(Please NOTE that some reporting in this newspaper article from 1993 isn’t exactly accurate,
but most of it is. Also the pictures were reproduced poorly (and in black & white) and I have replaced them with nice color versions of the original photos. Hope you enjoy the article!)
Prince George's County Goes Hollywood!
‘Twilight of the Dogs’ Filmed In
Upper
Marlboro
By Carol Mahoney
The Enquirer-Gazette Staff
Photos by Richard Latoff, courtesy of The VERY BIG Motion Picture Corporation Of America.
In February, the apocalyptic adventure film Twilight of the Dogs will be ready for release in theaters.
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Tim Sullivan as Sam Asgarde and Gage Sheridan as Karuy portray star-crossed lovers in the soon-to-be-released movie Twilight of the Dogs. |
The film, shot on location in two tobacco warehouses in Upper Marlboro and a sand and gravel pit in Laurel, discusses a number of heady issues including religious cults, plagues, curing epidemics, love, and reason.
It is the work of Arlington, Virginia, producer and director, John R. Ellis.
Recently Ellis sat at a huge flatbed editing table in his austere apartment, cleared of all non-essential items, save those connected with the film. Amid bunches of short strips a film already edited out and even more still to be edited in, Ellis discussed his filmmaking.
“ The idea when you shoot a film is to get enough coverage, enough different angles, that it gets you enough choices in editing to make the best possible film.“ Most of the shooting was finished in July with a few retakes here and there over the following few months.
“A lot of the time you get into the editing and you say, ‘how can we make this work? You can't always go back and reshoot,“ he said. " Especially when you have like a 100 extras on a given day, had a stuntman on fire and people doing other stunts and a lot of money is being spent.”
“This is a pretty big film,” Ellis said. He said it is his third film as producer but his first as a director of a feature film. “This is the biggest production that we've done yet, Ellis said. “Just the sheer number of people that were involved -- it was mind-boggling.“
He looked to everyone on the set for their input and ideas too. "I delight in other people's contributions,“ Ella said. " I can't think of anything more boring than watching a film that was nothing but what I did.“
There are a lot of Ellis' beliefs about life in the movie. He collaborated a great deal with the film’s screenwriter, Tim Sullivan of Hollywood, California, who also plays the male lead.
“This film is about spiritual rebirth and it's really about how people have to work together for the good of everyone,“ Ellis said.
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Producer/Director John Ellis reflects in front of a BMP-1 Soviet armored personnel carrier, one of the myriad props in the motion picture Twilight of the Dogs. |
He is quick to point out it is not a message film. “ I wanted to make a good, entertaining science fiction adventure film," he said. Some symbolism was snuck in along the way but it is definitely not a “preachy film.“
He will not discuss the plot too much because he does not want to give anything away.
Ellis feels he will never write his own scripts; he likes to collaborate. But he adds he is a good writer - " I'm a good storyteller; that's what movie making is about.“
Ellis grew up on a farm in Ohio and “at an early age, developed a love for comic books. He later worked in the comic book industry as an illustrator but found it was not really what he wanted to do.
“I wanted to make films,“ Ella said. Even as a teenager, he experimented with amateur filmmaking. And in the 1970s he managed to break into the film industry as a production assistant. He finally decided he would never really be able to afford to make his own professional films.
“In the late seventies I sort of gave up on it and then immediately found myself immersed in it," Ellis said. “Suddenly, like within 2 weeks of saying,"well I might as well just stick with the artwork [illustrating]“, I ended up being hired on a movie and working on that film for a year."
From The experience he made many contacts. By the early 1980s, the local film industry was doing well with commercials and television and Ellis was incredibly busy making many of them.
In the late 1980s, Ellis made two films himself, Star Quest and Invader (both are available in video stores around the country). Star Quest was recently sold to the Sci-Fi Channel, and Viacom has just purchased rights to run Invader on cable in the near future.
At the End of 1992, Ellis decided to make Twilight of the Dogs.
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| The murderous Deacon Hill (actor Barry Sigismondi) gleefully guns down innocent "scavenger dogs". |
Shooting in Upper Marlboro was not exactly easy. “It was so-o-o hot and the mosquitoes were terrible,“ Ellis said. The bulk of the film was shot in 6 weeks fairly quickly by industry standards.
Some high-tech special effects to be added in were later shot in California. All of the planning and much of the editing takes place right in Ellis' apartment.
“Some of the really big films will take five or six months, but smaller films go more quickly,” Ellis said. Most low budget films will be shot in about a month some in 10 days. That's ridiculous; I can't do that,“ he said. Actually filming for Twilight of the dogs took 34 days.
A normal day of filming starts at about 6:00 a.m. . Ellis starts with looking over the days list of what will be shot. A production meeting starts around 7:00 a.m. with the crew.
“We would try to be set up and shooting by 9:00 a.m.,“ he said. First a rehearsal will be done to check that the lighting was correct. Filming will last throughout the day with a break for lunch and filming isn't over until everything scheduled gets filmed.
Night shoots are done just about the same way, but with all the a.m.'s changed to p.m.'s.
One concern during filming is always the danger surrounding stunts. “It's scary sometimes with all the special effects and stunts.“ but everybody applauds when a special stunt or an effect goes off perfectly.
