Mick McMahon!

Last weekend I attended Thought Bubble, the Leeds comic book convention. I took a long a couple of Judge uniforms for the members of The Galactic Knights costume group to wear along side their superb Batman and Star Wars characters. However my main reason for going was to meet a hero of mine - artist Mick McMahon.

I was also picking up an amazing commission he'd created for me. It was great to collect it in person, so that I could let him know how delighted I am with it. Mick kindly signed a bunch of Prog 147 2000AD's which I've been picking up here and there (147 is the Judge Minty issue).

My plan was to give him the 'Judge McMahon' badge which we had produced as a prop for our film. Unfortunately I forgot it on the Saturday and I was busy being a Stormtrooper on the Sunday, so a friend kindly gave the badge to Mick. Though I did manage to loom in to view in my Imperial ensemble, sadly it's not really designed for chatting.

Here's a great picture of the man himself. Thanks again!

It's a wrap!

August saw Team Minty arrive in Dorset at Portland Sculpture Quarry, to film our last three live action scenes and a couple of pick ups. The weather curse didn't desert us as we were handed the continuity hell of rain followed by sweltering sunshine.

We would like to thank Hannah and Paul at Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust for allowing us to film in their quarry and also providing accommodation and storage facilities.

Cool 'Making of Star Wars' type location pictures by Eerika Holm

The location itself was excellent, unfortunately the Cursed Earth seemed to be a hotspot for ramblers and picnickers, not a Helltrekker in sight. As usual the cast and crew found themselves up against it for time, but somehow we managed to get some great shots!

The project has now entered post production 'stage 1' - rough cut, first draft.

Dredd meets his maker

At last Dredd manages to track down the guy who burnt him alive, gouged his eyes out and shot him through the head - Dredd co-creator, John Wagner!


Back in June, Judge Minty cast regular and Dredd costumer Darren Beddows asked if he could use a Judge Costume to attend the twentieth anniverasy of his local comic shop 'Infinity and Beyond' in Shrewsbury. I said, sure, I'll courier it to you, but when he said John Wagner was attending, I immediately offered to bring it personally!

Darren did his usual great job as Dredd (he's probably spent more time in the costume than anyone, apart from perhaps Edmund Dehn). Hassling the crowd and handing out beatings is always popular, but by far the highlight was meeting John Wagner, sharing a little about our project and receiving some words of encouragement.

Thanks again for this cool photo!

Return to Magna

In May we returned to Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham, near Sheffield. The location is based in a disused steel works and is superb for filming. We'd previously used their car park for a city bottom scene. This time we utilised their vast storage area and cooling pits to film two scenes based in the Cursed Earth, for once it was nice to get undercover.

Photo by Barry Renshaw

It was a productive, if some what hectic, couple of days, with everyone having to pull together to get the required shots filmed in such a short space of time.

Highlights included, young actor, Matthew Beddows in a new character created especially for him, a purely visually roll, which he embraced and breathed life into. Model Integra Fairbrook produced a very touching performance which allowed us to dwell on a few very important shots, which we were originally concerned may be a problem. Thanks to her work the shots will probably be some of the best in the film.

As well as a very energetic death scene, which nearly maimed two crew members (including myself), John Burdis provided invaluable technical advice. After only a brief appearance in North Wales, Steve Longdon had the opportunity to flesh out his slightly disturbing character and it was great to finally call on Mark Watson's physical acting abilities, even if it did have to be done at breakneck pace!

As always we are eternally grateful to the remaining 'Minty Players' - Peter, Jenny, Guy, Simon, Darren, Dale and Jason. Just a few of the cast regulars, who traveled from the four corners of the country to reprise their roles, often for only a few seconds of screen time. I don't mind repeating myself when I say that their enthusiasm is often what keeps us going.

Again, Steve Green produced some amazing shots, with very little time to prep, I think the general reaction when reviewing the footage was "F**K YEAH!" Story board artist Barry Renshaw, also proved invaluable for continuity as well enjoying himself with the smoke machine. Daniel Carey-George was kept insanely busy assembling four new costumes and rigging two sets, completing in hours what should usually take days.

Edmund Dehn's performance, as always, was a highlight when viewing the rushes and provided the required presence to ground our story.

What's happening with Minty?

First off I'd like to apologise for not updating this blog recently. I've been stacked out with work and have only just had time to post snippets of stuff on facebook and twitter, but this blog has become very out of date. So, over the next few days I will be trying and bring it up to date, with what may be old news to some.

Kapow memories

Old news now, but as we were gearing up for our next location filming session, we thought we'd take some time out for a trip to Kapow Comic Convention in London. Nothing official, though cast regular John Burdis did agree to spend most of Saturday on patrol as a Judge, dishing out beatings and chatting to 2000AD creators about the project.

A brief chat with Pat Mills was very encouraging and allowed us to present him with one of our customised prop badges and get this nice photo with Dredd.



One of the main reasons to attend was to meet fellow filmmaker Matthew Giffen, who has agreed to come on board and help with the project. Welcome aboard Matthew!