WETNWILDRADIO FILMS in association with ART HELD HOSTAGE LLC presents

A GARY UGAREK film

DEADLANDS 2: TRAPPED

INTRODUCTION:
Deadlands 2: Trapped, is the second feature film from Germantown, MD based writer/director Gary Ugarek, who kicked off his own zombie film franchise with DEADLANDS: The Rising. The story of how Deadlands 2: Trapped began is a very interesting story to say the least.
In Summer 2007, Deadlands 1 was enjoying some small commercial success on the DVD circuit through TEMPE Entertainment. Released in April of 2007, it quickly became TEMPE’s hottest seller, and a sleeper hit. Produced on a micro budget of $11,000.00 It brought an epic scale to its indie roots. At that same time, Virginia based ART HELD HOSTAGE productions was looking to kick off a zombie flick of their own titled ZOMBthology, a Creepshow-esqe style zombie film, with stories from four different writers and directors. Deadlands 1 director Gary Ugarek was referred to ART HELD HOSTAGE owners Chris Kiros and Elias Dancey and through many discussions Gary signed on to the project.
In late summer Gary had finished his 5th draft of the screenplay for what was to become Deadlands 2. Originally titled “The Escape”, the 25 page short was the script the producers went into pre-production with, as the shooting dates loomed closer Gary opted for a title change and an expansion of the story. Performing yet another draft, Gary extended the screenplay to over 80 pages, and changed the title of the film to “TRAPPED”. Gary approached Chris and Elias about filming two versions of the film, a 20 minute short for ZOMBTHOLOGY and an extended directors cut that would be released independently of the ZOMBTHOLOGY project. Chris and Elias agreed and into production the films went. September 28th 2007 was the films first shooting date, and it would continue for 12 months on and off, weekends only,



3 LOCATIONS:
One of the largest set pieces within Deadlands 2: Trapped, is the main location, a local movie theater cineplex based in Hagerstown, MD. The Hagerstown 10 served as the safe haven for the films human cast. A 50,000+ Sq foot building housing ten auditoriums, large outdoor parking and the size and scope of a shopping mall. “It’s like NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD except the farmhouse is a movie theater.” Claims director Gary Ugarek. Little did the cast and crew know, but Gary was very close in his assessment. Deadlands 2, and Night of the Living Dead both take place at night, and deal with a group of 6 people trying to survive the night when the dead take over the earth.
The theater is an older building, built around 1972, and was upgraded in 1985. When you walk in, you almost feel like you’re walking into a mall food court, or a skating rink, that is how large the building and theater lobby is, but it also made a great place in terms of cinematography as the Lobby sports a balcony which is nice for some high angle shots. The cast and crew would come in at 10pm at night and shoot until day break the next morning, so it is as if the Hagerstown 10 was never closed.
Gary and the cast always laughed about how scary the place really is, even with 125 extras, plus movie crew and cast, it still had a very eerie feeling to walk around and just take in the ambience, but in terms of shooting zombie mayhem, Gary has said “I would never trade this location, even for a million bucks.” It was a very impressive place.
Some of the films other locations included a strip club/Adult entertainment complex, Biotech Facility, and a city block. The latter being the largest in scale and scope, especially for a film shot for $6,000.00 USD. The city street was a must, something Gary would constantly be on set talking about. Without the city street/roadblock scene, there is no movie. Getting the strip club was one task, but getting a city street to close off was another. This task was so hard the production had to locate to Fredericksburg, VA in order to shoot the roadblock sequence of the film.

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SCOPE AND STYLE:
One of the very unique things about Deadlands 2 is the films scope and style. Most micro-budgeted independent films use a very tight scope and a very vibrant color palette for the picture, Trapped goes its own way, and a lot of that comes from Gary’s personal feelings that zombie horror should feel like the entire world is in peril. Gary has mentioned in many forums and blog’s for the production that small scale isn’t what he is after. While the production may not have the money needed for the size and scope, Gary and the crew do what is needed to make it work within the parameters of the box. Many horror review sites have said one of Gary Ugarek’s greatest attributes is his need to tell an Epic story.
