Undetected

My fiancé, Ryan Sauvé, and I had just come off a challenging summer of film shoots in which we had worked on (and I acted in) films from other writers/directors. We decided to film something of our own before the Canadian Fall set in. We had the September long weekend remaining, and Ryan suggested we find a ghost town because it would be an interesting, quiet and simple set. We found a ghost town which was three hours away, so we knew there would be hotel and food costs for all of our cast and crew, but we couldn't resist. We decided to keep the team lean and mean with just four actors (including me) and two crew (including Ryan). We also had the added challenge of not even seeing the location until the night before. Luckily, the ghost town was absolutely perfect and fit the spooky feel that we were wanting.

The location lent itself to horror, but we decided to produce a horror-comedy, because a true horror might require special effects and a certain grittiness we weren't sure we were well suited for. I conceived of the idea about a couple of aliens who inhabit corpses and use a remote ghost town to learn to act human. I thought the aliens could be completely benign and in need of a new home on earth. The aliens would be sweet and foolish, yet due to their partially decayed bodies, would be terrifying to any real humans. In order to add tension and conflict, I decided that the aliens should encounter a couple of innocent sisters who were lost and desperate for help.

The filming was very rushed and it took two full days to complete filming. Ryan saw the location for the first time the evening before the shoot, so he had to storyboard in one night. I had the challenge of remembering all the food, props, make-up, and figuring out all the logistics. Once we were on set I had to act in and direct the film, which is always a challenge.

The cast and crew bonded by shooing flies off of each other and through laughs over the unique spookiness of the location. It was an experience I will never forget.