Rabbit Tales Films in Tarrywile Park

Posted by chainsaw under ct film industry, local productions

Aside from my dear old mom, Susanna Raeven (above) is the toughest lady with red-hair I’ve ever seen.

Raeven was in Tarrywile Park last week crawling in the dirt, having repeated buckets of cold water dumped on her and enduring the “Spiritual Slip n’ Slide,” whatever that is.

Her assailant?

Kirsten Russell, the writer and director of “Rabbit Tales.” 

Russell and her crew were in Tarrywile Park in Danbury last week to film “In the Backyard of His Holi Vrindavin,” on of three short films comprising ”Rabbit Tales.”

Raeven was “In the Backyard’s” lead actor, playing Dr. Nadine Weinstein, a woman who discovers her long-lost father is now a cult leader.

I was invited to check out the filming by Bethel’s Dave Bonan, who acted as location scout for the micro-budget dark comedy.

The dark comedy of the script came through in the one scene I witnessed being shot on the lawn next to the Tarrywile Mansion last Wednesday.

The scene involved Raeven lying unconscious on the ground. A frizzy-haired dude wearing what looked like a Girl Scout’s dress dumped a bucket of water on her, causing a rainbow of expletives to flow from her mouth.

“What are your intentions?” the frizzy-haired cult member asked coldly. At some point he may have offered her a towel.

Russell, who looked like Sophie Marceau’s sister, is a New Yorker by way of Miami.

I asked the director how Raeven is dealing with the grueling physical demands of the low-budget shoot.

“She’s been through hell already. All of yesterday we shot way back up in the marshes,” Russell said, gesturing toward the trails in Tarrywile Park. “I made sure that I cast an actor who was athletic. I wouldn’t have chosen an actress who was frail. I knew Susanna is a tough cookie and she’s really in shape. She rides horses, she’s a runner and she’s a karate expert. We’ve worked together as actresses many times before.”

Ultra, Super-Duper, Jaw-Dropping, Earth-Shattering, Will Change Blogging As You Know It EXCLUSIVE!

Posted by chainsaw under ct film industry, guest blogger, local productions

Gore effects specialist Brian “I Sell the Dead” Spears has been working in Connecticut recently on “BURNING INSIDE,” a new indie film from husband and wife filmmakers Nathan Wrann and Kimberly Dalton, who comprise Dalton Gang Productions.

I first met Nate and Kim at Fango 2007, which I covered as a freelance piece for another CT newspaper (sounds like “The Barford Durant”). They’re from West Haven, and, well, they didn’t call the police or pretend they didn’t know me the morning after we met, so naturally they are really, really nice people.

If memory serves me, they drive a Subaru Forrester. I mean, can you really hate anyone who drives a car like that?

Check out this photo of me and Kimberly Dalton from this year’s Fango Con.

 

I think she has dimples, for Lord’s Sake!

So, you can imagine my surprise a few days later when I popped in their “Hunting Season” DVD a few days later. It’s one of the nastiest, most compelling zero-budget indies I had seen in a long time.

Based on, I suppose, solid word-of-mouth — and, I’m sure, the couple’s non-stop networking skills — the Dalton Gang secured funding for “BURNING INSIDE,” their second feature film.

And they went ahead and hire Spears as to do their gore effects.

Spears, a Somers, N.Y. native, did the gore effects (with partner Pete Gerner) for his own death scene in “Shadow: Dead Riot.” (Spears is the guard)

Check it out:(click here if it ain’t workin)

Cameo Scene from Shadow: Dead Riot

Long story short, Spears and the Dalton Gang got together this weekend in Branford to film a particularly disturbing scene for “BURNING INSIDE.”

Here are Spears’ e-mailed thoughts on a tough gore gag he had to prepare for the flick:

WARNING — SPOILER ALERT — WARNING

“BURNING INSIDE, though it has some horrific scenes, is a psychological revenge film.

The film will have a distinct look, shot in B&W; it will be filtered heavily giving it a cinematic look reminiscent of the original NOSFERATU.

The Wranns approached me to handle the heavy FX scenes, consisting of a bloody death by lawn mower blade, prop weapons, a rotting corpse, a stillborn baby — and a ready-to-burst pregnant belly.

Having spent several years on countless low budget sets, their needs were right up my alley.

The only effect giving me concern was the pregnant belly. It had to look real and also give the impression of nudity.

I’ve done my share of T&A horror flicks (EDITOR’S NOTE: SEE FLESH FOR THE BEAST), many of which my grandmother will never see, but this was the first time I was asked to recreate female nudity.

The Dalton Gang wanted their actress to be comfortable, so I recreated a chest and belly prosthetic that was glued to her torso.

I spent a rainy July 27 recreating the rather bloody birth. Roughly a gallon or more of blood was used as our actress (Kristina Powis) suddenly went into labor. A blood trail was done using tubing that spilled across the kitchen floor.

After that we moved to a small bedroom spilling more blood, making those films you saw in health class look like a DISNEY flick. We finished our day with the belly; my prosthetic edges needed some help, but the B&W format will help with that and the effect worked for the shots needed.

Now with only a few more days of production left, BURNING INSIDE is almost in the can. I look forward to seeing the film as well as one day working again with the talented cast and hard working crew both Nate and Kim assembled.”

Here are some photos Spears passed along:

from right to left are Joe Land, J. Brown, Nathan Wrann and Kristina Powis

Actor Michael Wrann

Kristina Powis & Michael Wrann, a glimpse of Spears’ work

 

 

 

 

Pippa Lee on Main Street today

Posted by chainsaw under local productions

The cast and crew of “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” will be shooting on Main Street at the Martha apartments next to the Palace Theater.

The movie, a dramedy according to the entertainment press, has been filming in the area for weeks and star sightings of Keanu Reeves, Robin Wright Penn and Alan Arkin are common.

Filming is supposed to wrap no later than 3 p.m.

The first official photo released from “Pippa Lee” hit Entertainment Weekly this week. It shows a quiet moment between Arkin and Wright-Penn who play a couple in a troubled marriage.

Here’s a goofy video we did when “Pippa” filmed inside Barca Restaurant on Mill Plain Road a few weeks back.