“I can’t shoot small scale, what is the point? I mean everyone trying to make a film seems to want to put their own mark on indie cinema, my mark, or niche is that I use a scale reserved for films with Multi Million Dollar budgets, yet I am doing that scale on a budget they probably spend for Craft Services a day. Lets remember this is a zombie film, and zombie films are one of the ultimate end of world scenario type films. I didn’t get into filmmaking to shoot home movies, I went into it to share my vision with the audience.” Gary Ugarek (Director)
Another attribute is style. Deadlands 2 is shot almost entirely hand held. This wasn’t the productions intention from the get go, it happened while shooting a sequence at the theater. Director of Photography Krystian Ramlogan set up a scene to be shot hand held, and Gary being a free creative person let his crew have creative freedom. When he watched the dailies it kicked off something inside of him and that something said “SHOOT IT HANDHELD.” So all subsequent scheduled shoots did away with the tripods and cranes and went hand held for the remainder of the movie. Something the cast & crew feels really sets the tone of the overall film.
Camera technique aside, Deadlands 2 color scheme is almost non-existent. During pre-production Gary asked Director of Photography Krystian Ramlogan to make the picture look as Epic as possible, and in post-production Gary would give the films its unique look. That look consists of many bled out shots, filled with contrast and high gamma. The colors are muted, intentionally as homage, to Night of the Living Dead, but when the colors do peak, especially red, is when the gore and violence are prevalent within the film.
“Its part of giving the film its own look, and that look is all hope is lost. An all most grey world. The tone it sets is one of darkness and uneasiness, and that is what I wanted to convey. I wasn’t here to make a 100% popcorn flick. I wanted some lighter elements, but overall you are watching a horror film.” Gary Ugarek Director.



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REFERENCES TO THE GENRE:
Deadlands 2 is a genre picture. From beginning to end it is a zombie horror film, but that didn’t stop Gary from making some references to some of his favorite films. Throughout the films 85 minute run time one can find at least 10 references to films in both the zombie and action genre. Some are very in your face and some are just hinted at, Gary says he is using his love of film to see if the audience is paying attention. A list of some of the references can be found below:
• Lethal Weapon
• Die Hard
• Demons
• The Return of the Living Dead
• Return of the Living Dead Part II
• Dawn of the Dead
• And of course the grand daddy of modern zombie horror, NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD.
Gary’s preferred style of Zombie is a runner, not the Zack Snyder type “Track Stars” recently seen in his recent remake of George A. Romero’s DAWN of the DEAD, but a little but more agile than your average shambler, just a lot more aggressive.
“I like running zombies, they bring a heightened level of terror to the situation. Before you think of making the trek outside to seek help you’re going to think twice about it. While I respect George A. Romero’s style of zombies, it was the faster ones that became more terrifying for me. However, I upped the anti a bit in that my zombies are also smarter, not Big Daddy, Land of the Dead smart, but they know how to set traps.” Gary Ugarek (Director)
THE ROAD TO POST PRODUCTION:
Because of the very low budget, and the need for everyone to keep a roof over their heads, Deadlands 2 was shot on weekends only over the course of one year. Production began September 27th 2007, and ended October 17th 2008. Each cast & crew member had to work, there was no money for us to just up & quit our day jobs, so we had to adjust the shoot to out schedules. They started out shooting up until 3 weeks before Christmas then took a break for winter hiatus. This was done because it is very hard to get 100 extras to come out and play zombies, for free, in temperatures of 32 degrees or less. So in that time off Gary spent it cutting the shot footage together and making notes for scenes yet to be shot.
Once winter let up the production resumed in March and continued until mid June where it stopped once again, because Maryland and Virginia summers can be brutal in terms of heat and humidity. Once fall arrived, production resumed for 5 straight weekends until the very end. That very end was one week before the films premiere, but because Gary would cut the film together during the week at night, it was just a matter of editing the newly shot footage. It is a very hard post production process, but it works. Although Gary admits he doesn’t recommend it for every filmmaker. He has said at times it can drive you mad.



