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Friday, February 25, 2022

Post #15 - TOTD on PG County Community Television 6-10-1993

Twilight Of The Dogs news story on
Prince George's County Community Television
June 10, 1993


It was the morning of Thursday June 10th 1993 when we were visited by PG County Community Television to do a news story on Twilight Of The Dogs. It was our 9th day of shooting, there would be 30 more days to go after this (including 3 days in mid-May of 1994, to "pick-up" shots/sequences we missed).

My friend, the Commissioner of Film for PG County, Gailyn Gwin, interviewed me and did the onscreen report when it aired. Another friend of mine, Paul Crosariol, was the cameraman.
 
Although Gailyn reports Invader to be my first film, it was my second following Star Quest: Beyond The Rising Moon, Twilight being the third. 

The next day (after this was shot) we welcomed Hollywood's Alicia Craft as our new Directory of Photography (Cinematographer), who did an amazing job on the film.
 
Gailyn also kindly provided us with all the footage they shot for the news story, a lot of it unique, which we will be using in parts of the documentaries which will be included on the BluRay and DVD release of Twilight Of The Dogs in a few months.

See you in 2 weeks, and hope you enjoy the video!

John Ellis
Hollywood, CA 
-30-

 
(NOTE that if receiving this in email, to view the video you have to click on the link to visit the blog, and/or click on this YouTube link: https://youtu.be/fmG9PFDu3Ko 
 
#twilightdogs #longlostfilm

Twilight Of The Dogs is coming to BluRay and DVD, Spring 2022!

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Twilight Of The Dogs
Blog! 

Support our effort!!!

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Friday, February 11, 2022

Post #14 - Monster Maker Journal, July 1995


 This article was written as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek promotional piece by Tim Sullivan, 27 years ago for Monster Maker Journal magazine, which appealed to fans of effects-makeup, monsters, and, well...gory makeup effects. So be prepared when you read article that some of it exaggerates: there is NO pus in the film, and also many of Tim's descriptions benefit from the reader's imaginations.
More after the articles...


Monster Maker Journal #2 - July 1995

Monster Maker Journal film preview... 

Twilight Time 

by Tim Sullivan

The cast, crew and cow of Twilight Of The Dogs. There's a Russian tank in the picture somewhere.

It is possible that Olympia Filmworks International / The Very Big Motion Picture Corporation of America is the most successful production company in the Mid-Atlantic States? Who knows for sure, but Olympia has stayed in business for nearly a decade under one name or another (Common Man Films was the original moniker). That's quite an accomplishment in the world of independent film-making. What's even more significant is the firm has made two films -- Star Quest: Beyond The Rising Moon and Invader, both released to home video by VidAmerica and TriMark, respectively. Producer/Director John Ellis is putting the finishing touches on Twilight Of The Dogs, a science fiction epic shot skillfully on a shoestring budget in rural Maryland.

Following the worldwide success of Invader, Ellis decided to do something a little different. He asked your humble servant to come up with a screenplay that would be more character-oriented than his previous efforts, while not skimping on the special effects and monsters.

The adventures of Stealth pilot Sam Asgarde and the half alien woman Karuy, after the collapse of civilization, provided the eventful context. Their world, first seen from space over the opening titles, is a dusty overheated ruin inhabited by genetically engineered spiders the size of George Foreman. This unfortunate situation has been caused principally by the spread of a sexually transmitted disease that eats away human flesh. It's the custom to throw yourself down into a spider pit when you know you're rotting away from the plague, huge oozing sores being the telltale symptom.

In one of the few habitable regions left after the major cities have been nuked in an unsuccessful attempt to contain the disease, a deranged ex televangelist has organized some survivors into a paramilitary church, where he exerts his will on the wandering bands of starved nomad “dogs” remaining after the agonizing holocaust. (Not to mention having his way with the nubile young chickies.) This is where Sam Asgarde comes in -- of course -- and he soon gets to first base with his gorgeous, if extraterrestrial, girlfriend, while reluctantly battling evil. Their clash with the good Reverend sparks the gory goings on. Aside from various explosions, bullet hits, dismemberments, etc., Twilights effects range from 27th degree burn victims to panoramas of ruined cities. But let's start with the fun stuff. The gore.

