Birmingham Zombie Walk 2013

I do love my professional zombie work, and I always look forward to hearing about my next project, but I relish any and all chances to get the makeup out and zombify myself for the day.  This weekend was Birmingham's annual Zombie Walk to raise money for Birmingham Childrens' Hospital, and I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to go along.

Sometimes it seems weird that just over 6 months ago I'd never attempted zombie makeup, and I always love to see how far I've come in that time.  I was (almost) completely satisfied with my makeup for the walk, and completely happy with the costume (now on its third zombie outing).  The only thing I missed on the makeup was that I forgot to apply cake blood to the head and cheek wounds before applying the Ben Nye Fresh Scab, which would have given it a better background.  Everything else I was happy with, and I got some great compliments from people on my makeup.  This look took about an hour to achieve.

 

The gathering for the Zombie Walk started in Centenary Square at 11:00am, and I arrived just before 12:00.  The zombies milled around being social (except for me, who did my typical zombie thing of staying in character and just growling at everyone... it seemed to get a good response though) until the walk started at 3:30pm, and then after the walk went on to the after party.  Sadly I couldn't stay for the walk itself, or the party, but I spent about 3 hours hanging around the gardens before the walk started and met some brilliant people.  Next year I'll definitely be going back for the whole event, and for the after party.  Fingers crossed 2014 is as sunny as 2013 was!  Here are the few photos I managed to take.



Zombies Invade Big Brother!

So this week my undead 'career' had another high point, as I had the fun of being part of the zombie invasion of Big Brother UK!

Last week I was offered the chance by my zombie family at Silent Studios to be part of 'something huge', but due to confidentiality agreements I had to sign on without knowing what it entailed, or turn it down.  Well I'd rather take the chance and maybe regret it later, so I signed on, had a 3 hour drive down to London (near enough), and found myself at the Big Brother compound at Elstree Studios! Sadly I wasn't able to get Tuesday off work, so wasn't part of the zombie mob which actually wake the housemates by banging on their windows, but I did feature elsewhere.

The premise of the invasion was that there'd been a viral outbreak in the BB compound, so on Friday they were filming some studio footage to go in a mock news report which was shown to the housemates after their undead awakening!

The link to the episode is below, and all of the zombie action takes place in the first 5 minutes or so, so you don't have to wait long for it!  In the broadcast you can see me eating someone's brains, looking confused at a signpost, and as the first zombie to attack the reporter :) Enjoy!

http://www.channel5.com/shows/big-brother/episodes/episode-14-211

Cheers folks!

Zombie Photoshoot!

Well the Beyond Television series, Extreme Worlds, is edging ever closer to broadcast date. I still don't know exactly when it'll be hitting our screens, but I know it's in the editing stages at the moment.  A few weeks ago I was contacted by them asking if I could supply some still photos of me as a zombie for them to use in the episode.  Unfortunately seeing as I don't tend to be in a position whilst zombie-ing where I can take photos, I didn't have much to offer them.

So yesterday morning they got back in touch and asked if I had any more photos to give them. Sadly I didn't, but always after an excuse to dress up I got myself in full zombie makeup this afternoon and trundled down the road for a photoshoot. I wasn't too happy with the skin tone whilst in makeup, but once I got outside the sunlight bleached it to a fantastic colour, and I'm really pleased with the way these shots came out.

 

#DontBeScared The Big Reveal

My moment finally arrived last night!  The giffgaff #dontbescared campaign finally came to a head with the new advert, directed by Cockneys Vs Zombies' Matthias Hoene.  I was really impressed by the final result, I hope you all were too!

I ended up on the screen a bit in the first half of the advert.  Look out for the tall zombie in the purple shirt and grey trousers.  During the ambush of the girl with all of the bags I'm the first zombie she sees and the one who takes her art portfolio.

 

You can also watch the video here, with optional extras http://www.dontbescared.co.uk/

One last shot... #dontbescared

Now less than 24 hours away. May 29th, 22:15 GMT, Channel 4 & Film4. #dontbescared... or maybe you should be?

1 day to go! #dontbescared

Just over 24hrs left until giffgaff time!