In the indie world you spend a lot of time talking about working. Actors are hired but drop out, a time frame is set then pushed forward, and it takes time to get money… you can’t start until there is money. Once the budget was ironed out and the movie was a “go”, it gave us about a month of pre-production. The cast consisted of actors both on the east and west coast, so if we could line up a life-cast–we did. We built several gags generically; meaning we used molds or casts we previously created to save time and money. The movie required a body to split in half and another to explode, and when we started, those actors weren’t hired yet. So we body-cast a friend and added the heads of the actors to each form later.

For the body that had to explode, we created a hollow cavity that could be filled with gore and tons of blood bags which was later wired for explosives by the physical FX team. We created heads that were rigged to have an axe lop it off at the shoulders, split in half vertically spewing blood and brain matter, and literally shot one with a Shotgun. Using a claypot of our actors, we re-sculpted each head to the desired look needed, molded them, and ran them in silicone. Once we had the heads run, we then painted them, found matching hair pieces, and punched hair where needed. At times, some of these last minute touches were literally done moments before the gag played on set. There’s never enough time during pre-production. I mentioned a head was shot by a Shotgun.This was a result of our fearless leader, Joe Begos, learning that the exploding head in Scanners was done that way. So if Cronenberg could do it, so would we. I must admit it worked damn well.

“…Begos learned that the exploding head in Scanners was done that way. So if Cronenberg could do it, so could we.”

We also had the creative pleasure of coming up with the monstrous look of Dr. Slovak. While our heroes are born with their powers, our mad doctor creates his power chemically. Joe, Pete and I wanted to show Slovak’s metamorphosis as a disease that was rotting from the inside out. We knew we were not reinventing the wheel with the look, but nevertheless, we wanted it to be iconic. We did a quick mock up of an idea we had seen using yarn, thread, and some prosthetic glue on my 8 year old niece. We then sent that over to Joe, and he said “run with that”. The look was achieved by laying down thread in a vein like pattern, air bladders. and cheek prosthetics. As the disease takes over, we created vein transfers enhanced by coloring and a generous amount of our actors own drool. Our actors were tremendous and willing to put up with hours of intense makeup, bathing in sticky blood, and even being strung up on wires at times.

Someone's Niece is a bad ass.

“We did a quick mock up of an idea we had seen using yarn, thread, and some prosthetic glue on my 8 year old niece.”

Like any good horror flick, we had buckets and buckets of blood, various aftermath wounds made, and a few appendages that were rigged to be shot or spew blood and ready for our time on set. We were not completely done with the builds, so we would need to fine tune a few items on the few off hours we had. Mid February rolled around and we headed to Rhode Island to unleash some telekinetic terror…did I mention it was a horrible winter that year? What was supposed to be our first day on set, the governor of RI shut the state down due to “blizzard-like” conditions. The month long shoot for us was not easy. On our second day, much of our glues and makeup supplies froze. During a scene involving a knee getting blown off and blood spraying everywhere, our blood froze. We then mixed a little vodka into our blood and kept a gallon in a 5 gallon bucket of boiling water in hopes to avoid freezing… but nothing worked. Cups of scalding hot coffee were brought to set in hopes of thawing the blood, but that too froze on the way to set. Every crew member looked as if they walked off the set of The Thing–icicles filling their beards, ice cube boogers in their noses, and a rosy tint to all of their cheeks. It was brutal. 

As tough as the conditions were, the entire crew worked their asses off. Begos knew what he wanted and planned accordingly. At times he was a pain in the ass, but he fought to make the movie he wanted. We would sometimes have half a day (or even a full day) to pull off gags. Allocating that amount of time for FX is unheard of. Gags are usually are cut on low budget films to save time, but Joe cut nothing. He even added things to our workload on the day of. To his benefit, Joe knows how to shoot FX sequences, and we worked very closely with him to pull it off. He was often open to suggestions, and when in doubt, he’d pull out a whip pan to sell the gag better.

“We mixed a little vodka into our blood and kept a gallon in a 5 gallon bucket of boiling water in hopes to avoid freezing.”

I can sit back now (after my fingers have defrosted) and think fondly of my time on THE MIND’S EYE. I feel it’s the best special makeup effects that Gerner & Spears have ever put on screen. We worked our asses off.

Again, Pete and I are not Hollywood FX guys. Our company is made up of just the two of us.  THE MIND’s EYE took over our workshop, and while Begos pushed us hard, both Pete and I gave it all we had. We worked hard to provide the best quality gags and we strived to think outside the box wherever we could. It was a marathon of a gig, and somehow we survived. We knew we’d need a hand, so we had two shop assistants and our buddy Ashley Thomas for a while to lend a hand. For its budget, this was our master class in low budget effects. There was never a day off or more than four hours of sleep. It’s the job that aged us 10 years. THE MIND’s EYE proves that a micro-budget gooey revenge adventure can have “hollywood” effects. Finally, Pete and I got to make that crazy 80s latex movie we always wanted to.

Keep an eye out for  STAKE LAND 2…we had some fun on that.

The Mind’s Eye is available on Blu Ray and DVD as of October 4th.