The beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. My heart was racing as I tried to steady my breathing. The sounds of his footsteps echoed in the hollow room, becoming louder with each step. This is it. This is the end. His pungent odor began filling the already musty smelling room. Tears began flowing from my eyes. I closed them tight and took a deep breath, firmly gripping the bat in my hands. I wasn’t going down without a fight.
Film plots are constantly flowing through my mind. With furthering my education I hope to one day watch my visions on the big screen. Creating films is my passion. I want to captivate audiences worldwide. I love having a vision in my head and watching it play out on the screen. |
|
why the world needs zombies
This article was the feature story for the July issue of Howl Magazine.
From TV and movies to comics and sometimes, even our own city streets, it’s been raining zombies — and we can’t seem to get enough of them.
Next month, reanimating into full flesh eating swing, comes Fear the Walking Dead , the prequel spin-off to AMC’s mega hit series The Walking Dead , which will explore how the zombie apocalypse all started in the first place.
Sure, you can go ahead and pick on The Walking Dead ‘til the cows home for some gaping logic loopholes among other things. But the fact of the matter is, the show is more popular than ever as season five broke records with the series’ highest ratings yet, making it the most-watched show in the history of basic cable. And the show’s fan-geeky follow up, The Talking Dead , hosted by Chris Hardwick, is getting just as much attention.
So why are we so damn obsessed with the undead? Maybe it’s because in particularly tough times, the world needs a monster.
Over the past decade, vampires and werewolves have become too damn sexy. Instead of fearing them, we want to date them. That leaves us with our poor lumbering, stinking and rotting cannibal corpse, giving us a reason to forge alliances with strangers and become heroes of the apocalypse.
And, at the end of the day, zombies are just good, clean (er, dirty), camp-tastic fun. I mean come on, what fan hasn’t wanted to be a zombie for a day and stumble around on set of The Walking Dead? For one lucky Massachusetts native, that dream became a reality.
Leo Burgess of Worcester won a series’ contest to be a “stumble-on walker” in the show’s second season. “My favorite part of the day was the makeup process,” Burgess said. “I wanted to do movie makeup when I was younger. It was an amazing experience.”
A rabid fan of the undead, Burgess (read our Q&A) is getting revved up to watch some more z-wrangling in the August spinoff.
Fear The Walking Dead shows the zombie outbreak unfolding during those few months our Walking Dead hero, Rick Grimes, is in a coma (for those not in the know, the whole Walking Dead series begins with Grimes waking up inside a hospital, in the midst of a very different world).
This new cast of characters, including Kim Dickens (Sons of Anarchy), Cliff Curtis (Missing), Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Orange is the New Black), will be running around the streets of L.A. as the whole world is on the brink of disaster.
“It should be interesting to see where this all began,” Burgess said. We think so too. Because the world needs zombies. They help us identify our demons, let us hone our survival instincts and conjure our inner badass. But remember, if all else fails, run like hell.
How did you land your role on The Walking Dead?
Leo: During the first season, in every episode, there would be a code word and at the end of the episode you would enter that code word on their site and be entered to win. The last episode of the season, I won.Which episode were you in?
Leo: I was in season two, episode one. The name of the episode is What Lies Ahead. Fan note: In the season two opener, Leo appears in the herd of zombies on the highway that send Sophia and Rick into the woods.
Did you kill anyone or were you killed by anyone?
Leo: No, unfortunately because I was unable to attend walker school, I wasn’t allowed to be up front so I did not kill anyone or get killed.
How did you prepare?
Leo: I wasn’t too sure on what I would actually be doing. I rewatched all of season one and studied the many zombies that were featured. I talked and watched the other extras on set and took inspiration from them.
How long did it take for you to be transformed?
Leo: It took less then an hour. The make up process was really cool. The whole look came together the second they put the contacts in.
Were you a fan of the show prior to being on it?
Leo: Well, the show hadn’t been running too long but the second I saw the first episode I was hooked. I knew this show was going to be a hit.
Did you meet any of the actors while on set?
Leo: I did, I met Steven Yeun (Glenn) and Jon Bernthal (Shane). Steven had found out that we were the winners of the Walk On Role Contest and came over to chat with us in between takes. We also saw Andrew Lincoln between takes.
