It’s been nearly 9 months since we last updated the blog. That’s, like, enough time to have a baby and everything. Where has the time gone? Why have we foresaken you? Where’s the old trailer? Why are there no links on the menu bar any more? Whatever happened to the likely lads? Who killed JFK?
The answer to these, and many more questions, will be answered shortly* but first let me tell you that Stag Night of the Dead has a pencilled release date.
Yes, that’s right. Stag Night of the Dead – everyone’s favourite comedy zombie movie (or it will be when the fucker finally gets out there) will be available to own, cherish and buy from the Taiwanese woman down the pub any day soon.
Corky! Exciting news, eh?
So why has it been so long? After all, we had the cast and crew screening back in August last year. Well the truth is that it comes down to a number of factors.
We had a few issues with the picture quality which needed to be fixed. Taking on board advice from a number of the distribution companies who attended the screening, we took the decision to completely remaster the film. Now although the film isn’t Lord of the Rings in terms of length, this still meant going back through the film frame by frame and making changes. For those in the know, the film was shot 25fps so that’s 25 frames for every second you see on screen. Multiply that by an 85 minute running time equals 127,500 frames which needed to be fixed.
Great. So why so long?
Well once we’d tidied up those 127,500 frames, we then needed to take the picture back to our digital FX guru, Simon Fortescue, to put the SFX back in. I can’t remember the exact number but there are over a thousand digital effects shots on the film and these things take time. Literally painting in each effect frame by frame.
We then hit a bit of a roadblock over one scene. I don’t want to get into potential litigious grounds here so let’s just refer to it as the scene where a guy in a grey cardigan sings (badly – sorry Doug) 5 seconds of a cartoon theme song. Well the owners of the rights to the “song” wanted a ridiculous amount of money for us to use this. Basically we had to cut the scene BUT this then meant a change to the underpinning score…
To date, I believe we have burnt out three full spec computers on the project. The processing required to render the files was simply too much and they stuck their legs in the air and died.
On top of that, The Guvnors latest beast of a machine (more power than it took to fly man to the moon) decided it didn’t want to play any more and the hard drive threw a wobbly. Only a very expensive trip to a data recovery company meant we didn’t have to go back up to Bentwaters and start shooting all over again…
Now remember, everyone working on SNOTD is doing it for little or no money. We’re not making a “worthy” film so there was never any chance of the UK film funding agencies investing in us so this has all been self funded.
The fact is that paid work comes up which takes us all away from the project. Everyone involved in the making of this film is doing it because they love the film and believe in it. However, bills still need to be paid.
Oh and remember that 9 months baby thing I mentioned earlier? Well The Guvnor, or perhaps more importantly The Real Guvnor, had a baby boy during all this. The endless hours of dealing with the sleepless nights, the shit everywhere, the constant need for attention took it’s toll on The Guv…and then James arrived (9lb 6oz for all the ladies who’ll want to know). Needless to say, The Guv’s priorities were changed somewhat.
There’s been lot’s of other stuff going on in the background which I won’t bore you with but, sufficed to say, we’re now on the closing stretch and the film will be out in the immediate future.
So. What next?
Firstly we’re revamping the website as you can see. All of the links to the old pages have gone and we’ll be looking to get a brand new website online by the end of June. It will contain a lot more info about the film as well as more stuff to keep you folks entertained.
Secondly, we’ve taken down the old trailer for the film. Why? Because it sucked. It was cobbled together so that The Guv and I had something to show when we took SNOTD to Cannes and, in truth, no longer reflected the quality of the film. So we’re just finishing off the new trailer and it will be available within the next 10-14 days which leads me on nicely to my next point.
Thirdly, we’re in the process of beta testing our new Facebook Fan Page. The idea behind this is to consolidate everything into one place and make it easier for you to interact with us. We won’t be stopping our Twitter account or stop blogging but we wanted to create a space that rewarded everyone for their participation and involvement with the film and for being fans of the movie. So we’ll be setting up a VIP area which will give you:
- First access to all of the latest SNOTD news including the new trailer, dates of the films release and where you can see the film
- Behind the scene photos
- Discount coupons for the DVD
- Exclusive SNOTD merchandise
Our new Facebook Fan Page will not only give you first access to any SNOTD information but will also allow you to interact with other SNOTD fans so you can join up with the beta version of the page by going to facebook.com/zombiemovie.
For those of you not on Facebook, we’ll also be setting up an email distribution list which will give you the same perks. We should be getting that sorted within the next few days.
Fourthly (is there such a word?), in recognition of the fact that everyone we speak to about the film refers to it as SNOTD, we’ve ponied up for a new domain name so you can either access the site via www.stagnightofthedead.com or www.snotd.com. Either way, you end up in the same place but I know how tough it can be to remember domain names. You’ve had a drink…she looked hot…she gave you here URL…yadda, yadda, yadda…
Fifthly (definitely no such word), we’ll be reaching out to all the SNOTD fans and zombie movie fans over the next few weeks to help us get the film out there. For those of you lucky enough to get to the screening, and here’s a review of Stag Night of the Dead if you weren’t, you’ll know that we’ve put together a potential gem of a zombie movie which will appeal to both zombie and non-zombie fans alike. However we’ll need you help so become a fan on Facebook, subscribe to the SNOTD blog and follow us on Twitter. Rest assured that you will get your reward in Heaven. Or Hell. Your choice.
Thanks for getting to the end of this lengthy blog post. (Mental Note: Must not leave it nine months between blogging) I know it’s been a massively long wait for those of you involved from the outset. Please be assured that the end is nigh! Soon Stag Night of the Dead will be out there and we can continue with our plans for world domination!
Yours,
(an ever so slightly deranged) Mascot
* – Dunno the answer to the JFK one, to be honest.
