I AM...DEAD BEDROOM SET

I AM DEAD BEDROOM SET

 

The bedroom set was put together in the living room space in a house in Cathedral City -- the same living room as the living room set for the film.  Old wallpaper was stapled to the walls (of which there were only two).  The wall to the right, behind the chair, is a large piece of cardboard with the wallpaper spray glued to it (see the dge at the top right corner).  The chair to the left was added to create "depth". A second nightstand was added to the left to give the imression the room was larger than it actually was.  The bed's matress and box springs were found in an alley behind a matress store and placed on bricks for heighth. The "headboard" was a broken plastic-framed mirror without the glass mirror, found on the street in the trash. The chair to the right (back) was given to the producer by a trash man.  The chair was spray painted. Tulle fabric was purchased at a Goodwill for $5 for ten yards and used to give the room a "girlie/ethereal/wedding" effect. A thrown-away hot water heater louver door was used to create lighting patterns across the space by placing a bright spot light behind the louver and covering it with tin foil to focus the light through the holes.  The idea was to use layers of patterns in the lighting and in the room's decor to reflect the main character's sense of being "boxed in" and to "overdo" like an elaborate wedding cake.

 

Total cost: $35.

I AM...DEAD GANGSTER SET

I AM...DEAD "JERRY'S" GANGSTER SET

 

The set of "Jerry's" was built in a garage in Cathedral City, California.  The set was about six feet deep by twelve feet wide by seven feet high.  The floor was covered in black cloth.  The table was a light weight plastic outdoor patio furniture table, covered in black cloth.  The bar was a bathroom sink cabinet that had been thrown into the street.  The cabinet was covered with a board and props placed on top.  The phonograph player was purchased at Target and was on loan from an Associate Producer.  The fan in the foreground was placed near the camera to add a field of depth to the shot. The taxidermied turkey was pulled from the trash can of the man who has the "largest private collection of taxidermy in the world", who happens to live in Palm Springs. "Smoke" was created with a cheap Halloween fog machine.  The slot machine belonged to Rik Phillips, the actor who played "Jerry" (on right in the photo above).  Mr. Phillips son, Jason Phillips, plays the second lead in the film (center).

 

Total cost of the set $25.

I AM...DEAD HOUSE EXTERIOR SET

I AM...DEAD HOUSE EXTERIOR SET

 

The exterior of the house used throughout "I Am...Dead" existed as you see it in the movie.  Nothing was altered except a light fixture was covered ith fake ivy.  What you don't see in the black-and-white is the pink paint color (See Image Above) or the chain link gate to the left.  The house, built in the 1940s shortly after WW2, is located in Palm Springs, right across the street from the Associate Producer's house, which was used as a "Green Room" for makeup, costumes, lunch, etc.  The production company rented the house for four days total (that included one night).  The shooting schedule at this location started just as you saw in the movie, with a newspaper boy walking up the driveway. 

 

Then, the first car was shot in the morning as the main characters arrived from the funeral.  The afternoon shoot was around Mr. Tompkins arriving in his car.  The evening shoot involved the first car again.  The second day of shooting was centered around Mr. Tompkins and Julia. As is often the case with location shooting, we had to work around cars driving by, telephones, dogs barking and planes circling overhead.  Next to the front door was a live Christmas tree which had a bird's nest inside, complete with chirping baby birds.  The home owners requested that the birds not be disturbed, so you hear bird frequently throughout the exterior shots.

 

The home owners were inside the house for most of the shoot.  The only part of the interior of the house that was used in the film was the Doctor's office scene which was filmed in the dining room area.  Curtains were hung on the windows, but the rest of the furnishings belonged to the house owners -- and one of the owners was the man who played the Doctor, a man named Dov.

I AM...DEAD SCREEN TEST 1: BROTHER ANDY

I AM...DEAD SCREEN TEST 2: REBECCA ROWLEY

I AM...DEAD SCREEN TEST 3: JASON PHILLIPS

I AM...DEAD SCENE: ENTER MR. TOMPKINS (COLOR)