6
Deadlands 2 wasn’t an easy production by any means, especially when you take scope, style and budget into play. Because of budget restraints there were no storyboards for the film, but that is all fine to Gary because he doesn’t really believe in them because his reasoning is that when you’re on set the parameters can be very different. While it helps keeping set-up time down, your storyboards may not capture the essence of what being on set gives you. So this presented a challenge for Gary and the Camera operators. During multi unit shoots Gary would take the 2nd unit to their location and walk them through the shots, in detail, and would send them off for a few hours while he and the main unit were getting things together for their schedule. Gary and the DP Krystian Ramlogan would talk over the phone, and sometimes drive to the theater to walk through the shots, but when Krystian schedule kept him from the production Gary would take over as DP.
“I spent so much time talking and watching how Krystian worked that I tried my best to copy his lighting style so you couldn’t tell there were actually 2 different DP’s on the shoot. Some stuff I gave my own flare and style, but anything in the theater during the films calmer moments were kept as close to the style Krystian would use as possible. Krystian was great in that he would share his knowledge of lighting with me, and that helped the crew and the film immensely. In fact I hope I can continue my career with Krystian as my cinematographer. He is very talented and his crew of camera operators and set assistants are great people.” Gary Ugarek (Director)
The overall shoot lasted a total of about 36 days. Post production was ongoing right up until 4 hours before the films premiere on October 25th 2008. At the premiere Gary shared some anecdotal moments with the crowd of 300+, telling them he literally finished the movie at 4:00pm that afternoon, and then had to render it and make a digital copy to bring to the theater for that event. One of those stories included how his editing system crashed and he had to reinstall everything, including the operating system, then load the entire project back up and make enough tweaks to it to make it in time for the premiere.
“My goal of having the film premiere on October 25th was almost missed, it was a tight goal, that many thought I wouldn’t make, but when I set a deadline I try to meet it. No ifs ands or buts about it. While it was rushed, this was not going to be the version that would ultimately be released commercially… but…” (Gary Ugarek Director)
That version was ultimately released theatrically for a one week run that started on October 31st. We had one screen running it for one week, and although he was able to tweak the premiere print some more before the theatrical release, the film was not what Gary considered 100% true to form. In fact, during the Queens International Film Festival screening in New York City was when Gary decided to completely start over from scratch.
“I remember sitting there in the screening on Saturday night, and it hit me, the film was in my opinion, horrible. I didn’t take the time needed to get the film into the shape it should have been in. I remember leaning over to my asst director, Lonnie Martin and his wife Cindy and saying oh my god, this is bad, how did I miss this stuff?” (Gary Ugarek Director)
The next morning after the festival Gary woke up at 6am and headed back to Maryland, opting to not take part in the awards dinner at the end of the festival. He drove home, deleted the current edit of the film and started over. However, at 9:00pm that Sunday night, he was informed by the festival Deadlands 2 was nominated as one of the Best Horror Films. While happy with the nomination, he still set out to re-cut the entire movie. Almost 4 months later, and a newer streamlined version was ready for the world to see.



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CUTTING THE FAT: (by Gary Ugarek)
While re-cutting the film I decided to make a lot of changes. Many of those at the suggestion of Asst Director Lonnie Martin, who also performed some un-credited re-writes and script polishing for some of the last sequences we shot for the film. Lonnie was my second set of eyes while editing, and each note or email he gave me I kept and then went back over before I began the bulk of the re-edit. Some things he suggested to cut were cut, and some I kept because I liked it and it served a purpose, at least for me, but one of the things cut back was the films social message. Something Lonnie never noted, just something I observed.
At the time we started shooting the movie George W. Bush was still our president and being very unhappy with a lot of his policies I went into this movie wanting to make a jab at his administration and how he ran the country. My first film, Deadlands: The Rising is a social blast at how he handled Katrina, Trapped, was an overall look at his policies. However, because the film was in production for so long to start with, and being finished up in an election year, a lot of things had to change. Barak Obama was our new president and the tone of the country had changed, and a lot of the Bush policies that were in effect began to be repealed, so this presented a challenge in that I had to re-shape the films message and tone. However, this was not my main reason for re-editing, it was because of some very uneven performances and poor shot choices.