Left: actor Ralph Bluemke shows off the unpainted burned flesh appliance surrounded by the generic blister appliances. Right: the finished makeup.

The man responsible for the blood and pus is Twilight's makeup maestro Tim Davis (see sidebar). Tim is incredibly enough, also the editor of this magazine! Is there no end to this Renaissance man's talents? His film and TV credits include New Jack City (Warner Brothers), and America's Most Wanted (Fox). All seriousness aside for just one moment, Tim came up with some masterful appliances, displaying the rotting flesh and dangling eyeballs of plague infected zombies and radiation victims with panache. You'll love the shot where a guy pukes into his own open sore!

Another cool shot shows a loser getting his brains blown out. In fact, that happens more than once in the picture, but Tim's piece de repugnance has to be at the film's climax when a dude is roasted alive. In closeups, you can see so much grizzly detail underneath the suppurating pustules that you might even hesitate to gnaw a kernel of popcorn for a nanosecond or two. I mean this guy is toasted! Add to that the odd crucifixion victim or mutilated corpse, and you can see that Mr. Davis was a busy man on the picture. Monster Maker Journal was probably behind schedule for a while as a result. Sorry.

Stop motion was used to bring the giant black widow spiders to creeping life in the desolate world of the future. The arachnids were constructed and animated by Kent Burton, whose work can be seen in such mainstream productions as Ed Wood (Hollywood Pictures), Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final insult (Paramount) and Freaked (20th Century Fox), as well as independent features like Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor. Kent used mattes as well as miniature sets to blend the spiders with live backgrounds and make them interact with humans and animals. The giant arachnids kill a dog and a number of humans. His animation, honed on MTV spots, music videos, and Land Of The Lost episodes, is as smooth as Ray Harryhausen. You know, that 50s and '60s monster guy who won a special Oscar a few years ago presented by no less a figure than Tom Hanks.


Stop motion animator Kent Burton manipulates a 1/6 scale genetically altered giant black widow spider in its “spider pit” lair. (note animation gauges)

In fact, this is the first picture Kent's worked on in his own home FX shop, which he built in Southern California in 1994 and dubbed Hesperia Studios. Employing a beam-splitter, Kent's front projection technique is flawless. The final effect has had preview audiences jumping at test screenings. You know how it is when a deadly, poisonous, 150 lb spider comes down off the ceiling right at you? As Bob Hope said in Ghostbreakers (1940), reminds me of my hotel room in Scranton. Insect fear fans will eat it up with a spoon.

The guy pulling all of the fun together is producer-director John Ellis, who performs miracles on extremely limited budgets. I've hung around plenty of movie locations but I've never had the pleasure of working with a man who can do so many things so well on a set. John has drawn storyboards, painted sets, designed effects sequences, blown up miniatures, painted and animated optical animation cels -- you name it -- as well as putting the actors through their paces. This is nothing new to him as he has been producing high quality special effects and live action work as an industry professional since 1979. John has created effects laden promos for just about everybody in television, and his designs helped kick off the fledgling MTV Network in the early 80s. Along the way John learned how to create opticals from scratch. For the energy bolts fired from Karuy’s dysjuncter gun, he used 35mm filmed live backgrounds, drew the bolts on tracing paper over the projected frames, painted cells by hand using the tracings as templates, and photographed the cels laid over the original action on an optical printer at the Bill Dempsey’s studio in Washington, DC, a suburban of North Arlington. The cels are lit with a blue gel to complete the process. Time consuming, but a terrific effect. Like I said this guy can do just about anything.

Twilight Of The Dogs director John Ellis demands some Gatorade while waiting for the next setup.

As a cast member, I can tell you that John is definitely an actor's director. He empathizes with the characters as if he were a thespian himself, comprehends actors problems, and gives the performer as many takes as he or she needs to get the scene across. This is pretty unusual in independent, action, SF and horror films, but John knocked himself out to supervise every aspect of the production, and to furnish Twilight with the highest quality inhumanly possible.

