EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: FILMMAKER JOHN LECHAGO’S TROPHY HEADS VFX SECRETS!

Rolling out now on FullMoonStreaming.com is TROPHY HEADS, Charles Band’s riotous, satirical and often sickening horror web series about a Full Moon films junkie living in his mom’s basement who kidnaps and murders his favorite scream queens, removing their lovely craniums and mounting them on his dungeon walls.

Said noggins were perfected by Full Moon jack of all trades, John Lechago, director of the last two KILLJOY feature films and the upcoming KILLJOY’S PSYCHO CIRCUS series, currently in pre-production. Look for the full scoop in DELIRIUM #2, currently on sale via this very website…

Lechago can and does do it all and his top-drawer VFX work on TROPHY HEADS is testament to creativity and skill outfoxing budgetary restraints.
DELIRIUM spoke to Lechago yesterday about how he used his head on HEADS. Have a read…

DELIRIUM: When did you get involved in the TROPHY HEADS project?

LECHAGO: I have been doing the VFX for Full Moon Features for a few years now, starting with THE HAUNTED CASINO, so I’m pretty much permanently involved from the beginning. Now, that doesn’t mean that I know what I’m getting into. By the time the VFX shots are identified in the edit, I get a few surprises! This time it was a melting chicken. Check it out in episode 3 of TROPHY HEADS…

DELIRIUM: What exactly was your job with the heads?

LECHAGO: I supervised one shot on set. The shot where Darcy DeMoss gets her head cut off was going to be tricky, so Charlie made sure I was there when they shot the footage. I made sure that I had all the necessary effects plates to composite Darcy’s real head onto the rubber one. Otherwise my main job was to composite the scream queen heads onto the fake ones. I did a handful of other VFX shots as well.

DELIRIUM: The project was decidedly http://healthsavy.com/product/topamax/ low-budget. What were some of the challenges delivering the final heads?

LECHAGO: The challenge almost always comes down to time. Even though the fake heads were cast from the talent, they still changed shape quite a bit. Fitting the real faces onto the fake heads was not easy at all. Also, you have to remember that the special makeup effects crew made the rubber prop heads. It was a collaborative effort, so I can only talk about the post production aspect of the effect.

DELIRIUM: Did you work with the ladies at all?

LECHAGO: Yes, I had the opportunity to meet them when their head shots were taken for the promotional materials and the VFX shots. I was there to make sure that the shots matched the footage in the edit so that I can make convincing comps of them later. I was able to chat with all of them a bit. There was one minor accident with Darcy. No one was hurt. Just a little embarrassment. I’ll let Charles Band tell you about that one…

DELIRIUM: For the KILLJOY show, will there be any cross-over with TROPHY HEADS?

LECHAGO: I don’t think that there will be cross-over with TROPHY HEADS, but Charles and I are planning to cross-over with some of Full Moon’s other characters. We still have not set it in stone, but there are some fun possibilities.

DELIRIUM: What is the best severed head horror film in history?

LECHAGO: I may be accused of being biased, but I have to say the best severed head horror film is RE-ANIMATOR. The severed head in that one is a main character, so it goes to the top. Notable severed head cameos are in John Carpenter’s THE THING, EVIL DEAD II, and Sam Pekinpah’s BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Yes, Sam’s movies are horror films!