We shot with multiple cameras. We had at times 4-6 DVX100 cameras on set, and with so many different angles to choose from it was hard to decide on what worked best. The Queens Film Fest screening brought out the mistakes I had made, so I went back and re-shaped the film, and even replaced over 70% of the films score. The original score was too busy when it should have been mellow and vice versa. I feel the new score re-shapes a lot of the movie, and I think it works so much better.
In terms of cut footage, many references to president Bush’s policies, such as the Patriot act, and some others were removed, which in hind sight was a great decision, because as a viewer you get the tone of the film is set in a military crazy style government, you don’t need the characters re-affirming it throughout the movie, so the re-edit keeps some of it, but gets rid of the more over the top references to those policies. All in all I call it cutting the fat.
Something the new edit did bring out though was footage we shot but never got around to editing, so while I trimmed out over 2+ minutes of footage, I added it back in through this footage that was just waiting to get put into the film. So essentially we didn’t lose a lot of running time, in the end I think a total of 40 seconds was cut between the two versions, and with some re-shaping of the films ending we have a newer more kick ass version of Deadlands 2.



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CASTING THE MOVIE:
When the time came to cast Gary knew he had to approach it differently than he did with Deadlands: The Rising. Deadlands 1 was cast using people Gary knew personally, with no acting experience, but people willing to endure a year of their lives shooting a zombie film. Being new to filmmaking, and new to Maryland Gary wasn’t sure how to approach casting during his first outing, but with the experience of doing the first film, and now knowing the ins and outs of the local indie film scene, he set out to cast Deadlands 2: Trapped.
In August 2007, a casting call was put out to area actors, and auditions were held in Alexandria, VA. Gary only needed to cast 4 of the 6 survivor roles for the film because he had already written the script with people in mind for the characters of Chris and Jack. Chris Clark, who plays Chris in the film met Gary while playing a zombie in Deadlands 1, and Gary got to know Chris and see some of his work throughout the time they had known each other, so writing the role with him in mind was easy, the other character, a 7-8 year old female was written with Alexa Davidson in mind. Her and her father Josh met Gary during the making of Deadlands 1, in which the both appear so Gary emailed Josh and asked him to bring Alexa down for a camera test. Although the part was pretty much hers from the get go, he just wanted to get her on camera to see how comfortable she would be because although she has very little dialog, she is nearly 70% of the film and how would it turn out to use someone so young for such a long period of time. Josh brought her down for the camera test and Gary then spoke to Josh about playing Jack, another character within the screenplay.
For the roles of Sean, Casey, and Shelly, Gary screen tested about 12 actors and actresses. When Corrine Brush came into audition for Shelly she gave such a great performance Gary gave her the part on the spot. The same pretty much happened with the role of Casey, played by Ashley Young. Ashley had come in to audition for another filmmaker at the audition, but Gary observed the screen test and immediately asked her to join the cast. With the role of Sean it was a little tougher situation. Actors Gavin Peretti and Joseph D. Durbin came to the audition for separate parts, and Gavin was awarded the part of Sean, but due to schedule conflicts he had to back out so Gary approached Joe and asked him, he accepted and now the cast was nearly complete.
The last remaining major player in the film was the character of Dr. Robert Micthell. Because the film uses a bio-weapon as the origin of the outbreak Gary needed someone who could fit the role. During a visit to the H10 for a screening of the original DAWN of the DEAD Gary had met Jim Krut, who played the helicopter zombie in the original DAWN of the DEAD. After talking with him for sometime he learned Jim did some theater acting in Gettysburg, PA, and he was looking to do some independent film work so Gary asked him if he might be interested. He gave Jim the script and said basically you are playing someone with a God complex. Nothing really matters to you but the exercise you are about to unleash on the town. Jim joined the cast and they all set out to make DEADLANDS 2.



