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Interview with Jim Ojala and Scotty Fields, creators of the Marvel Zombies: The Movie trailer
By Geoff Bough
About a week ago, we stumbled upon an insanely awesome Marvel Zombies fan film. With incredible costuming and a very well done production. We dug a little deeper to find the masterminds behind this epic fan film. We spoke with Jim Ojala and Scotty Fields about their short film 'Marvel Zombies: The Movie.'
Rev: Can you tell us about your backgrounds and how you both got started in film and special effects?
J & S: Scotty Fields and Jim Ojala met during the pre-production makeup/creature fx for Troma's Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger 4 in New York City under the supervision of Tim Considine and Direct Effects.
Jim had just left Minnesota to work as an intern on Citizen Toxie. Scotty was from Alaska and had already been working in makeup/creature fx for a short while in New York. They both ended up moving to Los Angeles where they have continued working in professional makeup/creature fx, both independently as well as for other fx studios.
Some of their credits include: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (tv), Angel, Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Where the Wild Things Are, Vacancy, X-Men 3, Hellboy 2, etc.
Rev: How did the Marvel Zombies: The Movie trailer idea come about?
J & S: We were already fans of the comic series and created the costumes for Halloween. After all the work of creating these cool costumes we decided to shoot something short involving them.
Our idea of what a teaser trailer for a Marvel Zombies feature seemed like the best thing to do. We also wanted to use this as a promo tool for our makeup/creature fx abilities as well as directing abilities.
Rev: How long was the production process for the film?
J & S: 2 nights of initial shooting and a couple extra nights for pickup shots and the Captain America sequence at the end. In about 3 or 4 days, our incredible editor, Big Dave Mattey, was able to give us a finished product.
Rev: Was there a budget for the film?
J & S Under $2,000.00. It is only this low because of all of the fx work that Scotty and Jim put into it. If someone was paid to do the same you'd be talking about another $20,000.00 at least.
Rev: How long did it take to design the make-ups and costuming?
J & S: Probably a total of 2 solid weeks.
Rev: That Hulk costume is incredible, how long did it take to create that costume?
J & S: About one solid week of sculpting, molding, seaming, patching and painting. A whole helluva lotta work goes into making something like that.
Rev: What kind of camera was used for the film?
J & S: The Sony Z1U HDV
Rev: There
was some very interesting use of lighting in the film which creates a
more ominous tone, can you speak a little on that?
J & S: We knew we wanted to do something more creepy and interesting than just gut chomping. We wanted to set up the right atmosphere that makes the gut chomping more effective.
It was really a collaboration of Jim, Scotty, the cinematographer, Terry
Davis, and his camera assist, Andy Mangialino. Much of the credit definitely
goes to Terry since he had the balls to basically take over this dirty
alley in North Hollywood and climb on people's roofs and set up the correct
lighting.
Rev:
Films like this have been known to sometimes get more acclaim than a feature
as with the case with Sandy Collora's 'Batman: Dead End' which was hailed
as the most accurate representation of Batman on film. Has there been
a big response to this film?
J & S: We are still in the promo phase but there has definitely been a big response. Close to 8,000 hits on youtube. Many requests for us to direct the feature.
In fact, one of the colorists for the Marvel Zombies comic series saw
it and said, "I'd Like to say this video is Horrible, macabre,
bloody, gorey and outright ghoulish. Having said that, keep up the good
work. That's the way it should be."
Rev: Has Marvel commented yet?
J & S: We are
in contact with Marvel right now to attain exhibition rights to hopefully
show at Comic-Con as well as other venues.
Rev: Are there plans to expand this production or is going to stay as more a fan film?
J & S:
A lot of money and time
goes into just making a 2 minute piece like this so will probably stay
just a fan film for now. However, we are planning on releasing a "making
of" in the near future. Some good, funny ass behind the scenes stuff.
Rev: What can we expect in the future from
you guys?
J & S: Jim is currently busy on the makeup/creature fx as well as financing for his first feature, Strange Nature. It is a horror film based around the unsolved ecological mysteries of the thousands of severely mutated frogs found in Minnesota in the mid-90's that ended up spreading around the world. For more info, please visit:
Thank you Jim and Scott for taking the time to give us a behind the scenes look at your film and we wish you all the best in your future projects.
If you have yet to see the 9th wonder that is the Marvel Zombies: The Movie trailer, check it out: