Richard Moschella Interview

Q: How did you become associated with this project (Flowers For The Dead)?

A: Joe Barbarisi saw a film I directed called Soul Chasers. It was about a killer that is haunted by victims he killed. Then when the killer dies he is the hunted. It had zombies & action, it was a good flick. Joe called up and said he was working a this Night of the Living Dead Tribute film. He said he liked my work on the film and would love for me to be apart of his film Flowers for the Dead. The rest is history

Q: Have you worked in special effects for a long time? If so, how long? Also, what other films have you worked on?

A: I have been making independent films since I was a teenager. You get use to directing, acting, special effects and everything else that comes along with making a film. I have done public access television and played the part of a old man ,who was a secret member of the rat pack. I have been in a total of 19 films all touching of different genres of films. My recent projects have been  Soul Chasers, Silent Kills, Space Junk, Willow Creek, Good Time Charlie Got The Blues, One Bad B*tch and I'm working a my upcoming film Ghost's of Project X. All my films listed can be seen on YouTube.com

Q: What first got you interested in doing special effects?

A: I remember watching the old Universal Monsters films. I always wanted to make myself up like Frankenstein or the Wolf man. I would get makeup from my mother and apply it to my face and try to scare my friends. I watched countless hours of the behind the scenes on many films and watched  the making of Day of the Dead hundreds of times. I have the three heroes of makeup and special effects, one is Tom Savini he has taken zombie makeup to a new level. Makeup artist Jack Pierce created the faces of Universal Studios' most memorable monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Wolf Man. Dick Smith who's work will lives on forever.

Q: If someone was interested in special effects, what course would you suggest on how to pursue it?

A: I started by reading  Tom Savini's book on special effects. They pointed me in the right direction. Then I picked up a book by Dick Smith who is one of the pioneers of makeup. I also watched many special features on DVD'S showing how they did the effects. There are also many schools out there you can attend.

Q: What was the most challenging thing about creating special effects for Flowers For The Dead?

A: We shot the same scene on 4 different days. The makeup always had to be exact to the 1st day of shooting. That was very hard in the summer when the makeup was running off our faces. The other shots that were hard to get were the zombie that gets hit in the head with the stick scene. We did that scene a few times, it had to be perfect or the gag would have failed. In one scene I put a real frog very close to my mouth, he almost jumped in. Also we shot in a real graveyard so we were always hiding props from people visiting graves.

Q: Did any of the special effects for the film not go as expected?  If so, what were the circumstances?

A: I had to get whacked by a stick in the chest. We filmed that scene about 10 times and the stick kept breaking. I had a pocket of powder in my chest that would have exploded. That would have been a cool scene if worked out.

Q: How was working with Joe Barbarisi and the rest of the cast?

 

A: Joe is a class act. He knows exactly what he wants from his actors and his crew. He reminds me of a John Carpenter or a George Romero. He is a very independent film maker, is stays true to the old school way of making films. He was also aware of his budget and made due with what he had. Joe is a great director and I look forward working with him on many projects to come.

Q: You also wore a second hat as not one, but two different ghouls.  How did you like playing a ghoul?

A: It was great being a zombie in Joe's film Flowers for the Dead. It was even better being a 2nd zombie in Joe's film. It gave me the chance to create two different zombies. It was a great experience.

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