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Show PAGE 10 k THE ZEPHYRDECEMBER 1991 "cut, perfect... let's do it again. the a -- making of vampire mooie-b- y jim stiles Aboutthreeyeanego.a film company came to Moab to make a vempirt movie. Its cost included David Carradine, Morgan Brittany, Bert Remson, E. Emmett Walsh, Sunshine Parker, and Moat's own Vanessa Pierson. I was writing for the Stinking Desert Gazette at the time, and wrote a story about tire mount t production and life in the fast lane. This month, "SUNDOYfN: the Vampire in Retreat" mu finally released on home video and is available at the MOVID video store. I spoke briefly to 12 year old Vanessa Pierson about the film and her memories of stardom. "It was a fun tiring to do," Ms. Pierson recalls, "but Fm older now and ready to move on to more serious things with my life. I hope to be a veterinarian." They grow up so fast. JS leather flight jacket a few yean ago. I've Ever since I bought my "weathered-look- " felt I've a little about it explained it away by trying to convince my friends always to that the jacket once belonged Joseph Kennedy, Jr. and that I in fact am the being of President Kennedy's older brother. But it's been a hard sell Now at long last I think I've found "my people". Not only can I wear my jacket without feeling ostentatious, I can even turn up the collar a la James Dean, and no one bats an Of course a lot of cows gave their lives so that die entire cast and aew of "SUNDOWN: eye-laslive Vampire in Retreat" could be attired in distressed leather, but the sacrifice, while not worth it to the bovines, has certainly brought me a degree of security. At last I'm with "my own kind on the set of a vampire movie. It is very strange out there "on the set" I pulled up the other night in the dark to watch a few scenes being shot in an empty metal warehouse, just south of town. A big, burly security guy stopped me as I climbed out of my car. "This is a closed set," he advised me. I explained to him that I was here to write a story for The Stinking Desert Gazette, but he was not impressed. Finally, I lied and told him that I was Vanessa Pierson's unde... that changed everything. "Oh? Vanessa's unde? Well, certainly. Vanessa is right over there in that trailer. Go right ahead." I eyed him coldly. "That kid's going to be a star, and I'm her unde Don't forget that" I felt like I'd just shown the Gatekeeper of Oz my ruby slippers, and now suddenly it was perfectly alright to see the wizard. "That's a horse of a different odor," he said. "Come on in. Come on in." One minute before, I was just another nosey interloper; now I was Vanessa Pierson's unde, and she was my pair of ruby dippers. I found Vanessa in the trailer with her mother Yvonne Rene "Skeeter" Pierson (there was no sign of her sister, "Gator"). Vanessa had become a horse of a different color herself. The part called for Vanessa who is really blonde, to be a brunette, so the hairdressers had put some sort of rinse to achieve the desired lode. But every time I saw her, Vanessa's hair was a different color. The first day, it almost had a gray finger and I was fearful the kid was prematurely aging The next nigjht it was sort erf purplish-bluand I wondered if my from this new jet set dear old Aunt Elizabeth from Kentucky had been sharing her hair dye secrets with the movie people. On this particular night, it had a pinkish hue to it Very nice. Sitting next to Vanessa, was the film's star Morgan Brittany. As the evil Katherine Wentworth on "Dallas she once ran over Bobby Ewing and squashed him flat as a spatula, but as we all know, she didn't squash him flat enough. He came bade a year later in Pam's shower stall, and wrote the thing off as a bad dream. A bad dream, indeed. As for Morgan Brittany, welL.she's very attractive. Extremely attractive. And she's much more pleasant than Katherine Wentworth. She explained to me that she was "acting" evil it's her job. I did hear that she wanted to beat up file producer, but from what I understand, he would have probably deserved it One thing about Morgan Brittany surprised me. Prom five-teI was watching her an television, I had assumed she was quite tall, maybe five-ninIn ny at was she aL little fact, only two feet high-tisurprised to see that she wasn't very tall woman. They make her look tall with mirrors and unusual camera angles. (NaJ4a.I'm only kidding. Morgan's pituitary glands work just fine. She is not a midget) A hairdresser came in. She fussed over Vanessa's hair and then ran out the door in search of someone rise's follicles to fondle. I asked for a trim around the ears, but she stared at me blankly and kept moving. Alot of hairdressers have passed through this movie production. On my first visit to the set, there appeared to be some kind of hairdressers' war being waged. The two women did not like each other. Ohe got the other fired; then they both got fired. I hated woman in black leave town, at least without file opportunity to measure to see the her abdomen. I had returned to the set with a tape measure and was crushed to find her departed. Besides, I had a five dollar bet with a grip that she d measure in under twenty inches. But what was a grip? I'd always wondered what these grips did. Or a gaffer. One day Jade Jones explained die whole filing to me. "OK, on the production crew, you've got all kinds of people running around. The director tells file first assistant director to do something. It's the first assistant director's job to tdl the second assistant director what the director wants. Hie second assistant director tries to find the second second assistant director to pass along the first assistant director's instructions regarding the needs of the director. Finally, the second second assistant director will find a grip, the guys who do all the work, and the grip goes out and does what the director told the first assistant director to do twenty minutes ago." tiny-waist- ed self-conado- ua h. e, life-styl-e. e, n. "Well," i said, this do you do?" is all good news. Now I understand perfectly. But tdl me Jack, what Jade Jones has ttiis great maniacal grin. "Don't aril," he said, and headed for the caterers wagon. I forgot to ask him about gaffers. After several visits to various production sites, I learned that from tire actor's point of view die roughest part of the job is waiting for file production crew to get the sets ready for SUNLIGHT IS FREE! Sivy A PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL CONVERTS SUNLIGHT DIRECTLY INTO ELECTRICITY PROVIDING RELIABLE POWER 24 HOURS PER DAY. 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