Here is the Tuesday’s Gone Trailer in a Quicktime file

Woops! Sorry about that folks, but here’s a quick update on “Tuesday’s Gone” for y’all: On Thursday the 22nd, we shot our last major scene of principal photography, and this Thursday we will tie everything up with a neat little bow with a few pickup/coverage shots to make sure the film is complete for editing. Our crack editing staff (Bob), has successfully transferred all the DV footage to a hard drive, so the editing process is ready to go. Finally, our cast and crew gathered for a wrap party on Friday the 23rd, and a grand time was had by all at various Northampton night spots. Coincidentally (or not), the wrap party was held during the annual Zombie Pub Crawl, so we saw quite a few undead revelers looking for brains drinks!

Hola everyone! Jeff, writer of ‘Tuesday’s Gone’ here with another doozy of a production update. This whole process has flirted with near disaster, and the latest setback came on Thursday the 8th, when we were scheduled to shoot a scene at the Lupa Zoo and another “lover’s montage” moment at a park. The entire shoot had to be scrapped that morning however, when our lead actor sliced his hand up pretty bad at his day job.

Thankfully, he recovered in time for Saturday and Sunday, where cast and crew put in 12+ hour days in order to wrap up the remaining key scenes of the film. On Saturday, we shot at the Lupa Zoo in Ludlow, MA, and had a great time amongst the monkeys, zebras, panthers, and giraffes. Mr. Lupa is a great guy, and we were very thankful for his cooperation and generosity. From there we moved on to the Sacrilege Tattoo Parlor in Windsor Locks, CT, where the artists did an awesome job giving our two leads “tattoos” for the scene. Next, it was on to the most challenging location so far, a bus stop right off of a busy two-lane strip in Springfield, MA.

This location proved to be extremely difficult due to the constant traffic noise, the threat of getting shut down at any moment by the five-o (guerrilla film-making at  its best!), and the bitter late Fall cold. Another interesting thing we quickly noticed about this particular location was the in-lawn sprinkler system that started going off about 20 yards away from us 45 minutes into the shoot. We took a quick survey of the grass directly underfoot and noticed nozzles there, as well. That meant that at any given moment, freezing cold water could have erupted, drenching our actors and all the expensive lights and camera equipment.

And this is where it got downright eerie, folks.  After three hours of shooting, covering all possible angles of this crucial scene, we broke down all the light stands, wrapped up all the cords, put the camera away, and as soon as we were done, the sprinklers all around the bus stop came to life, drenching the spot we were just shooting in. Cosmic Forces? An Angel over our shoulder? Coincidence? I don’t know, but it sure was bizarre.

After that grueling shoot, we schlepped off to bed and woke up to a sunny and windy Autumn Sunday. Our first stop was Child’s Park in Northampton, MA, then we painted one of our actors blue and headed off to a cool rock quarry in Westhampton, MA, and finally ended the day by shooting some scenes in downtown Northampton, MA and in the bedroom and living room of my apartment.

Our actors were real champs during all of this and never complained once. We all had a ball and were laughing our heads off all weekend. It’s been an amazing experience for me and I’ll be sad once we finish up shooting this Wednesday. One more shoot to go then it’s on to editing! Want to see a photo gallery of this weekend’s shoot? Of course you do! CLICK HERE!

Yes, cliché as it may sound, that old and trusted cue rang true for Dead Henchmen this weekend as principal photography began on our first short film project, “Tuesday’s Gone”! And the verdict on the shooting? So far, so good. Bob and I have been saying since the start that we’re playing .500 ball in terms of how things are going. It seems for every setback, there’s something that falls perfectly in place, as you’ll find out here…

The fun began Saturday afternoon as our two leads Tim and Milena arrived at the palatial estate of yours truly, Dead Henchmen #1, to film some brief but amusing scenes that will be part of a “happy lover’s montage” in the film. There was the requisite googly eyes, giddy laughter, and tender smooches, and then later on,  some “extracurricular” activities involving some props that I won’t spoil here.

After heading out for a quick bite, the cast then gathered back at the casa to begin loading the camera and equipment into the trusty Versa for the trip over to the Brewmaster’s Tavern in Williamsburg to shoot our restaurant interiors.  Of course, as soon as we began this process, the skies opened up with an entire month’s worth of rain, drenching the cast, crew, and putting thousands of dollars worth of camera and lighting equipment at risk. Luckily, the gear all made it to the restaurant intact and dry. The same could not be said, however, for our actors and extras, who all needed to dry out for a good half hour.

After the drying process, Bob briefed the cast and the eight brave extras about how the night was going to go once we were allowed into the back dining room of the Brewmaster’s Tavern, which was graciously made available to us by the great owners and staff, who also own the Opa Opa brewery and restaurant in Southampton.

At around 9:00, the show was on and we all marched down to the dining room to shoot our lead actor and his three obnoxious buddies as two of them engage in a heated debate about…well…that would be telling now, wouldn’t it? Bob also did several takes of a very cool and complex camera move through the restaurant, which ended up looking really neat. There was laughter and bloopers aplenty from everyone involved, and if nothing else, we’ll have one hell of a gag reel when all is said and done.

Remember when I mentioned setbacks? In addition to the rain and the time crunch Saturday, we also had to scratch our planned Sunday afternoon shoots due to a costume company dragging their feet on a order we placed a while back. Upset but undeterred, we soldiered on and set up camp at a bucolic farm setting in Hatfield to shoot Tim’s encounter with a creepy redneck in the dead of night. The shoot was long, cold, and arduous, but the setting was amazing: A huge, rustic barn, a full moon, and massive empty fields with a crawling mist! Perfection! Tim and Billy (who played the redneck to a ‘T’), were both troopers for putting in great performances throughout the difficult shoot.

Next, it’s off to a zoo to film another of the lover’s montage scene. More updates to come. For a full photo gallery of this weekend’s filming, CLICK HERE.

Here’s a group photo of the cast and crew of  “Tuesday’s Gone” for your enjoyment. From Left to right: Billy Filiault (Redneck), Jeff Carter (Writer), Milena Corin (Tuesday), Tim Dooney (Cliff), Bob Savage (Director), Randall Rancitelli (Dave), Colin Allen (Don), Johnny Donaldson (Petey).  Not Pictured: Lisa Benson (Waitress). More updates to come!