Day 436

(Technically: 583)

Shot some pick-ups today. Now, we are finally done shooting!

We met at Times Square, where it was really cold and gray, but thing warmed up as we went through the day, getting to about 65 degrees and sunny by the time we got down to Washington Square Park.

Alex our main zombie was great to work with, as usual, bring his very physical acting style to the role as he stalked tourists in the park.

We also met up with Danielle to do a few quick shots out in Brooklyn. The scenery around our first location has been cleaned up considerably, with a lot of the graffiti now gone, alas.

But it was a great shoot, with just me and Richard working the production end and after a quick session with Kristy yesterday, I was able to handle all the make-up by myself.

(Unfortunately, this is the only photo we have of Danielle today).

Once again, I want to thank everyone who helped out with the principal photography and the pick-ups. Now my goal is to finish a final edit by the end of the month.

Day 411

(Technically: 558)

Meeting with Richard Trammell, our Director of Photography, about planning a few pick-up shots in the coming weeks. Alex Demers, our main zombie, will be back in New York soon and I want to get some more shots of him throughout the city.

I am very close to completing the cut. My initial hopes was to find an editor, but I had so much fun just doing it myself. As much as I hate putting my name everywhere in the credits, I have to take the proper credit for the work I did: Written, Produced, Directed, Edited, Sound Designed, Fundraised, Marketed, and Distributed by George Westberg.

...Okay, that just sounds stupid.

Last year around this time we were gearing up for our Night of the Drinking Dead fundraiser at MJ Armstrong's here in New York City. Once these few pick-ups have been completed -- hopefully by the end of April -- we will have a final edit and begin the 3-month sound design process, during which time I am hoping to do some more fundraising for our post-production budget. We have a few ideas, and it looks like this summer will be the best time to do it.

Day 353

(Technically: 500)

(500) Days of Zombies.

Still editing a bit here and there, waiting for the weather to warm up a bit in order to film a few extra shots throughout the city. Also writing a letter to Sony Records to ask permission to use "Everybody's Talkin'" in NYZ. It's a long shot, but I figured it'd be best to ask just to see. There's always Plan B -- getting somebody to write an original song, which wouldn't be so bad.

This Friday all of us from Yemane's Advanced Production Workshop 2009-10 are having a reunion to catch up and check out each others' movies. After all this time working on the scripts in class, it'll be so nice to finally see everyone's films in their semi-finalized form. Plus Eric has promised to send some animation from USC. Looking forward to it!

Day 228

(Technically: 372)

Met with Yemane yesterday. He had been out of the country filming a documentary all summer, so it was great to sit down and chat with him about the progress of NYZ. As always, he had great advice of where to go forward from the rough cut, namely trying the Monday Night Faculty Screenings that he runs along with a few other NYU professors to watch students' rough cuts and give feedback. This Monday is booked, but we'll see if the next one isn't filled up yet.

Also working on the re-shoots+pick-ups, which we hope to complete before the end of the month, because autumn is fast approaching and it would be ideal to make it look like it did last April when we shot the rest of the film.

Day 221

(Technically: 365)

Pre-Production officially began one year ago today, with the first day of class where we pitched our project ideas in the hopes of getting the coveted allotments. How nerve-racking, how young, full of cautious optimism, blissfully unaware of the trials that lied before us...

Now, one year later, (not in DC Comics time, mind you), we have returned to school to finish NYZ, which is currently undergoing its second rough cut, hopefully getting towards a fine cut in the next month or so.

While one shooting day was affected by rain, forcing us to postpone that scene to a later date, there are other spots that the rough cut has brought to light that need tweaking, so a few pick-ups are currently being planned as well as the scene we need to re-shoot. And now that we know how it all fits together, we know how to best utilize the time to make the final pieces fall into place. For now, courage.

Day 197

(Technically: 341)

28 Weeks Later

We have a rough cut of "NYZ" assembled. I've just been doing it myself for now, and will be looking for an editor to come along and actually do a proper edit, since as the director I am a little attached to it and could use an objective pair of eyes to help.

I've been in Seattle for a week for a little break, and I got the chance to visit my old high school today to stop by and screened the rough cut to the high school kids in the video program. Got some good feedback, and we had a very thorough discussion afterward where the students offered some great notes on how to make it better. We'll most likely be doing some a pick-up shoot sometime soon to fix a few continuity problems as well as a way to improve transitions between scenes and adding to the storyline.

Speaking of things that won't die...

I know vampires suck, but really...? Do we really need this?