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RAISING THE DEAD:
With any zombie film you of course have to have zombies, but with a micro budgeted, Gary Ugarek, zombie film you need to have a lot of zombies. One of the things Gary has said time and time again is that without an army of the undead, there is no point in making a zombie film. In his eyes, you either have them in huge masses or you just don’t do it. So the weekends requiring zombies Gary would spam the actor message boards and talk groups to get extras to come out and play the undead. Through the course of the production the film had utilized over 500+ zombie extras. The production never seemed to have a problem getting zombies to come out and play, it was getting a make-up crew to make-up the zombies. Sometimes the set would only have 3-4 make-up artists and there are 100 people waiting to be made up. It was frustrating for both the make-up department and the extras, who, were coming out for no pay, just the promise of free food, a copy of the movie and possible IMDB credit. Knowing the process of waiting to be made up is slow Gary would try to spend his time to make sure the waiting extras were ok, getting enough to eat and also trying to keep the films schedule on time. During one of the largest zombie shoots for the film the production was able to get 12 make-up artists to costume over 125 extras as zombies.
MUSIC MAKES IT ALL GOOD:
Like Deadlands: The Rising, director Gary Ugarek chose to score the film himself, and enlisted the help of co-composer and friend Brian Wright to do the films score. One of the many things people like about Deadlands 1 was the films soundtrack, which was a throwback to the 80’s synth driven soundtracks. Many reviewers and horror fans would compare Gary and Brian’s score to John Carpenter’s musical style, although Gary highly disagreed with their assessment, Brian would try to convince Gary otherwise, and much to Brian’s amusement he dubbed Gary Carpenter Jr. While Gary never made the connection between his music style and John Carpenter’s the music speaks for itself.
“For the last 3 years Gary has pretty much said he doesn’t hear the connection, yet review after review puts it right there for you to see. I can’t remember how many reviewers made the comparison, it was quite a bit, but it took Gary a very long time to even see the similarities. I ran around calling him JC Jr. or Carpenter Jr. for 3 years and he would always brush it off with a smile… or a quick “whatever”, but if you listen to his music he really gets and understands that 80’s horror vibe. Basically Gary writes the majority of the music, then he sends me a .wav or .mp3 film and says throw some guitar in here, or here. Because we live almost 60 miles apart we use the web to send each other the music files and sometimes it could take days for us to complete a song, but we get it done. I throw something down, send it to him and he then sends me some feedback saying maybe try something a little different, or use a more distorted sound, etc. Gary is not a guitar player, he is keyboardist, so there is a small terminology gap, but in the end we developed our own language on how to produce the music.
In a crunch we set up times to work out of my studio at my house in which he will come down and lay down the midi tracks then I whip out the guitar and fill in what the score needs. It is a great experience and we both take it very seriously. Gary is very picky about the music, especially the tone and style. He is perfectionist and he will keep going until he feels it is right. It is a dedication you don’t see in a lot of people sometimes.” (Brian Wright Co-Composer) 10
At one point during production Gary was going to sub-contract out the scoring duties to local musician Marq-Paul La Rose, but with time and budget constraints Gary decided it was best to do the score this time around, but he did use one of Marq-Paul’s contributions to the film. Marq-Paul is very heavily influenced by the industrial genre and adapting to Gary’s synth style is not that complex, so his work fits within the realm of how Gary felt the films score needed to come off. Gary has a huge love for 80’s horror and the film scores that accompany those films. Most of great low budget horror films of the 80’s had a synth score, so it was his way of honoring both the 80’s horror genre and the music that accompanied those films.
MEET THE CAST OF DEADLANDS 2: TRAPPED
JIM KRUT –Dr. Robert Mitchell
Known the world over as the infamous Helicopter zombie in George A. Romero’s cult classic “DAWN of the DEAD” Jim is not only a genre favorite with zombie horror fans, but brings a great range and charisma to the evil character. It’s a modern take on the Mad Scientist theme, only this time not only does he have a God complex, but he does it all from the comforts of his office and business suit. Deadlands 2 director Gary Ugarek met Jim through mutal friend and associate producer Travis McGlaughlin during a special screening of Romero’s DAWN of the DEAD in 2007.