Who is your favorite character on the show?
Leo: My favorite character changes all the time. I have been a Glenn fan from day one. He has always been one of my favorite characters. But this season I have really started to like Carol. She has just become such a strong character and has been quite crazy this season. I love it.
Why as a culture do you think we are so obsessed with the zombie apocalypse?
Leo: I think we all enjoy horror movies, and with special effects they are so much better than they once were. I also think it’s the idea of a loved one coming back to life that attracts many.
What is the one thing you couldn’t live without in the end of the world?
Leo: I wouldn’t be able to live without my family. It would be too tough to go on without them by my side. I would also miss sushi quite a lot.
Weapon of choice?
Leo: I would use a hatchet. It would be the perfect weapon, with a super sharp side and a flat side.
If you were asked to come back on the show again, would you?
Leo: Absolutely. I would love to do it again.
How would “zombie you” go out the second time around?
Leo: Maybe by getting my head split down the middle. Something with cool special effects. I think I would want Michonne to be the one to do it.
Weirdo Wednesdays
This next piece is an article I wrote for my Internship with Howl Magazine.
Attention all horror buffs, sci-fi nerds and weirdos, The Luna Theater has something freaky in store just for you. Every Wednesday beginning July 1, you’ll find a new macabre movie playing, hosted by filmmaker and special effects artist Rob Fitz.
The Best part — it’s totally free!
Weirdo Wednesdays stems from the mad minds of Luna Theater Director Amelia Tucker and Fitz, and their mutual love of the horror genre and all things bizarre.
The only catch: you’ll never know what is going to be screening until you get there.
Who doesn’t love a good surprise?
Q&A with Filmmaker and resident weirdo, Rob Fitz How did you get into the film/ special effects industry?
Rob: I went to a school for visual arts and made student films. I learned by doing student films and whatever effects they needed. I first worked as a production assistant on movies until I got the chance to do makeup and then things progressed from there.
How did you come up with Weirdo Wednesdays?
Rob: Well I went to the Luna to see a movie and was so impressed that I asked (theater director) Amelia Tucker if there were any plans for a horror movie night. We talked a bit and she came to me with the idea but she knew that I was a crazy movie nerd so she asked me to put it together.
How do you pick the movies that will play?
Rob: I try to go with a theme. If something is topical in the news or something I’ll find a cult horror flick that is equivalent. It can be of any era too, from 1915-2015. You never know what it will be.
Weirdest movie you’ve seen?
Rob: One of the weirdest things I have ever seen played at the Luna a few months ago. It was a film called “House” (1977). It’s a bizarre Japanese horror film.
What is your favorite horror movie?
Rob: Dawn of the Dead (1979) hands down, made me want to do what I do.
What movie do you feel has the best special effect makeup?
Rob: The Exorcist has the best old age makeup. But for classic practical effects I would say The Thing, or even American Werewolf in London.
How many films have you worked on?
Rob: At this point over 50 (imdb.com says 46 but it’s not up to date). Only a handful of the movies have been horror.
What was your favorite movie to work on?
Rob: I really enjoyed working on Ted 2. My department head was my friend Howard Berger from KNB effects. We had a lot of fun working on set.
What is your favorite supernatural creature to create?
Rob: I love me some zombies. A lot of fun and nice and messy. Vampires are a close second.
Shows start every Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Come to see what twisted, bizarre movie will be next in the lineup. www.lunalowell.com
The Best part — it’s totally free!
Weirdo Wednesdays stems from the mad minds of Luna Theater Director Amelia Tucker and Fitz, and their mutual love of the horror genre and all things bizarre.
The only catch: you’ll never know what is going to be screening until you get there.
Who doesn’t love a good surprise?
Q&A with Filmmaker and resident weirdo, Rob Fitz How did you get into the film/ special effects industry?
Rob: I went to a school for visual arts and made student films. I learned by doing student films and whatever effects they needed. I first worked as a production assistant on movies until I got the chance to do makeup and then things progressed from there.
How did you come up with Weirdo Wednesdays?
Rob: Well I went to the Luna to see a movie and was so impressed that I asked (theater director) Amelia Tucker if there were any plans for a horror movie night. We talked a bit and she came to me with the idea but she knew that I was a crazy movie nerd so she asked me to put it together.
