Alright, so I’m late on the blog, and I’m busy, busy, busy editing, but fortunately, Nichole wrote the most amazing blog post… fun, funny and spoiler free….so  give her a read, and I’ll be posting this weeks blog soon(ish).  So enjoy one of the movie’s stars take on the final day of filming:

Originally posted on http://www.nicholefischer.com/?page_id=108

Ambiguous Last Shooting Day for TYAI
Posted on January 16, 2011 by nicholefischer

While I cannot give out many details on my last shooting day for The Year After Infection due to major spoiler alerts and artist integrity I can say the last day, and the shoot itself, was a fun ride.

Ambiguous Last Shooting Day:

I’ve honestly been holding off on writing this blog. One, because it’s a delicate scene that’s instrumental to the film and I know I cannot give anything away regarding its content. Two, I still hate that it’s over. I had an amazing time shooting this feature film and cannot wait to see the final product.

Last Scene- the safe

The last shooting day was, per usual, far out into east-(or southern) Jesus. After a long ride and setup the day held great promise to make some fun movie magic. The day did not disappoint. While the shoot day went longer than anticipated I cannot wait to see what we shot and how the whole scene plays out.

The location had an abandoned warehouse feel to it, which added to the creepiness. The building was equipped with an equally creepy elevator that I only took once due to its rickety antique vibe and my goal to live through the day.

Scary Elevator

Going up?

Let’s get this over with

And did I mention the scary hanging nails?

Who put those there? And why? Wait…don’t tell me…

Aware of my surroundings

I watched my step everywhere I went…

first step is a little bit tricky…

With lots of holes in the structure I learned to tread lightly everywhere…

The plus side? This was our first location that actually had indoor plumbing!!!

dusty but still indoor plumbing

The location was filled with hundreds, maybe thousands, of unique antique items that I couldn’t help but take hundreds of photos of- literally.

Dusty Antique

This last day of summer cast shooting only called for James and I to be on set. And as the temp outside dropped so did the temp inside as there was no heat and really not much to the windows either.

Broken Windows

After 3 long months of shooting the final day was just as fun and exciting as the rest of our shoot. We got the final scene done and everyone, cast and crew, had a great experience. It was sad knowing it was our last day; growing with these characters, cast and crew it definitely made it a bittersweet ending.

Dir. Tony, Boom Op Mike, Camera 2 Maria

Tina, setting up the shot.

Dir. Tony, Boom Op. Mike
As the crew continues to shoot the final fall and winter segments of the film and we get closer and closer to completion I can’t wait to relive this past summer/fall and see our hard work (and frozen toes) on screen.

Let’s fill these seats at the premiere, shall we?

Now for some of the pictures of those fabulous antiques I spoke about:

doors

antique chairs

Always Coca Cola

I’ll take it….awww, bummer

Toys!

R

odds and ends

lovely chairs

View from across the street

Tons of stuff

Tons and Tons of Antiques

Picture frame anyone?

I know some people who need a helmet

Impassable

The View

Last day of Filming TYAI – Take 2!
Posted on June 13, 2011 by nicholefischer
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While I have been busy over the past few months with a few other projects I have stayed in touch with many of the cast and crew from The Year After Infection. So I was admitting delighted when Tony, director for The Year After Infection, told me I would have to be part of the Arctic Mill Paper team yet again for a few last pick-up shots.

The one, the only, A Team

The crew had been working around the clock since I last filmed with them in November; shooting the Fall and Winter segments of the film the crew has yet to have a break from filming.

In preparation for getting back into my “Madison” frame of mind (since last time I put on that uniform/costume was over 6 months ago) I revisited my blogs, script and photos. I was honestly excited to see everyone again and, if you ever ask me in person I will completely deny it, a bit excited to jump into a canoe again- but this time in MUCH warmer weather- just as the canoeing Gods intended.

On the morning of filming, the events of the day were going just as they had months prior; so much that it was as if no time had passed at all. By that I mean I was, per usual, on time- if not a bit early- and we didn’t get completely gathered up and on the road to our long awaited destination until over an hour later. 🙂 Gotta love consistency.

Once at the meet spot at our destination, St. Claire, MO (over an hour and a half away) we all gathered as if no time had passed at all. One major change that no one could ignore was our new friend, SUMMER WEATHER. The caps may seem a bit dramatic, but after being in water with 40 degree weather it made our gathering that much sweeter.

The pickup shots necessary also required extras to be onset, so zombie makeup was again part of the fun.

Shawn in makeup

Zombies in makeup

Interviews were done with the cast while the extras got into makeup. Can’t wait to see how Kelly formats these together for the film’s extras.

James, in interview

In interview

After getting to shooting location number 1 for the day we set up with getting the canoes in the water. However, it wouldn’t be The Year After Infection without a few hiccups. I mean, how would we cope with a seamless setup and shooting day? My canoe, you know with my pal Wilson on the front, was on an actual canoe trip in a completely different state. So last minute our fabulous crew went out and got another canoe and doctored it to look identical to my old canoe…however, one thing just wasn’t the same….

Wilson

Imposter!

And it, again, wouldn’t be a filming day on The Year After Infection without the locals curious about our activities. One perk we had in the colder weather we never realized, until now, was how many other people would be in the water on a summer day. So when it came to filming by the bridge again we had some locals try to make their movie debut by jumping off the bridge over and over… and over again. Ahhh, shooting on location.

The pick-up shots, once we could roll, were great. Really didn’t take much time at all. However, we hadn’t really begun canoeing yet. With all the spring rains we had the river had swelled and was MUCH deeper than it had been back in November.

Island back in November 2010

After: June 11th 2011

So canoeing in the deeper water was a new challenge for us. Oh, did I mention that almost every cast member also had to swim in this water as well? 🙂 Fun times!

A few new twists were added to a few scenes, so I was one of the lucky cast members to get to dive into the water again. Not so bad this time since the water was above 40 degrees. But I stand firm on the fact that I am still a member of the Polar Bear Plunge due to my “swim” back in November. (And yes, I did give James a ration of crap for my last swim and made sure we did NOT repeat last year’s events- thank you very much Tony Greco. 🙂 )

Night shots were at our next shooting location and the current had picked up. After quite a few circles in the water we got on target and got our scenes shot.

It was a looooong day (16+ hours- not including commuting) onset and we were exhausted! But it was a great way to end the experience.

The premiere is right around the corner, but first- the wrap party! Can’t wait!

And, of course, I’m adding in a few pics from the day’s events (added greenery courtesy of the season called, Summer):

Shawn and I at location 1, pre-makeup/wardrobe

Mel and I pre interviews

Zombie extras

shooting a scene

Elyse and I soaked

The Year After Infection Wrap Party
Posted on September 23, 2011 by nicholefischer
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Part of the Summer cast

The Year After Infection Wrap party was, as every party should be, a fantastic time that we’ll never really tell what happened that night. 😉

Loved seeing the cast and crew again! The best part was finally meeting the cast from other seasons! So much fun!

The best way to explain that night is just to show the pictures….well…some of the pictures anyway. 🙂 Enjoy!

The Summer Girls…in red shoes

James and I with the Summer Poster

How Gary and Madison REALLY feel about each other

My muse for Madison

“The Mike”, myself and Elyse

Summer gals- Well, would you??

Myself, Tony (Dir.) and Elyse

Shawn, myself and Elyse at Dinner

LOVE the summer poster

Trinka and Stan with the Spring poster

Finally met Tim at the party 🙂