Site created 12/15/97.		page created: 2/3/00 Totally Tromatic! A Visit to the Set of Citizen Toxie (continued) Back to Page 1 The second setup of the afternoon was another crowd reaction shot. This time, the citizens of Tromaville are gathered outside City Hall, reacting to a speech being given by the mayor (who we learn is played by none other than porn star Ron Jeremy). Sometime in the middle of the speech, Evil Toxie and Kabukiman will clash... or is that Evil Kabukiman and Toxie? Hell, I don't know. It certainly didn't matter to those of us in the shot - we just reacted! Location Number Two... just around the corner from Location Number One. Bill Hunt... concerned citizen of Tromaville. Once again, Lloyd lines us all up just so. Then everyone takes their places behind the camera, the sound boom drops in, and the master is off and running again. "Okay, rolling... everyone is cheering - silently please... cheering, cheering... the mayor is giving a great speech... you're excited... more flag-waving please... line Lemmy!" At this, Lemmy looks into the camera and says drolly, "What are they gonna bring out now - a cow that walks upright?" And cut! The camera's rolling... and so is Lloyd. We do several more takes of this shot. The next time around, Lemmy decides to change the line, and Lloyd doesn't like it. The two professionals go back and forth a few times. "It's a better joke," Lemmy says beaming proudly. "Yeah, but I didn't get it!" laughs Lloyd. Naturally, it all gets worked out in the end. The line gets written on a cue card for Lemmy (the back of a Toxic Avenger poster someone found in the office), and we roll some more. We shout and scream (silently, of course) and throw our hands in the air enthusiastically. After every take, we're all in stitches. And then we're done, and it's on to the next one. Lloyd lines up his extras. That's our friend "John" next to Frankie on the left. Lloyd positions Frankie in the frame... just another face in the crowd! Rolling on yet another crowd reaction shot. Several more shots are filmed in this same fashion, with pretty much everyone on hand taking a turn as a concerned on-looker. Lloyd's a generous director - everyone gets a moment or two at the front of the crowd. Every take is controlled craziness, and we're all having a blast. Lemmy finds time for a costume change - the rest of us just turn our baseball caps backwards, or put on and remove jackets to look a little different. It's all good. As the Winter sun begins to set over the Pacific, we get ready for the last shot of the day. This time around, we're told, a car has just crashed and exploded, and it's right next to us, and we're supposed to all react and go nuts at the danger. No sweat. Lloyd positions several people on either side of the camera to throw trash and debris into the shot. And a pair of stagehands kneels on either side of the lens with lit cigarettes. As the camera rolls, they'll blow smoke into the frame. Once again, special effects at their Tromatic best. We all gather in front of the camera and listen as Lloyd give us our direction... which basically consists of running around and screaming like crazy. "Action!" he shouts, and we all do just that. We lurch back and forth in front of the camera, bumping into each other and grabbing our hair in terror. We fall to the ground and roll around getting trampled. Debris bounces off us. A wayward tire rolls through the frame, as smoke from the "burning wreck" fills the scene. Lloyd gives constant direction and it's improvised chaos. And then it's a warp, and shooting is done, and we're all laughing and sweating and scrambling to catch our breath. Then, a piece at a time, the camera gear and other equipment is dragged inside, and we all move into the office for food and conversation. I should mention at this point, that every bit of the afternoon's activity on the set has been captured by various stagehands, who pass a small Hi-8 video camera back and forth. This, Lloyd tells us, is for use on the eventual DVD release of the film. In keeping with this tradition, Lloyd and Lemmy sit down on a couch in the back office, surrounded by Troma memorabilia. And while we all look on, the video camera rolls yet again as Lloyd conducts an interview with the rocker for the DVD. Lloyd shoots the breeze with Lemmy for the DVD. Just like that, the afternoon's work is finished. Lloyd and his team chat with us for a while, and we talk about DVD and the day's work. Lloyd offers to have lunch with us when he comes back to L.A. in a month or two, so that we can talk more at length. "Have you seen our latest film, Terror Firmer?" he asks. "Here - you guys have to see it!" And his people start handing us videotapes and DVDs of some of their B-movie classics. So as we walk back to our car at the end of the day, Frank and I have lots of movie watching to do. There's Sgt. Kabukiman, N.Y.P.D. and Tromeo and Juliet. There's Hell's Grannies and Cannibal: The Musical. And there's not enough time in the day. As we wind on down the freeway, headed back to Orange County and home, Frankie and I can only marvel at the whirlwind events of the afternoon. We quickly realize that we got so caught up in the fun of it all, that we forgot to really record any kind of an interview with Lloyd for the Bits! How's that for a couple of experienced online journalists? Oh, well... there will be plenty of opportunities to make up for it. And as we drive on, we're certain of only one thing - these guys love making movies, and they have a blast doing it. Ah... the Troma of it all. So this is the end of our adventure... but only for the moment. As I was writing this story yesterday, I got a call from one of our new friends at Troma West. "Our NEXT movie is gonna be a zombie movie," he said with quiet amusement. "We'll have to have you guys over again, and have you all get killed by the zombies." Count us in. Todd... looks like you're finally gonna get to be in a Troma movie. We'd like to invite all of you to check out Troma online, at the studio's official website and at Tromaville.com. Our heartfelt thanks to Lloyd Kaufman and his band of crazies at Troma for making us feel welcome on the set of Citizen Toxie. And here's to all the fun to come...! The poster for the original Toxic Avenger.
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