How do you pick the movies that will play?
Rob: I try to go with a theme. If something is topical in the news or something I’ll find a cult horror flick that is equivalent. It can be of any era too, from 1915-2015. You never know what it will be.
Weirdest movie you’ve seen?
Rob: One of the weirdest things I have ever seen played at the Luna a few months ago. It was a film called “House” (1977). It’s a bizarre Japanese horror film.
What is your favorite horror movie?
Rob: Dawn of the Dead (1979) hands down, made me want to do what I do.
What movie do you feel has the best special effect makeup?
Rob: The Exorcist has the best old age makeup. But for classic practical effects I would say The Thing, or even American Werewolf in London.
How many films have you worked on?
Rob: At this point over 50 (imdb.com says 46 but it’s not up to date). Only a handful of the movies have been horror.
What was your favorite movie to work on?
Rob: I really enjoyed working on Ted 2. My department head was my friend Howard Berger from KNB effects. We had a lot of fun working on set.
What is your favorite supernatural creature to create?
Rob: I love me some zombies. A lot of fun and nice and messy. Vampires are a close second.
Shows start every Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Come to see what twisted, bizarre movie will be next in the lineup. www.lunalowell.com
Thru-my-lens Art Exhibit
This piece is an article I wrote for my Internship with Howl Magazine.
Rich worked in construction before the recession cost him his job.
Then severe arthritis set in, making his joints ache and finding work even harder. When money ran out, he lost his apartment. Life on the streets was his only option. These days, Rich takes odd jobs wherever he can find them. Each day he works to get back on his feet. To his surprise, picking up a camera was a new step forward and gave a different perspective on the world around him.
Teaming up with Lowell’s Brush Art Gallery, The Living Waters Center of Hope armed eight homeless men and women with disposable cameras and asked them to photograph images that depicted their lives.
The Thru My Lens Project, led by Living Waters’ director Diane Waddell, has a dual purpose — to give the community a snapshot of people’s lives and to give the photographer’s a broader sense of how they see themselves.
“We wanted to get not only pictures, but their back story,” Wadell explained. “How did they end up where they are?”
The process, she adds, was an emotional one. For many of the guests at Living Waters, a non-denominational faith-based outreach center, trying to grasp that they had a story worth telling stirred up many different feelings.
“I have a story?” they would ask.
“Everyone has a story,” Waddell would reply. “Even you.”
Ryan White, a coordinator on this unique art project said helping to change the stigma many homeless people face is a key part of the photography.
“Not all of them are drug addicts or lazy,” he said. “Some just fall on hard times.”
Rich admits the experience felt strange at times. Sharing personal aspects of your life, especially when you don’t have a home to call your own, is tough, he said.
But he also hopes to show some people that homelessness, like anything else in life, isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation.
“It hurts when people treat you inferior for being homeless,” he said. “I’m a person just like them.”
Soaked in bleach
This piece is an article I wrote for my Internship with Howl Magazine
Conspiracy theories surrounding Kurt Cobain’s death are alive and well in Benjamin Statler’s docudrama, Soaked In Bleach.
On April 5, 1994, in the guesthouse behind his Seattle home, 27-year-old Cobain was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the head. A note left behind by Cobain helped investigators rule the death as a suicide.
But for more than 20 years, some have questioned whether the rock legend’s death was actually caused by his estranged wife, Courtney Love.
Soaked in Bleach revisits the story through the eyes of Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Love in 1994, when Cobain went missing.
After digging into the details, Grant determined there was significant evidence to suspect foul play and the motive pointed directly to the woman who hired him.
The film develops as a narrative mystery with cinematic re-creations, interviews with crucial experts and witnesses, and the examination of evidence from the ‘94 case.
Grant shares a series of alleged holes in the case starting with the Seattle Police Department’s rushed verdict. From a lack of usable fingerprints on the shotgun to too much heroin in Cobain’s body for him to actually pull a trigger, Grant rules out suicide.
Love and Cobain were also going through a divorce. She’d get more money from a suicide than from a divorce, Grant says. With a suicide, Love would inherit and control the entire Cobain and Nirvana estate.
Whether you believe in the conspiracy or not, Soaked In Bleach gives a compelling argument and inside look to Cobain’s death.