, but the second half of the line kept making her laugh.) After it only brought confusion, Matt said ‘Okay, only I will say the line, the first part. Everyone else hold off.’ He said the first half of the line, and Derek added the second part in a completely unexpected monotone voice, his face a mask of dignity. Everyone lost it, and it was about five minutes before we could start shooting again.
In all, the shoot was the most fun I’ve had in years, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. (Now, if we could just get everyone to stop playing with the weapons between takes…)
Kevin “Kicks Arse” Inouye, Fight Coordinator & “Extra”
We waded through a lot of chaotic changes and challenges on this production, but ended up with a really great bunch of folks to work with. I’m really proud of what we were able to do with the fights in this film, especially since some of our actors were starting from scratch, and we had an all-volunteer bunch of extras. The fact that we got the footage we
did, in the extremely limited time we had, and with nobody getting hurt in any of the fights- that’s all I could have hoped for, really.I do wish we’d had a little more time for the action scenes- there was always at least one phrase or gag we had to cut from each of the fights, due to time constraints, but hey, we’ll use ‘em next time around, right? Never know when you’ll need a (spoiler deleted) for a pirate…
Matt DeMille, Props Master/Set Designer/Extra
Please bear in mind that it’s 1:40am and so these won’t be in any sensible order, but then, in the wee hours of the morning, I might just find the better, more bizarre stuff floating around in my head, right?
Really cool like #1: Going to all the different locations. Since I have such a strong imagination, I can already see the movie before we’ve shot Frame 1 (even if we are going digital and there are no frames, really). So, needn’t not wait until the film–er, movie is finished, I needed only visit the locations to ’see it’. So each day was an event for me, not only because my work was appreciated anew with each site, but because for me it was like going on fantasy holiday.
Really uncool dislike #1: My budget on Dr. Pepper for enough caffeine to stay awake long enough to work on props that never made it into the movie. I have a big-a** tome, a suit of demonic ‘flesh armor’, a Daphne miniature and an evil Mr. Potato Head that never saw the light of ‘Lights, Camera, Action.’
Really something anecdote #4 (#s 1, 2 and 3 were given to Zane when he interviewed me in Mort Kemnon’s throne a few months ago, so you’ll have to get those from him): What was just related in parenthesis.
Really cool like #2: Getting my parents involved (I knew the talent and energy they had to offer, how much it would help the movie, and how much they would like being appreciated as they have been).
Really cool dislike #2: Getting my parents involved (before all the thanks and appreciation came the tense family moments, my trying to convince them how cool it would be, and constantly keeping their spirits up when times got tough–not with the movie, but with life in general, the movie just taxing what strength is normally reserved for dealing with daily BS).
Really cool like #3: Making new friends. Bronwyn and I have begun a great friendship. I have also become somewhat close to Matt V, Don and Nathan, and given common interests I still hope to pursue a friendship with Jen and Emily (gaming), possibly Brian (Star Wars), and possibly you–did I mention that you’re cool?
Really cool dislike #3: The catering. It was great catering for the real world, and got better in the second half of the fantasy world. However, altogether I have just the right allergies in the wrong places, you could say, and thus could never really eat whatever we had, so I was always bringing a lunchbox. No complaints with the movie, just something I know I’ll have to grin and bear if I make this a career. Still, it was an amazing diet, as I ate a lot of protein and fruit during the shoot, lost some weight and it feels so great, worked on books and trimmed my looks, and now stumbled into a poem –where’s this thought goin’?
Really cool like #4: Having a lot of Ebay fodder in about a year with the props I paid for out of pocket.
Really cool dislike #4: Whenever one of those props gets cut from the film and thus sees not only my work but my potential payback being cut along with it.
Really cool anecdote #5: Meeting some of the game celebrities was pretty neat. However, as I am an open opponent of d20 products, it’s a bit strange that I got along so well with Monty Cook, who created the d20 line. This is a chance to clear the air on that: (Spoiler deleted.) Still, it’s nice when two people of different ‘religions’ per-say can completely forget about that and get along, as Monty and I did, just for the sake of what we’re doing that day (in this case filming), sharing some laughs, and just enjoying the positive energy around us. Then again, I doubt Monty knows about my d20 disdain at all anyway, so I guess this whole anecdote was more of a rambling.