Ellis said this film went well with only four minor injuries. “Usually it's me, “ he joked.
Holding up one hand he gestured to a rather scarred thumb. “ I always hurt this thumb severely on films,“ Ellis said. In Twilight of the Dogs, there is fire, firearms -- machine guns, a tank and complicated stunts.
The film is being marketed for release in foreign countries. “A great portion of the profits are from foreign distribution,“ Ellis said. It is also being marketed for home video and television sales worldwide.
“Hopefully the film will find a strong domestic market too,” he said.
“The science fiction genre has become very popular again due to current hits like the new Star Trek series”, Ellis said. And it is popular not only here but all over the world.
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Bambi, a registered Jersey cow from Richmond, Virginia, plays Gertrude, a featured character in the movie. |
Once Twilight of the Dogs is put to bed, Ellis may start production of a political thriller sometime next year, assuming the financing falls into place. It is a fictional story based on a presidential impeachment. He also hopes to produce an old fashioned ghost story soon.
Ellis does not really hope to become the next Steven Spielberg. "I would like to be able to do the kind of films I want to make and have a reasonable amounts of money to make them with and make a reasonable living."
He feels he is getting to that point. But he would like to spend more time for the creative aspects and not fight so hard to get the films made.
As a smaller producer/director, Ellis feels he is luckier than some of the industry giants since he still gets to call all the shots on the set. “On bigger films everybody wants to put their two cents in,” he said.
Ellis also let his two children, Sara, 8, and Jules, 4, get into the act. “They were paid extras and they had a blast,“ he said. And it looks like Sara may follow in her father's footsteps one day, unless she becomes an oceanographer.
He has not decided whether or not he will encourage her. Ellis said filmmaking is not for everybody. “It's not something I recommend -- unless they can't help it.”
There is so much involved in being a successful director, Ellis said. “You have to be a businessman, a psychologist, and therapist for people, and a politician with the government. You have to be an artist and a designer and a writer and just so many things.
“Usually by the time it's over, it's like ‘thank God it's over with’. Then for a little while everyone is very depressed. It's a bit like postpartum depression. Then gradually you get to the point of ‘what now?’ It's a vicious cycle.”
“The only way to become a successful filmmaker is to let nothing stop you,” Ellis said. “That’s the bottom line.“
SIDEBAR
THE MAKEUP ARTIST
By Carol Mahoney
The Enquirer-Gazette Staff
On the movie set, there is one job that
seems like it should be too much fun to be a paid one.
Special effects makeup artist Tim Davis got to do all the special makeup for Twilight of the Dogs.
David said he had a childhood fixation with monsters and Halloween and dressing up. “Problem is I never grew out of it, much to my parents chagrin,“ he laughed. He has always been a movie buff and majored in art in school.
The Virginia native played around with makeup and trying to emulate the professionals. He and friends would ask questions of working artists. "And they would say, “Practice, practice, practice!"
Soon he was getting work and making some money on local films. He and a friend later started their own business. They invested in a motor home and equipped it for location makeup. His partner did the straight makeup while Davis created the monsters. They were the first to have their own company in the metropolitan Washington area. They worked for television and area theaters for three frenzied years.
But just as they were about to break into the Los Angeles market, illness struck. In 1990, Davis became very sick and spent 3 months recovering.
Davis even created special effects for the movie New Jack City from a hospital bed. But he continued to be plagued with health problems and ultimately lost the business.
Now he is on the comeback trail.
“John [Ellis, the film's director] was very kind and very generous to give me the job,“ Davis said. The two have known each other for many years. “This is my first film back.“
David said he and Ellis discussed the special effects makeup, sharing ideas and finally coming to an agreement. Davis proudly added the burn makeup used in the film is his own special creation.
There was one scene where the evil Reverend, played by Ralph Bluemke, had to be badly burned. Davis said it was complicated because he had to make thousands of tiny latex blisters and stick them all over Bluemke. There were close-ups of him so the makeup had to be detailed all the way down to his fingers, Davis said.
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Ralph Bluemke, as the evil religious cult leader Reverend Zerk, shows off 6 1/2 hours of Effects Makeup Supervisor Tim Davis’ handiwork. |
Much of the work on the film included providing continuity of cuts and bruises and progressive scabbing from one scene to the next, Davis said.
Probably the strongest thing Ellis imparted on Davis was that the film should be a family film, Davis said. Ellis did not want a lot of blood and guts – “No Friday The 13th blood-fest,“ Davis said.
Much of the violence is implied but there was some blood. Made from Karo syrup and dye, Davis went through about three or four gallons that he would apply and reapply to the actors along the way.
“There were a few sticky moments as shooting started,” Davis said. It was so hot that the blisters and scabs he applied to the actors started melting. Davis had to go back and remake them out of latex rubber.
“The best part was the camaraderie on the set,” Davis said. “But it was also hard work."
Davis already has two offers to do more films, one right after Twilight of the Dogs and another next year.
For newcomers to the field, Davis says, “Don’t limit yourself. Monster makeup is fun but learn the straight makeup too.”
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So I've been preoccupied with domestic issues and more while still trying to finish work on Twilight as well as assembling materials for the documentaries and special features to go on the BluRay and DVD. So I'm RESCHEDULING the release until this summer (as opposed to late spring as previously announced.
Hollywood, Californis
