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Construction
commenced on the next part of the Puphedz project: the Kitchen set.
Many scenes will be shot in this set, including the opening of the
episode. Here are some early shots as the set is being dressed.
Props were constructed by Paul and Kristina Francis.
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Promote,
promote, promote. August 2000 found the Puphedz folks out doing
the horror film convention circuit. The Fangoria Weekend of Horrors,
held in Pasadena, CA placed THE PUPHEDZ project squarely in the
eyes of the likes of Director John Landis (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF
IN LONDON) and Effects Makeup Guru Rick Baker (MEN IN BLACK). Even
actor Udo Kier graced our booth with a surprise visit (awesome!).
Plus, diehard fans of the genre provided invaluable feedback (enthusiastic
and positive!) on the project.
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This
is where it all began. The cart proved to be a tedious endeavor
and is only used for shooting one time. The only live action in
"PUPHEDZ", the cart will be pulled by an actor and used
to begin and end each episode.
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The
crew converged on El Mirage dry lake bed near Victorville, CA to
shoot the beginning and ending sequences. The lake bed proved ideal
for several reasons, but primarily facilitated the pulling of the
cart. Rough terrain would have made mobilization near impossible.
Shooting started with gray, overcast skies. The weather cleared
and the final segment was filmed.
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An
exterior set of the house was needed for the trailer and for some
main and transitional elements within the first episode. Built by
eye from Jürgen's conceptual sketches, the house contains no
right angles. Jürgen, Jim Kundig and Ryan Vaniski built the
stage and house set over the course of four to five weekends. DP
Mark Leins prelit the set with three different looks: morning, late
afternoon/dusk and night.
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Not
a whole lot to shoot in this set, but what was filmed proved an
exercise in patience and endurance. The puppet had to walk in one
of the shots, so rods were fitted to the legs. A gantry was built,
spanning the set overhead to allow puppeteering from above. The
real challenge: Puppeteering with only three people.
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This
set, built forced-perspective, was only about four feet in length.
Numerous scenes were shot here with three of the four puppets. “Wild”
walls and a ceiling piece were constructed to facilitate camera
placement. Shooting with a wide-angle lens helped to further enhance
the perspective.
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The
Old Man’s heart, or rather, the Tattle-Tale Heart set, although
fairly self-contained, had a lot happening on it. Constructed mostly
of foam, it had animated devices which needed to be operated during
shooting. This required four puppeteers. The bellows apparatus (Old
Man's lungs) was driven by a Makita. The Heart consisted of air
bladders to make it beat as well as control cables for other movements.
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Imagine
that: A whole set created for just one gag. Actually,
there were three for the complete sequence, but only these images
are available. The Skinny Cop, while searching the House, climbs
up on the roof, peers down the chimney, falls in and winds up in
the Fireplace.
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