JOSEPH D. DURBIN –Sean
Joseph has taken part in numerous independent production shot in Virginia, Maryland and Atlanta. Including work for B.E.T. His last horror film appearance prior to DEADLANDS 2 was in the indie flick All Hallow’s Eve from Sparks entertainment. Joe brings an intensity and charisma that brings the character of Sean to life. He juggled playing Sean as both a protagonist and antagonist very well. Joe is currently shooting a 30’s Gangster era film in Alexandria, VA. 11
CORRINE BRUSH -Shelly
Corrine has appeared in numerous stage plays including 2007’s Breathe, and The Vagina Monologues while living in Ohio. While in New York she interned with Chicago City Limits Improvisation Theatre, and holds a B.A. In theater. She has been nominated as ACTOR of the year in 2005 by IMTA as well as receiving many honorable mentions for her past work. Corrine currently resides in Virginia USA. He work as Shelly in Trapped has received many mentions in the reviewsforthefilm.
ASHLEY YOUNG –Casey
Ashley has worked on numerous short productions while living in Alexandria, VA. Currently residing in NYC, Ashley most recently appeared in “Kaytee Never Cries” as Sandy directed by Josh Davidson. Ashley wide range of emotions really work at great speeds especially when she has to come to grips with the fact the Dead have come back to life in Deadlands 2: Trapped.
JOSH DAVIDSON –Jack
Josh started his acting career by visiting the set of Warner Brothers’s The Invasion starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Criag. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel took notice and asked Josh to take part in the film, he worked with Nicole Kidman in various scenes throughout the movie which were later re-shot when Oliver was replaced as director and a majority of the film was re-shot. However, that experience enlightened Josh to pursue and acting career, his appeared in Gary Ugarek’s Deadlands: The Rising, and most recently in After Dark Films “Perkins 14” 12
ALEXA DAVIDSON –Little Girl
Daughter of actor Josh Davidson, Alexa plays the scared little girl who is found hiding from the zombies in Deadlands 2. Alexa’s first film was a bit part in Deadlands: The Rising, also directed by Gary Ugarek. Alexa loves to act, and her father takes an active role in coaching and working with her. Deadlands 2 was her first feature and she did a great job with the part. Alexa spends her free time, playing with friends and honing her acting chops. She most recently starred as Kaytee in “Kaytee Never Cries.”
CHRISTOPHER L. CLARK –Chris
Chris clark is a local indie film actor based out of Pasadena, MD. Chris and director Gary Ugarek met on the set of Deadlands: The Rising and Gary was so impressed with Chris’s dedication while make Deadlands 1, that when it came time to script Deadlands 2, he wrote the part of Chris the theater manager especially for Chris. His character is a leader of sorts, he tries to keep his cool and make the right decision, but ends up following the lead of Sean (Joseph D. Durbin). Ashley young plays his characters love interest in the film. 13
MEET THE DIRECTOR:
GARY UGAREK –Director/Writer/Editor/Co-Composer/VFX Artist/Producer



Born in Bridgeport CT, at age 11 Gary relocated with his family to Syracuse, NY in 1982. Gary grew his love for cinema via the families VCR over the years, and became a hard core zombie horror fan constantly watching the original George A. Romero Dead Trilogy which consisted of Night, Dawn, and Day of the Dead. Through his teens he was obsessed with wanting to become a filmmaker, but considered it to be a pipe dream and instead pursued a career with Computers and then going onto become a DJ. However, the film bug never stopped biting, and at age 33 while residing in Maryland was invited to play a zombie in George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, the 2005 long awaited follow-up to his Zombie trilogy. Through this adventure and doing some Behind The scenes work on the remake of DAWN of the DEAD Gary had decided it was time to finally do something in terms of making a movie. At age 34 he set out to make his first feature, Deadlands: The Rising, a micro-budgeted yet epic zombie adventure that tells three stories within the movie. Casting friend and co-composer Brian Wright and his wife Michelle in some of the films lead roles.
