Meat Jerky Film Production Art

I was asked to work on another short film with a great director and filmmaker, Phil Clark Davis (AKA Ditchcock).I was brought on to assist with props, set-design, and wardrobe.

This was a wonderful experience as I was given a good deal of artist freedom based on the conversations with the director and his vision for the world. The budget was limited so we had to really be creative with our purchases and builds. Most of the items that were purchased for any production design, were second hand.

The costumes were derived from a vision that Phil had to give the sense of an apocalyptic world where the air is toxic and is no longer breathable, forcing everyone to cover any exposed skin, hence the gloves & helmets.

Phil and I took many trips to the thrift stores looking for inspiration. And while he was in LA and I was in SLC,

my fiancee Kimberly was amazing with helping me find pieces and putting them together into outfits.

Distressing was the name of the game. Everything from coffee and bleach, to dirt and fire to give them the look that we needed.

The helmets were tricky because we didn't want them to look like just bike helmets. We also wanted to have mostly opaque visors and we needed a few of these. After many different approaches to trying to darken the visors, I eventually landed on soot for one of them (it actually worked well). We also used a black spray paint on the interior and that seemed to work fine as well. Then it was a matter of attaching hoses to these helmets. One of the hunter helmets was supposed to look a little more unusual, perhaps as though there is a heads up display screen inside or something like that. Again, a lot of approaches but we landed on a foam approach for the exterior.

As for the weapons, Phil already had a good stockade of paintball guns. We also supplemented the guns with Nerf guns from the thrift stores. The idea was for the guns to look a little fantastical, not real as in military real, but real as in real distant future dystopian real, if that makes sense.

I was surprised how well these guns changed in their appearance once they got chopped and painted. Phil's dad (shout out to Clark and Becky!) was also on the scene with his shop and expertise. He had a lot of random metal pieces from a laser cutter which we used on the guns here and there, to give them an even more authentic "metal" vibe. I also weighted down the primary hero weapons to give them that heavier feel.

The main character also needed a holster for her hand-held gun. I found an old suit wardrobe, probably from the 80's which was perfect as there was a lot of raw leather to work with. Between the wardrobe and old purses I found at thrift stores, I was able to sew together a fun and unique holster. Certain parts were more challenging to sew, in which case I used hot glue. This proved to be problematic on set. As we were shooting throughout the week, the temperature shifts and wear and tear caused the holster to fall apart where the hot glue was holding it together. Thankfully I had hot glue (and gaff tape) on set to help keep things together!

The main character's look required a sort of air filtration backpack. This was done with a blue "backpacking" backpack that I painted and modded the heck out of. I found a lot of great parts at the local junk yard which were used to help this build. This backpack also served as a comms device, hence the 2 antenna pieces.

Finally, there was a need for a water-filtration system that would be used by one of the main characters. This was to be used within the character's truck and would be filtering water from a collecting system living on the roof of the truck. The idea was to have a few chambers with tubes, showing movement of water & bubbles throughout the system. I wanted to be as practical as possible, imagining what would a water-filtration system look like in this world and how would it work. Lots of sketches and going back and forth.

I went to many different thrift stores and junk yards and after testing out a lot of different materials, I found some pieces that worked to get me the system seen here. A bread making machine and an old water cooler were just some of the items used in this build.

As for the production itself, the principal photography, I found myself on set to fulfill many tasks including wardrobe, props, and set design. I was also dressed up and put into some of the scenes as some of the "scavenger" character extras. We had a fun experience shooting in Western Utah and I am proud to have worked with a team like the one we had. Phil's sister was a stand-in, his girlfriend one of the hunters as well as one of the victims, and his parents were incredibly supportive in every way.

These photos can only give you a glimpse into the world of effort, energy and creativity the entire team gave to bring Phil's vision to reality. So check out these photos but also just check out the film!

I hope to have a link to the film when it is available, stay tuned :)