And speaking of production values, that brings us to Ron Miller's matte paintings. Ron is a space artist whose work has been seen in Dune and Total Recall. His magnificent paintings for Twilight Of The Dogs give a sense of scope to this futuristic horror tale. Excellent miniatures were built by Norman Gagnon, Lee Stringer and Mike McGee, only to be destroyed by Karuy’s dysjuncter gun in the film, a prop also built by Gagnon. Adding further realism is the flashy work of former Navy SEAL chief Walter “Boom Boom” Suarez (that's Mister “Boom” to you), pyrotechnics expert and armorer par excellence. Perhaps the most difficult explosion was the destruction of the Reverend's Soviet Armored Personnel Carrier, a Russian tank reportedly captured in Operation Desert Storm that seats 11 of his “deacons”, complete with firing turret Cannon and blazing AK-47s at the gun ports. In the course of shooting, Walter blew up what seemed to be half of the Maryland countryside.

Local folks didn't mind a bit. Dozens of them came on the show as extras, and the Upper Marlboro Volunteer Fire Department provided invaluable assistance. A few miles from a vast gravel quarry in Laurel, sets were constructed in the old Marlboro tobacco refinery, where livestock used in the film were also housed. A black stallion (who's shot out from underneath Sam Asgarde during a skirmish with the titular “dogs”), assorted rats, and the spider-bitten canine TEX were owned and trained by wranglers Doug Sloane and his partner Billy “Butch” Frank, two cowpokes who’d worked on TNT's Gettysburg with Martin Sheen, Jeff Daniels, and the late Richard Jordan; on Sommersby with Jodie Foster and Richard Gere; and on the civil war feature Glory with Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Matthew Broderick.

Author and star of Twilight Of The Dogs, Tim Sullivan as the reluctant hero, Sam Asgarde.

My own credits are somewhat more humble. Before writing the screenplay and co-starring with the beautiful Gage Sheridan in Twilight Of The Dogs, I'd written seven science fiction novels including The Parasite War, Destiny's End, The Martian Viking, and Lords Of Creation, edited two horror anthologies (Tropical Chills, Cold Shocks), published 30 odd short stories and hundreds of articles, served as creative consultant on the Hemdale feature In A Moment Of Passion, starred in the horror film The Laughing Dead, and generally made a nuisance of myself for the past 15 years or so in the world of horror and SF. A project in current development is Knucklebones, based on my own 1988 short story, the story of a 12-year-old serial killer. Should be plenty of intestines in that one. Love them nurnies! That picture will be shot at Morro Bay, California, this fall, and it is slated to be directed by Richard Marks for Aspen Pictures.

John Ellis and I came up with the original story for Twilight, which incorporates sci-fi and horror ideas in a future setting we were certain we could realize. Lacking a large budget, we were determined to make every dollar show on the screen, first with a strong story featuring genuine characters and then with the production values necessary to get it all across, with maximum impact. Principal photography in the mosquito-infested summer of 93 -- the hottest in 50 years -- was plagued with many problems, so it was necessary to return to our locations in the spring of ’94 to shoot pick-ups -- these went without a hitch, and post-production began, nearly a year ago as I write this.

One of the giant black widow spiders on the miniature desert set…

That's okay though. This may be independent, action-oriented, Horror/SF, but it ain't exploitation. The extra time we put into this picture should make it worthwhile viewing not just for typical mainstream audiences or blasé videophiles; creature fans in particular should have a good time. I know I did. I got to fight monsters, kill bad guy fanatics, kiss pretty girls, ride horses shoot off automatic weapons, and generally comport myself like a barbarian on Saturday night.

Whether or not my enthusiasm comes across on the screen isn't for me to judge, of course, but the finished film came out great. Twilight isn't quite like anything you've seen, and it's quite a roller coaster ride. It's well directed, beautifully shot by Alicia Sehring (Star Trek The Next Generation), the violence is intense, and the effects top notch. And, present company excluded, I can vouch for the cast. Ralph Bluemke as the evil Reverend Zerk, is a standout, as is the superfine Gage Sheridan, as the gorgeous female alien warrior, Karuy. In supporting roles Ellen Hart and Barry Sigismondi are excellent. Tex the dog, Diablo the horse, and Gertrude the cow are expert scene stealers. Only the cow survives by the way. The indefatigable George Stover cameos as one of the reverend's more accommodating acolytes. As Sam Asgarde, Tim Sullivan sweats a lot. Ozone layer depletion, you see.

Stuntman Phil Hayes does a full burn while doubling for actor Ralph Bluemke. Phil is a trained professional and all possible safety precautions were taken on the set.