Deadlands 1 went on to become a sleeper indie hit for distributor TEMPE Entertainment and made Gary one of the more popular independent horror filmmakers. His 2007 follow up DEADLANDS 2: Trapped has not only been highly anticipated, but well received among horror film critics in terms how much Gary has grown as a director and how much of difference there is between both films in terms of technical aspects.
Gary frequently collaborates with Virginia filmmaker Lonnie Martin. Together they are the crew behind Helena, Hussy of Horror, along with Lonnie’s wife Cindy Marie Martin. Cindy and Lonnie came up with the character of Helena for the Miss Horrorfest III contest and from there a small following emerged from the shadows. Lonnie and Cindy expanded Helena’s foray as a horror mistress by filming Helena giving an introduction to Deadlands 2: Trapped where Gary served as the segments cinematographer and editor, while Lonnie serves as writer and director Cindy Marie Martin plays Helena.
Gary’s love for horror cinema sticks to the realm of Zombies, and Vampires. While he has a screenplay ready for the third Deadlands installment, he is hoping to shoot a vampire film titled “Nightfalls” as his next project.
Gary serves as not only writer and director on Deadlands 2, but is also the films editor, co-composer, and music contributor. His 1994 rock ballad “Tell Me Why” and 2001 techno track “Spanish Guitar” are featured in the film. While Gary has been urged by many to cut back on the epic scale of his films because of budget restraints he has opted to continue this shooting style, and has said that while he would love to make a larger budgeted film, the pitfalls of having to many eyes and hands in the pie are a turn off and has opted, for the time being to stick to micro-budgeted projects. 14
MEET THE SPECIAL FX TEAM:
PRODUCTION TRIVIA:
• Deadlands 2: Trapped cost $6,000.00 USD Dollars to Produce
• Was shot over a span of 13 months on Weekends between 2007 & 2008
• Utilized over 520 Extras as Zombies
• Was shot in Gaithersburg, Hagerstown, Laurel and Pasadena, MD USA
• Was also shot in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fredericksburg, VA USA
• The single largest scale zombie film to be produced for $6,000.00 USD
• Real Police and Military personnel were used throughout the movie (Roadblock Sequences)
• Was nominated as one of the best horror films during the 2008 Queens International Film Festival in NYC.
• Writer/Director Lonnie Martin performed un-credited re-writes of the zombie roadblock scene and Aftermath meeting for the film.
Spaghetti Industries Inc. is the make-up FX team behind the ghoulish zombies and make-up FX gags in Deadlands 2. Operated by Scott Simpson (pictured, left) and Christian Quarantillo, these 2 young men are a force to be reckoned with in terms on horror cinema make-up.
Their work has spanned theater productions, short films, TV shows, and features. The company was started by both Scott and Christian when they were age 15 in 2005, and have become some of the most sought after Special FX guys within the indie film circuit in the DC Baltimore/Area.
Production Credits Include:
Deadlands: The Rising (2006)
Under The Bed (2006/Short)
Eating Habits (2008/Short)
Women’s Studies (2009)
Deadlands 2: Trapped (2008)
Vengeance with a Smile (2008/Short)
They have worked with make-up FX great Robert Hall, and have done work for The Terminator TV series, the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Scott and Christian are self taught, and their influences include many Italian horror films include works by Fulci. Scott and Christian are geared up to head the make-up FX department for Deadlands 3: The New World. 15
SOMETHING ABOUT ZOMBIES:
Writer/Editor/Director Gary Ugarek talks about his experience in producing two zombie films and his take on the modern zombie.
What can one say about zombies? Of all the cinema monsters, Jason, Michael, Freddy, Dracula, etc, Zombies seem to be the one cinematic monster audiences never tire of, this is evident when you look at the numerous indie horror productions shooting throughout the world. Filmmakers and audiences are just fascinated with zombies. Who do we thank for that? Well, in any zombie film fans mind it would be none other than George A. Romero, the man who modernized the zombie with 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. In the early days of cinema, zombies were mostly people under a voodoo spell or controlled via a mad scientist, it was Romero who brought the zombie to the mainstream by turning them into menacing flesh eaters capable of the most inhumane acts known to man, all the while not showing any remorse or emotion. Romero turned your loved ones into the most sinister creature ever put on screen, shows a depravity that far outreached anything ever put to celluloid. That one film started an underground genre of horror fans who to this very day discuss the zombie apocalypse and how they would handle it.
