8/31/2011-A few months ago I got a heads up that auditions were being held for a feature film called “Night of Something Strange.” I sent an email right away requesting more info (like what roles were available). I believe Jonathan Staiton-writer / director-mentioned to me that I was the 3rd person to reply to the ads. His wife Brie handles all the casting/info stuff. I got a reply back very quickly. The shooting would be in Virginia and I was told all the info that I needed to make my decision to go for it-except 2 things. What roles were available and the script. The role part came 1st. Brie messaged me & asked me to do a video audition for the role of “Dirk” and sent me a side for it. As I’d already done some video auditions before, this wasn’t too hard-although if memory serves I had to do it right before leaving for the 1st weekend of the shoot for “Mind Sifter” w/ Star Trek:Phase 2.
-They got the video and replied that they thought I did a good job, but then asked me if I would be interested in another lead role-that of the “Corneilus”-the lead zombie. I said sure and they asked me to send an attack video-something I’ve never done before. They also recommended I check out 2 DVDs-“28 Weeks” (the lead zombie in particular) and “Dawn of the Dead”(2004) as these were modern zombies. So during my 2nd weeks of STP2 I checked out the DVDs on my off time and after a few views felt I got the hang of it. Then, with the help of Ron Bonk & Brian Hewitt I made the video and it was sent. I also sent a few pics in of me making a certain “sinister” look w/ fake blood dripping to help 🙂 I was then notified that I got the role of “Corneilus” and was on my way! Then I got the script….
-Sorry for being a little dramatic there 🙂 I read thru the whole thing the night I got it. This is one twisted movie-not a normal zombie movie at all by my knowledge (which-admittedly-is limited in this area). I know of a few people who were cast and then bailed out cause they were too uncomfortable w/ the script. That’s too bad-for them. I feel that everyone involved in this is perfectly cast. While twisted, I see this as a challenge to not only live up to what this script demand, but to exceed it.
One cool thing is-as a zombie-I don’t have any lines…unless “GRRRR!!” counts as a line 🙂 It’s all physical work-and I’m so damn thankful I started on the P90X program months ago.
-So it’s been 3 weeks since we filmed and these are the 1st set of pics from that. As I mentioned above, I can’t post any zombie / FX pics till the movie is out (how much you wanna bet someone asks “where are the zombie pics-HA!). When the time comes, I will post them-and I have plenty of them. The cast & crew for this have been wonderful and I’ve had such a great time. So many memories. I’ll be sure to have all the details when “WAYNE-THE BOOK” comes out (soon (maybe) to be available where better products are sold-HA!) 🙂 The makeup for me initially took, I think, an hour or so to put on. It’s a more streamlined process now, but still takes awhile to get on/off. The makeup is being done by Jim A. Choate-who has been Emmy Nominated twice for previous projects. Awesome stuff. Wait till you see what he did to my face 🙂
-Also, if I may brag a little, I’ve been given the name “Freight Train” by some of the crew cause when I am in “Zombie Mode” I tend to damage objects, others & myself. One particular night I did all 3! No one said this was easy….
-We still has some scenes left to go as well as pick ups. I will be going back a few more times for this. After that comes editing & post production. There has been talk of a theatrical release but not sure. I was also told that this will be on DVD and will be available at Walmart ( a male nudity scene had to be removed for this to happen). I have also done some networking and there are already a few seeds planted in regards to being in future projects. Time will tell if / when these will sprout forth.
-I believe there will be 3-4 albums just based on this update. The recaps in those albums will be much shorter 😉 The last one will continue w/ more pics and a recap there till we get to the albums w/ makeup / FX after the movie is released. I want to give a huge thanks to all the cast & crew involved w/ this for all their support and motivation to be on par w/ their level. Can’t wait till this is all done & released!
-WEEKEND OF 9/3/2011-So here I was on 9/2 heading back to location (the main motel) with Ron Bonk & his son. Made it in 6 hours-which is amazing to me. We were almost the 1st ones there-Jim A. Choate was there and had already set up his gear in my old room. So we waited till everyone else came in. Very cool to be reacquainted w/ cast & crew-it didn’t seem that long ago that we started filming yet it felt longer than it was-if that makes any sense…
-We started filming that 1st night. It was mainly Trey & John on this one. It was effects heavy so not many pics of that till later. Very humid day. Me & Janet ended up bunking together in Room #1-which actually looked a little cleaner than before. The tub was slow to drain so you were up about a foot of water by shower’s end.
-The next night was mainly Janet & Rebecca in a scene that was concurrent with the Trey / John one. I did get in zombie mode though and even had my camera (via video mode) film all but the last few minutes of the process. It was still humid out and the appliance was a little loose around my mouth/chin area so I wasn’t talking much. The scene I was in-believe it or not-I had no recollection of it happening in the script! My bad. It was a partial fight scene-in which I over compensated while punching thru the air and actually thru out my left hand a little bit. Always some type of injury when I’m in zombie mode *sigh*…I saw the playback though-the scene of me staring and the way it was filmed-awesome 🙂
-They were actually going to do some more shooting w/ me but we ran into a problem-one of the couples who lived here called the cops on us! Nice huh? Well, I guess when you have gunfire at 3 AM that can be a problem but, believe it or not, that wasn’t even mentioned. Her main problem seemed to be the lights and…me(!). She was telling Brie to keep me away from their room and that I was giving her husband seizers (sp) (!). Kinda funny-me and a friend were just standing near her room initially-backs turned cause we were watching the filming when we hear-“Get away from my window!” from inside so we did. Then this woman opened her door. I turned around and said “hi” but I was in zombie mode and-as per habit-made what is known to some people here as “The Face.” Basically it’s a sinister look. She didn’t say anything, stood there for a moment, then closed the door. later came all the rest. Guess that’s kudos to Jim’s makeup and a little bit of me to help sell it 🙂
-The next day I was up early on this hot day and ended up walking into town on the look out for some icy hot. Got to talking w/ some of the locals. Had a good time-although I wish it was cooler (92 degrees). I got back to the motel and hung out till night time-where it proceeded to rain. There was talk of me going in zombie mode this night but the rain killed that possibility. They had to get the other scenes done so another night off. That was cool-gave my hand time to heal too 🙂
-The next night it was raining almost all day-limiting shooting even further. Many people had already left so there was only a smaller cast/crew here. Jim wasn’t here so no zombie mode for anyone. I actually got to do a little crew work to help out. By around 2 AM, I left with Rebecca & Kirk back to NY.
-My adventure didn’t end there though. I got back to Ron’s and-guess what-the battle wagon won’t start! It’s been good for so long-it was past due something to go wrong with it. Had to be towed. So about 5 hours after I got into Syracuse I was able to rest at my folks place before heading home. More shooting to do-hopefully with no more car troubles 🙂
-Pics are up on my acting page on Facebook-spanning 6 albums. Please note that, unfortunately, I can’t post any zombie or FX pics till the movie is released. As is, I probably have close to 1,000 pics up and probably just as many, if not more to eventually put up. Hopefully it won’t be too long…
WWJ PAGE ON FACEBOOK
NIGHT OF SOMETHING STRANGE WEBSITE
WAYNE W. JOHNSON 