Oh, and the director's hands are shown in one scene, gashing the leading lady with a knife, giving Tim Davis one more opportunity to get out the old blood tube for one last red spurt. But I refused to tell you anything more about Twilight Of The Dogs. I will guarantee you a good time, so go out and rent it. Your bucks will surely make Olympia Filmworks the most successful production company in the region, if it isn't already.

Oh, I did mention the buckets of pus on the guy who's been torched, right? Right, I thought so...

See you soon at the old Schlockbuster, fellow video monster lovers.

Makeup artist and Monster Maker Journal editor Tim Davis applies cuts and bruises on actress Gage Sheridan.     

About My Work On Twilight Of The Dogs

by Tim Davis

Actress Ellen Hart had to get this heavy “dirt” makeup every day!
There's no soap in the future!

Twilight Of The Dogs was an interesting shoot to say the least. The first stage in preparing the makeup effects starts with the script reading at the director's apartment with the heads of each department present. Once I had my script, I noted each scene that required special makeup and effects. The director made some special suggestions, then it was time to buy supplies. The time between the first script reading and being on the set and ready was only one week! The script really didn't require major prosthetics but it did need lots of diseased people so I picked Gel-Fex to create the ugly ulcerations needed. The problem with Gel-Fex is if it gets too hot, it melts. While shooting on location we experienced the hottest summer on record for the area plus shooting in a desert-like quarry didn't help either. I applied a huge mass of blisters on the stomach of MMJ reader and movie extra Jeff Prettyman and in the 90 plus degrees, it just melted right off him in less than 10 minutes.

There were two makeups that required detailed prosthetics and with no lab time I turned to friend and expert effects artist Robert Beach (now living in California). He gave me a few foam appliances made for science fiction convention costume contests (he regularly won!) and I adapted and applied them on the set for the horribly burned Reverend Zerk and a nuclear fallout victim who shows off what he had for lunch. These makeups benefited from Robert's detailed sculpting and casting skills.

Ted Woynicz as radiation victim, makeup by Tim Davis.

The hordes of ragtag survivors (scavenger dogs) required lots of dirty faces and hands, and legs, and clothes, and feet… the straight makeup artist, Mary Lou Benzino and I went through at least six large jars of Texas Dirt (Max Factor) in two different shades over the 3 months of location shooting. One trick you may want to try with Texas Dirt, get your model to squint their eyes real tight then lightly brush the dirt powder over the crow's feet at the corner of their eyes. When the actor relaxes his eyes and cheeks you'll see the realistic dirty crow's feet look seen in hundreds of westerns.

Inside back cover photo: Gage Sheridan as the alien Karuy from the film Twilight Of The Dogs.

We also had to help the wardrobe department distress the dogs costumes and that included taking scissors to them and spraying them with theatrical black hairspray. A wardrobe department assistant cut a hole to over one extras cleavage, to distress her t-shirt. After a day in the blazing sun for her scene she discovered that after she washed the dirt powder off, she had a sunburned circle on her breast the exact shape of the hole. Tim Davis

Back cover: actor Ralph Bluemke as the evil and toasted Rev. Zerk. Photo by Richard Latoff. Photo copyright ©1994 by John Ellis and The Very Big Motion Picture Corporation Of America.

-30-

Olympia Filmworks International, alas, was not to be. The trends affecting the film and home-video industries and markets at the time took their toll...and then there was the sabotage I have covered in prior posts. Although Andy Ross, Tim Sullivan, Liz Heyd and I worked diligently throughout 1995, it was terminated. Also Tim Sullivan's film Knucklebones died for lack of funds. My longtime friend Tim Davis passed away February 8, 2015 from congestive heart failure, he was 56. There will be a never-before-seen interview with Tim Davis on the BluRay for Twilight.

See you in two weeks.

#twilightdogs #longlostfilm

Twilight Of The Dogs is coming to BluRay and DVD, Spring 2022!

Subscribe below to the Twilight Of The Dogs Blog! 

Support our effort!!!

Please comment and click "like" where possible!

New post every other Friday morning!
See you here Friday February 25th!


/ ( mm / dd )
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Post #17 - We Are BACK!!!

  "The best laid plans..." Here we are 5 months since my last post...Linda had the hip revision surgery at the end of March,, wh...