When I decide to make my first film I went into with the fan in mind, I didn’t want to have to explain zombie lore, or rules, I just wanted to do something big in scale that fans of the genre would enjoy. Hence Deadlands: The Rising was born, it was my love letter to the genre. Fast forward to 2007, we began shooting Trapped, and I approached it differently, I now wanted to develop my own zombie rules, but with some twists and turns. So I combined the flesh eating characteristics of Romero’s zombies, along with characteristics of Dan O’Bannon’s “Return of the Living Dead” Zombies and came up with a hybrid. You have a zombie that is more agile, can set traps, but isn’t running around screaming brains every 10 seconds. I thought the talking zombie was comical, and it worked for the “Return” Series, but I love my zombie horror to be epic, and at the same time give you an edge of hopelessness. Hence why my zombies’ ability to speak is not there, but my zombies are also more aggressive, which is something I felt was missing from the zombie genre for a long time.
Deadlands 2 is what I consider a very traditional zombie outbreak story, something that keeps the fans comfortable, aside from the fact I use a running zombie as opposed to a shambler, but when my zombies aren’t running, they are just shuffling about. Some fans will like this, some will hate it, but what most people dig about the zombies, the cannibalism, is very present in this film. However, I am not the guy who likes to do excessive amounts of gore. In my opinion that is George Romero’s thing, and let him keep doing that. My idea of horror is not the amount of blood spilled, but in the way it is spilt, hence the use of zombie violence. When you look at a zombie attack in my films, they are very quick and brutal, I want that attack to leave an impression, not just be an after thought for when you discussing the movie over Fun-Yuns and Pepsi. So when that zombie attacks that human for his next meal you remember it. That is what I find terrifying about zombie movies, well that and the fact that dead rotting flesh is up and walking around hunting down humans one by one… That alone is pretty creepy, but a person being encircled, and brutally attacked and ripped apart… that’s horror.
Making both Deadlands films was never about the money, it was about my love for zombie films, and filmmaking. Like anyone else trying to make movies I would love to get a full blown career, but even if I just make low budget $10K one-offs that’s fine by me. Making a film is one of the hardest experiences one can ever partake, but it is also a fulfilling experience. No one can never really describe the satisfaction of making a film on their own, but making a good horror film or one you hope your key audience will enjoy is one of the most rewarding experiences you can ever have, and I highly suggest if you have the urge to do go out there and do it.





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CONTACT INFORMATION
WETNWILDRADIO FILMS (Gary Ugarek)
12801 Sage Terrace
Germantown, MD 20874 USA
(240)-793-4428
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WETNWILDRADIO Films in association with ART HELD HOSTAGE PRODUCTION presents a GARY UGAREK film
“DEADLANDS 2: TRAPPED”
Starring JIM KRUT JOSEPH D. DURBIN CHRISTOPHER L. CLARK JOSH DAVIDSON ASHLEY YOUNG CORRINE BRUSH and ALEXA DAVIDSON
Director of Photography KRYSTIAN RAMLOGAN Production Designer TIFFANI STEVENS Music by BRIAN WRIGHT and GARY UGAREK
Additional Music by MARQ-PAUL LA ROSE CYNTHIA HOLIDAY METHOD OF FRICTION TRUAX BAND music supervisor ABBY O’NEIL
Special Make-up and ZOMBIE fx by SPAGHETTI INDUSTRIES Inc. Supervised by SCOTT SIMPSON and CHRISTIAN QUARANTILLO
Executive Producers DAMIEN DONNELLY TOM TOUHEY PHILIP GREENE VICTORIA L. TERRY CHRIS KIROS ELIAS DANCEY GARY UGAREK
Produced by CHRIS KIROS ELIAS DANCEY GARY UGAREK Edited, Written and Directed by GARY UGAREK
©2008 WETNWILDRADIO Films/GARY UGAREK