Investors needed to make ‘Zombies’ an on-screen reality
By Deanna Jordan
Special to the Aroostook Republican
The cameras are packed up, the microphones put away, the blood cleaned up and the crew has gone home. So ends the filming of the first feature film made in Aroostook County.
Contributed photo/Sam Hallett
INVASION — A zombie horde takes over Sweden Street in Caribou during a scene shot for Nathan Oliver’s film “The Zombies Are Coming to Town.”
Movie writer and director and Caribou native, Nathan Oliver, graduated in 2009 with a bachelor of fine arts in film production from Concordia University in Montreal. After graduation he was hired by the school as their depot clerk in the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In this position he manages all the school’s filmmaking gear, performs light maintenance on the equipment and assists in the planning of equipment needs for student projects. Oliver assisted in many of the over 500 films produced at the school last year. He says he loves his job but wants very much to return to Maine.
For those who didn’t witness the movie being shot in various locations around the county, don’t assume this was filmed on a VHS or DVD in a video camera purchased at a local retailer. In fact, the film was shot on 16mm stock using a CP16 Reflex camera, which is of the same quality used in Hollywood. Oliver explained that movies shot on 16mm film used to be considered amateur until independent films began to grow in popularity. After the final scene was recorded, Oliver had shot nearly 8,000 feet of film.
So, why zombies?
“I had a good indicator that this was a good idea,” says Oliver. When he began thinking about filming a movie, his wife, Deidra, also originally from Caribou, suggested a cheap B-horror movie about zombies. She hates zombie movies, so when she said it was a good idea, Nathan knew he had to do it. Deidra commented, “horror movies have such a cult following. People love gore.”
Contributed photo/Sam Hallett
PROMO SHOT — Brenda, played by Liz Laplante, tries to escape from several of the infected during a promotional photo shoot for “The Zombies Are Coming to Town.”
Starting out as a new filmmaker, Oliver says he really only had two choices to break into the business. He could either do the B-horror film or a romantic comedy and he detests romantic comedies. Of all the choices of monsters out there, he said zombies were the best.
“Creatures like vampires and werewolves have been around in stories for hundreds of years,” he says, “whereas zombies are still very recent and only seen in film.” Oliver says there are several types of zombies, but most fall under two categories: zombies created through hypnosis, magic, voodoo or a gas-like contaminate and the more common walking dead type, where the zombie affliction is spread through bites, or a virus.
This film features both kinds of zombies, those turned by a gas and those turned through a virus-spreading bite. The first half of the film features the classic infected, dead zombie: rotting corpse, blood and gore. The second half adds in the second kind: ghostly, white ghouls, which are very much alive.
The film itself is Oliver’s way of paying homage to other zombie films. The first half of the film is full of direct references to other films, including nods to some of his favorite zombie scenes. It is tightly filmed, clear focused and brightly lit. The second half is his compensation for a B-horror movie. It is badly lit with chaos and “crazy camera shots,” such as zooms and unfocused frames.
The first half is clean while in the second half the audience can see the camera equipment on the floor. Oliver says this is a kind of filming technique called point of view (POV), examples of which would be shots from the movies “Cloverfield” and “The Blair Witch Project.” He says it’s an “absolutely brilliant idea and should be done more.”
Oliver thinks Maine is the perfect place for filmmaking. “This area has so many options for backdrops. Here you can find thick forests, open fields, big buildings. Filmmakers should really go into the smaller towns and see what they have there,” he said. People in the area, Oliver said, have skills which they don’t realize can be easily translated into cinema. Electricians would be needed for lighting, carpenters and woodworkers needed for set construction. Even chefs and bakers would be needed to supply food for the cast and crew.
Currently the film business in Maine is located in one area — southern Maine. “It’s located in such a small area and Maine is a massive state,” Oliver said. “Small towns and communities would really benefit from the film industry. More people making films will bring more jobs and more money into the area.”
Contributed photo/Sam Hallett
ON THE SET — Writer and director, Nathan Oliver, stands behind the camera while filming a scene for his movie, set in Aroostook County.
Oliver plans to help make that hope a reality when he and his family return to the area permanently next summer. He already has plans under way to start up NO Productions, a feature film production company based in the area, with an office space opening soon in downtown Caribou. The couple’s friend and producer of the film, John Blanchette, will run the office while the family is in Montreal. Blanchette will be promoting and advertising “The Zombies Are Coming to Town,” including the selling of merchandise and pre-sales of the DVD. He will also be getting a pre-production team together in preparation for NO Productions’ next project.
The release date for “The Zombies Are Coming to Town” is scheduled for next year before the summer movie season begins. A local premier will be held at the Braden Theater in Presque Isle and Oliver plans to check with other local theatres as well as with independent movie theatres around the country. He is planning for a two-week run of the film, with opening dates to be announced.
Before that, the film needs to be processed and edited, a procedure with which they need the public’s help. Oliver says that processing the film will cost around $3,900, he has to buy a special kind of film insurance, which costs $2,500, color correction is $250 an hour and that is only a portion of the processing fees. He says they need at least $8,000 to complete the project and to that end they have started a fund-raiser on kickstarter.com. The goal must be met by August 1, or they won’t receive the pledged funds.
Everyone who makes a donation receives a prize ranging from a copy of the DVD and movie T-shirts to props and clothing used in the film. If someone or a group of people pledges the full $8,000, they will receive the ultimate prize. In addition to a copy of the DVD, T-shirt and two tickets to the premier, the person who pledges $8,000 will get to meet the director outside the Braden Theatre on opening night and shoot him with “blood.” Oh, and Oliver will be wearing a tuxedo.
For more information on the movie you can search for “The Zombies Are Coming to Town” on Facebook as well as the official website at: http://www.zombies.sad-machine.com. To pledge money and help out with the project go to: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/530395300/the-zombies-are-coming-to-town-0. Keep watching the website for updates on the progress, the opening of the NO Productions office and release dates for the movie.