The best part of filming (for me):
So many to choose from. I’ll take the top four, and you can roll a D4 to determine their order:
- The best is yet to come–seeing the movie, and my name in the credits in places that I truly care about.
- Laughing. I’m normally a pretty quiet, reserved, even grim individual that is haunted by a lot of things, and I rarely laugh, but on set I was laughing quite often–it was a blessing.
- Being a (spoiler deleted)! (spoiler deleted)!!!!!
- Getting burned at the stake for playing and promoting this evil hobby–oh, wait, that hasn’t happened yet, and it’s good, because I haven’t become immortal yet, but I hope that is the order, because I could use a tan, and the bar-b-que scent will be quite the talk at parties, may even start a new fashion, and the two shows I watch each week will no longer be interrupted by those damn annoying men’s cologne advertisement (5 extra points if you can guess the mysterious identity of the two shows).
The worst part of filming (for me):
Once again, I’ll pick more than one, this time six, all evil, and you can roll a D6 to set their order.
- Getting sick where we filmed Lodge’s apartment and staying sick for the entire month afterwards.
- Getting sick early on in the fantasy shoot and staying sick for another month (can’t I get one filming day without strep throat?)
- Shooting the promo posters, then finding out the camera was misloaded, doing them over, then having an undisclosed team member fall off the planet–two days of work and not a single promo came out of it all (yet).
- Not being able to get killed as much as I wanted–when too (spoiler deleted) showed up, I decided at that point to stick to being living extras, for consistency, but since it also freed me up to do my daily set work and spared me rolling around in the mud, should this really be on the list of ‘worst’ parts of filming?
- Finding out one of the ladies on the cast/crew (I won’t say who), that I had a crush on, was already spoken for.
- Finding out that Matt Vancil was already spoken for–just seeing if you were still seriously reading after all this time.
The funniest moment (to me):
We’re using a D8 now, folks:
- Brian and Don’s various takes for the stunning of Mort Agrippa and his ‘puppet lines’.
- The very concept of the ‘(spoiler deleted)’ (which, ironically, was the only scene I did not watch being filmed).
- Don’s (spoiler deleted) for Mort Agrippa (Jim Carry, eat your heart out).
- Brian’s unbridled passion for Star Wars and kung-fu, giving us the first ever ‘fun Jedi’ (who is not (spoiler deleted)!)
- Christian’s improv on the phone at the Game Matrix.
- Christian’s improv at Lodge’s apartment (particularly with the dice-bag-skull-mask and the five-dollar-chewing- tobacco).
- Brian diving behind the mound of (spoiler deleted).
- The mound of (spoiler deleted) itself.
The quirky things I learned:
I already knew a good deal about movies going in, even though I have no prior filming experience. I have studied them extensively but independently (school is for the mindless). The only thing that surprised me on set was how much didn’t surprise me, that my self-taught insights into film were actually turning out to be pretty much on the money. I guess that’s why I didn’t mind the long hours and setbacks as much as others–I have built up an expectancy and thus endurance for them for years. However, I did learn a few quirky things (D10 this time):
- Slates have become very small and plastic.
- Director’s chairs have become even smaller than the slates (whatever happened to a good ol’ fashioned canvas and wood folding chair that says ‘Mr. Bogart’ on the back?
- Our camera was used for filming Star Wars Episode II (how cool is that?)
- People actually like breakfast burritos?
- Kelly wears green shoes.
- Don’s religious faith (I never would have guessed it, but it was very inspiring).
- That I can stay up longer hours than normal when I’m being physically worked hard, left hungry, fighting the flu and being generally uncomfortable.
- People actually notice and thank even the small things I do–it’s a new one for me, the consummate artist.
- More women are trained for stage combat than men.
- It’s now 2:25am– all this came out of my head and flowed through my fingers in barely over an hour? Am I crazy? Am I some kind of writer? Did I drink too much Dr. Pepper today? Did I drink too late and sing karaoke with too many wrangled moose this day? You, the audience, decide . . .
I’m staring at the Play-Doh tub I keep on my desk, wondering if snorting it can unlock the psychic secrets to the universe . . .