The Night Shift: Latex loving lady

The Night Shift is the production diary of Fighting Owl Film's new independent supernatural-adventure-comedy of the same name currently in "post" in Mobile, AL. Over the course of the next several weeks and months, you'll get an insider's peek at what it's like for filmmakers to craft a new entry of paranormal pop culture from Erin Lilley, a producer and actress on the film.

Latex Loving Lady

You know, I could bore you with more of the "waiting for special effects/sound/ADR/whatever" spiel, but I won't. Instead, I'll just give a quick update, then move on. The final effects are trickling in as fast as the weather in our artist's area of the country will allow. The sound will be finished as soon as we get the last of the ADR (looping) recorded, and the color correction will happen about the same time as the ADR.

We're looking at the end of the month. Dear God, I hope it's no longer than that.

Alrighty, now that that's out of the way, on to more fun stuff! After spending most of last summer covered in greasepaint and liquid latex, while trying to cover other people in greasepaint and liquid latex, I've developed a bit of a fascination with effects makeup. Our designer, Jessica, worked absolute magic with our store-bought prosthetics and teeny budget. I sat in on every workshop she put on for our actors, and was positively amazed at the transformations she could bring about. Now, I fully admit that I'm not great at effects makeup. I can apply a mask, latex down edges, and do simple painting and touch-ups, but that's as far as it goes. However, I adore watching real artists at work.

So, imagine my excitement at SyFy's new show, Face Off. No, it's not a remake of the Nicholas Cage/John Travolta movie. It's more like Project Runway for effects makeup artists. Week after week, these masters of disguise compete to see who's the best at sculpting molds, applying prosthetics, and showing their creative genius. Sometimes the designs work. Sometimes they don't, but when everything clicks together, it's movie magic. Plus, the filmmaker in me is drooling over their workspace and resources. If only we'd had that kind of budget ... Face Off airs Wednesday nights at 10/9c on SyFy.

We're still plugging away at this thing. In the meantime, you can follow The Night Shift at www.thenightshiftmovie.com. You can check out the poster, trailer, cast and crew, and some fun downloads. Heck, if you like, you can even be our friend on Facebook and Twitter (@NightShiftMovie), where you can follow more of the progress of the movie.