I have started to experiment with doing pencil renderings of some of my on location images from Dawn of the Dead filmed in part at Monroeville Mall in 1978.This one is of Jeanie Jefferies who was a make up artist and also the “Blonde Zombie” from the movie. This is the first of a series.
To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.
Jeanie Jefferies
This weekend (March 28-30) is Monsterpalooza at the convention center in Burbank California. Among many others, my friend Jeanie Jeffries(Jeannie Brown,The Blond Zombie) will be on hand to sign autographs and meet with fans. Of course a number of cosplay attendees will be wearing costumes and makeup which makes it even more fun. In the future I hope that Jeannie will have some of my images like the one bellow for her autograph.
To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.
Time to Make the Zombies
The production assistant is the person on a movie set that does whatever is asked. That could include getting coffee, tape or just about anything. They need to find the wandering actors and extras and make every body shut up. A thankless job even in today’s film environment. On the set of Dawn of The Dead in 1978 or any small budget movie the person might actually be an intern and not even paid for their work. I am not sure if this young lady was paid or not, but she handled it all with a smile, not a frown. You can see more behind the scene images and buy prints on my commercial gallery.
Production Assistant on Dawn of the Dead
As a journalist on a movie set you have a license to observe and report. What I found interesting was the mood swings that are cause by events. In this image, the Director, George Romero and Director of Photography (DP) Michael Gornick were trying to figure out how to deal with the reflections from the fountain. The two shots were taken seconds apart on the set of Dawn of the Dead at Monroeville Mall in 1978.. You can buy a print of this image at my commercial gallery by clicking here.
The Joy and Anguish of Directing George Romero 1978
Continuing with this week’s anniversary celebration of my first year of blogging, this was originally published in February 0f 2012.
I had the privilege of being a journalist on the original 1978 “Dawn of the Dead” and have offered some of the behind the scenes images for sale on my commercial site. I don’t have too many of Gaelyn Ross who was the pretty blonde star of the movie. She was hard to get to unless she was in a shot since every male extra and crew member on the set were acting like male dogs. It turns out she became a pretty good documentary filmmaker who made Killing Kasztner in 2008 among others. Here she is being filmed byy Michael Gornick in a scene form Dawn of the Dead 1978.You can buy a print of this image on my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Gaelyn Ross
In 1978 I had the unique opportunity to cover the making of Dawn of the Dead by Pittsburgh legend George Romero in the Monroeville Mall. I was on location for the now defunct Pittsburgh Magazine. In 2008 I began publishing these photos to my commercial site and was truly amazed at the response from around the world. There are thousands and thousands of fans around the world. I was asked last year to do an interview for the British magazine Undeadzine which was published last September. More recently I did an interview for the worlds only Catalonian Language Zombie site which you can read here.
Zombie Master Tom Zavini
This is another image from Dawn of the Dead (1978) that I have never published before. It took some time to resolve the reflection issue from the fountain. After they did, a crew member takes a light reading right before the action started for the scene. Buy this one or see other images from my Zombie collection at my commercial portfolio by clicking here.
Light reading at the fountain
One of the best parts of covering “Dawn of the Dead” for Pittsburgh Magazine was getting to watch the make up and special effects people at work. Film making can sometimes be boring, but there was no downtime in watching Zavini and his crew create Zombies and other disgusting stuff. These folks were all artists,upbeat and fun to watch. It also helped that this was done early in the evening, by three in the morning everyone looked like a zombie, make up or not. Buy this one or see other images from my Zombie collection at my commercial portfolio by clicking here.
Zombie Master Tom Zavini
During downtime on the set of Dawn of The Dead (1978), George Romero would frequently sit down and review the script. Kind of like a Pitcher figuring out his next pitch. It was Romero’s attention to detail that makes this film a relevant classic nearly thirty five years after its release. Buy prints and cards or see more images from my Zombie catalog by clicking here.
Script Review
The new issue of UndeadZine is out which features my interview about being a photojournalist on the set of Dawn of the Dead (1978). The magazine has lots of other interesting stuff and is available for tablets and phones with the free Undeadzine App that you can get at the App Store. The issue itself cost just $2.99. You can see my exclusive behind the scene images on my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Richard Burke Interview at UndeadZine
Imagery Photography 